Lavender Hills Care Home Welcomes Local MP

A care home in Ramsbottom welcomed a visit from their local MP, Andy MacNae, to address residents’ challenges regarding the NHS.

Kala Morton, Home Manager at Lavender Hills Care Home, part of the Millennium Care Group, invited the Labour MP for Rossendale and Darwen to the home following a recent managers’ coffee morning, where residents raised concerns about the National Health Service.

The monthly coffee mornings, which began in May this year, offer residents the opportunity to discuss matters that are important to them and provide feedback on changes around the home. Andy’s visit is not the first to come from these meetings; last month, a palliative nurse from Bury Hospice also visited the home. Additionally, Kala has reached out to the Blind Society in response to a request from one of the residents.

During his visit, Andy listened to the residents’ questions and concerns, which included challenges with hospital transport, difficulties in obtaining appointments, and long GP waiting lists. One resident, Maureen, a former nurse, shared her positive experiences of working in the NHS, offering a heartfelt perspective. While Andy acknowledged the current challenges facing the NHS, he emphasised that we, as a country, should also take pride in the service’s many successes.

Andy MacNae, local MP said:
“It was massively important for me to come today. It’s very easy to get removed from the real world, parliament, Westminster is a weird place and so actually having proper conversations with people who are really well informed and have really thought it through and are coming up with practical issues and practical solutions is brilliant.”

Kala Morton, Home Manager said:
“It’s really nice that we can give the residents that voice. It keeps them part of the community as well, it gives them that community spirit. Having Andy in to speak to them has made the residents feel heard and I think that’s really important. It was lovely to see them having such strong views and personalities. It’s made me want to do more for them, to be able to get more people in.”

Andy shared his plans to return to the home in the new year, expressing his commitment to continuing meaningful conversations with residents.