Julian Sturdy

Today sadly is the last day that Fulford Post Office is open for business, and when Aasif Rabbani (sub postmaster) closes the door for the last time it will not only mean the lose of yet another local post office but also for the residents of Fulford, the lose of their local community shop as well.

This morning I went down to visit Aasif at the post office to whish him all the best for the future and to apologise for not succeeding in our quest to save this vital community facility from closure. Sadly it could have been so much different if the Government hadn’t pushed ahead with its plans to close 2,500 post offices across the country, pulled business out of the post office network and undermined its finances.

When the closure was announced the local community rallied around in support, we put in objections, gathered signatures on our petition which culminated in Aasif and myself presenting the petition to Number 10 Downing Street, but all to no avail as the closure plan ploughed ahead regardless of local opinion. Then a ray of hope as the Conservative Party put forward an early day motion to halt all closures. Surely all Labour MP’s campaigning against PO closures in their own constituencies would support this, sadly that was not the case as we lost the vote by a mere twenty votes. At least 19 principled Labour MP’s voted with us including John Grogran.

Unfortunately it is local communities like Fulford that have lost out as yet another important community facility closes its doors for the last time, a sad day for Fulford.

The village of Dunnington launched its bid for glory in this years Britain in Bloom competition with an excellent fundraising event in the village on Saturday night which my wife and I attended. I have supported Dunnington in this competition for a number of years now and whish them all the best for this year’s competition and I look forward to helping out at the next working party.  The competition helps to bring together local people of all ages to get involved in their local communities. The village of Dunnington is a great example of this with a tremendous amount of effort going into making the village a place everyone feels proud to live in. The hard work paid dividend last summer when the village won Yorkshire in Bloom, let us hope they can go one better this year and win Britain in Bloom.     

Many of you will have read in the The York Press earlier this week about the shocking figures revealing that more than 1,000 people have been denied treatment by North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust in 2007 following the introduction of its vetting panel. Following this shocking news I have written to the Chief Executive of North Yorkshire and York PCT calling for an urgent meeting to discuss these recent revelations.

In my letter to the Chief Executive, I have said:

“I am deeply concerned to learn about the large number of patients who have been refused treatment during 2007 by North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust’s vetting panel. At the time your PCT set this up, there was great opposition from local GPs who felt this would restrict the service they could provide and caused great distress to patients.

“Given the impact this policy is having in North Yorkshire, and the large number of concerned residents who have contacted me on this matter in the York Outer area, I would very much welcome an opportunity to discuss this in greater detail with you. I feel it is important that we have clarity over this issue given the great concern over healthcare in North Yorkshire, and the fear from a number of quarters that we are ending up with a postcode lottery health care service in our region.

“I look forward to you response and very much hope that we can meet in the very near future to discuss my concerns further.”

One of the questions I want answering is when the Humber’s Strategic Health Authority is expected to end the year with a staggering £280 million surplus, why should patients in North Yorkshire still suffer from a postcard lottery health care service?