News

The NHS in the local area (BANES, Swindon & Wiltshire) is trying to find out more about why people make the decision to seek treatment at local Accident & Emergecy departments. We are looking to get as many people as possible to complete a survey so we can understand more.

Could you please help us improve hospital A&E services in the local area?

Have you been treated in an Accident & Emergency department recently? Complete the Big A&E Survey today

During 2024 there was a 5.6 per cent increase in visits to Accident and Emergency Departments in Bath, Swindon and Salisbury, mainly due to a rise in the number of ‘walk-in’ patients.

To help understand the reasons for this, Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire NHS Integrated Care Board (BSW ICB) has launched the Big A&E Survey – a major outreach exercise find out why more people are attending A&E departments in Bath, Swindon and Salisbury.

In order to bring waiting times down, BSW ICB needs to understand why more people are going to A&Es instead of using other NHS services, such as GP surgeries, Minor Injury Units or the NHS 111 service. With BSW’s population growing all the time, it’s crucial to know the reasons behind this trend.

Over the next three months, BSW ICB is working with Healthwatch and hospitals in Bath, Swindon and Salisbury to find out more through the Big A&E Survey.

There will be face-to-face questionnaires carried out at all three A&Es in BSW. Additionally, a digital survey will explore why patients choose EDs and their awareness of other treatment options. It will also look for any health inequalities and service gaps.

The findings will be analysed to understand what’s behind the rising demand and to make recommendations for plans to reduce this demand and improve communication with specific population groups needing support.

How you can get involved

Have you or a family member attended an Accident and Emergency Department in BSW recently? If so, completing our short survey by clicking the link below or scanning the QR code will help us understand why people at going to the A&Es and the decision-making process for patients attending them for treatment. Having a better understanding of this will help us to improve services for everyone.

BSW Big A&E Survey

bsw.icb.nhs.uk/the-big-aande-survey/

Dom Hall

People and Communities Engagement Specialist

NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board

M:0775 2471748 |E:dom.hall@nhs.net

W:www.bsw.icb.nhs.uk

These publications give visitors compelling reasons to choose Wiltshire for their next short break or longer stay, together with all the information you need to plan the perfect trip. These are distributed digitally via our channels and via third party digital channels.

Please view the It’s Time for Wiltshire map here and the It’s Time for Wiltshire Visitor Guide can be seen here. All our digital publications, including our Wiltshire towns and villages map can be found on our website

You can download the Wiltshire Town & Parish Report 2025 here.

The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust are trying to highlight the issues the county faces with invasive non-native species (INNS). Our first task is to educate Wiltshire's population to the three main plants that can cause issues and how to identify them. I have attached a simple poster in PDF format that can be downloaded and placed on noticeboards in your parish or shared through social media if needed.

We are hoping once the plants are recognised, they can be uploaded onto https://innsmapper.org/home which is also available in a mobile App. This information helps map the extent of these plants and helps us plan to treat/remove them.

These Invasive plants not only effect the environment by outcompeting native flora, but they can also impose huge economic burdens. The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust can provide advice on dealing with INNS and sometimes provide treatment. These plants usually raise their heads in the spring months, and continue to grow throughout the year.

Early signs of spring from snowdrops to birds nesting are slowly appearing at Savernake Forest.

Exciting findings suggest that we could see the best year for Purple Emperor butterfly numbers since 1975. Of course, it is still too soon to confirm if this will be the case. Last year was a very poor year for butterflies, particularly the Purple Emperor, due to frequent bad weather during the spring and summer months.

But early signs show that the hibernating Purple Emperor larvae appear to be wintering remarkably well, due to unusually low numbers of predatory titmice (a type of bird). If this continues, and the weather is fine at the end of May into June, we could see an all-time great Emperor season in the summer - fifty years on from the great Emperor season! So watch this space...

Our timber harvesting works at Savernake Forest have been very start-stop over the last year due to the wet weather. As we try to reschedule the works from winter 2023 – and protect the ground – we hope to resume them during the summer months.

Different bird species have overlapping breeding seasons and some can nest all year-round! This makes it tricky, as a working forest, to delicately balance felling trees whilst protecting some of the wildlife that inhabits them. Harvesting trees is an important part of sustainable forestry because well-managed forests support more wildlife. Before starting work we carry out surveys for birds, mammals, rodents, invertebrates, fungi, and native plants, such as bluebells. We consider these against complex factors including tree health, how the ground slopes, soil condition, and likely rainfall when planning work that will support our long-term management plan.

We do what we reasonably can to avoid disturbing or damaging birds’ nests. We also take extra care to look for wildlife that has special protection, including badgers, bats and rare or threatened birds. We either suspend or alter work to make sure this special wildlife is protected. Unfortunately, there is no completely risk-free time to work. Working in the wetter, winter months risks causing long term damage to soils.

Protecting soil is important for the whole forest ecosystem and means we often need to work in drier conditions, which are more likely to fall within the bird breeding season. Whilst we would prefer to work in the summer, we are restricted again due to European Protected Species and have a limited window during the year in which to carry out operations.

Each site is different and operations can start, and then appear to stop midway through, and may look unfinished for a time, before we return to complete and reinstate paths and tracks.

As ever, if you have any questions about Forestry England’s work in Savernake Forest, please drop us a line to westengland@forestryengland.uk

by Nikki Morgans, Area Forester

Please report any issues in your communities using MyWilts as usual.

Wiltshire Council is posting and sharing regular travel and flooding updates on their social media

To be alerted when water levels rise, people should also sign up for flood warnings and know what to do in case of flooding.

Useful links:

• Flooding information
• Sign up for flood warnings
• Flooding emergencies - Who to contact
• What to do during and after a flood
• Flooding advice for homeowners
• Flooding advice for businesses
• Sandbags information

Every home and business in the UK has the legal right to request a decent, affordable broadband connection.

From 20 March 2020, if you can’t get a download speed of 10 Mbit/s and an upload speed of 1 Mbit/s, you can request an upgraded connection. You can make this request to BT on 0800 783 0223.

Am I eligible?

When you contact BT or KCOM they will have 30 days to confirm if you’re eligible, and how much it will cost to build your connection.

• Your home or business will be eligible if it:
• has no access to existing decent broadband;and

will not be covered by a public broadbandscheme offered by the UK and devolvedgovernments in the next 12 months;If you currently only have access to a decent service that is priced over £56.20 per month, you’ll also have the right to request a universal service connection.

What will it cost? 

If the cost of building or upgrading your share of the network connection is £3,400 or less, you won’t have to pay for this work to be done. If it will cost more than £3,400 to connect your home, and you still want a connection, you will have to pay the excess costs. If you want to do this, BT/ KCOM will conduct a survey and give you a quote within 60 days. You will pay the same price for your new broadband service as anyone else on the same package, and no more than £56.20 a month. How long does it take to set up? Most people will get a connection within 12 months, but it may take up to 24 months for some.

The following is a quick guide to what is and isn’t the responsibility of the Fire and Rescue Service when storm damage occurs:

Local authority information is as follows:

• Swindon Borough Council – call 01793 445500 or report online.
• Wiltshire Council – call 0300 456 0105 or report online.