The use of glyphosates has already been banned or restricted in 8 countries. It is not acceptable that ourselves, our children and the animals we share our community with are being routinely exposed to these chemicals whether we like it or not. This is a matter of great importance for those of us who care about each other's health and the health of our children, our cats, our dogs and all the flora and fauna of this city, of course including our beloved bees. If you don't live in this area, click here to start a campaign for your city: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-pesticide-campaign

At the moment everywhere in the NHS clinical care is provided according to need, if you need a hip operation you join a queue, if you need a dressing it will be arranged when necessary, if your GP thinks you might have cancer he can refer you urgently, counsellors ring you up and asses your needs before timetabling sessions. If you phone your GP for an appointment for an itch you've had for 3 years they will likely schedule an appointment for next week or the week after. If you report your child has a high temperature, a purple rash and a headache they'll respond immediately. Everywhere except that is, in A/E departments. There, because of a ministerial target introduced 16 years ago, long before the change in GP out of hours contracts, everyone has to have their problem dealt with within 4 hours. There has never been any scientific basis for this target. This means your piles you may have had for 4 years, a muscle sprain that happened 6 weeks ago on a run, or your hay fever that you have had every year for a decade will be dealt with inside 4 hours. No matter how minor, no matter how long you've had your symptoms. This is care being directed for purely administrative reasons, not clinical. Because it is a political target it becomes a political football, Secretaries of State will divert hundreds of millions of pounds into these departments to avoid lurid headlines of "long waits in A/E". Please do not misunderstand I am not advocating 82 year olds with broken hips having to wait, what I am advocating is treatment on clinical grounds. The diversion of all this money and resource is robbing the NHS of valuable care that could be delivered elsewhere. Because the target is so widely publicised the public are aware of it and not unreasonably use it to their advantage, why wait for a GP appointment when you just pitch up at A/E with a guarantee of being seen. No wonder more and more people turn up. Whats even better is that you decide when to turn up. It is a fact that A/E attendance rates can be tracked against major events such as football matches, or climactic events in TV series . This results in yet more money being poured in to bolster the target, its a vicious cycle without end. Since its introduction in 2000 no end of new ideas; Walk in Centres, Darzi Centres, Minor Injury Units, poly clinics, GP led Health Centres etc and no end of new money has been able to reduce the inexorable rise in A/E attendances. Care in A/E departments, whilst of high quality, is not appropriate for many of the conditions they deal with. The chances of having tests and investigations is much greater than when the same condition is dealt with by a doctor who knows you, rather than the next one on the shift. They deliver formulaic protocol driven care which again encourages patients to go there - if I go to my GP with a cough I get advice, if I go to A/E I get an e-ray, an ECG, a blood test and an antibiotic. You can treat 4 or 5 cases of Hay fever at a GPs surgery with the money an A/E department would use to asses and treat one patient with the same condition. The 4 hour target is a political target that leads to a distortion of clinical care and can only ever result in more and more resources being diverted into them. If patients were treated on a clinical need basis, so with your 4 year old piles you will be seen but no guarantee of when, then departments could begin to allocate resource more effectively and patients might think twice about turning up in the first place. The saved money could then go to GPs where it would be more cost effectively used.

The use of glyphosates has already been banned or restricted in 8 countries. It is not acceptable that ourselves, our children and the animals we share our community with are being routinely exposed to these chemicals whether we like it or not. This is a matter of great importance for those of us who care about each other's health and the health of our children, our cats, our dogs and all the flora and fauna of this city, of course including our beloved bees. If you don't live in this area, click here to start a campaign for your city: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-pesticide-campaign

It will ultimately lead to the development of a well site that will be hydraulically fracked. I am a mother and I believe that we all have a responsibility to protect our children and our future. The independent Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) study of the environmental impact of the shale gas technology has still not been published despite a legal requirement to do so. The CCC report could have a material impact on the planning application if it is been made public in time. Under Section 49 of the new Infrastructure Act 2015, the Government must seek independent advice from Lord Deben’s Committee on whether shale gas production can be compatible with future carbon emissions targets. Barry Gardiner, Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change, said “The Government is now losing the trust of the public on this issue who can see that the Energy Secretary has been sitting on this independent report for 56 days whilst simultaneously threatening to impose fracking on communities against their will.” Planning Application Number 3524

Make it legally binding that all live-in care work, whether private or through an agency ensure a 2 hour minimum break per day for carers. There should also be a waking night carer throughout the night if necessary.Many carers are exploited by care agencies and private employers as there are no fixed rules for breaks. Most live-in carers are too afraid to speak up in case they lose their job or get bad references. It is very common for carers to work up to 16 hours a day, plus getting up during the night. Most carers get paid from £65 to £95 per day and are still expected to have a happy disposition and fulfill all their duties - often without breaks. Slavery was abolished in the UK nearly 200 years ago. Please stop live in care givers being exploited and invisible and give them the voice and rights they deserve.

The use of glyphosates has already been banned or restricted in 8 countries. It is not acceptable that ourselves, our children and the animals we share our community with are being routinely exposed to these chemicals whether we like it or not. This is a matter of great importance for those of us who care about each other's health and the health of our children, our cats, our dogs and all the flora and fauna of this city, of course including our beloved bees. If you don't live in this area, click here to start a campaign for your city: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-pesticide-campaign

Council members are proposing to extend loading times and bays on the refurbished off-road cycle lane approaching Cleveland Place, These changes will either force cyclists into the heavily trafficked [two-lane] west bound carriage ways; OR into potential collisions with pedestrians. The Council also wants to remove the curb build-out at Snow Hill, which was designed to protect cyclists and prevent illegal ingress by motorists onto the on-road cycle lane. The Council may also be considering complete complete removal of the on-road cycle lanes, simply to increase traffic flows. All of these plans contradict previous agreements and undertakings supporting improved cycling access, agreed by all the parties, in the Bath Transport Strategy.

The use of glyphosates has already been banned or restricted in 8 countries. It is not acceptable that ourselves, our children and the animals we share our community with are being routinely exposed to these chemicals whether we like it or not. This is a matter of great importance for those of us who care about each other's health and the health of our children, our cats, our dogs and all the flora and fauna of this city, of course including our beloved bees. If you don't live in this area, click here to start a campaign for your city: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-pesticide-campaign

The use of glyphosates has already been banned or restricted in 8 countries. It is not acceptable that ourselves, our children and the animals we share our community with are being routinely exposed to these chemicals whether we like it or not. This is a matter of great importance for those of us who care about each other's health and the health of our children, our cats, our dogs and all the flora and fauna of this city, of course including our beloved bees. If you don't live in this area, click here to start a campaign for your city: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-pesticide-campaign

The use of glyphosates has already been banned or restricted in 8 countries. It is not acceptable that ourselves, our children and the animals we share our community with are being routinely exposed to these chemicals whether we like it or not. This is a matter of great importance for those of us who care about each other's health and the health of our children, our cats, our dogs and all the flora and fauna of this city, of course including our beloved bees. If you don't live in this area, click here to start a campaign for your city: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-pesticide-campaign

A costly procurement process for community health and social care in Bath & N.E. Somerset is currently under way, because all health contracts must now be put out to competitive tender. At the moment, these services are provided by Sirona, which is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company. The procurement process is in its final stages prior to the award of a new seven-year, £70 million per annum contract. Apart from Sirona, the only other organisation now shortlisted for this contract is Virgin Care Ltd. Virgin Care Ltd pays no corporation tax in the UK and should therefore not profit from the UK taxpayer. It is part of a group whose ultimate parent company is based in the British Virgin Islands, which is a tax haven. Virgin Care does not currently record a profit in the UK after administrative expenses, but the company’s structure makes it unlikely to pay any tax in the UK in the foreseeable future(ref.1 below) Despite this, since entering the health market in 2010 Virgin Care has been awarded contracts worth over £1 billion, with several large contracts in community health. (ref. 2) If this contract is awarded to Virgin, it will contribute to the rapidly advancing privatisation of the NHS. A report two years ago by an international panel of experts working for the Commonwealth Fund declared the NHS to be the best healthcare system and rated its care superior to that of countries that spend far more on health. The Commonwealth Fund, a Washington-based foundation, is respected around the world for its analysis of the performance of different countries’ health systems.(ref.3) The NHS should remain a publicly provided, publicly funded health service for the benefit of all UK citizens, not for the benefit of those who wish to make a profit. My partner has had an excellent service from Sirona since being diagnosed last year with Parkinson's Disease . We fear that this provision will be greatly reduced if Virgin are awarded the contract and make cuts in order to provide profits. 1. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/21/ow-lucrative--deals-go-to-firms-that-use-tax-havens 2. http://www.nhsforsale.info/private-providers/private-provider-profiles-2/virgin.html 3. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jun/17/nhs-health

The use of glyphosates has already been banned or restricted in 8 countries. It is not acceptable that ourselves, our children and the animals we share our community with are being routinely exposed to these chemicals whether we like it or not. This is a matter of great importance for those of us who care about each other's health and the health of our children, our cats, our dogs and all the flora and fauna of this city, of course including our beloved bees. If you don't live in this area, click here to start a campaign for your city: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-pesticide-campaign