My day job is to campaign for patient and public involvement in health service decision-making. Over the last ten months I have been lobbying for changes to the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill, which will abolish Patients Forums (the successors to Community Health Councils) and replace them with Local Involvement Networks. The Department of Health proposed that the new networks would not enjoy the same rights of access to premises where services are provided as Patients Forums currently have, instead they would have to seek permission from the Healthcare Commission, a lengthy and bureaucratic process.

 

I raised this with the House of Commons Health Select Committee in February, which recommended the Government reject these changes, and also with MPs and Peers through the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Patient Involvement. As a result, the proposed restrictions featured prominently in the Parliamentary debates on the Bill in both Houses of Parliament. I also helped Patient Forum members organise their lobbying. As a result Ministers have agreed to drop the proposed restrictions, an important step in ensuring transparency in service provision.

 

Amending and scrutinising legislation is one of the key roles of an MP, requiring determination, attention to detail, knowledge of Parliamentary processes and the ability to understand how Bills are put together. I have 12 years experience of doing just this work, having secured legislation on immigration advisers in Labour’s first term and played a key role in the campaign to ban replica firearms.

 

I believe that our next Parliamentary candidate must show the independence of mind and attention to detail on policy that has made Neil Gerrard such a great Member of Parliament.

 

At a recent meeting of the campaign to save Whipps, I impressed on the Primary Care Trust that the voices of patients, carers, NHS staff and the public, must be listened to and taken notice of. I have spoken to many party members and constituents about the campaign and it is clear that people are concerned about their ability to influence the consultation on proposals in Fit For the Future, which is due later in 2007 or early 2008 and will last 12 weeks. It is important that people put their views forward in this and support the campaign by NHS staff and patients. There is a national demonstration in central London on 3^rd November, for details see the website:

 

http://www.keepournhspublic.com/meetings/20071103NatDemo.pdf

 

Staff at Whipps are working hard to put Whipps on a sound financial footing and also deliver care more efficiently and effectively by treating more patients within available resources.

 

 

 

If we are to tackle poverty in Walthamstow effectively, we need to do so by ensuring that people receive a decent wage. In London that equates to £7.50 an hour to take into account high housing costs. I have been heavily involved through the Transport and General workers Union in backing this campaign, which is supported by Ken Livingstone, Telco and an alliance of community groups, trade unions and faith groups. A petition has been presented to Downing Street and living wage campaigners in London have won significant victories at the London School of Economics  and at Barclays      http://livingwageuk.wordpress.com/2007/06/20/crumbs-from-the-table. We are looking to extend this success into more and more workplaces.

 

 

Over recent weeks, I have been knocking on doors and speaking to the local party. Members all over the constituency have agreed that they support my mix of national experience, local campaigning as Party Secretary and commitment to shaping policy for the benefit of the hard working voters of Walthamstow.

 

In particular, my stance on retaining Whipps Cross as a district general hospital with the full range of services; my commitment to tackling low pay, job insecurity and breaking the benefit trap which keeps many working families in poverty and standing up for pensioners.

 

The Government has a good record of helping the poorest pensioners. But many elderly people still struggle on fixed incomes when prices and bills are going up. We cannot wait until 2012 to restore the link between earnings and pens ions. We should reform council tax to make sure pensioners are not punished by the system.