Agenda item

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 5 (Urgent Items), the Council received an emergency notice of motion moved by Councillor Jim Blagden and seconded by Councillor David Walters as follows:-

“In the week of the 72nd Birthday, Ashfield District Council would like to pay tribute to our wonderful NHS.

This Council is proud of the work of all our NHS staff.  Our clinicians, managers, and all other NHS staff have done an amazing job.  Ashfield District Council would like to pay tribute their work, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.  In particular, this Council would like to thank staff at King’s Mill Hospital, Nottingham City Hospital, Newark Hospital and Queens Medical Centre for the courageous way in which they have dealt with residents in our District who suffered from COVID-19.

This Council also thanks key workers and all practitioners of healthcare.  This includes care workers who have put their lives at risk in our care homes.  We are therefore appalled at Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s recent comments about care workers.  We recognise the anger caused by his comments that undermined the courageous work of hundreds of care workers in the Ashfield District.  We therefore congratulate every care home worker for their work the COVID-19 crisis.

This Council notes that at least 312 UK members of NHS and social care staff have died of coronavirus.  We further note that the NHS response to the pandemic was only possible only because of the delays to non-urgent patient care – cancelled operations, delayed scans and diagnostic tests.  We further note that two million people are currently waiting for cancer screening, tests or treatment and that 1,600 cases of cancer are currently left undiagnosed every month.  It is critical that people have confidence to return to our hospitals.  That is why the routine weekly testing of NHS staff is critical and therefore weekly testing for all NHS staff is urgent.

This Council is therefore disappointed that last week 331 Conservatives MPs including Ashfield’s Lee Anderson and Sherwood’s Mark Spencer voted against routine weekly testing of NHS staff.  We believe it is urgent that this decision be looked at again especially as the Parliamentary Recess starts on 29th July and MPs will not have a chance to revisit this decision until 2nd September.

We therefore call:

1)    For the Chief Executive and all 3 party leaders on Ashfield District Council to write a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock MP to reverse the decision not to test NHS staff for COVID-19 weekly as a matter of urgency.

2)    For the Chief Executive and all 3 party leaders on Ashfield District Council to write to Richard Mitchell, Chief Executive of the Sherwood Forest NHS Hospitals Trust and Tracy Taylor, Chief Executive of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust setting out our appreciation for the work of all NHS staff at the trust.

3)    For the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Scrutiny Committee to look at a permanent memorial to our NHS in this District.”

Having been duly debated, the emergency motion was put to the vote and it

Was

RESOLVED that

a)    for the Chief Executive and all 3 party leaders on Ashfield District Council to write a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock MP to reverse the decision not to test NHS staff for COVID-19 weekly as a matter of urgency;

b)    for the Chief Executive and all 3 party leaders on Ashfield District Council to write to Richard Mitchell, Chief Executive of the Sherwood Forest NHS Hospitals Trust and Tracy Taylor, Chief Executive of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, setting out our appreciation for the work of all NHS staff at the trust;

c)    for the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Scrutiny Committee to look at a permanent memorial to our NHS in this District.

(During consideration of the motion, Councillor Chris Baron left the meeting at 9.10pm.)