Keep up to date with all the big stories from across Greater Manchester in the daily Mancunian Way newsletter. You can receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by signing up right here.
Here's the latest edition of The Mancunian Way:
Hello,
Christmas is always a busy time for NHS staff, but a senior medic says this year has been ‘beyond anything we have experienced before’.
Professor Jane Eddleston has issued an urgent plea asking that people only attend A&E or call 999 if their condition is life threatening.
As Greater Manchester medical executive lead for acute care, she says medics are dealing with ‘unprecedented levels’ of attendance at emergency departments, while staff sickness and increased prevalence of flu and Covid have led to ‘very long waits in emergency departments and for ambulances’.
“The first day back after the Christmas break is always busy for NHS services but today has been beyond anything we have experienced before,” she says. “We are making an urgent plea to the public in Greater Manchester to only call 999 or attend Accident and Emergency Departments if their condition is a life-threatening emergency.”
Anyone with flu or Covid-like symptoms is urged to stay at home so as not to pass infection on to others.
Prof Eddleston says the public can make use of NHS 111 online and phone services as well as GP and pharmacy services to ease pressure on hospitals.
However it appears those working in primary care are also struggling. Some GP surgeries in the region today sent out messages asking people to only contact them if their problem is urgent.
One such message spoke of ‘significant problems due to GP and staff sickness’ and said the practice is currently ‘only able to accept urgent medical problems’.
The warnings come after at least ten ambulances were pictured waiting outside Royal Bolton Hospitals' busy A&E department on Wednesday evening, as James Holt reports.
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust said the emergency department was experiencing 'extremely high levels of activity'.
"The number of people attending our Emergency Department is really high and we are working through everyone who needs our help as soon as we possibly can," they said. "People who do not have an urgent need will experience extremely long waits while we treat the people who need us the most."
The North West Ambulance Service said the first day back after the Christmas break is ‘traditionally an extremely busy day’.
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has also warned of 'very busy' emergency departments, with A&E only for 'serious and life-threatening conditions'.
'We sit in the dark'
When the weather gets colder, Vania's joints become stiffer - but she won't turn the heating on. "We don't want a big bill to hit us," she told Joseph Timan. "But I spend most of my time in bed, so it's okay."
Vania has a central nerve function disease which means that she cannot walk without a four-wheeled rollator. She relies on her partner and full-time carer Darren to drive her in their mobility car - but she hardly leaves the house thanks to soaring petrol prices.
"We sit in the dark," she said. "We have the TV on, but we don't tend to keep any lights on anymore."
Vania hasn’t seen her mum, who lives in Weston-super-Mare, since before the pandemic and plans to visit over Christmas were postponed when energy costs and her mortgage payments increased. The family is now facing the prospect of using a foodbank for the first time.
Joseph spoke to Vania to highlight the stark situation for disabled people living in Greater Manchester during the cost of living crisis.
The Disabled People's Panel recently surveyed hundreds of disabled people in the region and found that one in five did not have enough money to buy basics. Half said they were eating less and seven out of 10 were already having to use less heat and light despite the same proportion having to use more gas and electric due to their disability.
Scope says higher energy bills are making the situation far worse - even with government schemes in places - as higher heating requirements, specific food needs and powered wheelchairs can make living as a disabled person more expensive.
‘I can't do it anymore’
The tragic death of Awaab Ishak cast a long shadow over Greater Manchester.
The toddler died after prolonged exposure to mould at his family's home on Rochdale’s Freehold estate. The housing association in charge was been condemned for its failings with damp, mould and the way it responds to complaints.
But many more social housing residents have been in touch with the Manchester Evening News regarding issues at their homes.
Reporter Stephen Topping has been speaking to people in Tameside, including Gemma Hotchkiss, who had to have her carpet taken out because of damp. She is recovering from an operation and told Stephen: “I'm trying to make a home for my children whilst recovering, and I can't do it anymore.
"I physically can't do it, and it's embarrassing having people round, because it's not done to how I like it. In the summer I get people to walk through the side gate and not the house, because I'm embarrassed. And they just expect you to live."
Gemma says she has spent thousands in constant 'whack-a-mole' type attempts to deal with issues in her Denton home. When she moved there a decade ago, she repainted walls, replaced skirting boards because of damp and had to get rid of half her corner sofa due to mould. Her bathroom also has mould - though she uses her extractor fan and says she opens her window as much as possible - and she spends £10 a week on refills for moisture collectors in her home.
But her main issue is with uneven flooring. And though repairs are due to take place, Gemma and her two young children will have to move out while they're done.
"The amount of times when I've just wanted to walk out the door and never come back, because I get one room done, it looks really nice, and then something happens and ruins it all. And I have to re-do the whole thing, all over again, spend money I haven't got, getting into debt to fix the house,” she says.
Stephen has been speaking to neighbours in Tameside and the housing association which runs the properties. You can read the full piece here.
The happiest place around
It’s got a hipster market, top schools and a beautiful country park - which is perhaps why Altrincham has been named one of Rightmove happiest places to live in Britain.
Reporter Maisie Lawton has been speaking to people in the market town to find out what they love about the area.
Local Anne Fox says it’s got ‘everything for everyone’. "For Altrincham to be ranked within a system that includes the seaside town of St Ives is impressive - given we can't provide the stretches of beaches and landscapes they do.”
The town also has some of the most expensive homes in our region, with the average house price currently at £537,576.
"It's an expensive place to live which is probably going to be its downfall, but apart from that it's a buzzing place,” says Helen Bouch, who has lived in the town for 40 years. “You've got the market and all these different places to go, with new apartments and places to live. It's got a great atmosphere, with modish places to eat, drink, and socialise."
Meanwhile, former teacher, John O'Brien, 65, who has lived in the area for more than 50 years, says Altrincham is a ‘wealthy town’ with a good education system and property value. “I think it's quite a settled place and there's not a lot of violence in the town,” he says.
Quiz time!
Do you know your Downing Street gatherings from your mini-budgets? Then you’re in the right place.
We all like a good quiz at Christmas, which is why Northern Agenda editor Rob Parsons has compiled a deceptively difficult one about Northern politics over the last year.
Give it a go here and you can sign up for the Northern Agenda newsletter here.
Weather etc
- Friday: Overcast changing to light rain by late morning. 11C.
- Road closures: M62 Eastbound lane closed on entry slip road due to barrier repairs at J18 M66 J4 (Simister Island) until December 30.
- Airport: People arriving into Manchester Airport from Dec 28 to 31 should be prepared for potentially longer wait times at border control due to strike action.
- Christmas cracker: Why does your nose get tired in winter?
Manchester headlines
-
On the up: House prices rose nine per cent in Gorton this year, outpacing trendy nearby areas like Levenshulme, where prices rose by three per cent and Ardwick, where they fell by 28 per cent. A wave of multi-million pound projects is driving Gorton's regeneration. Schools, the area's amenities, transport links and the relative unaffordability of south Manchester are also bringing in buyers, locals and estate agents say.
- Coolest: Manchester has been ranked as one of the 'coolest' cities in the UK to live, according to travel blog Nomads Nation. While Manchester features on the list, London took the top spot and the small city of Portsmouth came in second. The top ten also featured Brighton in third, Edinburgh in fourth and Oxford in fifth, while Manchester ranked in sixth ahead of Bristol, Exeter, Belfast and Cardiff. Manchester was described as the city for those ‘looking for gritty but cool city life’.
- Airport: Travellers at Manchester Airport say they breezed through Passport Control yesterday - despite ongoing Border Force strikes. Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) members working as Border Force officers at Gatwick, Heathrow, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow airports - and the port of Newhaven - resumed strikes on Wednesday in a row over pay and conditions. Despite the expected disruption and warnings of potential long waits, travellers going through Manchester Airport have shared their surprise at the lack of queues upon reaching passport control, with many passing through within a matter of minutes. More here.
Worth a read
It would have been the world’s tallest observation tower, standing at 429ft - as tall as Blackpool Tower. But in the end Manchester turned its back on the idea.
Damon Wilkinson has been looking back at the plans for the i360, a structure designed by the architects behind the London Eye, which was eventually built in Brighton.
The futuristic 'vertical cable car' was envisaged as a cheaper alternative to the Eye and would have measured 4m in diameter, with an illuminated beacon at its tip. There were plans for a viewing capsule pod which would be slowly raised and lowered giving passengers spectacular 360-degree panoramic views over the city.
You can read more about it here.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
If you have enjoyed this newsletter today, why not tell a friend how to sign up?
The answer to today's trivia question is: It runs all day.
