Minutes of the Basingstoke & Deane Over 55’s Open Forum Meeting held on Wednesday 10th December 2014.

Present: 218 members attended, as indicated on the Register, with 12 visitors.

1. WELCOME

Following the AGM, the Chairman, Graham Finlayson (GF), formally opened the meeting by welcoming all members and gave the usual reminder on H&S matters. He hoped that guests would find the session interesting and enjoyable and would consider joining the Forum.

GF gave the usual reminder on H&S matters and asked members to turn off mobile phones. Thanks were due to all those who had generously donated so many raffle prizes, with special thanks to the volunteers who kindly sold the tickets, to those members who had set out the chairs, to our volunteers on car parking duty and, very importantly, to those volunteers serving refreshments! He said that St John Ambulance were present for this meeting but he hoped they would not be needed.

GF went on to remind everyone about the book exchange scheme and if you did not have a book to exchange, a donation would be appreciated. He also gave a reminder that juices would be served at the front of the room, as at previous meetings, and raffle tickets were also on sale at the front of the hall.

2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

Copies of the Minutes of previous meetings were available on the web site www.bdover55sforum.btck.co.uk but members could request copies from the Secretary, Gerald Merritt (GM). GF expressed thanks to Marian Wilson for her hard work in producing our Newsletters every two months.

3. MATTERS ARISING

There no matters arising from the October meeting.

4. OPEN FORUM MEETINGS AND OTHER MATTERS

GF reminded existing members that the reduced renewal fee of £5 only applied up to the end of December so it was important to make payment as soon as possible. Also, if payment was not received by 31st January, the membership would be closed, any payment thereafter being treated as a new member and added to the waiting list.

GF said that the committee was concerned about the drop in attendance at the Core Fitness sessions with the result that the level of subsidy was now considerably more than when the sessions started. Doreen Davies then gave a brief talk on what the sessions involved and encouraged more members to take part. GF added that the committee was happy to continue to subsidise if the numbers were sufficient.

The meeting dates for the 2015 Open Forums were displayed in the December Newsletter but are subject to change. In view of the change by HCC which means bus passes cannot be used before 09.30am, the start of the meetings will be put back to 10.15, starting in April. There are still some tickets left for the Tea Dance on 16th December and anyone interested should see Gerald.

One of our members had recently been screened for Abdominal Aortic Aneurism and recommended all men over the age of 65 to be screened. Screening is free and more information is available by phone 01784 884859 or email .

5. 2014/2014 EVENTS AND HHFT REPORT

Secretary, Gerald Merritt (GLM) said the Hospital was running well, with few problems. The inspection visits still take place, unannounced, and the views of the staff and patients are considered when the information is fed back to the wards etc.

In future, trip information will be released for the next 3 months only and payment will be requested at the time of booking. The next Newsletter will have the details of the trips which are to Dover Castle, Warner Studios and the Ideal Home Exhibition. The New Year trip has yet to be arranged but will be to Porthcawl at a cost of £299 and Alfa Travel will again be used.

GF said the Committee was planning to, once again, offer a free trip in 2015 to all members who had been on 3 or more trips in 2014. We were looking at other ways the Forum could benefit the community and one such possible action was to offer Xmas decorations to care homes in the area. Meanwhile, if any member had any suggestions for other benefits, we would be very pleased to listen.

6. HHFT COUNTER FRAUD

The presentation was given by Alec Gaines who is the local counter fraud specialist for the NHS. He explained that this session would explain what "fraud" is, why fraud is a problem for the NHS, examine some case examples, introduce the Local Counter Fraud Specialist and provide an overview of the NHS Counter Fraud Strategy.

Alec explained that he was diagnosed with major heart problems at the age of 3 but the cardiothoracic surgeon, Sir Keith Ross, saved his life with a series of operations. To make these sort of miracles happen, money is required.

Alec then went on to describe a number of cases where fraud had taken place: Graham Woodworth stole £174,000 from the NHS but was imprisoned, Shirley Jones stole £1,800 from an elderly lady for a holiday and was also imprisoned, Alan Clover was given community service for keeping £32,000 overpaid in wages, Christine White conned the NHS out of 20,000 tablets to feed a drug habit and Victoria Gruber falsely claimed £3,655 in overtime and not only lost her job but had to repay the money.

A student midwife, Anna Fairney was jailed for falsifying birth records to show that she had delivered 30 babies and Paul Bell went to prison for 18 months for stealing £56,000 from the NHS cafeteria where he worked.

All the above were investigated for fraud. There are three types of fraud: False representation, abuse of a position of trust and fraud by omission. All are criminal offences; fraud is NT a victimless crime and it is estimated to cost the NHS £5 billion each year. As tax payers and patients, it therefore affects us all.

The role of the Local Counter Fraud Specialist (LCFS) is to implement a counter fraud strategy which involves:

·  Building an ‘anti-fraud’ culture by provision of counter fraud material and Staff training (4,000 trained last year).

·  Preventing and deterring fraud by identifying System weaknesses, sharing intelligence, working with auditors and providing input to policy.

·  Holding to account by Consideration of ‘Parallel Sanctions’ be they criminal, disciplinary, financial recovery or referral to professional body.

The results of the above actions are: high fraud awareness, the organisation is protected, allegations are dealt with promptly and professionally, with the highest possible ratings from NHS Protect.

To sum up Fraud is always a risk, LCFS helps protect the Trust and save money.

Q: Are there frauds by contractors and/or companies?

A: Yes, and organisations are investigated and dealt with. These may be on a national basis eg advertising.

Q: What about "whistleblowers"?

A: They may contact me and it would be in total confidence.

7. TALK BY OUR PATRON LAWRIE MCMENEMY

Lawrie McMenemy gave a very interesting and entertaining talk about the various things he has done, starting with his time in Gateshead where he came from. He emphasised that retirement was not about putting your feet up but to keep doing something, either voluntary work or a part time occupation.

He joined the Coldstream Guards and spent 3 months at Caterham followed by 2 months at Purbright. He had to dig trenches as part of the discipline but the "expert" was a man from Cornwall who was a grave digger.

Lawrie thought that National Service was a good way of learning discipline and it helped him get into football. Following an injury, he went into coaching and was Manager at Southampton for 12 years. In those days, the club had a team of "gentlemen" but it now has foreign owners who treat it as a business. Now there are too many "layers" between the Chairman and the players.

Brian Clough and Bobbie Robson were also managers at the time. Sir Alf Ramsey managed Ipswich and England and retired at Ipswich. Lawrie went on to talk about Paul Gascoigne who was also from Gateshead. He was a natural player and loved football but, sadly, is now often on the streets. He also spoke about Brian Clough who was a character but also successful and got the best from players, although he probably stayed at the club too long.

In 2003, Lawrie was invited to attend the Special Olympics which is for athletes with disabilities such as Downs Syndrome and autism. They were started in the USA by the Kennedys. The event covered 22 sports and was held in Dublin, where there were 35,000 volunteers and a crowd of 80,000. Even the IRA was represented! Lawrie stayed on to provide football coaching.

There were 1,000 athletes from the USA, with stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mohammed Ali (in a golf buggy) in support. 4 years later the games were held in Shanghai, then Greece and the next event will be in the USA. Lawrie said that volunteers are always wanted for the games when they are held in the UK.

Lawrie went on to talk about Susan Boyle who is well known and suffers from Aspergers. She has two friends from school who do most things for her so that she can just sing.

Q: While you were manager at Southampton who do you think was the best player?

A: Ronaldo is one of the best today. The problem that England Managers have today is the lack of top English players. Lawrie remembered the great English players such as Kevin Keegan, Mick Shannon, Peter Osgood and Alan ball.

8. SONGS & CAROLS WITH THE CARNIVAL CHORUS

The Forum's own choir, the Carnival Chorus, gave a very professional and enjoyable concert of carols and favourite songs, with some audience participation.

9.. CLOSE OF MEETING

Before closing, GF reminded members that subscriptions for next year were due and, if paid before the end of December, would be reduced from £6 to £5 each. He wished everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The meeting closed at 1.00pm.

Diane Anderson – Committee Member

Graham Finlayson - Chairman

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