This is important because it would STOP Care Homes who cover things up getting away with it. It would mean that the vulnerable residents would get the quality of care that they rightly deserve. If a Care Home has nothing to hide and everything is done inline with policies and procedures and the Law then they wouldn’t object to unannounced visits from CQC. This would also lead to a more accurate CQC Rating which would give people a more informative choice of where they want to place their loved ones.

At present, each NHS Trust is able to set their own policies on whether Dads can stay overnight on their maternity wards. Whilst one hospital will allow this, another five miles away, will not. Should parents be sent to a different hospital to the one stated in their birthing plan, they do not know if the Dad can stay overnight. At the birth of my baby, I was shocked that Dads were being asked if they wanted to stay overnight, as this should be a given with no need to be asked. Whilst most Dads said they would stay overnight, several said they were going home. The expectation should be that they are all staying at hospital with their partner. After Dads had advised that they would be staying, they were then told that there was nowhere for them to sleep other than a plastic chair and it was made clear that the food was for the expectant mother. While the food issues is fully accepted, a more comfortable environment should be provided for Dads. Initially, I wanted to campaign for the comfort aspect to be improved, however when researching this, it became apparent that Dads are not allowed to stay overnight at all hospitals. This is reminiscent of of Victorian times, yet it is still happening in 2020. Dads are a great emotional support to their partners during labour, and if allowed to stay, can relieve midwives from this role. When there is a societal view that men often don't get involved with child care, they should be encouraged and accepted to stay at hospital at such a significant time as child birth. By not allowing Dads to stay, sends out the wrong message to new Dads. Furthermore, a baby needs to be able to form attachments with both parents, and therefore Dads must be able to start this relationship from the outset. Please support us in our campaign to get all NHS Trusts to have consistency in policy, by allowing Dads to stay overnight at every maternity ward. Thank you Jonathan Roberts

For them to get fit, meet new friends, get together with other members of family, get out of the house, improve health and wellbeing.

Our NHS is vital to so many people. When people are at their lowest and in need of medical care our NHS should provide this essential service Behind the scenes so much money is being siphoned off to private enterpise that that front line services are being neglected. This must stop. Our NHS should stay in public hands. Hands off Private Companies.

“I would like to die because life is a constant battle with symptoms and I am worn down by this. More and more my life is taken over by daily tasks such as eating, dressing, and showering, leaving little time for anything else. I still love life very much but I am very tired of trying to make life enjoyable. I would like to die now whilst I still love life, and it is clear to my friends and family that I love life." Jan Sutton https://www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/news/quakers-to-discuss-assisted-dying We need to do more to give people in Jan's position better choices at the end of life. The Prime Minister recently announced that he will begin cross party talks on the future of social care . That discussion should include consideration of what happens at the end of life. First we need better access to end of life palliative care. According to the institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) 47% of people in Great Britain die in hospital but only 10% of medical staff feel equipped to deliver appropriate care at the end of life. The IPPR recommends that professionals working with people at the end of life should receive appropriate training and more effort should be put into delivering end of life care outside hospitals within the community. Second we need to consider legalising assisted dying for those who want that option. Appropriate safeguards would be required. The option of assisted dying at a point of their choosing for people should be avaialable to those who are terminally ill or whose life has become intolerable to them due to chronic illness or disability and who have previously publicly expressed a wish for this option Providing medical assistance to end a life is legal in Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Holland, Luxembourg, Switzerland and seven US States. Research among Canadians with experience of receiving palliative care showed that 78% of them wanted to have the option of assisted dying . A survey by IPSOS Mori for the Economist in 2015 found that 58% of the population of Great Britain believed that people who are terminally ill or find life intolerable due to incurable physical or mental suffering should have the right to assisted dying. Subject to appropriate safeguards we need to have that right here https://www.ippr.org/files/2018-05/end-of-life-care-in-england-may18.pdf https://bmcpalliatcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12904-018-0304-6 https://www.economist.com/briefing/2015/06/27/attitudes-towards-assisted-dying

For the vast majority of people in the U.K. receiving their medications is a necessity and not a luxury, however, it is wrong for Boots to charge individuals like the elderly and disabled a £5 charge per prescription delivered or an annual charge of £55 unless the prescription is ordered online in which case delivery of such prescriptions from Boots are delivered free of charge. If the vast majority of small and independent Pharmacies can deliver prescriptions free of charge then surely one of the largest retailers in the U.K. can do likewise. This charge is almost a tax on health for those who can least afford it and I call on Boots to scrap this unfair charge immediately as it is hitting some of the most vulnerable members of our society. If Boots believe that the funding of Pharmacy services is not what it should be then that is a matter Boots should take up with the relevant Health Departments across the U.K. rather than introduce a charge which many can ill afford.

NHS Lanarkshire wants to move Monklands Hospital to a new site in either Gartcosh, Glenmavis or Easter Moffat - all of which are remote from centres of population and do not have the necessary transport links. The current site is central, has good transport links and most importantly will be redeveloped as a hospital (poorly disguised as a community health village). Why therefore move it to another site, ignoring recent important developments such as the Maggies and Lanarkshire Beatson and then build two hospitals? This is foolish and provides no value for money.

There are 850,000 people with Dementia in the UK and if a household has a person with Dementia (Severe Mental Impairment) such as Alzheimer's Disease or Vascular Dementia the local council is required to disregard (Not Count) the person with Dementia for the purposes of Council Tax. The current legislation says that the person must have certification from a GP to say when they were first diagnose with SMI and they must also be entitled to, but not necessarily in receipt of, a "Qualifying Benefit". For the majority of Dementia sufferers the Qualifying Benefit will be Attendance Allowance, which requires the person to be over 65, and they have been in need of day/night care for a minimum of 6 months and the DWP who administer this allowance must be in receipt of an application form for the benefit. Many councils choose to backdate to the date of receipt of Attendance Allowance rather than the date the GP states they are Severely Mentally Impaired as this is the last date and therefore the date they choose to minimise the cost of backdating the council tax discount. My beautiful wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in early 2018, our council only backdate to the date of receipt of Attendance Allowance and I have been pushing them to change their policy. Central Government insist it is a local issue but the legislation is so unclear that many councils naturally choose the cheapest option. Also there is no method (pathway)of informing sufferers and carers that either Attendance Allowance or Council Tax Discount is available, both of which are not means tested. Many carers do not apply for Attendance Allowance because they think it is means tested and because it is a 31 page application form. Public Health England say that they cannot disclose details of anyone with Dementia to responsible charities because of privacy and data protection issues so people find out purely by chance. The only way is to clarify the legislation which has already built into it in Schedule 1, section (3) the statement:- "The Secretary of State may by order substitute another definition.."

Asthmatics currently pay for their inhalers. People who are also unfortunate to have diabetes do not pay for their medication these people are born with the condition or develop type II later in life in which lifestyle can play a major role in this development. Although this is great, asthmatics however develop this chronic illness and. although it may not really be known how this develops it would seem this is through no fault of the person. 5.4 million people in the UK are currently receiving asthma treatment and on average 3 people die from an asthma attack every day. The NHS spends an average £1 billion a year on treating and caring for people with asthma in contrast they spend £14 billion a year on treating and caring for people with diabetes who obtain their prescriptions for free. There are a lot of articles on the internet regarding people unable to afford their medication and people who have skipped taking it because of the cost. One article I read last year particularly sticks with me about a 19 year old girl dying from an asthma attack all because she could not afford her medication. This was heart breaking. This was someones daughter, someones sister, aunt, cousin, or niece. Now imagine this was your child.

It isn’t safe. It is putting stress on patients worrying about how they will get to the next town to see a doctor. Melkshams infrastructure won’t cope as they are building more houses but closing a GP surgery.

Because we have been working on this mission for 70 years plus now and basically only scratched the surface and have achieved very little. Cancer is the second largest cause of deaths, 164,000 last year with 50% being diagnosed with this disease over their life time. Government contributes very little, around £200million/yr whilst we spend £5.2billion/yr on maintaining our nuclear weapons. That means we spend 26 times more on these weapons than one of the worst killer diseases known to human race. This campaign is in memory of my wife Jacqueline McLoughlin & all other sufferers. She under went the orthodox treatment of surgery and chemotherapy that was crude, mechanistic & brutal, which resulted in hastening her passing from complications. We have got to find a better way of treating this terrible disease.

The people of this country cannot afford a US style insurance based health service, when so many people have existing health conditions that insurance companies wont cover, the NHS must remsin free as originally intended for the benegit of all regardless of income.