Monday 31st March 

A well-attended West Cornwall HealthWatch Annual General Meeting was held last Friday, 28th March. The meeting heard calls for the St Clare site in Penzance to incorporate an all-inclusive Integrated Care Centre, incorporating all the services currently provided by Poltair Hospital along with Social Care workers, community hospital beds and training for domiciliary care and voluntary workers. It could also include extra care housing, and a GP centre.

Members heard that in some quarters the visionary West Cornwall HealthWatch proposal has been described as a 'game changer', and members strongly hope that this will be the case. Guest speaker Jim McKenna gave a Cornwall Council perspective on the St Clare site; he also discussed the challenges of centralisation, where we may find that more services including A&E are moved out of county; and also the need to integrate health and social care budgets.

During the meeting Jane Varker was elected chairman of West Cornwall HealthWatch for the coming year, and a new committee was voted in.

West Cornwall HealthWatch is always keen to hear from the people of west Cornwall whom it seeks to represent. Please contact us with your opinions and your comments - the best way is through our website: www.westcornwallhealthwatch.com or email westcornwallhealthwatch@yahoo.co.uk