Petition to candidates in the June 2017 General Election

Given that West Cornwall residents are often disadvantaged in accessing health and social care because of the geography of Cornwall, we would ask you to commit to the following –

1.   Put Cornwall first ahead of party to ensure that there is sufficient funding to deliver NHS and Social Care that is consistently dependable and of good quality, and maintain the essential care provided to the residents of West Cornwall by West Cornwall, St Michaels, Helston and Edward Hain hospitals.

2.   Challenge any changes to health service delivery unless they are based on clear evidence and patient experience.

3.   Oppose any reduction in NHS community services including community hospitals and beds, and support provision of a 24 hour District Nursing Service.

4.   Campaign with others to put pressure on Cornwall Council to ensure workers who provide home care have the same terms and conditions as NHS staff.

5.   Oppose any further fragmentation of NHS/social care through privatisation and support bringing services back to the public sector.

I will make these commitments

Signed ……………………………………………………..  Date ………………………

Constituency ……………………………………………………………………………..

www.westcornwallhealthwatch.com                                 

Dear Candidate

You will know that West Cornwall HealthWatch has been at work campaigning for twenty years to maintain and enhance services provided in West Cornwall by the NHS. 

You will also know that the NHS is under financial pressure as  never before, and that Cornwall’s health and social care services are struggling to cope. 

It is imperative that our prospective MPs both understand the issues and commit to achieve the best possible outcomes for their electorates. 

We therefore hope that you will be able to sign up to these commitments.

You can either send us a copy of your signed commitment, or simply email us to indicate your assent.

Thank you.

West Cornwall HealthWatch                                                           May 2017

E: westcornwallhealthwatch@yahoo.co.uk

W: www.westcornwallhealthwatch.com

Find us on Facebook: West Cornwall HealthWatch

Responses from the candidates -

ANDREW GEORGE, PPC for St Ives (Lib Dem) has signed up to our five commitments. 'This election is about the survival of our NHS - currently the plan is to cut at least a further £270m from Cornwall's already underfunded and debt-ridden NHS by 2020. The Lib Dems will add 1p in the £ to income tax to raise the fundsd needed to save the NHS.'

DEREK THOMAS, PPC for St Ives (Conservative) has signed up to our five commitments, saying 'Thank you for these five very reasonable pledges'.

CHRIS DREW PPC for St Ives (Labour) shas signed up to our five commitments, 'I am more than happy to sign up to these pledges. The NHS in Cornwall must absolutely be protected. This means funding adequate staffing and equipment across the board. We must ensure the staff that do so much to care for all of us are paid fairly and treated with respect and that patients get the best treatment possible. Cornwall's NHS has been dangerously underfunded in recent years and the situation is unacceptable. Labour will invest £30bn in the NHS over the next parliament as well as working towards a new National Care Service.'

GEOFF GARBUTT, PPC for Camborne Redruth (Green) has signed up to our five commitments, saying 'I wholeheartedly agree with all proposals and would remind you that our co-leader Caroline Lucas, recently presented a bill to parliament to reinstate the NHS to public ownership. It was debated out by the Conservatives'.

GEOFF WILLIAMS, PPC for Camborne Redruth (Lib Dem) has signed up to our five commitments, saying 'Thank you for contacting me with your concerns, and I am happy to commit to the five points you raise. I hope you are aware that the Liberal Democrats have taken the bull by the horns to say that it is time now for plain talking and that we all need to contribute more to the NHS and social care. That's why we are proposing an extra 1p in the £ on income tax, for everyone, dedicated to these services'.

GRAHAM WINTER PPC, for Camborne-Redruth (Lab) has signed up to our five commitments, saying 'I have no hesitation in pledging my support for this. I have already been part of protests and campaigns on this very topic including helping to collect many signatures in 2015 supporting St Michaels Hospital and fighting the cuts to services when Cardrew was closed. Labour fully supports the integration of health and social care, supports a service designed around the needs of the area and pledged to stop the current round of cuts without a proper review of needs. Additionally Labour has pledged to tackle staffing issues by reinstating bursaries and removing turition fees as well as ending the freeze on public sector pay. We have also pledged to end the privatisiation of the health service. I look forward to helping rebuild the NHS'.

GEORGE EUSTICE PPC for Camborne/Redruth, (Conservative) has not signed up to our five commitments, but sent the following statement. 'Thank you very much for your e mail regarding the NHS in Cornwall. The Conservatives have pledged to continue to increase spending on the NHS with an additional £8 billion over the next parliament. We have also set out plans to place adult social care on a more sustainable footing. Locally, work continues to try to join up adult social care and NHS care so that some of the existing barriers between the two are broken down and, if re-elected, I will be working in particualr to ensure that Cornwall Council uses the additional money it has been given to support social care rather than cutting the budget and using the resources elsewhere. I also agree that part of the answer to relieving pressure on Treliske is to do more elective surgery at other hospitals such as St Michael's in Hayle and I continue to make that case to NHS managers in Cornwall.'