280,000 reasons to be angry
Yesterday, I presented a 10,000 signed petition in the Chamber of the House of Commons. This was in a bid to force Suffolk PCT to reconsider the reduction in funding to Haverhill GP practices. Earlier in the day, I joined two of my constituents Ann Sisson and Marion McLaine, both GP practice managers, to hand in another copy of the petition to 10 Downing Street.
Haverhill is the most rapidly expanding town in Suffolk and is served admirably by the three GP surgeries located there. Funding should be increased to reflect this additional need, yet to everyone in Haverhill’s amazement it is to be cut. This is due to the operation of an unfair funding formula which has a disproportionate effect on our local GP services. The proposal, which will inevitably lead to job losses and have a devastating effect on front line patient care, is wholly unacceptable. The cut is £280,000.
I have been overwhelmed by the amount of support this campaign has received from the local community as a whole. These proposals are totally rejected by GPs, nurses and patients.
I have not been prepared to just stand by and watch this injustice take place. Neither have the people of Haverhill. The community has come together because my constituents deserve decent healthcare, and the 10,000 people who signed the petition stand united in their determination to do something about it. 24 hours to save the NHS was one of the most misleading political promises ever made.