Patients let down !!

Patients at the Oakleigh Medical Centre are being badly let down by the Manchester Primary Care Trust , the NHS body responsible for GP services

The PCT promised that when Dr Simenoff retires at the end of the month , patients would be reallocated to another local practice . Instead , patients are being sent to the NHS white elephant clinic right at the other end of Cheetham Hill when there are at least 5 GP practices much, much nearer - 3 within walking distance . It seems to me , that having built the clinic in the wrong place the PCT now have to fill it and as a result it is Crumpsall residents that will have to trek down there . They don't seem to have any consideration for older residents or the many people without cars . The City Council has taken this up in the strongest terms with the PCT and hopefully we will get something more sensible out of them .

Carnival Time !

Pirates on parade as Crumpsall Carnival celebrates its 11th year
Ahoy there landlubbers! Crumpsall Carnival celebrates its 11th year in style with a Caribbean pirate theme on Sunday 24 June.
The fun kicks off in Herristone Park at 12.30pm when the costumed festival parade, featuring a pirate ship and including a samba band, scouts, guides, cadets and local schoolchildren, sets off.
It will arrive in Crumpsall Park at 1pm when Lord Mayor of Manchester Councillor Glynn Evans will formally open the event, hosted by the Friends of Crumpsall Park in partnership with the City Council.
The park will be the venue for a host of entertainment including the Bloco Novo samba band on the main stage, judging of the fancy dress competition, winners of a talent contest hosted by Northern Air Radio, Smiley the Clown, dancers and more live music.
Other attractions includes a tea dance with the Crumpsall Concert Band, six-a-side football, tennis and boxing taster sessions and a funfair. Health and jobs information will also be available.
Councillor Mike Kane, Executive Member for Culture and Leisure, said: "Crumpsall Carnival is an enjoyable family event which continues to grow in popularity. It’s a real community celebration with something for everyone. This year’s pirate theme promises a swashbucklingly good time for all!"
Chair of the Friends of Crumpsall Park, Tom Sogbetun, said: "The Crumpsall Carnival is an event for everyone to enjoy. It brings the whole community together once a year for this multi cultural carnival and encourages greater use of our park. It’s been going for more than a decade now and keeps getting bigger."
Crumpsall is one of Manchester’s oldest parks opened in the 1890s. It was one of the first to see the shift towards providing open space for leisure and sport. The11-acre park remains one of the most used in the city.
The carnival runs from 12noon-4.30pm at Crumpsall Park.

and the winner is ....

Chenelle Martine - seen here with Crumpsall Talent night host and Northern Air Radio Star Dave Beedie..

Chenelle was one of a number of entrants to perform her own material as well as opening her three song performance with a stunning Gladys Knight cover . The quality of all the performers [ pictured left with Dave ] was , as promised , superb and the judges had a really difficult time seperating out the top three and the overall winner . You can see some of the judges , including me on the left , in the photo above listening intently . My job was made even more difficult in that I had one of the entrants number one fan , her mother , sat right next to me . The Cleveland was heaving and provided a great venue for a great night . If you missed it then you can catch the top three when they perform live at Crumpsall Carnival on the afternoon of Sunday , June 24th . [ If you look carefully you might notice Dave is sitting in a NMGH wheelchair and has been spending more time of late listening to the radio so it was great to see him back on stage ] .Thanks too to Tom Sogbetun for the photos .

Concern Over GP

The announcement that long-standing local GP Dr Simenoff is to retire at the end of June has shocked and worried his many patients . Many have contacted me wanting an answer to the question of where they will go to see a doctor after the end of the month . The Manchester Primary Care Trust , the part of the NHS responsible for GPs in the city , has contacted the Council and say that they are in the process of allocating all of Dr Simenoff's patients to new , local doctors and that there are enough doctors in the area to cope . Once they have done this they will write to all patients offering them a place on another GP practice's list . Obviously your three Councillors will keep in touch with the Primary Care Trust to monitor what is going on and to try and ensure that everybody in this position gets reassurance as soon as possible .

Clearly Dr Simenoff's retirement is nobody's fault but we need to make sure that nobody is left without an easily accessible local doctor .

I'm sure all of Dr Simenoff's loyal patients would also want to join us in wishing him well in retirement

BEATLES REFORM FOR CRUMPSALL TALENT NIGHT

Maybe not , but next Saturday night's Northern Air Radio talent night at Crumpsall's famous Cleveland Hotel could just unearth the next big thing . The talent night , organised by Northern Air Radio's and Crumpsall Carnival Committee's Dave Beedie , has now become an established event in its own right aswell as a great warm up for the Carnival a couple of weeks later and is a highlight of the Crumpsall cultural calender . Our skillful team have been sifting through demo CDs and promise not only a fantastic line-up but also an all new line-up . None of the acts appearing this Saturday have previously appeared in the competition . The talent night is always fantastic entertainment , is free and is always packed out so arrive early if you want a seat . I've been bullied into being a judge [ 3rd choice apparently after Con and Jon ] but at least it does guarantee me a seat . See you on Saturday !!!

.................and the sunshines on Herristone Park

The sun shone on Herristone Park this afternoon for the annual fun day . There was entertainment from the Crumpsall Comets , and other activities including face-painting , a football tournament , art activities , refreshments and a clown [ with me in the photo - joke !! ] for the younger children . All the work was done by by Chris and Gail and other local residents from the Friends of Herristone Park . I just went along to enjoy the event but got roped in to blowing up a few inflatable pirate swords - don't ask - for the Crumpsall Carnival stand . To be fair to Con , he'd been there since noon helping put up marquees [ or so he claims ] . Parks staff , Bill , Lisa , Martin , and Andrew were there to add their support and loads of local residents of all ages turned up to enjoy a great afternoon .