Stepping Hill serves a large geographical area in Greater Manchester. It has been chosen as one of the specialist hospitals in Greater Manchester as a result of the Healthier Together reforms that were intended to improve patient care and save lives. The loss of jobs and beds at the hospital can only have the opposite effect. We want Ann Barnes to tell the people of Stockport and the surrounding area why, without consultation, the board have taken the decision to immediately and permanently close the surgical ward B3, to temporarily close 8 trauma and orthopaedic beds from October and to make 400 people redundant. This came as a shock to everyone. We want this decision reversed. We are aware that these are cost-cutting measures forced by a deficit estimated to be £40 million. This is an entirely predictable result of a policy of progressive under-funding of the NHS that began in 2010. We now spend 25% less of our GDP on healthcare compared with the European average and more pressure has been placed on all hospitals including Stepping Hill as a result of reductions in social care funding. We therefore also call on Jeremy Hunt as Secretary of State for Health to change the austerity policy of under-funding of the NHS, to increase spending to provide a publically run service, free at the point of need. The people of Stockport and the surrounding area own Stepping Hill Hospital and it must survive.

Wakefield Council is now responsible for ‘Public Health’ in the district. It contracts with NHS providers like the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust and South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust (SWYPFT) to deliver services such as Health Visiting. At the end of July it told SWYPFT it wants them to stop running the Health Trainer Service, the Community Food & Health service and part of the Safe at Home (domestic violence) service by 30th September. The jobs of around 40 NHS staff will go. We know that the Government is cutting the money it gives to local Councils for these services but this decision has been taken without proper consultation with the health professionals (such as GPs) who refer people to the services, the people who provide them, or the public who use them. The service was recently rated ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission and no discussions have taken place about how the cost of the services might be reduced or about winding down the service (people are still be referred to groups that should run until after the service is due to close).

Dear Squash Fan! We hope you can take a moment to sign our online 'e-petition' to help our squash courts in Scarborough. Four years ago we registered our interest to become part of the new Scarborough Leisure Village which is due to be completed in May 2017. The Council pledged to replace the existing facilities and 3 new glass back squash courts were centrally located in the plans. Today we face the threat of having no courts as the potential leisure service operators want a larger gym. So at this 11th hour the Council are wanting to change the original plans and completely remove the squash courts. This would leave us with no courts in the town centre and far too many gyms. Therefore we are starting this 'Everyone 4 Squash' campaign to secure the presence and long term success of squash in Scarborough fo our current players and generations to come. We would be grateful if you could show your support and by signing our petition and spreading the word to all fans of squash and other competitive sports. Many thanks for your support, 'Everyone 4 Squash' Scarborough Squash Players

Over 9,000 early deaths are caused by air pollution in London every year. There are areas in London that exceeded annual pollution limits just eight days into 2016. These pollution hotspots are on our high streets, by our children’s schools and where we work. We’re finding out more and more about how damaging air pollution is - not to just people with asthma, like myself, or other respiratory or even heart conditions, but to children whose lungs are smaller, whose growth is stunted, because of the dirty air they breathe. That’s why, despite living in Zone 3, I was shocked to discover that both of my children’s schools are in air pollution hotspots, where legal limits are regularly broken. Sadly, this is not unusual, as many primary schools are on roads with heavy traffic and this is the biggest source of air pollution in our city. Even more shockingly, under current plans by the UK Government, London won’t meet legal limits of air pollution until at least 2025 – 15 years after the original deadline. At the moment the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will mean only the cleanest vehicles can enter central London from 2020. This is still, however, not enough to clean up all of London’s air even by 2025. That’s why Sadiq is looking at whether the ULEZ should be expanded to the North and South circulars. Yet, there are pollution hotspots outside of this area. So, the ULEZ needs to be expanded to cover the whole of Greater London to protect all Londoners. The UK Government has been taken to court for failing to protect us from air pollution and the previous Mayor did very little to clean up our air. While I welcome the considerable efforts that the new Mayor has taken, I encourage him to be bolder, braver and faster with action to address this crisis.

Please accept the advice from the soil association and other word leading scientists that glyphosate is harmful to health when ingested in any quantities and the use of it as a pre harvest dessicant has been shown to cause high levels of glyphosate in the grain and humans who consume wheat soya barley based products show significant levels of glyphosate in their urine. It is a WHO suspected carcinogen a hormone disruptor damages the gut biome and may contribute to auto immune disease. The EU has refused a full license and given only a short temporary approval to glyphosate and deprecates it's use as a dessicant. My wife and I both have developed auto immune diseases and we both were exposed to glyphosate spray mist directly and in our food through no choice of our own as it is almost impossible to buy glyphosate free produce. Products that may contain glyphosate from pre harvest desiccation include flour, bread, sauces ,pizza, pastry, beer, soy sauce, biscuits, any meals using wheat as a thickener (most do) etc ... https://www.farminguk.com/news/Soil-Association-writes-to-major-bread-companies-asking-them-to-avoid-glyphosate_42519.html

The consultant led services, for mums giving birth in the conurbation around Dewsbury, are due to be moved to Pinderfields Hospital Wakefield, in September 2016, to be replaced by a midwife led unit with 6 beds. Often mums in labour do not call an ambulance, but travel to hospital independently, via car or public transport. I would not want to travel from Cleckheaton or Birkenshaw to Pinderfields on the bus. Other women with no car may feel the same which will mean more calls for ambulances. The midwife led unit is for low risk births only, so first time mums should be directed to Pinderfields which will be dealing with higher risk births from the North Kirklees AND Wakefield areas. Will this not put a strain on the resources in Wakefield? Just after the Government Body rejected the Kirklees and Wakefield Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) Report that the changes to Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust's Dewsbury District Hospital site were not in the best interests of the local population, the Daily Mail published a study showing that the death rate amongst inpatients at nearby hospitals, went up, when Newark A&E was closed. A large study in America also came to this conclusion. Shockingly, news has broken that Huddersfield Royal Infirmary is also earmarked for closure and replacement by an Urgent Care Centre. Pontefract Hospital has also just been redesignated an Urgent Care Centre. The resulting scenario of driving seriously ill patients in ambulances across the region and subsequent overcrowding in hospitals which have a fully functioning A&E will have a knock on effect for patients around the whole region of West Yorkshire and beyond, Barnsley for example and Oldham. We know Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust is facing 'winter pressures' and it is mid summer! Why do the CCGs and Trusts not get together and tell this 'democratically elected' government to stop the NHS vanity projects and fully fund front line services? This is what happened in a neighbouring hospital in London, when Chase Farm hospital was closed. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jun/19/north-middlesex-ae-staff-describe-unit-as-unsafe-and-unsupported http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2323141/Shocking-proof-Accident-Emergency-closures-cost-lives-Death-rate-jumps-THIRD-department-closes.html Strategic Projects team http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36847643

Health Visitors provide a service to every child and family. They are Specialist Community Public Health Nurses who care for all under fives from the antenatal period to school age. Their value is long recognised in the protection of children, child development, growth, promotion of emotional health and wellbeing in parents and children. We support those suffering domestic abuse, in poverty and with complex health needs in any way that protects children and enables them to thrive. health Visitors make a difference to families. The effectiveness of Health Visiting is well documented. U.K. Government recently trained and recruited 4200 extra SCPHN (Health Visitors) and yet without the funds in Councils many of these Health Visitors may be facing redundancy. Along with cuts to libraries, Children's Centres and Social Services budgets, the risks to our children are mounting. In Scotland the devolved Govt has increased the mandated contacts by Health Visitors to 11 in the first 5 years, recognising that the outcomes for children will be better. In England these contacts are only 5 with a real possibility in some areas this will not involve a Health Visitor contact. Health Visitors support every child, with the emphasis and knowledge that visible children and community support for parenting is the best way of Safeguarding our under 5s. Health Visiting is 120 years old, babies and yet children require support more than ever right now in these austere times. Please ask our Government to protect our Children by funding our service.

Update (28 August, 2016): Since I started this petition the NHS Trust where I live has decided, due to the huge increase in cost imposed by Univar, the manufacturer, that it can no longer supply me with Trientine Dihydrochloride, the drug that I rely on to control an otherwise fatal rare liver condition called Wilson's Disease. The situation for me and other Wilson's Disease patients has taken a turn for the worse so please sign the petition and please share it and encourage as many people as possible to do the same. Thank you so much! Jude ___________________________________________________________ The amazing NHS, funded by us through our taxes, buys drugs and provides them to us, our family members, our friends, our colleagues, to help us beat, alleviate and control all kinds of physical and mental health conditions. My case is just one example of how pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers unfairly hike the prices of vital lifesaving drugs in order to inflate profits and company share prices. It's not the only example out there and I'm sure it's not the worst. We need to stand up and let them know that unethical price hikes are not acceptable. I have a rare genetic liver condition called Wilson's Disease. To control this, I take a drug called Trientine Dihydrochloride, which is a product that's been unchanged since it was developed for the treatment of this potentially fatal condition in the 1960s. Trientine is owned by multinational corporation, Univar, and it's been a registered product in the UK since 1985. Trientine is a great drug! It's kept me alive and healthy for the past 30 years when other drugs haven't worked. The fantastic NHS provides Trientine to me free of charge (I just pay the tiny prescription fee). The hospital pharmacist that supplies me with Trientine told me that until recently it cost the NHS about ￡400 for 100 Trientine capsules (that's a lot, right!) and that was about 16 days' worth for me. Univar has, over several incremental rises, increased the cost by about 750% so it now costs the NHS nearly ￡3,400 for the same amount. That's ￡205 each day to keep me alive and healthy; ￡1,431 each week; ￡6,219 each month; ￡74,624 each year... I now face periods without this vital drug because the NHS pharmacy cannot provide enough due to their spending limits and the increased cost. I don't know what this means for my health exactly but it's not good - I know that much. I'm not the only person. Others with Wilson's Disease are facing the same uncertainty over their health and prospects for controlling this condition. This is the ugly, greedy, unethical face of the pharmaceutical industry. Companies often have a monopoly on the rights to a certain vitally important drug and abuse this status to make profit hand over fist and inflate their share prices with no care for good organisations like the NHS that they're ripping off, and no regard for the patients that ultimately suffer, fall ill and die by being priced out of the treatment that they need. It can cost a pharmaceutical company a lot of money to develop new drugs but we're talking here about products that are long established and unchanged. There's no justification for astronomical price hikes. We need to show that we care and demand better ethical standards and enforce fair pricing regulations with us the people and our NHS at the heart. Thanks.

We are a Stroud-based community action group and we have received a number of complaints regarding the new parking system at Beeches Green. We have sent the following to PropCo and Parking Eye. We would like to register our disapproval – we believe the new system is unnecessary and is resulting in unfair and unjustifiable impacts. Neither patients nor people who work in NHS/Social Care at the site should be forced to pay to park. Staff in the various facilities at Beeches Green report many patients – daily - complaining of confusion regarding the use of the registration machines, many unsure if they are meant to be paying or registering for free parking. The signs are complicated and the two sections of car park (free/paid) are not clearly defined as separate - those with literacy problems may have difficulty with the signs (1% of the population are illiterate and 4% severely dyslexic). Many patients have paid unnecessarily due to fear of charges from Parking Eye and many more have simply not realised that they had to register, resulting in fines. For a several weeks, the pay machines were broken – with several people being fined as a result due to their not having access to the mobile phone app which was presented as the only alternative way to pay. We have spoken to members of staff who tell us that they had never received reports of patients being unable to park under the previous system, though parking was sometimes difficult. When parking became difficult in the past, the caretaker was very successful in preventing non-NHS users from leaving their cars at the site. The new system does not only prevent non-NHS users, but also excludes users and staff of services relating to the new Redwood building and the mammography unit. Previously, many of the people working in this new building were able to park within other parts of the estate. As a part of the NHS, users and staff of the breast screening unit were also able to park for free. Now we have a system where staff and users of some – but not all – NHS and social care services have to pay to park. This has led, amongst other things, to the breast-screening unit moving to a site further from the town centre, creating inconvenience and confusion for those accessing the services.

This service serves the public very well and is well used. I believe that this is a crucial service, particularly because of the difficulty accessing health care both in normal working hours and OOH services.

The future of Hinchingbrooke Hospital is under threat and the proposed merger with Peterborough and Stamford Foundation NHS Trust may see the closure of Accident & Emergency, Maternity and Haematology and also the downgrading of the hospital. We will fight for the retainment of Hinchingbrooke Hospital. Hinchingbrooke Hospital currently provides medical and emergency care for 160,000 residents in Huntingdon and the surrounding rural area. Further housing stock has been planned and approved for development in the near future, which will increase the need to have a District Hospital in Huntingdon. Peterborough and Addenbrookes, the two nearest alternative hospitals are 40 minutes journey time at best, along very busy roads assuming you have your own transport. Not ideal if you are very unwell. We will fight to save Hinchingbrooke. https://s.bsd.net/38degrees/main/page/-/CBY/Hands_Off_Hinchingbrooke_Logo_large.jpg

MAY'S CAMPAIGN is a campaign to try and get more help for people with Mental Health issues who need to be able to talk to someone when they are having a bad time or are in an unstable state of mind. At the moment people with mental health issues are advised to go to their nearest A&E department who are often over stretched and don't always have the staff to spend time talking to people with mental health issues. Sometimes people with mental health issues are put in touch with a Crisis team, but again they are voices on the end of a telephone telling them to go to A&E, or 20 minutes per day home visit. If there were walk-in centers, that these people could go to, it would relieve the pressures on A&E departments and quite often people with mental health issues just need to be able to talk to someone face to face, who is willing to listen to them and make them feel that what they are going through is important and that they, as people, are important to their families and to society in general. Today a young girl named MAY had her funeral, she was 21 and had suffered with mental illness for a number of years, but because she couldn't get the help she desperately needed, she took her own life. There were a lot of young people at the funeral who had known May as a friend, and who had also received support on-line from all across the country. People loved May for what she did to help them, she tried to help many people with their problems and she also worked as a volunteer at a center for people with suicidal tendencies, where they could go for support and even be able to stay for a few nights, so they could feel safe. Yet when May needed this help there wasn't anywhere for her to go. My daughter was one of the people at the funeral who has also suffered with mental health issues and has often been through very difficult times, where she has needed support, but has not been able to get to talk to anyone without being told to just go to A&E where she has had to sit for hours while waiting to be seen and in the meantime her anxieties have reached suicidal levels. No mother, father, family member or friend should have to bury their sons or daughters, because the support that they need isn't in place for them to use. There are walk in centers for the homeless, for food banks, people who are unable to handle the amount of alcohol they drink and other problems, but there isn't enough being done for mental health sufferers. It could be organized and run by volunteers in empty shops, mobile buses or safe houses. It doesn't have to be big new buildings, just somewhere people can feel safe and listened to. So please sign this petition and share it with your friends, family and everyone who means something to you, also your loved ones, as we all know someone who has had mental health issues from depression to suicide, and we all need to show them our support by getting something done to help them where they can go and feel safe instead of suicidal. Thankyou for taking the time to read this, now please sign it, we need as many signatures as there are people who love someone out there.