David Cameron campaigned against the minimum wage when rates
as low as £1.20 an hour were common.
Throughout Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire G.Ps. are asking patients to sign a petition and some of them are issuing a leaflet, both of which seriously misrepresent the Government’s proposal for family doctor services,” says Richard Henry, Labour’s parliamentary spokesperson for North East Hertfordshire.
Richard Henry, himself a Non-Executive Director of a Primary Care Trust, adds that the leaflet, issued by the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Local Medical Committee, tries to scare patients by suggesting that the proposals will end continuity of care by a G.P. who knows you, forcing you to travel to a large clinic run by a faceless corporation. “The British Medical Association (BMA) is perhaps the most effective trade union in the country and what they really oppose is the requirement that clinics open at weekends. After all, they have just negotiated a very good deal for G.Ps. with the Government, which gave them weekends off.”
The Government proposal is quite different. In fact, they are investing extra money to improve G.P. services, both in G.P. practices and in new G.P.-led clinics. Patients will be able to use the clinics, but still stay with their current G.Ps. Even if they choose to register with a new clinic, there is no reason why they should not normally see the same doctor on each visit.
The crucial requirement is that clinics will be open from 8 am to 8 pm seven days a week. Thus, if you want to see a G.P. at a time when your usual surgery is shut, you can go without registering to your nearest clinic. “There is no mention in the preamble to the petition or in the leaflet of the convenience for patients of this,” says Richard Henry. “ And this does not result it any change to the continuity of care. After all, in an emergency many of us see one of the other doctors who happens to be available at our own health centre, rather than the one who knows us well.” The Government wants one clinic in every area to provide this convenient service to patients and also to take pressure off accident and emergency departments at weekends. For East and North Hertfordshire, this new centre will be in Welwyn Garden City.
It is true that corporations may bid to run clinics. They already run some G.P. practices. However, they will employ G.Ps. to provide the care.The B.M.A. calls this privatisation, but the G.P. service is already privatised:at the formation of the N.H.S. the B.M.A. insisted on doctors being private contractors rather than employees. G.Ps. are therefore able to decide how much of the money paid to them to invest in services, just like corporations. Clinics run by corporations will only get patients to register with them rather than local practices if they offer a better service.
For
more information about Richard Henry, click
here.
The cut in VAT is worth £275 a year for the average family and millions on basic rate tax will continue to benefit by £145 a year because this year's increase in personal allowance has been made permanent. Pensioners will receive £60 each in January and child benefit rises in January - to £20 for the first child.
By contrast, the Tories would offer no help now. Remember that in the difficult times of the 1980s and 1990s they did nothing to help struggling families or businesses.
At present a leaflet giving more information on this is being distributed in parts of the constituency. If you have not received a copy, you can read it here.
Elections for the European Parliament and for the County Council will take place on 4 June 2009. Richard Howitt is our MEP and he is top of the Labour list for the seven seats in the Eastern Region. Click on Europe for more information.
Nigel Agar
is the only sitting County Councillor within our constituency and he
has been re-selected to stand for Letchworth North-West division.
Selections for other divisions within the constituency will take place
soon. See Local Government
for more
information.
Richard Henry, Labour's Parliamentary spokesperson for this constituency, congratulates the NHS on its 60th birthday: "Sixty years ago, the Labour Government of Clement Attlee, in spite of the problems of post-War Britain, introduced free universal healthcare. Nye Bevan, the health minister, had to fight the opposition of the Tories and of the medical profession to bring his dream to fruition."
"Eleven years ago, the NHS was struggling against underfunding after a long period of Tory Government. Patients were waiting two years or more for operations, buildings were crumbling and new high-tech equipment was spread sparsely across the country. The Labour Government tackled patients' number one priority of waiting lists, so that the maximum wait is right down - 18 weeks instead of over two years by the end of 2008. Incredibly, the Tories want to scrap waiting time targets, which would allow waiting times to drift back upwards."
"Gordon Brown, as Chancellor, provided extra resources, tripling the spend on the NHS. 32,000 more nurses and 88,000 more doctors now work in the NHS than in 1997. And look at the improved facilities at the Lister or at the completely new community hospital in Hertford - and thank the Labour Party."
For more information on Labour and the NHS, go to www.labour.org.uk/proud.
Richard will be the only candidate at the next election who can beat the sitting Tory MP. In 1997 and 2001, the Labour candidate came close to beating the Tory, whose majority was only just over 3,000. The Liberal Democrat candidate was well behind in both years. Even in 2005, the Tory candidate was elected on a minority of the vote. The votes for the Labour candidate, who came second, and the Liberal Democrat candidate, who came third, exceeded the votes for the Conservative. Click here for more information.
£8 million per year for Herts primary schools from the Labour government..... more
Support for Benington Windfarm...... more
District Council Election May 2008...... more
Click here for these and other news items
A new register is compiled in the autumn of each year. A registration form is sent to each household by the District Council and must be completed and returned. If you do not do this, you will not be on the register, even if you were on it before or even if you are paying council tax to the District Council.
However, at other times of the year, if you are not on the electoral register, you can apply to be on it at any time. Download the form from your District Council's website. You can also have a postal vote, either for a specific election or permanently. Again, download the form from the District Council's website.
In certain circumstances someone else can vote for you (proxy vote). Again, the form is on the District Council's website.
Click on the appropriate link below for the relevant forms and for more information.
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