Latest news with #ShabinaQayyum
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Peterborough City Council suggests new site for dementia centre
A new location has been proposed for a city's dementia resource centre after concerns were raised about plans to move it into a City Council is selling the building where the centre is currently based, on Lincoln Road in originally proposed moving the centre to Bretton Library but now says it is looking at a relocation to Paston Farm Community Qayyum, the council's cabinet member for public health and adult social care, said: "We know there were concerns about the prospect of a move to Bretton Library, including parking arrangements and noise levels at this location." She said the council had been working with the Alzheimer's Society, which runs the centre, to find other possible sites."Paston Farm Community Centre has recently become available and we believe it would make an ideal location," she said. The proposed move to Bretton proved unpopular with some library users, who raised concerns about the impact on library activities if space was the plans, the library would have occupied about two-thirds of its current space, with the rest going to the dementia current dementia centre building is one of several properties the council is selling off to plug a black hole in its finances, although a deal to sell the building fell through earlier this council said this gave it a chance to reassess its options for the service, and look at alternative locations to the authority said Paston Farm Community Centre offered a good amount of space and facilities such as a cafe, social space, group rooms and council said the move was not finalised, but that residents would be kept up to speed on its progress. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Peterborough Industrial Hub for disabled is saved from closure
A hub that teaches skills to adults with learning disabilities and autism will not close down, the local council has City Council had proposed withdrawing funding from the Industrial Hub to save £500,000 a year from its day opportunities this week, Labour councillor Shabina Qayyum said continuing to fund the service was the "right thing to do".Julie Cyngier, whose son Richard attends the hub, said the announcement was "amazing news". The council proposed cutting the funding for the hub in its 2025-26 budget, and in April, it said a public consultation would be than 2,000 people have signed a petition opposed to its Cyngier said: "Richard can't believe it; that the hub has been saved."The last six weeks have been unbelievably upsetting."Last week, Qayyum said the decision to close the hub had been "taken off the table for now".Campaigner Hayleigh Janceski said this statement was "ambiguous".But following the councillor's latest news, Ms Janceski said: "It is a broken hallelujah but right now we are grateful."She has listened to our concerns and came out firmly to say the closure is off the table."The problem now is that there have been massive failings that have happened."The detrimental effect on our well-being has been far and wide and we need to make sure that is acknowledged." Qayyum, who is the cabinet member for public health and adult social care, said council officers would "engage with service users to see how [the hub] can be further developed""I realise the distress this has caused to those who have used the hub and their families. But it needed to be rectified," she said."This was a collaborative effort from me and my cabinet team, the council leader Dennis Jones who listened to my concerns and both the [local] MPs who backed my decision and agreed to keep the hub open." Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
09-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Weight loss service could be cut by Peterborough City Council
Services which aim to help people lose weight could be dropped as a council grapples with a £440,000 shortfall in public health City Council said its government grant had increased since last year but was "simply not enough" to fund all its work, including in the area of changing people's behaviour to improve their has begun a consultation and said proposed savings could be made by cutting health trainers and adult weight loss management Qayyum, cabinet member for public health and adult social care, said it was looking at cutting services where there was "choice over providing, where the impact is lowest, and where there are alternatives offered by the NHS". Instead, the focus would be shifted to activities aimed at preventing people becoming overweight, including advice around diet and exercise. People would still be able to receive weight management support from the NHS, while health checks - provided by GP practices - would be reduced at community around smoking cessation and children's weight management would continue to be funded, the council consultation does not include mandatory services, including in the areas of substance misuse, health visitors and sexual health."Previous directors of public health have written to the government about the severe underfunding of public health services in Peterborough and the impact this is having on our ability to address health inequalities," added Qayyum, a Labour councillor."The government is listening and in January announced an uplift in the region of £400,000 in our public health grant for the current financial year."However, with the demands from our growing population, and now that we have a dedicated Peterborough public health service following the conclusion of the shared service with Cambridgeshire County Council, this simply isn't enough to continue providing all the services we have been."The consultation closes at midnight on 25 June, with comments to be considered before a recommendation is made to cabinet in July. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
05-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Only one Peterborough adult social services complaint upheld
A complaint made on behalf of a man with severe health issues was the only one against Peterborough City Council's adult social services upheld by the ombudsman over the course of a case was one of 49 taken to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman between April 2023 and March 2024."The number of complaints being received about adult social care services in Peterborough is low, both compared with neighbouring authorities and in terms of the numbers of people receiving services," said Shabina Qayyum, Labour cabinet member for adults and health.A total of 4,357 people received support during the 12 months. The average complaint response time was 23 working days, according to the Local Democracy Reporting figures form part of an annual review into complaints to be discussed at the council's adults and health scrutiny committee on 11 case upheld by the ombudsman involved a man who complained about the care provided to his son, who has severe autism, learning and communication difficulties, and complainant said the council failed to arrange a Section 117 review for his son despite a recommendation by the ombudsman in May 2022.A Section 117 means a patient gets free aftercare when they leave hospital for support or services linked to their council was ordered by the ombudsman to apologise, and to pay £100 to the complainant. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
13-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
AI chatbot Bridgit rolled out to Cambridgeshire's carers
An artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot has been rolled out to carers to provide a "one stop shop" for information and platform - called Bridgit - is hosted by the Caring Together Charity and can be contacted through its website or via is designed to fit around the lives of carers, who in theory will get instant answers to questions, advice addressed directly to them - and links to relevant Thulbourn, Labour cabinet member for regeneration on Peterborough City Council, told a meeting on Tuesday that the rollout of Bridgit showed the authority was "not running away from [AI]" but "running towards it". Caring Together, which works across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Norfolk, said Bridgit was intended to "complement – not replace – the in-person services available in your area".It said the system drew on "trusted sources from around the UK" including the NHS, Age UK and Carers name was inspired by its goal of "bridging gaps" in care support. Users can click on a combination of issues they would like help with, such as mobility, carer role affecting work and stress - and receive bespoke advice, videos, events and lists of local and national organisations which can provide further support. It was developed in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council. Shabina Qayyum, a GP in the city and cabinet member for adults and health, said the council said the rollout of Bridgit was "going very well in terms of the outcomes, uptake and feedback".The council said local primary care networks and voluntary organisations such as Family Voice were now piloting its use as well. 'Holistic approach' The council said in meeting documents that the digital AI programme was aimed at increasing the "independence and wellbeing of service users and carers, reducing their reliance on formal care and support".They say that taking a "holistic and person-centred approach" to meeting needs would "reduce costs, while also being favourable to users".Council documents also said the number of overdue care reviews in Peterborough had risen. "We are implementing an AI tool to help with writing up reviews to allow staff more time for review visits," the papers meanwhile, collects data from those who use it, which Caring Together said is encrypted and stored securely through either Amazon AWS or Microsoft can also write notes on how they are doing and track this over time on the platform and as well as listing their conditions and medications for themselves or the people in their care. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
