Cllr Kim Taylor accused of mudslinging in council meeting

Cllr Kim Taylor, a Labour representative for Brighton Hill South, was called out by one of the lead doctors at the North Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group (NHCCG) at a council meeting on Wednesday night.

Dr Matt Nisbet said that her statement in December, likening the situation at the Camrose, Gillies and Hackwood practice to that of a third world country, "probably doesn't attract doctors to work somewhere".

A fellow councillor has also expressed his "disappointment" that she tried "to throw The Gazette under the bus" after she claimed she was misquoted.

But Cllr Taylor has since said that she thought that Dr Nisbet had taken her comments out of context, not The Gazette.

It was part of a debate on a number of high-profile issues with GP services in Basingstoke, which saw the CGH partnership taken over by an American-owned private healthcare firm last year.

'Not helpful'

Cllr Taylor asked several questions of Dr Nisbet, a GP at Crown Heights and clinical lead for business and partnership at NHCCG, regarding lessons learnt from the issues facing several GP partnerships recently.

She further asked about the number of GPs able to be recruited, which has been blamed for the recent issues at CGH.

But Dr Nisbet told the meeting that the line of questioning was "accusatory", adding: "One of the things that attracts doctors to work in a particular area is how it is to work in that area. There is a shortage of GPs in the UK and doctors have a choice where they want to work.

"If I may say so Cllr Taylor, having headlines that say that primary care is third world probably doesn't attract doctors to work somewhere.

"I would suggest that you slinging mud at us through the pages of the local paper doesn't help either."

The comments in question came in a full council meeting in December 2020. The Gazette reported how councillors had agreed to review GP services in the town, quoting Cllr Taylor as likening the number of GPs at the CGH partnership to that of a third world country.

Specifically, the article stated: "The standard of service at the Camrose, Gillies and Hackwood partnership in Basingstoke was likened to that of a third world country in terms of the number of patients to each GP by one councillor."

But on Wednesday, when Cllr Taylor was asked whether she wanted to respond to Dr Nisbet by the chair of the committee, she said: "I am not responsible for what The Gazette prints to be honest with you, so you will have to take that up with them, or if someone gets misquoted or incorrectly attributed."

'She was not misquoted'

However, The Gazette has since reviewed the recording of the December 17 meeting, where Cllr Taylor says: "Cllr [Paul] Harvey is right to say that there is an issue in not having enough GP numbers.

"In the Gillies, Camrose and Hackwood surgery we are getting dangerously close to levels people may refer to as third world."

Speaking after the meeting on Wednesday evening, Cllr Taylor's former Labour colleague, Jack Cousens, was "disappointed" with her response.

The now independent councillor said: "My initial reaction was she had been, I think rightly, told the effects of her words by Dr Nisbet. He was reflecting the thoughts of GPs and he was right to call her out.

"To try and throw The Gazette and its reporters under the bus is unacceptable. She was not misquoted or misattributed.

"It is incorrect of her to put the local paper in the firing line when it has done the right thing, which was report what was said.

"It brings integrity into question when there is no integrity to be questioned because it was reported correctly."

Cllr Cousens added that local newspapers play a "significant" role in informing residents of important decisions being made about the place they live, adding: "Journalists and The Gazette have to get that right because it can have an influential impact on how people view politicians on all levels.

"It also shapes the debate on what people talk about.

"It was disappointing that she didn't take ownership of the words that she has said and it is disappointing that she decided to throw the local paper under the bus and say 'it is not my fault'.

"Quite clearly, it is the words she had used."

Cllr Taylor told The Gazette on Thursday that she felt that Dr Nisbet had taken her points out of context, rather than The Gazette.

"I feel that the way he wanted to use that was not correct. The fact of the matter is that we used to have 18 doctors in that surgery and we understand that soon it could be as low as six.

"What I was trying to say was that if [The Gazette] want to write about it that is not my problem. What I was saying was that he was claiming that I had said it was third world.

"I was saying that I was not in control of what [The Gazette] published.

"I am not sure what he feels - that it is not helpful to have that in public because he doesn't want people to know that doctor numbers are so low or whether he feels that it is not helpful that we bring it to public attention.

"I am not sure which of those he was trying to say. But the fact of the matter is that people are complaining to us about their doctor numbers."

When asked whether she stood by her comment in December, Cllr Taylor said: "I think it is an entirely fair way of describing what somebody had said to me."