The “Big Bill” this week was of course the Health and Social Care Bill. This is the Bill which will put GPs in charge of determining what health care we need rather than the Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities. While there are some GPs who are a little apprehensive, most I have met in the patch are looking forward to the opportunity of making sure the NHS becomes the best it can be. Indeed as I mentioned during the debate we already have some great examples of excellent GP led activity right here in Devon Doctors.
Less spoken about but an equally important part of the Bill were the provisions relating to Public Health which is too often seen as the poor relation. Wrong! I am pleased the Bill gave the Secretary of State new powers to improve this and to reduce health inequalities. More power and responsibility for getting this right will be given to local authorities. Through the establishment of Health Watch, patients will be given a real voice to raise concerns and the new Health and Wellbeing Boards will ensure all parties work together at a local level to deliver first class care.
Lobbying for Change
I am concerned to ensure our local businesses are given all the help they can get and I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet the CEO of the British Bankers Association. She gave me an update on the 17 projects that were in hand to help banks give a better service. Many will be up and running next month. The new Lending Code and appeals process will be important as they will give businesses the right to appeal if a lending decision is made against them. The banks will also be introducing a mentoring service so that any business whose loan application is turned down is given some help and advice as to alternatives. I asked her to keep me informed so that what we are doing here locally to help businesses can be seamlessly integrated into what she is doing nationally.
Clearly important to our businesses is the arrival of Superfast Broadband and I had a very useful meeting with BT not only to ensure Devon was on their radar but also to find out what we need to do to get Devon up the priority list for investment. I shall be talking to Devon County Council and others to take this forward. Equally important to our tourism business is the future of our coastal railway and I was pleased to have secured a meeting with Theresa Villiers the Minister responsible for Railways, not just to get confirmation again that our coastal line is the government’s priority for investment rather than an inland route, but also to ask for a progress report on Newton Abbot Station and the availability of more rolling stock to deal with the overcrowding on our trains.
But there are some things we don’t want to change and one of those is the coastguard station at Brixham. In a debate in Westminster Hall I raised concerns at the proposal that Brixham should be closed and replaced by support from Falmouth and Southampton – 200 miles away! Local knowledge can’t be fully replaced by technology. A number of us are getting together to ask for a further debate on this in the main debating chamber of the House. The other very beautiful asset we have is our forests of which the most significant for us is Haldon – and we want to make sure nothing happens to change what we have. I have spoken to and written to the Secretary of State about my concerns. We had a very heated debate on this in the House and the Secretary of State was left in no doubt how important we all felt it was that a proper consultation should take place before anything changes. If you want to contribute to that consultation either write to me or the Forestry Commission (email –publicconsultation@forestry.gsi.gov.uk – or post - Forestry Commission England, 620 Bristol Business Park, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1EJ). The consultation document can be found athttp://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/forests/index.htm
Out and About
On Friday I had a very useful meeting with our local church leaders to ask for their thoughts on how we can make Big Society a reality in our own community. Our churches are very active in the community and I couldn’t think of a better group of people to ask. I also met up with the Devon Access and Referrals team to better understand what they did and what the local issues were. Finally I saw Paul Raby at the Channel View Medical Practice in Teignmouth to discuss not just the big picture changes we are seeing in the NHS but also to express your concerns about the proposed closure of the outreach practice in Bishopsteignton and I asked him to very seriously look at what could be done to keep the practice open in the village but at a different location. On Friday evening I was delighted to see folk at the Wild Goose in Combeinteignhead at my most recent pub gathering and pleased to hear about plans to open a new village shop and deli in the pub! On Saturday I had two very full surgeries in Dawlish and Newton Abbot. Another busy week!
Surgeries and Getting Together
My next surgery will be in Teignmouth on 12th February at 10.00am at the Carlton Theatre. Please phone 01626 368277 for an appointment or for immediate help with issues that can’t wait until the next surgery. My next surgery in Dawlish will be at 10.00am on Saturday 5th March at the Manor House and in Newton Abbot at 12 noon at the Courtenay Centre. My next “Face to Face” pub meeting will be on Friday 4th March at 6.30pm at The Linny, Coffinswell –I should love to see you there so do come along for a chat!