Stay home, protect our NHS and save lives!

Everyone is at risk at this time

As I write this, we have had the news that the Prime Minister has been taken into Intensive Care. If this is not a measure of the seriousness of this illness, which will attack anyone, then what is? Our prayers are with Boris and all of those suffering from this illness.  Our applause must be for all those on the front line fighting this illness, and for all those involved in this war in every walk of life.

My personal thanks also go to our own officer team, led by the Chief Executive, at the forefront of the campaign in Solihull and the West Midlands.

As we enter our third week of staying at home to protect out NHS, some may be wondering how much longer these restrictions will have to be in place.  As yet, we do not know. We have not reached the peak and we must continue.

Her Majesty the Queen said on Sunday: “Together we are tackling this disease and if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it” and “that success will belong to each and every one of us”.

By staying home, we are giving our NHS the window of opportunity to scale up its response. For example, our own NEC Nightingale hospital will be accepting patients soon, and helping our NHS cope with the expected increase in demand.

From a Council perspective, we are doing everything necessary to support our most vulnerable.    We know that out of the 1.5 million extremely vulnerable people nationally, there are over 3,000 in Solihull. GPs will continue to add to this number and we are cross referencing these people with our own adult social care service users to make sure we don’t miss anyone.

We have directly contacted nearly 500 on the list and have issued a small number of emergency food parcels when required. We are now ramping up our capacity to undertake over 600 wellbeing calls every day to check our most vulnerable people are OK.  I’m sure everyone will understand that, to do this work effectively, we will have to prioritise our focus on only our most vulnerable.

Our parks remain open for the moment. Currently we have no dog walking Public Space Protection Orders in place in any of Solihull’s parks. We have always taken the view that our parks should be open and accessible to all, but we do expect dog walkers to control their dogs and be considerate to other users. In Shirley, we have had to close our extremely popular dog agility play area in Shirley Park. This is a small enclosure, making it impossible for people to adhere to the social distancing requirements.

In accordance with government guidance, we have had to close the cemeteries at Robin Hood and Woodlands, other than for funerals. There is a security presence at the main gates to control access and to ensure the limit of six mourners at a service is not exceeded. This will be very distressing for families, but it is vital to minimise the risk of transmission and protect both mourners, and the business-critical workforce at the crematoria. I do hope families can think about a celebration of life, or a memorial, after the pandemic has finished.

At this difficult time, can I share a thought with you.

Many will know that I am passionate about trees and the need to see more in the borough: we want many, many more to be planted here in the coming years. Our Love Solihull team has been running a competition for children and has already had over 150 entries.  It asks them to create, paint or draw a ‘Tree of Hope’ and receive a free tree in the form of an unbranched young tree seedling (tree whip).

Thinking about planting a tree in our current situation is a practical way of us all looking to the future. It is one way we can symbolise that this pandemic will pass.  All children have to do is send their ‘Tree of Hope’ designs to Love Solihull via [email protected], Twitter or Instagram and claim a tree whip for this autumn’s planting season (which starts in November 2020).

I want to echo the team’s desire to share positivity, hope and love within the borough at this most unsettling time for everyone.

‘Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives’.