Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions could be made with patients in mind.

Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions could be made with patients in mind. Across Suffolk and North East Essex the NHS is short of £248m. We already wait more than twice the amount of time we should for A&E appointments. Colchester cant cope with any more cuts or closures.

NHS bosses in Stafford are drawing up plans to cut and close local services. The plan is short on detail - but there’s a £286m funding gap across Staffordshire and Stoke and the A&E in Stafford could close. Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions like these could be made with patients in mind, rather than saving money. We're calling on our MP, Jeremy Lefroy, to stand up for the NHS in the Stafford. So far, it doesn’t look like he’s said much. But if thousands of us sign a petition asking him to demand the NHS gets more funding, it’ll show him that he needs to speak out.

Cuts and closures aren’t the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it’d mean decisions could be made with patients in mind.

NHS bosses in South Cambridgeshire are drawing up plans to cut and close local services. The plan is short on detail - but there's a £504m funding gap, and there'll be a "review" of A&E services. It looks like big changes are on the table. Cuts and closures aren't the only option. If the government gave the NHS the money it needs, it?d mean decisions like these could be made with patients in mind, rather than saving money. We're calling on our MP, Heidi Allen, to stand up for the NHS South Cambridgeshire. So far, it doesn't look like she's said much. But if thousands of us sign a petition asking her to demand the NHS gets more funding, it'll show her she needs to speak out.

We, the ZADA elders, have been members of, and attending functions including our own coffee mornings at Hibbert Community Centre for many years now. All voluntary groups that use the centre raise their own funds for all their various youth and community activities. The only thing that we have relied on from Bolton Council since 1997 is our core costs which go towards heating, lighting and insurance costs. In late 2016, Bolton Council decided that it would stop funding these basic costs for our thriving community centre based in one of the most deprived areas in Britain. As a result, it is making it harder for our elderly members to attend as frequently as they did given how the cold disproportionately affects the elderly and taking away a vital lifeline to challenge loneliness. Outside of summer, gloves and hats have had to be worn and this makes it harder to participate for so many.

Moving the Lewisham blood clinic to Woolich will cause transport issues and much longer clinic waiting times for people who need regular blood tests; Woolich Hospital already has a reputation for jammed clinics. Also concerned that this action is a backdoor way of weakening Lewisham Hospital's essential services to the community leading to a Government argument that Lewisham Hospital is redundant.

Since the introduction of the Care Act, many local authorities are reassessing people's ability to pay for their own care and/or support. My daughter relies on her support worker to help her to live independently. For the last 6 years she has received funding from the Local Authority to pay a support worker to help her cook meals, shop, keep her flat clean, deal with correspondence, go to medical appointments and get out and about. Without any warning or discussion, it stopped on the same day she was visited to 'check' she was receiving the right amount of benefits. A subsequent letter informed her that after the general living allowance was deducted from her benefits, there was enough income left to pay for her own care. The Government 'say' that she needs £x amount to live on then our Local Authority say she can live on less than half the benefit amount. It is very wrong and very soon you will be talking to someone who is affected by these assessments (parents of disabled adults, people with aging parents and/or people who need care). Please support this campaign to force Local Authorities to ignore disability benefits when assessing people's ability to pay for their own care so they can exercise choice and control over their lives.

The forums are made up from elected representatives from the 9 regions in England. These representatives talk to government and other Organisations such as the NHS & CQC to give the opinions and voice of people with a learning disability. Without the forums, the voice of people with a learning disability will be lost. We are worried that when the government stop supporting and listening to people with learning disabilities others may stop too. More people with a learning disability could end up isolated and alone with nowhere to turn. Please sign this petition and show our local MPs how important the voice of people with a learning disability is. We would really like them to speak up for the people in their communities that have #NoVoice. We want MPs to tell government that their local community think people with a learning disability should be included at a local, regional and national level. We think the Department of Health should reconsider funding the vital work of the forums. http://nationalforums.co.uk/

Closing Shipley Jobcentre will impact on vulnerable local people and the local economy. Customers will be burdened with additional transport costs to access vital services, increasing poverty within the town. Closing the office will impact on the local economy as customers will be less likely to visit the town centre and spend money in local businesses. Supporters are also being asked to send in comments in response to the DWP consultation - which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposal-for-the-future-of-shipley-jobcentre

Workplaces that recognise unions tends to have better levels of pay, happiness and do provide better services to their users. National Museums Liverpool is a public service and should not be exploiting its workers, many of them only earning just about the minimum wage. Many employees of the NML Trading company are local young people and they deserve as much respect as their colleagues employed directly by the museums. As NMLT is fully owned by the museums, museum bosses should not pretend they cannot act or ensure better standards. Yes there have been budget cuts for museums but surely union recognition would not cost a penny and if workers were getting the real Living Wage and decent hours of work, they would be spending their wages in the local economy and not having to consider claiming benefits.

There is currently an estimated £6 billion deficit each year in providing the necessary funding - this means that over 100,000 families are facing financial ruin, adding to the acute misery of seeing their relatives slowly decline. This problem was recognised some 10 years ago, and the Dilnot Commission reported in 2011 with recommendations that were accepted by the Coalition Government in 2013. The Conservative Party, in their 2015 election manifesto, pledged to implement starting in 2016, only for the present Government to renege on its promise within 3 months of taking office. The key points in this commitment were: · A cap on the patient's financial liability for care costs set at £72,000 · The level of assets, below which patients are no longer liable to pay, raised from £23,250 to £118,000 · By 2024, up to 100,000 more to receive financial help with their care costs The BBC Today programme ran a number of features during the week of February 6th, illustrating how the current policy is having drastic effects on families, tearing them apart with heartless bureaucracy. I took part in one of these programmes, describing how I had to pay nearly £400,000 for my late wife's care costs over 8 years, repeatedly refused help by NHS Continuing Healthcare over 5 years. I was only one of tens of thousands trapped in the 'No Man's Land' between the NHS and Social Care funding.