insideKENT Magazine Issue 85 - April 2019 | Page 145

NEWS NEW LIVESTOCK SHOWING OPPORTUNITIES AT 2019 KENT COUNTY SHOW Organisers of the Kent County Show, the Kent County Agricultural Society, are increasing their offering for livestock exhibitors at the show on 5th, 6th, 7th July 2019. For cattle exhibitors, new Longhorn classes will celebrate one of Britain’s oldest beef breeds with the winner receiving the Longhorn Cattle Society Championship Cup. New classes for Valais Blacknose and Blue Texel sheep will also increase the variety of breeds on show and new progeny pairs and breed group of six competitions offer more chances for winning to sheep exhibitors. Exhibitors who have not competed at the Kent County Show in the last five years will receive a 50% discount on entry fees. The Show offers permanent sheep lines, an open cattle marquee, a dairy for its cattle exhibitors, and free pens and straw. Chairman of the Livestock Committee, Terry Whitehead, said: “Livestock showing is at the heart of the Kent County Show’s agricultural offering, so we want to make sure we have plenty to offer our exhibitors. Our sheep and wool entries are the highest they’ve been for 10 years so we look forward to seeing this grow even further in 2019.” The new classes and offers for exhibitors run alongside a new discount for agricultural trade stands. Agricultural businesses can benefit from reduced pitch fees with stand space opposite the busy cattle showing rings. These new offers for livestock exhibitors and agricultural traders have been introduced to develop the Kent County Show’s already successful Agricultural Area. Livestock entries will open on 1st April and trade stands can apply now. For more information on entering livestock, contact Amy Marsh on 01622 630975 or [email protected], and for information on trading at the Show, contact Rosie Gouldsworthy on 01622 633051 or [email protected]. SPOTLIGHT ON GP SERVICES IN KENT: CHALLENGES TO GET A GP APPOINTMENT TOPS THE LIST Patient organisation, Healthwatch Kent, has published a report detailing the feedback they have heard from Kent residents about GP services. 365 people have shared their stories with Healthwatch Kent since April 2017. They have shared 394 negative stories compared to 129 positive experiences. For example: “I am hard of hearing and find using the telephone difficult, so I have to go into the surgery to make an appointment. I went three mornings in a row at 8:30am to get an appointment but it was fully booked.” “I arrive at the surgery at 7:30am to try and get an appointment and there are already 19 people waiting.” “I normally wait 4 weeks for an appointment.” The key issues they heard include: • Waiting times & difficulties getting an appointment • Quality of treatment • Staff attitudes & customer service • Complications with referrals • Medicine management • GP closures & mergers Talking about the feedback, Healthwatch’s Steve Inett said: “We hear from people about GPs almost every day. The feedback clearly shows that something needs to change so we have asked each Clinical Commissioning Group in Kent to tell us how they plan to improve people’s experience of GPs and ensure people can receive the care they need locally.” You can read all the feedback in the report which is available on the Healthwatch website www.healthwatchkent.co.uk 145