Every year hundreds of people die as a result of the readily available legal highs, many believe that as the substance is legal, it is safe. It's quite the opposite in fact. The exact ingredients will never be known, and we are unaware of the effects of theses substances. However, despite this, the council still proceed to licence shops selling legal highs. No age restrictions are in place. A child as young as 5 could purchase these lethal drugs, all at the owners discretion. I for one am not going to sit back and watch more and more children become another death statistic. By making it illegal to purchase these substances under the age of 18, we can start minimising casualties. Tight sentences and fines should be implemented to anyone found selling legal highs without a license or to anyone with out verification of age. The fight back starts now.

The reason behind my urgent appeal is because this medication is the cause behind so many soldiers suffering from mental health breakdown. Responding to the new statistics published recently, General Lord Dannatt, former head of the British Army, said: “It is extraordinary that the MoD continues with this policy given the mounting evidence as to the harmful effects of Lariam. The MoD should decide as a matter of urgency to no longer prescribe Lariam but use some other malaria prophylactic.” I thoroughly agree with this because it is very wrong to put our loyal troops through this predicament which is very much uncalled for. Therefore I implore the Ministry of Defence to ban the medication and not prescribe it to our troops with immediate effect. You can read more here: http://www.channel4.com/news/labour-vows-review-after-994-troops-stricken-by-lariam

One in eight women develop breast cancer in their lifetime. If breastfeeding can help reduce the risk of breast cancer, then women need to know about that. According to the research, women who have breastfed have a 5% increased chance of not experiencing breast cancer in their lifetime. The numbers become more significant for women who have already been diagnosed and women who have already beaten the cancer once – women diagnosed with cancer who have breastfed can expect a 28% reduced risk of dying from the disease while women who already survived it have a 30% chance of not seeing the cancer recur if they have breastfed. This information is important, given that one in eight women are diagnosed with cancer. It could save more lives if more people know about it. I am requesting the Department of Health to look more deeply into this research and create campaigns around it.

Obesity is a threat to good health and is best controlled through exercise. Diabetics can lower their blood sugar levels with exercise. Exercise also improves mental health. (Exercise releases a hormone - Serotonin - which reduces depression.)

The government have decided to take NHS money out of hospitals, call it the 'Better Care Fund' and give it to Health and Wellbeing Boards. In Kirklees, this body has sitting on it, the Chair and Chief Officer of Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Group and the Chair and Chief Officer of North Kirklees Clinical Commissioning Group. It also has a number of councillors and a representative of a company contracted to do work for the CCGs, the representative of the council responsible for Public Health and sometimes representatives of Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust, Calderdale Hospital Foundation Trust and Healthwatch. The NHS has always been run with a public service ethos. Increasingly multinational companies without that ethos, are being awarded contracts to deliver services and they fail to honour their promises. Any private company is vulnerable to takeover bids from larger firms. We consider it worth reminding the bodies responsible for allocating around £2.5m of public money, that money channelled away from the hospitals has a potential to weaken them and that there is no clear evidence that 'Care Closer to Home' will either keep people out of hospital or save money for the NHS. eg. A very recent Kings Fund report - 'The Reconfiguration of Clinical Services - what is the evidence?' (Nov 2014) has stated that there are consistent findings that moving care out of hospital does not cut costs or reduce admissions to hospital. In fact in one study (Roland et al 2012) it increased admissions. The report states that in fact, this kind of reconfiguration of clinical services can act as a distraction from core tasks and can increase risks. North Kirklees NHS Support Group and Dewsbury Keep Our NHS Public (KONP) have been out in Dewsbury, Cleckheaton, Birstall and Batley with paper petitions, but the area of the CCGs stretches to Heckmondwike, Mirfield, Hopton, Kirkburton, Meltham and Huddersfield and district. It is with the idea of giving people a chance to sign in all the relevant areas, that we are running it for a short time online. Please sign and share, if you have a Kirklees postcode. Thank you.

In 2012 GlaxoSmithKline stopped production of Alphosyl HC Cream leaving Psoriasis sufferers like myself without any equivalent product to relieve the symptoms of Psoriasis. There is no cure for Psoriasis. I have suffered this condition since 1954, I have had numerous treatments over the years but, none have been as effective as Alphosyl HC Cream. Please help put pressure on GlaxoSmithKline to put Alphosyl HC Cream back into production.

We need to stop post coded lottery nhs support for those with High- Functioning autism and Asperger Syndrome. Derbyshire needs to take asperger syndrome as a real disorder, and start treating and managing the condition on the NHS. Because many of patients with mild autism/ asperger syndrome do not have a learning disability associated with aspergers diagnosis, then the adult cannot get specialized support from their nhs learning disability team. So where do adults with asperger syndrome go. Many adults with the condition then end up with mental health problems, like depression, on top of their aspergers diagnosis. This is not fair! Some asperger syndrome adult patients then end up thrown in the mental health service in Derbyshire, but asperger syndrome adults are not mentally ill, not can we treat the condition like mental illness - asperger syndrome cannot be cured and it is a long-term neurological developmental disorder. So adults with the condition needs specialist medical services, like specialist OT and speech therapy, specialized trained behavioral therapists and psychiatrists. Adults with mild autism and asperger syndrome are not being given a fair and personalized medical support in Derbyshire on the NHS, and this is scandalous.

There are on average one child in every classroom who is colour blind. 1 in 12 boys and 1 in 200 girls. Colour blindness is carried through the male gene which is why it affects more males than females. This can have a big effect on pupils when teachers do not know how to recognise this or have alternative teaching methods. i.e. colours of world flags, Chemistry changes to litmus paper, sports (identifying different team kits, markings on sport hall floors). Some children also have difficulty with coloured writing on coloured backgrounds. Younger children often use coloured blocks for counting and subtracting exercises. My son was in a maths lesson and they were using different coloured blocks for counting, but he used the wrong colour. The teacher then said in front of the class that as he was 8 he should know his colours. My son explained he was colour blind,( which he shouldn't have had too as I had already written to the school twice). The teacher then took my son to one side of the classroom, and held up different coloured blocks and asked him what colour they were. This was very embarrassing for my son and not necessary at all. Colour Blind Awareness are currently running a campaign to have all children tested for colour blindness at their first eye test and also to have teachers trained as standard practice so they know how to teach children who are colour blind.

The NHS cannot possibly give a large person Bariatric Surgery for weight loss without an after care package to remove excess skin. The main problem of weight loss has been solved and the operation pays for itself within 2 years as Diabetes, Sleep Apnoea, High Blood Pressure and many more ailments either reduce or disappear thereby saving the NHS money in the long run. However, one issue has been resolved and another appears which is the huge amount of excess skin which is left behind - THIS IS NOT COSMETIC, THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE AFTERCARE PACKAGE. I have been refused 4 times by the PCT because they say I am doing it for vanity reasons, how ridiculous - I have several folds of skin on my back with sores and blisters where the skin is empty and just hangs, the same goes for my arms and also my stomach - I am not asking for a boob job or a face lift -- I am just asking for the unsightly skin to be removed. I have been sacked from work due to extended sick leave due to severe depression and anxiety - my marriage broke down and I am now reclusive as I don't want anyone to see all the excess skin I have - it is ugly, sore and makes me feel like a freak....... PLEASE SIGN - THANKS

This anomaly means private delivery companies look cheaper, but are not. My hospital neurology dept "saves" £250k a year on VAT on beta interferon alone this way, but the private healthcare provider offers a lamentable service, not turning up, letting patients run out of meds, etc. There are few companies to compete, and the NHS cannot afford to take service back. Jeremy Hunt and HMRC know about the unfair advantage private companies have, but ignore it. This means the NHS is paying £200 million A YEAR on drugs to the Treasury in VAT. Why penalise the NHS? Let the NHS compete fairly!

Mental Health services are stretched to breaking point there is a severe lack of units for both children and adults, sometimes resulting in people being held in police cells which is both ethically and morally wrong! People in crisis and their families have little to no help whilst awaiting a bed and often have to travel hundreds of miles away from home due to lack of suitable units close to home, breaking families apart for weeks and even months at a time. Community services, crisis teams and social service departments are not fit for purpose due to a lack of funding and staff shortages, the increasing demand of community care not being supplied is causing bed blocking in many units and is causing many to not receive the help they need to prevent admission in the first place. The whole system is in need of change and it needs to be made a high priority because the numbers of people in need and in crisis is rising fast!

The hospital is used by many patients with chronic health conditions that require regular tests, meaning some people could pay large amounts in parking charges over the year. It amounts to a tax for being ill. Furthermore, all revenue from fines imposed goes to ParkingEye, the contractor managing the site, not the hospital.