Quayside clinic a ‘real godsend’
A QUAYSIDE clinic in Brixham, in Devon, has been praised in the sunshine of presidency plans for the long run of the NHS. Last month, the Prime Minister set out a plan to shift the NHS’s focus in England from hospitals to neighbourhood health hubs. In conjunction with the Seafarers Hospital Society, the Christian charity the Fishermen’s Mission — Devon holds a pop-up clinic in Brixham every three months, as a part of its “Seafit” initiative. A spare room within the trawler agent’s offices in Brixham harbour converts into a brief health clinic, accommodating two GPs, a pharmacist, a physiotherapist, and two nurses. Prostate screening can be available. One of the GPs in the realm, Dr James Gunning, spoke to BBC Devon about fishermen and their circumstances. “The skippers of the boats and the entire fishing community now know exactly where to seek out us,” he said. “They’re a community that matches into health inequalities, where a population either can’t access, or struggles to access, normal NHS services.” Similar clinics operate in Folkestone, Peterhead, and other ports across the country. The BBC reports that its evaluation of NHS services suggests that coastal communities are inclined to have higher waiting times for each emergency care and for advance appointments. Critics of the Government’s plan warn against diverting financial provision for health away from hospitals, despite recognising sound intentions. Healthcare unions also raise concerns about staffing. The medics in Brixham, nevertheless, are convinced of the advantages of their preventative approach. A retired fish-market employee in Brixham who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in consequence of testing on the clinic said: “I used to be gobsmacked, really, because I didn’t think there was anything mistaken with me. “If I never went for the checks, I don’t think I could be here today. So it was an actual godsend for them to come back right down to the jetty.”
New Vice-Chancellor for cash-strapped CCCU
THE next Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) is to be Professor Claire Ozanne, the university announced this week. CCCU, a part of the Cathedrals Group, was founded as a C of E teacher-training college in 1962, and have become a university in 2005. Professor Ozanne is currently Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool Hope University (also a part of the Cathedrals Group), where, in June, she announced dozens of potential staff redundancies affecting the theology and religious-studies teams (News, 4 July). The current Vice-Chancellor of CCCU, Professor Rama Thirunamachandran, is to step down in January — a choice that he announced in February, when plans to scale back the staffing budget were implement. Kent Online reports that 148 staff have since agreed to depart the university. In April, the CCCU branch of the University and College Union passed a vote of no confidence within the university’s leadership, including the Vice-Chancellor and board of governors, over the prospect of staff cuts (News, 11 April).
Commissioners expand housing plans for Northallerton
THE Church Commissioners have submitted an overview planning application for the second phase of an almost 600-home community in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, Housing Today reports. The Commissioners gained consent for 109 homes on the positioning in 2023. The latest proposal is for 484 homes, a primary school, and a community centre. The 26-hectare site between Stokesley Road and Bullamoor Road forms a part of the NOR1 allocation within the Hambleton Local Plan, adopted in 2022. The development shall be mixed-use and range from one-bedroom flats to substantial detached family homes, of which 30 per cent shall be reasonably priced housing. The Commissioners’ team head of strategic land, Matthew Naylor, said: “We hope to create an inclusive, cross-generational community that can serve its residents well into the long run.” The development is an element of the Commissioners’ plan to develop 30,000 latest homes on church land, of which 9000 shall be reasonably priced, as set out in last 12 months’s Coming Home report (News, 10 January).
Worcester Cathedral renews choral appeal
WORCESTER CATHEDRAL has this week launched a latest fund-raising appeal to take care of its choirs, organs, and choral tradition, which has previously relied on donations. The Director of Music, Samuel Hudson, said: “No two years are ever the identical in a cathedral music department, and, as we approach September, there’s all the time a way of renewal and fresh beginnings. This 12 months is not any different.” Welcoming latest choristers and choral and organ scholars, forming a combined treble line, and running a voluntary choir, youth choir, and chamber choir locally “requires time, careful nurturing, and financial support and I hope you don’t mind me asking on your help once more”, he said. worcestercathedral.org.uk
Petition began to amend the Enabling Act
A PARLIAMENTARY petition has been began to amend the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 — more often often called the Enabling Act, which created the previous Church Assembly — “to offer that either House of Parliament may vote to suspend the provisions of the Act for no multiple 12 months, all matters regarding the governance of the Church of England reverting during that point to the establishment ante the 1919 Act”. Started by Matthew Robert Duckett, the petition, which has gained 26 signatures, says that “there isn’t a provision within the 1919 Act for ministers or Parliament to intervene and suspend the Church’s legislative powers within the event of General Synod being unable or unwilling to fulfil its responsibilities. The proposal on this petition would create a measure of accountability to enable this to occur, if Parliament deemed it needed.”
