COVERING WOKINGHAM, FINCHAMPSTEAD, EARLEY, WINNERSH, SHINFIELD, WOODLEY, TWYFORD & SURROUNDING AREAS
THEWOKINGHAMPAPER WOKINGHAM.TODAY
THE VOICE OF THE BOROUGH
Thursday, September 17, 2020 No. 279
Second wave: RBH ready to go
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EXCLUSIVE By PHIL CREIGHTON pcreighton@wokinghampaper.co.uk THE ROYAL BERKSHIRE HOSPITAL says it is ready for any second wave of the coronavirus.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Janet Lippett told Wokingham.Today that the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust had learnt a lot from the first wave in the spring and has adequate PPE for the future. But it is not a place for people to turn up thinking they’ve got Covid-19 symptoms and need a test. “The best thing for people to do, if they have got symptoms they are worried about, is to call 111 and have triage over the phone. People will be reassured or, if it was felt that they need a test, then they will be able to make provisions for it. “But please don’t come to the Royal Berkshire too – we are as busy as we would be in a normal winter already.” Dr Lippett added that earlier this week, the hospital’s A&E department was busier than this time last year, so it was important that people didn’t turn up hoping to get a Covid test. “We are managing very few, if any, patients with Covid, but if we do get busy with Covid patients again I don’t think anyone will be wanting to come down here unnecessarily,” she said. Patients can also help by turning up to appointments on time, an essential in normal times but even more so during the pandemic. “We are able to get patients safely through outpatients or when they’ve come in for diagnostic tests and radiology,” she explained. “We have to schedule the appointments with gaps in between so that we can ensure the rooms are adequately cleaned. “If people attend late, it makes that scheduling complicated, we start running into the next appointment which isn’t helpful or wise. � Continued on page 17
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Taxi association renews call for council support
EXCLUSIVE By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokinghampaper.co.uk TAXI DRIVERS across Wokingham are using foodbanks to sustain their families, which they say was caused by a lack of support from the council during the pandemic.
In June, members of the Wokingham Borough Hackney Drivers Association
called for the borough council to take a more lenient approach with licence fees. At the time, Muhammed Arshad, who chaired the Association, said: “Rather than giving us some relief, the council is forcing us to pay for nonurgent courses, while we are out of a job and not making any money. If we don’t, we’d face license suspensions.” Now, Mr Arshad has stepped down
from the Association and has decided to permanently end his taxi career in Wokingham. “I’ve had enough,” he said. “We’ve tried to find a solution but the council has offered no support at all. “They made us take online courses during lockdown, which can cost £20 to £50. We’re not working and they’re pushing people to the limit.” � Continued on page 6
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