PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
:
Minutes:
Question from Janice O Doherty
Recently my Mum had a bad fall whilst walking on a
footpath in Dunbeg.Ìý
I want to give thanks to the people in Dunbeg
who helped my Mum that day and also thank Councillor McKenzie for raising a
case on behalf of my Mum and our family, following her fall and the
unacceptable amount of time that she was made to wait for an emergency
response.
I wish to ask if local councillors are aware of any
issues within our local community, in relation to Scottish Ambulance Service
emergency response time, staffing and emergency vehicle provision?
I also wish to raise the issue of continuity of
emergency care being offered by medical practices in the local area, given the
fact that the Taynuilt Medical Practice refused to
get involved in assisting my Mum during her unacceptable wait for an ambulance
to arrive.
Response from Committee
The Committee Manager confirmed that he had
received the following response from the Scottish Ambulance Service:
“Oban ambulance station was given additional funding to end
on call commitments which now means it has 2 x 24-hour vehicles, the service
will always endeavour in covering all shifts but naturally throughout the
pandemic has resulted in shifts being uncovered like all other organisations ,
in the event of there being no ambulance within the Oban area due to
operational demand then Lochgilphead would be dispatched if available.
On receipt of a 999 call the call is triage using the recognized
"Manchester triage tool", this ensures the appropriate response is
provided, on completion of the triage will determine the level of response
which also activates the opportunity to use an alternative pathway which
includes falls screening to prevent non requirement attendance to a hospital.
MTS is the abbreviation for
the Manchester tool kit that gives a triage score,
this was introduced by the Medical Director and is used across all services in
Britain.
All triaging is being carried out by telephone
initially and then the use of video calling is used to allow eyes on the
patient to gain a more in-depth history if the patient consents as well as
signal coverage, the Advanced Paramedic who is embedded within the ambulance
control room has the authority to upgrade the call if required.â€
Members expressed their dissatisfaction to the
response of the Scottish Ambulance Service and concern around the lack of
correlation between the services involved.Ìý
Councillor McKenzie advised that she had written to
the Chief Officer of the Health and Social Care Partnership seeking an urgent
review into the matter, and requested that the outcome be reported to Elected
Members.Ìý
The Chair asked that the outcome of the review be
made available to the parties involved in the distressing incident.
Question from Alison
Craig, Comann nam ±Êà °ù²¹²Ô³Ù an Ã’²ú²¹¾±²Ô
Ms Craig spoke of her distress at finding a number
of Gaelic educational resources in a skip outside the Education Centre in Oban
and the subsequent publicity that followed this discovery.Ìý Ms Craig read the apology she had received
from the Council which included an undertaking to undertake a review of the
situation.Ìý Ms Craig sought assistance
from the Area Committee in the distribution of the reclaimed resources and also
enquired as to what they could do to change the views of the Council in regards
to the importance of the Gaelic provision.
Response from the
Committee
Having discussed the matter and expressing their
concern over the manner in which the disposal of books and resources was
handled by the Education Service, Members confirmed their support to Gaelic
culture and agreed that Ms Craig and other interested parties be invited to
attend a future Business Day meeting of the Area Committee to discuss the
importance and future direction of the Gaelic education and provision in the
Oban, Lorn and the Isles area.Ìý
Question from Marri
Malloy, Oban Community Council
Ms Malloy expressed her concern over the lack of
contact from the Roads and Infrastructure Service following the question posed
at the last meeting of the Area Committee regarding the Oban Traffic Regulation
Order (TRO).Ìý
Response from
Committee
The Chair confirmed that she had actively pursued
this matter and that Ms Malloy’s concerns would be passed to the appropriate officer
with a request from the Area Committee that a response to the original question
be provided within 7 days.Ìý
Questions from Duncan
Martin, Oban Community Council
1. At the last
meeting an undertaking was given that the process leading to a new TRO for Oban
would be restarted and that we would receive a reply to the email we had sent a
few weeks previously. We have not been contacted in the subsequent three
months. Can the Area Committee insist that officers respond to emails and
deliver on the undertakings they have given?
2. The report
to last week's Harbour Board is on the agenda. The Board realised that the
information in this report fell far short of what had been promised at the
December meeting, and therefore decided that an additional meeting had to
be scheduled before the Council elections. Has a date for this been
established? Oban Community Council is keen that the process of creating a new
harbour authority takes place as quickly as possible while maintaining the
stakeholder engagement which the rules mandate.
3. There seems
to be an established policy that Roads do not comment on Planning Applications
unless they are likely to generate a substantial increase in traffic, 10% I
believe. This allows repeated independent applications to be made along a
road (eg the back road to Connel)
without any consideration of the cumulative effect on traffic. Was this policy
decided by the PPSL Committee or internally by Officers?
Response from Committee
The
Chair confirmed that Mr Martin’s questions would be forwarded to the
appropriate department and a response in writing would be issued to him.Ìý
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