Like the Toxteth Park workhouse, those last three eventually became hospital sites and all since disappeared. In addition, there were what effectively amounted to children’s workhouses in Westminster Road (Kirkdale Industrial School) and Olive Mount and Fazakerley Cottage Homes sites. I wonder how many modern day Liverpudlians have an ancestor who was compelled by circumstance to enter one of these local workhouses “living off he parish” in the dim and distant past?
OUR National Health Service has provided excellent service to the British public for more than 60 years and I have benefited greatly from this myself. However, in the last decade, we have seen a number of scandals whereby patients in certain hospitals have died unnecessarily with subsequent cover-ups, most notably with Mid-Staffordshire and Morecambe Bay trusts. The Government now claims to be actively seeking a better way to safeguard patients’ best interests. Is it just a coincidence that these scandals have arisen in the years since the last Labour government made the cardinal error of abolishing the very effective Community Health Councils (CHCs) and replacing them with not very much at all? CHCs had representation from many sections of the community, including local councillors and patients and, among other things, carried out regular inspections of hospitals on their patch. I particularly remember how well the late Lily Hopkins defended the public interest as chair of Liverpool Central and Southern CHC. If the Government means what it says, it should bring back CHCs as soon as possible.
MERSEYSIDE Chief Constable Jon Murphy is doing a commendable job in his fight against big time crime. He has called for police to be given power to seize flash cars if it is suspected a vehicle was bought with proceeds of criminal activity. But there is something the chief can order his officers to do now, without a change in the law. His officers should challenge every car being driven around with blacked out windows. Liverpool isn’t the sub-Sahara with scorching heat needing protection from the midday sun. So, what are drivers and their passengers trying to hide? Even with the recent hot spell, there is no need for anything other than mildly tinted windows. The 1986 Construction and Use Regulations make it illegal for a car to be used unless 75% of daylight is allowed through the front windscreen, and 70% through the front side windows. Surprisingly, no controls apply to cars’ rear windows. Police and vehicle examiners can slap an immediate prohibition order on cars with illegal windscreens. The law is in place to ensure drivers have good visibility, but one wonders whether drivers just don’t want to be seen.