Health & Social Care
Covid-19: Cornwall must look to Devon to find out what is going on
By Anne North People in Devon are to be given an update on the consequences of the decline in Covid testing – while people in Cornwall are being left...
Covid-19: Cornwall’s infection rate again on the rise, 22% higher than England
By Anne North Scientists and health chiefs are becoming increasingly concerned that the government’s latest Covid “Freedom Day” is responsible for more hospital admissions and more deaths. The official...
EXCLUSIVE: Some of Cornwall’s health workers to get a one-off £500 Covid “thank you” bonus while others are left with nothing but the memories of grateful people clapping
By Anne North All staff at the Cornwall Partnership Foundation Trust are to get a one-off £500 pay bonus in recognition of the extra work – and personal risks...
Covid-19: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, as Cornwall’s official case numbers fall but deaths remain high
By Anne North Cornwall’s official rate of Covid infection continues to fall, largely as a result of the dramatic decline in testing. The government’s numbers put Cornwall at 343.5...
Cornwall’s hospital waiting times now measured in years
By Richard Whitehouse More than 40 people in Cornwall have had to wait more than two years for hospital treatment while another 1,400 have had to wait more than...
Petition seeks to force Cornwall Council debate on crisis in health and social care, as the body which is supposed to be in charge disappears from public view
By Anne North The crisis in Cornwall’s health and social care sector appears to be exacerbated by the disappearance of any governing body. Cornwall’s Health and Wellbeing Board, which...
Cornwall? No thanks – one third of unaccompanied Afghan child refugees would rather live somewhere else
By Anne North A third of the unaccompanied teenage Afghan refugees earmarked by the Home Office for settlement in Cornwall have refused to come, according to County Hall. The...
“Economic viability” – two words which council chiefs apply to leisure centres, but not to offshore wind energy or cheap flights
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall’s failed Wave Hub project, which consumed more than £40 million of public funds before switching to offshore wind, is now seeking another £425,000 for “research”...
Cornwall Council says it took 100 “medically optimised” hospital patients into social care last month, yet the ambulances continue to queue
By Anne North A queues of ambulances waiting to discharge patients at the Royal Cornwall hospital are getting longer, according to the latest NHS data. Patients currently stand only...
Cornwall’s number of rough sleepers falls by one, over two years
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The number of people sleeping rough in Cornwall has fallen by just one in the past two years, according to government figures published on Thursday (24th...
More than a month after County Hall’s declaration of a “critical incident” in adult social care, the impact on hospital beds is getter even worse
By Anne North Cornwall Council’s January declaration of a “critical incident” in adult social care, promising to free 100 hospital beds within two weeks, appears to have failed. The...
Covid-19: Saltash and Redruth infections increasing, despite drop in testing
By Anne North Some parts of Cornwall are once again recording very high rates of Covid infection, despite the government’s declaration of its latest “Freedom Day” and the effective...
Covid-19: Blue skies ahead, but absence of evidence is not evidence of absence
By Anne North Cornwall’s Covid cluster map is expected to get ever-more brighter in the weeks ahead, when the government starts charging £5.99 for each lateral flow test. Free...
Cornwall’s children’s services retains its “outstanding” status
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall’s children’s services department is still “outstanding” according to the watchdog Ofsted. The rating keeps Cornwall in the top 10% of local council children’s services. Council...
Covid-19: Brave New World
By Anne North Cornwall’s rate of Covid infection looks set to start the latest “Freedom Day” era with the virus 19% higher than the average for England and more...
Covid-19: the new Year Zero
With all remaining mandatory Covid restrictions in England due to be swept away next week, Cornwall's infection rate today is 596.8 new daily cases per 100,000 population. Equivalent numbers...
Covid-19: Cornwall’s infection rate continues to fall, but is more than double that of Wales
Cornwall’s rate of Covid infection continues to fall and is now 745.8 new daily cases per 100,000 population, compared with England’s average of 665.3. The equivalent number for Wales...
Health, social care and devolution: is Cornwall in for another seven years of stop-go-stop integration?
By Anne North The tussle for control of Cornwall’s health budget has ratcheted up another notch after the government ordered NHS bosses to allow local councillors to be members...
Covid-19: With only 11 days to the next “Freedom Day,” virus deaths in Cornwall are increasing
By Anne North Cornwall’s death toll from Covid appears to be increasing, even though the official data for positive test results shows a significant decline in daily new cases. ...
Covid-19: this is the new normal, and without a public health policy it will be permanent, as Cornwall’s infection rate settles into a yo-yo pattern
By Anne North Cornwall’s official Covid infection rate has fallen by 7% over the past week and is now 872.2 new daily cases per 100,000 population. The rate has...