Andrew George
Promoting the
Politics of Courage
I’m running a positive campaign to restore decency and honesty to our politics. To build a brighter future. To combat those who want us to become more inward-looking, backward-looking, more self-absorbed. I’ll build a campaign for an outward-looking, forward-looking and compassionate country.
We’ve been misled by a privileged clique who’ve irresponsibly played on fears to stoke prejudice. We must get beyond the Brexit chaos they’ve dragged our country into. We must restore the things that matter for the sake of our children’s future – our NHS, our schools and the very sustainability of our planet.
Come and join a growing campaign team. We’re determined to win this seat back this time, to make the difference, to build a brighter future.
Many people say “you politicians are all the same”. That statement has never been more untrue. The choice here is stark:
Andrew George - Standing up for Cornwall
National campaigner, local campaigner, former MP.
Andrew describes his role - "Seeking out the silent voices. Standing up to bullies. Fighting for justice”
Liberal Democrats - Building a brighter future
Hospital Emergency Departments (A&Es) are regularly overrun. “Corridor care” is normalised. There were 14,000 avoidable deaths last year because of the crippling crisis in emergency medicine.
I again asked the Health Secretary to listen to the President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (Dr Adrian Boyle). I was disappointed in this long ‘No’.
8 CommentsComment on Facebook
This is happening because the tax we pay is wasted. Constantly wasted. With all the money labour are now taking from so many people, surely this situation should be improved. But it won't, will it, because they'll waste it. It's a disgrace. Thank you for campaigning for the right thing Andrew George
I spent 3 days the year before last in ED having blood transfusions, with all the comings and goings 24 hours a day. Chaos. How is that acceptable? He knows nothing of the pressures here in Cornwall
What seems really apparent and rather unfortunate is, that it appears the government has set out its plans and is determined to stick to them with no room for compromise under any circumstance, and would rather watch everything fall down around them than admit that they may need occasionally change something to ease a burden. Yes they have a plan to make the NHS great again but the EDs need help now to ease their burdens not in 10years when there’s no longer an obesity crisis!
A painting of the Emergency Department at Treliske, about two-years ago.
It’s both a remarkable representation of the crisis which patients and staff endure and a poignant reminder of a dear departed friend (and relative) who produced this incredible and vivid portrayal of their experience, only months before they died.
Most patients placed in these chairs are severely unwell, and therefore ready for admission to a hospital ward, but no beds are available, nor even trolleys to sleep on. It’s of course not normal, nor is it healthy to attempt to sleep in a chair, especially when severely unwell and in need of hospital treatment. The chairs do not have adequate head support to enable sleep (critical for patient well-being and recovery), patients cannot adjust position as they would in a bed – therefore risking pressure sores and other complications.
The artist – my friend and relative – was fully supportive of and grateful for the doctors and nurses who treated her. And she acknowledged that the chairs were much more comfortable than the hard waiting room chairs she had to endure for over 8 hours before she was offered this.
Though I don’t doubt this is a ‘last resort’ and is done for the best of intentions, frontline staff are left to manage the stress of this unacceptable situation… while some top managers claim that Cornwall is 'over bedded'! This is an unacceptable situation and must stop.
23 CommentsComment on Facebook
I wonder if she'd have even been there in the first place had she not had her home visits cut? I'm sure her last month's were made so much more difficult than they needed to be, I can't help wondering if she'd have gone when she did if adequate resources had been there to look after her, perhaps I will write an article about it all one day.
Unfortunately we know those chairs too well in this family! Thank you for your tireless campaigning for better hospital provision Andrew. We are building all these new houses everywhere but no increase in A&E provision…it’s terrifying having relatives with serious illness in Cornwall. :( X
Acute beds are under bedded by several hundred. The only reason we have 'too many' beds in Cornwall is that we have several dispersed community hospitals which we need because of the dispersed nature of our population
Congratulations to all staff, managers and campaigners who helped to secure the 'green light' from the government to deliver the crucial next stages of the much-needed Women & Children's Hospital at Treliske!
We remain confident the government will give the go-ahead. Hopefully soon. Though this news isn't an absolute foregone conclusion, I'm assured the government wouldn't commit to expensive so substantially at this stage if they were on the verge of turning us down.
It was shocking to discover that the promised hospital had not been budgeted for by the previous Conservative government. So, I'm delighted the new government has got behind this and committed to backing essential enabling work to go ahead. I just hope government ministers will give us the final green light as soon as possible, enabling project managers to ensure it's delivered as quickly as possible.
Pictured here at Treliske with my Liberal Democrat colleagues, Truro & Falmouth campaigner, Ruth Gripper, and North Cornwall MP, Ben Maguire.
10 CommentsComment on Facebook
Thank you for your determination to get this project through.
Well done!!!👏🏻
Thankyou...well done...xx
There’s a crisis in our emergency care. The practice of ‘corridor care’ is becoming normalised. Staff work in intolerable stress. A nurse was said to be fighting for her life after being stabbed by an angry patient in Oldham yesterday. Hospitals now advertising for ‘corridor care’ nurses.
Liberal Democrats published analysis today which reveals there were a record 518,000 “trolley waits” of 12 hours or more last year in Emergency Departments (A&Es). We’re calling on Health Secretary Wes Streeting to announce an emergency plan, and to increase the number of hospital beds and to end corridor care. Supported by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM).
This is far from the first time I’ve highlighted the seriousness of the issue. A problem which became progressively worse under the previous government and has left the new Labour government with a dysfunctional legacy.
Long waits at A&E are extremely dangerous and the RCEM estimates that in 2023 14,000 deaths were associated with long waits in A&E. ‘Corridor care’ is dangerous for patients, as these locations aren’t designed for it, don’t have oxygen, power and other vital services, nor curtains to protect patient privacy and dignity.
We’re calling on the government to urgently increase the number of hospital beds to bring bed occupancy levels down to the safe level of 85% (currently 93%, but over 95% in Cornwall)
You’ll see I called on Health Secretary Wes Streeting to address the bed crisis in Emergency Departments during a Health Committee session just before Christmas. As you’ll see, I hope he reviews his position in the light of this.
I appreciate Labour inherited an NHS in its worst crisis in history, but ministers must work to avoid normalising corridor care. There were also two damning reports from the Cornwall Coroner sent to previous Conservative Health Secretaries which were highly critical of management of the Emergency services, which he said contributed to the otherwise avoidable death of patients at Treliske. It doesn’t help that some leading managers of our service argue that Cornwall’s hospitals are “over-bedded”.
The government must bring forward an emergency plan, including expansion of the number of hospital beds to achieve safe bed occupancy levels and a pandemic-style emergency recruitment campaign to bring staff out of retirement and back into the workforce.
5 CommentsComment on Facebook
His answer doesn’t address the question you have asked nor the problem with patients in corridors being there are no beds available.
More and more tax isn’t the answer, it never has been especially when it’s levied at small businesses as is now the case more than ever.
The principle problem is that primary care ie GP surgeries is almost none existent.
Plymouth City Council seems to believe it can instruct Cornwall, that we must be swallowed up into a Southwest ‘super region’ with a directly elected mayor.
Of course, Plymouth has as much right to tell Cornwall how it should be governed as Cornwall has to dictate to Plymouth, or indeed anywhere else over the border in England.
To suggest – as the Government does - that if Cornwall wants devolved power, it must establish partnerships with neighbours, would have been like telling Wales it could only have an Assembly if it partners with the west Midlands.
Devolution is about letting go of power, not holding on, to micro-manage.
Cornwall’s six MPs are united; determined to secure devolution on a Cornwall-only footprint.
We wish Plymouth, and authorities to the east, well in their negotiations and partnerships. I note there’s a desire to establish a “South West Peninsula Mayoral Strategic Authority”. Cornwall won’t be part of it. Though we’d of course be pleased to work with them, just as we would with any other devolved authorities in other parts of England.
Cornwall acquiesced over the years to various service partnerships (such as police) for administrative convenience. But as this process could crucially undermine Cornwall’s right to remain distinctive, to reflect our distinct cultural, historic and Celtic identity, just as in Wales and Scotland, Cornwall must now assert its right to self-determination.
All MPs, Cornwall Council and many Town and Parish Councils are resolved.
Image credit: Cornwall Live
www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/plymouth-wants-cornwall-swallowed-up-9849412?utm_source=m...
22 CommentsComment on Facebook
Having lived in Plymouth, the whole area needs to be sorted it out before trying to encompass anywhere else.. It's a dirty, unwelcoming city. Homelessness, crime, drugs, and organised begging is rife, the centre is a shambles. This has started to radiate out from the centre, in the 5 years I lived there, working for the NHS, I watched areas go downhill, including the district I lived in. The council has failed for years, no matter which party it is run by. If a mayor is required, Cornwall deserves and needs it own, prioritising its people & policies, not that of a failing city & it's surrounding area.
Well said Andrew. I am pleased to hear that all 6 MPs are in agreement with this. I feel that we are being bullied by this Government. This cannot be allowed to happen.
Thank you for saying so calmly, exactly what we spluttered over, when we became aware of this! We don’t want Plymouth, or any part of anywhere, telling us what we need….. We don’t want a Westminster-appointed Mayor, we need our elected MPs to fight for the services and the rights of Cornish inhabitants… it’s workforce, it’s farmers, it’s teachers, it’s healthcare. We need the Council to be populated by representatives who fight for our services on a local level. We do NOT need yet another layer of leeching bureaucracy . Thank you for speaking up for Cornwall
Common Platform for Cornwall
