Aberdeen First

Why Can't We Look After The Eldery?

2008-05-20T23:42:00.004+01:00

Dignity and care is it too much to ask for.

What makes a society, many things I guess, but one of the major and most important issues must be the care of the elderly, you know the people that built worked and fought for what we now enjoy today. The elderly are deserving of the best care possible, we as a society should make the elderly the most revered members of our communities. We should look up to them and treat them with respect and dignity.

Not long ago most families looked after their elderly relations at home, mainly due to the fact that the traditional family did not require both married partners having to work to keep a roof over there heads and maintain a decent standard of living. Thus one of the couple would be in a position to over see and care for an elderly family member.

Nowadays with people forced to work to make ends meet we are now relying on care homes to take over the day to day care of our vulnerable relations, most people would rather do this themselves but as I pointed out many simply don't have a choice.

So what happens we visit a care home, do our best to make sure it is comfortable and well staffed with caring individuals, often we are reassured by a smiling care manager who will answer any questions and query's we may have with confidence building answers.

So we duly allow our relations to be cared in ones of these not too cheap care homes. Assured that they will be well looked after and cared for. But this happens.

RESIDENTS at an Aberdeen care home were left dehydrated, according to a report today.
Staff at Kingsmead Nursing Home in Kingswells also allegedly failed to maintain standards of cleanliness and hygiene.
The Aberdeen home for disabled and old people has been forced to stop accepting residents after an inspection uncovered “significant failings” in its provision of care.

Care Commission regional manager Chris Stadames confirmed they were first made aware of three “serious problems” with the quality of care provided almost two months ago.
Mr Stadames said: “In late March, we received three complaints about serious problems with the quality of care.
“We referred one of those complaints to Aberdeenshire Council under the protection of vulnerable adults procedures.
“We immediately arranged for a full inspection at which we insisted the service manager had to be present.
“During that inspection, We uncovered a series of significant problems, including failures in acceptable hydration, poor hygiene and infection control standards, and overall poor management. You can read the rest of the report here.

Now Kingsmead Home caters mainly for people with senile dementia, the most vulnerable of our elderly because these are the people least likely to speak up for themselves, and ask for help, and unfortunately they are the least likely to be able to complain to family, a fact that is obviously not missed by some so called care workers.

I hope people don't think my analysis unkind but vulnerable elderly specifically those suffering from dementia are as vulnerable as new born babies. They need the same care and are unable to protect themselves. So how would we as a society treat so called carers if they left babies dehydrated, suffering, and in filthy conditions, i would hope the police would be involved and that the people responsible were not allowed to look after children again. So with this thought it should be no different for our elderly, they need and deserve the same level of care.

They should not be locked away and forgotten about and seen as a burden.

We all get old, let us as a society put the services and money into looking after the elderly that we would expect when we become old. This is not a subject that needs debated its something that should be actioned now.

If we as a society cant look after our most vulnerable, It points to a cold callous uncaring future for us all.

Maybe you can phone the nursing home concerned and pass on your comments. The telephone number is in the link here.

Good news for whole of city

2008-04-02T10:11:00.003+01:00

Aberdeen Royal infirmary, proir to new childrens ward being built.

New care centre planned for city

NHS Grampian hopes the centre will improve patient care
Plans for an £83m emergency care centre in Aberdeen have moved a step closer.
The NHS Grampian board has approved outline proposals to relocate key frontline health services onto the main Foresterhill site.
Accident and emergency, the Gmed out-of-hours service, part of NHS 24, mental health and hyperbaric services are among those which would move.
It would also provide about 250 extra beds, many being single rooms to minimise the risk of infection spread.
It is hoped the new centre will provide patients with earlier diagnosis, less waiting and shorter stays.
The three year project is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.
The Scottish Government approved the initial agreement in March, paving the way for the board to proceed to the outline business case stage.

This is magnificent news for the whole of the North East of Scotland who will benefit from a better delivery of health care services.

First Aberdeen would also like to highlight the importance, of having more single bed units to cut down the spread of infection especially as we are now seeing a rise in such damaging contagious diseases such as TB. We would like to think that the 250 beds were not a preemptive measure as to expected rises in infections, but more of a genuine effort to reduce diseases like MRSA and TB.

This is a positive plan that will hopefully reduce some of the fear that was started when it was suggested that some front line medical services would be relocated to the central belt.

The Cost, to us all

2008-03-17T18:01:00.003Z

Cllr Kate Dean Lib Dem, Aberdeen Council Leader, Not out begging for funds. Although perhaps she should.

Now we have touched on the traveller sites many times but now the true cost to the tax payer is starting to reach the voters and the madness of our SNP/Lib Dem council who are hell bent on wasting tax payers money on politically correct schemes. Now we know that the council is making cuts to services and increasing charges to fill a £27 million black hole in the council’s revenue fund, it is the tax payers who will bare the brunt of these cutbacks, so why is the council hell bent on wasting money on people who pay little or no taxes at all.

It has been revealed this week that the council are looking for private land to buy or let for four new traveller sites around the city. Experts have predicted that it will cost over £1 million for the land and a further £168,000 a year to run and maintain the sites.

The running costs will be a continual price that Aberdeen tax payers will have to burden, a cost to supplement the lifestyle of people who do not contribute much in return as regard to taxes. That is why they live the travelling life, because they can exist for a relatively cheap price compared to the heavily taxed house dweller.

Now as I have said before their are decent travellers, but it is down to responsibility, the hard pressed tax payer should not be forced to pay for any group who do not wish to belong to the Work, Pay Taxes, Work, Pay Even More Taxes herd that most of us are in.

Yes provide a decent site for the real travellers who do pay rent, but 4 sites that is excessive, too expensive and not fair on the tax payer.

You can read the newspaper article here.

They Are Back, Travellers Hit Kingswells.

2008-03-13T15:25:00.004Z

Our Mess Making Friends Return To Kingswells

As if by magic and my last post , rogue travellers have yet again set up site at Aberdeen's biggest park and ride site.
Last year this meant that security guards had to be hired at a cost to the tax payer of £1000 a week, the toilets at the site were also locked a lot of the time to prevent abuse of the facilities by the travellers. One of the workers at the site was threatened , and the number of people using the site dropped, so yet again less money coming into council coffers. After these travellers left last year (after a good few months) the council were then faced with a large clean up bill to remove building and garden waste.
So I am sat at home waiting for the usual leaflet to drop through the door, or the knock of doom, which usually results in some fluorescent jacketed man aggressively telling me that my gutters need doing, or kerbs turned. I would hate to think about how someone elderly could be intimidated into accepting some of the services on offer, and how much they would pay just to have the security of closing their own front door.
But yet Aberdeen City Council still see fit to pursue 4 more halting sites for these none tax contributors to society.
Why cant they provide a field in the country, rather than sites near to our towns, where our vulnerable are within easy reach of whatever money making scheme the travellers are involved in. We at Aberdeen First don't mind the traditional travellers, but what we do mind is these society drop-outs who are more often than not involved in criminal activities, or at best very dubious money making schemes.
We the tax payers should not be paying for them. It's their choice of lifestyle, if they want to live within city limits they should get a house, job, and pay taxes like the rest of us, it's called personal responsibility. It's time the council removed the tax payer funded crutches that prop up these lifestyles at the expense of other law abiding, tax paying citizens.

You can read about our new guests here.

Traveller sites Or Doonies Or Bon Accord Baths Or Glencraft

2008-03-11T20:05:00.004Z

Traditional Gypsies

Now here at Aberdeen first we do not have a problem with what you would class as traditional travellers, I even remember them as a kid in Aberdeen knocking doors asking if you wanted any tools sharpening. My father would give them his push mower and hedge shears to sharpen. A few hours later the items would be returned sharpened to such a high standard my father used to look forward to the return of these honest travellers the following summer.

The so called travellers we have now are not of the same ilk. Most (although not all) are people who have chosen to take leave of the responsibilities that we all share in society. They choose to live a life that sees them contribute nothing to society, their way of life is a wholly selfish one, a complete take, take existence from the society they spurn and have no conscience about.

The revelations in the news about the organised crime at the official Travellers’ site in Elgin, will probably come as no shock to most of us. Most areas in Aberdeen will have had leaflets pushed through their door offering various services from garden work, roofing and glazing. Most of these leaflets will have a fake address and only a mobile number as a contact. These leaflets and pressurising cold calling do result in business for the so called travellers. Unfortunately its the most vulnerable in society who get taken in or pressurised into accepting some of the services on offer. The resulting rip off of hundreds or even thousands of pounds for little or no work done at all is well reported in the media.

If further evidence as to what is happening is required, just think back over the last year about how much tax payer funded council clean-ups have taken place, removing rubble and whats classed as building and garden waste. The aftermath of illegal work and untaxed earnings, and we wonder why they have expensive 4 x 4's.

Now taking into consideration Aberdeen council cutbacks, are the council still going to push ahead with their plans for more traveller sites at a cost that will run into hundreds of thousands, I think that most Aberdonians would be against these plans. The priorities of Aberdeen city council leave a lot to be desired, and it would seem they have little thought about the people who voted them into power and pay their taxes for the services and facilities that are under threat. Perhaps they can ponder over this when they are on their 50k trip to Stavanger.

You can read about some of the people our councillors want to spend your money on here.

Petition reaches 1200+

2008-03-09T13:37:00.005Z

One of the farmers showing children how to feed a lamb
Another priceless moment for another child

The fight to save Doonies is gathering pace with well over 1200 signatures on the online petition already. You can add your name to ever growing list here. I would like to thank everyone that has signed the petition already, and also the local press for giving a voice to the worried residents of the North East. Also giving the fight to save Doonies a boost is the councillors who have had the guts to sign the petition. I will let people read the list for themselves as I do not want to turn the fight to Save Doonies into a political one. All I will say to the councillors that have signed is thanks, the residents of Aberdeen and the press will notice.

This is purely a fight to see right win over wrong. A matter of conscience, in respect of our children's education, enjoyment, and the character building humility that you gain from looking after and bonding with animals.

You can read some of the press articles here, here, and here. I would like to draw your attention to this comment from the council (it's in the third link above) (A council spokesman said they were looking at a range of sites as well as auctions and markets for the animals, which include horses, sheep, ducks, hens and pigs.) The most worrying word in this is Auction, because this means the animals will be sold to the highest bidder, and as already acknowledged by a friend at Thainstone mart most will end up as meat.

There has only been a few enquiries for the hand tame animals at Doonies, these lucky ones will find a home, but the vast majority if sent to auction will end up at the abattoir.

This is due to their being no market for rare breed animals, so their only value at auction is as meat.

That's why we must win this fight to keep Doonies open, we value the animals for what they are in the eyes of our children. And that is as big lovable pets that teach them more than books can ever do.

There are always emotions involved when it comes to animals, and that for me, in this day and age where everything is used then discarded with is a good thing. I want children to grow up being caring, thoughtful, and respectful towards animals. Without these basic traits of humanity instilled at a young age I fear we are heading for a future generation of cold, thoughtless, self indulgent citizens.

Doonies rightly teaches children where eggs an milk comes from, but what it teaches and gives them in respect of their own personality, and respect for other living creatures is PRICELESS.

£100,000 is it really worth losing Doonies over. Why not cut back on one expensive trip abroad, and a little bit on hospitality, we the citizens of Aberdeen would happily pay more to visit Doonies as part of the deal. So how about it Councillors, will you give the citizens who voted for you what they want. For the sake of our children I hope so.

Public meeting to save Doonies this THURSDAY 13th MARCH, AT THISTLE HOTEL ALTENS, AT 19.30PM. Please try and come along.

Doonies Farm... The Real Story...

2008-03-03T20:44:00.006Z

The true story of why Aberdeen City council wants to close Doonies farm is starting to emerge. I cannot disclose all of Aberdeen Firsts sources, needless to say the true picture of what is really happening leaves a really bitter taste in the mouth.

We have been repeatedly told by the council that Doonies has to close to save £100,000, and that the animals will not be slaughtered, we have also been told that the 210 acre site that Doonies occupies will remain greenbelt.

I can categorically state that the public are being lied to on all accounts.

1. Doonies may well save £100,000 when closed, but when you take into consideration that the admission price has remained the same for over 7 years, this figure could be drastically reduced, most people I have spoken too would happily pay double to visit this attraction.

Also Aberdeen City Council actively (and rightly so) promote and publicise every other attraction in the North of Scotland, but you will be hard pushed to find anything highlighting Doonies farm. Why? is this a deliberate attempt to keep visitor numbers low. This added to the lack of road signs giving directions to Doonies really adds weight to the theory that the council do not want Doonies to be a success. Why has the council refused to provide classroom's with an exhibit area for school visits. This would have a knock on effect of publicising Doonies, as most children would want to visit again with parents.

2.We are told that the animals will not be slaughtered. This is a lie, I have contacted various people in the know. Their has only been a couple of enquiries from rare breeders in England. There is no market for rare breeds in the North East of Scotland.

This means that the vast majority of animals will be taken to auction, where the various bidders will know that the animals up for auction are non returnable. This means that they will offer low prices and the animals will end up slaughtered on a meat hook. It is common practise for none returnable lots to be divided up between bidders so that they face no competition, thus resulting in the animals being sold off cheap as their is no reserve price.

Their are over 350 animals at Doonies and the first, Lambs, Calves, and piglets have been born. All now face being culled. This is particularly galling when you consider that most of these animals are tame and are more like pets. I know the farmers at Doonies are really upset and distraught at seeing animals they have cared for and hand reared being prepared for slaughter. These animals trust human beings and the sheer wickedness that will result in their slaughter will long lasting effect on many a child.

Please help save us from the abattoir, Mum with new born Calf

3, We are told that the 210 acres that Doonies occupies will remain green belt. This is also a lie. All the land surrounding Doonies was originally green belt, this has all been sold off for industrial use. It is well known to council, planners and resource staff that there is a lack of industrial sites within the boundaries of Aberdeen. Although not public, Doonies land will be sold off to the highest bidder in the hope of raking in some of the money that has been mismanaged by Aberdeen City Council.

All in all the residents of Aberdeen have been lied to. We stand to lose a valuable resource that gets used by disabled centres, community groups, the young, the old and visitors to the north of Scotland. This is in despite of what looks like deliberate council policy to run down the farm through lack of investment and publicity over the years.

Aberdeen first would like to see Aberdeen Council put the effort in to make this wonderful farm viable, and to treat this wonderful resource with the respect it deserves. Farms such as Doonies are revered in places such as London, and other built up areas, for giving children the chance to see, experience, and touch animals that otherwise they would never come into contact with.

Do we really want our children growing up wondering where milk and eggs come from, or do we want them to experience the cultural and farming heritage of the North of Scotland, whilst gaining insight and knowledge about the welfare and treatment of animals.

Doonies first Lambs of 2008 (already hand tame), will they be slaughtered

Please sign the online petition here. Help save Doonies from the BUTCHERS at Aberdeen City Council.

Bobbies On Beat To Double

2008-02-28T17:30:00.005Z

The number of beat bobbies pounding North-east streets will nearly double in just six months. But the move could also see residents waiting longer for some crimes to be investigated.Grampian Police is to merge its north and south Aberdeenshire divisions in an effort to free up more officers for community policing. Superintendent Bill Archibald, pictured below, the new division's operational commander, said using resources more efficiently and boosting the current tally of 34 beat bobbies could only benefit communities.He said: "There will be no reduction in the number of front line officers but the way they're deployed will be changed. There will be community police officers in stations that don't have one at the moment, and growth in other areas."I'm confident that in the next six months we'll see 50 or 60 community-based officers." You can read the rest of the report here.

Aberdeen First would like, I am sure with all the other law abiding residents like to thank Superintendent Bill Archibald and his colleagues for having the drive to give us all what we want, "more Bobbies on the beat".

Aberdeen first is confident that the initial fear that some lesser crimes will take longer to be investigated is a burden that will be short lived. Because we firmly believe that Grampian police are moving in a forward direction, and the reduction in crime due to actually having more officers on the beat will quickly offset any initial delays in investigating lesser crimes.

Hopefully the knock on effect of this reduction in crime will be that even more officers will be available to go on the beat. A win win situation especially if this is backed up with longer and tougher sentences for criminals, tougher sentences along with a more visible police presence will act as a deterrent.

It's good and reassuring as a local to see Grampian Police leading the way in giving us safer communities. Maybe other Police forces across the country will take note.

Support our police in the fight against crime. You can visit the Grampian Police site here.

or telephone 0845- 600- 5-700.

Council To Axe Nursery Places

2008-02-28T16:45:00.003Z

Parents in Aberdeen are outraged after it was revealed all full time nursery places provided by Aberdeen City Council are too be axed as part of proposed £27 million budget cuts. A total of 148 children will lose their full time sessions.
A council spokesman today confirmed that nurseries were the latest victims of budget cuts. The spokesman stated "that all of the 2,838 youngsters who receive pre-school education will have a nursery place but not a full time one".
The government currently pays for all part time nursery places, at the moment the 148 children in full time nursery do not pay any fees. This in its self raises some questions that need to be answered.

1. Do the children with full time places actually cost the council anymore money, given that the staff are already in place.
2. Do these children cause, others to miss having a place at nursery.
3. Is it fair that some children have been getting full time nursery places while others don't. Enabling some families to have two incomes coming in as both parents are able to work without cost.
4. Leading on from 3, if a child is at full time nursery, surely the government save money on reduced payments as regards children's tax credits, as the parents will be paying no, or reduced child care payments.

Their are many questions to this issue but the main one must be that families who were given full time nursery places, have probably centred their work life on having full time nursery places, and if like many families they depend on both wages to provide the money needed to pay for mortgages and other essentials the possible loss of part or possibly a full wage could be devastating to that families.
Surely a fairer option would be to allow these 148 children to finish their full time nursery and progress on to primary one. This would take away any unnecessary hardship that may be inflicted on these families.
The council could then take the full time places away, (although it would be interesting to see how much money would be saved if at all) which on the basis of fairness seems to be the right decision, as part time nursery is the only choice the other 2,700 pupils have. And Aberdeen First believe that Fairness must be one of the priorities of local government.

It just seems fair that all children receive the same education and start in life. Perhaps Aberdeen City Council should have done this from the start.

Doonies Farm To Close

2008-02-15T21:07:00.003Z

Some of the wonderful friendly animals at Doonies rare breed farm.

Doonies Farm Aberdeen is a rare breeds farm and model farm at the village of Cove just outside Torry, Aberdeen. Doonies Farm is the home to the largest collection of rare breeds of sheep, goats and cows within Scotland and works with the Rare Breed Survival Trust (RBST) to preserve many rare breeds such as the Gloucester and White Park cow and bull. Doonies Farm in Aberdeen breed their own livestock to either keep at the farm or sell throughout the United Kingdom so that farmers can continue to breed from the rare stock.
Doonies farm offers a rare hand’s on experience for children, and if visiting at the right time of the day children get to bottle feed calves and sheep as well as helping the friendly staff feed the other animals.
The real life experience offered to visitors, young and old is something that is becoming rarer in these times of computer games and consoles.
Doonies farm is one of the last bastions of what life is really like in rural Scotland that is accessible to the public. What Doonies offers cannot be measured in monetary terms, the delight in children’s faces as they get to meet close up animals that they may have only previously seen in books or on the television is priceless.
So it is with a sense of disbelief and anger that I write this on the day that Aberdeen Council has announced that Doonies will close as part of a £30 million cost cutting exercise. Doonies has been hit along with other vital services and sports facilities.
Remembering that this is from the council that has spent £30 million on consultants over the last three years, and that this is the council that is planning to spend hundreds of thousands building traveller sites, and almost £2 million on English classes for none English speaking children who have newly arrived in the UK.
The Councils priorities seem not to be with local tax payers who should expect the same level of services and facilities that previous generations have enjoyed. Failure to provide this rests fully at the council’s door, and they should perhaps look in-house for the savings that are required. Because as it stands at the moment they have failed the citizens of Aberdeen. You can read about the planned closures here.

Council's shock bid to save £30m

2008-02-11T22:01:00.003Z

Aberdeen’s Renowned Maritime Museum, At Risk From Council Cuts

Sports centres, museums and swimming pools all face the axe under plans to save Aberdeen City Council £30 million. You can read the article here.

Although the city is due a £3.3m bonus from the Scottish Government for agreeing to freeze council tax, the report from city chamberlain Susan Cooper has said the council needs to reduce spending across the board. Officials have been told £25m needs to be saved.
These savings will hit at the heart of our city, with many vital services and sports facilities in the firing line for either closure or reductions in services.

Cuts, closures and increases in charges recommended can be found at the link here

The list on the above link above is barbaric in its reading, almost every group in society will be hit hard, the young the elderly, the disabled, the workers who will lose their job’s, and the wider public who will have to live in a dirtier, less welcoming city, with fewer services.
Aberdeen First would like to ask why such drastic slash and burn cost cutting measures have not had to be introduced in the past, could it be that the last few council administrations have been guilty of gross mismanagement of tax payer’s money.
When you consider that over the last three years Aberdeen City Council has spent £29.7 million on outside advisors.
Taxpayers must be asking themselves why, various council department managers and directors who draw large salaries can’t do the jobs they are paid for. The figure of almost £30 million for advice is obscene, Aberdeen First will be asking for a complete breakdown of who this money was paid out to and why. We would also like to ask why council officials are unable to make decisions that they are paid to do.
Perhaps by using outside agencies at tax payers expense, they remove all element of responsibility from their own shoulders when making decisions. If this is the case surely they are not up to the task of doing the job they are employed to do.

If like Aberdeen First you have questions that need answered, leave a comment or get in contact with firstaberdeen@btinternet.com

Welcome to the Aberdeen First blog

2008-02-04T23:19:00.000Z

This blog has been established by concerned citizens and community campaigners in the Granite City who feel let down by the political establishment.

It is our hope that this blog will help give a voice to those like us who feel their views are not being listened to and maybe even be a catalyst for change.

Our goals are simple. We want to put local people first in education, health, housing and jobs. We want an end to political correctness and the squandering of taxpayers money on things which don't benefit local people directly.

We love our city and we will do our level best to promote what is positive as much as we'll be speaking out against the negative.

Initially there will be sections on our culture and heritage, education and enterprise, local news and media, politics and government (i.e Aberdeen Council and the work of our MSPs and MPs) and local sport and recreation, but everything that happens in the city can and should be of concern to her citizens and other sections may be added in time.

If there is an issue or story you want us to cover please do get in touch and let's see what we can do to make life better in Aberdeen for Aberdonians!