The League of the Friends of Pembury Hospital

Welcome to the Nineteenth newsletter of The League of the Friends of Pembury Hospital. This is published regularly to update our existing members and to attract new members. If you would like more information about the League or matters in this newsletter, please contact Alan Davis, Honorary Secretary,

Letter from the Chairman

For many years we have organised a Summer Fete at Pembury Hospital, which has taken many months of planning. This year as we faced uncertainties over possible building development work at the hospital, increasing demands placed on our volunteers, and diminishing financial returns, we decided not to hold a fete.

The good news, however, is that whilst the debate over the siting of the new hospital rages on, and is not expected to be settled for some time, our other fundraising activities are continuing for the immediate benefit of the patients and staff at Pembury. In July we held a successful Summer Ball that raised over £7,400; our shop continues to sell a wide range of confectionery and stationery; we are maintaining our programme of collections outside major stores, and tickets are now being sent to members for our popular Grand Raffle, which will be drawn just prior to Christmas.

The League was formed in 1954, and next year we will be celebrating 50 years of fundraising and donations to Pembury Hospital. It is a record of which we are very proud. We are pleased when our efforts are recognised, and indeed we were delighted that Diana Barber, my predecessor as Chairman, was recently awarded the MBE for her charitable work.

We are always interested in hearing from anyone who would like to make a contribution to the well being of the patients and staff at Pembury Hospital, so if you can spare a few hours, please give us a call.

Gary Purdy

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Fundraising 2003-Summer Ball

A large luxury marquee was made available to us for a charity event by the High Sheriff of Kent & Mrs Monteuuis. Consequently the League organised a Summer Ball that, together with the raffle and cash bar, raised a fantastic profit of £7,400.

We are indebted to all those people helping with the arrangements at short notice, and especially our major sponsors Volvo Ltd and the Raymond and Blanche Lawson Charitable Trust.

We also thank the many hospital supporters who attended including no less than 15 consultants and their partners.

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The New Hospital

Rose Gibb was appointed Chief Executive of the Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust on 9 July, replacing Mark Davies, who had held the position on an interim basis following the resignation of Stephen Collinson in December 2002. Mrs Gibb is married with children, and lives in Cobham, Surrey. She is very experienced, having served as a Chief Executive of other NHS trusts. She heads a staff of 5,000 servicing a population of 500,000 across West Kent.

Her arrival follows the recent appointment of the new Trust Chairman James Lee. James is a local man, whose background is in business, having long media experience of running film and publishing companies. It is hoped that his experience of political, economic and financial issues will help the Trust in times of big change.

The League understands that the position of the PFI development of a new hospital can be summarised as follows :

The Trust's position has always been to build a new hospital for the Tunbridge Wells area as soon as possible The Council approved the Pembury site, and refused permission for Knight's Park. Therefore, the Trust planned the new hospital for Pembuiry. However, Kilmartin is taking the Council to a Judicial Review for alleged discrepancies in planning permission procedures. This is of no fault of the Trust, and the resulting delay could result in high costs whichever site is chosen, with an estimated delayed finishing date of 2009/10.

If the Council is challenged and gives permission for both sites, then any preference by the Trust is likely to be overridden by the PFI contractors, who will always choose a green field site, which is easier and cheaper to build on than a brown field site. However, Knight's Park is known to have faults, and will need a full expensive survey, as well as another delay, to give any contractor the safety factor for the coming years to protect its investment.

We further understand that the Council is unlikely to be allowed to give Knight's Park planning permission, as this would create a precedent for any Council in the country to have its 10 year development plan overturned for the wrong reasons

Gift Aid

It has come to our attention that the Inland Revenue have set new arrangements in place whereby we can claim Gift Aid on membership subscriptions from members who pay income tax. This allowance is backdated to April 2000.

A declaration is, therefore, enclosed with the Newsletter posted to members, and if you are a taxpayer, please help us by returning this to us duly signed so that the League can benefit from reclaiming this tax.

A declaration is, therefore, enclosed with this Newsletter, and if you are a taxpayer, please help us by returning this to us duly signed so that the League can benefit from reclaiming this tax.

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