Our GPs should be accessible at our surgery, we shouldn't have to travel outside of our community to see our Doctor when we are unwell

With the increasing popularity of the North Coast 500 (NC500), promoted in part by Highland Council, we are seeing ever-growing numbers of visitors to the NW Highlands and these people also require access to facilities in order to avoid more cases of human waste being left by the roadside. As part of its budget proposals for 2018/2019 Highland Council are closing public toilets at the following locations in the county of Sutherland: Achmelvich, Kinlochbervie, Rhiconich, Scourie, Smoo Cave, Lairg, Kylesku, Talmine, and Tarbet. The total estimated savings come to just £67,000 per year yet we consider these to be essential services, both for local people and tourists & others visiting the area. Additionally, these closures will discriminate against the elderly, infirm, disabled, and those with long-term illnesses whose ability to do without a regular rest break is impaired. Highland Council's suggested alternatives, such as making use of facilities in nearby businesses and village halls, are both impractical and presumptuous. Do the decent thing, Highland Council: Scrap your plans to close these public toilets.

It’s important because this man has been in the UK since 1974 and has worked since 2006 and has paid all has National Insurance and Tax contributions. Now the Government are saying they have no record of him. Whether they do or they they don’t, this man has just been diagnosed with prostrate cancer and now the NHS have stopped his treatment and in other words left him to suffer or even die! We must take action. This is against our human rights

This would be privatisation by the back door. The company would be outside the NHS publicly owned and provided structure. It would own all the assets, land and buildings transferred to it. This would not be an acceptable disposal of public assets. At some stage in the future, it will be at risk of an aggressive buyout which will remove all once publicly owned assets building and land transferred with it, into profiteers hands, forever. It would remove the rights of the workforce to NHS terms and conditions after the statutory TUPE date and in any case, in the event of a downturn in revenue or other ‘financial crisis’ scenario and to new employees. It would create a 2 tier workforce as new employees will have less security, terms and conditions, holiday rights, sick pay and no access to NHS pension. This is likely to impact negatively on patient experience if the new workforce is more transient, without the public sector ethos. It’s a VAT scam? Certainly, it’s worrying that many of the SubCo plans seem to emphasise this VAT “gambit”. Gloucestershire, for example, told staff it would save £35m over 10 years through this ruse, whilst the staff savings were merely “unquantifiable”. And the Department of Health has advised against it. But the biggest similar scheme to date, UnitingCare in Cambridgeshire, collapsed spectacularly – and one of the major reasons (according to both NHS England and the National Audit Office reports) was because the NHS signed the contract on the basis of incorrect advice about their VAT position, meaning an unexpected £5m a year was added to the costs and the arrangement collapsed. There has been no consultation to date with members of the public and patients. Privatising cleaning services lead to development of MRSA a study shows. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314890.php By the time this new move is shown to be a disaster it will be too late. A Special Purpose Vehicle could prove to be a false economy. We are not opposed to change for the better, but we view the input from management consultants and attempts to privatise NHS services and estates, with suspicion. Please explore other options. New research shows use of Management Consultants increase inefficiency. http://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k893. https://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/jonathan-allsop/time-to-halt-nhs-gravy-train-for-management-consultants http://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k893

Raising awareness of bullying is an important issue to many parents, carers, and young people who are victims of bullying. It is becoming more and more frequent at this school, to the point where children are having to be relocated at other schools. Bullying has a devastating affect on young people and their families. The rates of suicide and self harm in young people is on the rise due to suspected bullying, whether it be cyber bullying, physical and/or psychological. This matter is important to me as family members of mine have experienced bullying directly and I have witnessed the effects it has on them both physically and mentally. There were over 24,000 Childline counselling sessions with children about bullying in 2016/2017 and more than 16,000 young people are absent from school due to bullying, as stated by the NSPCC. This is happening in schools because young people are not being educated on how bullying others and making a person feel worthless effects the young person whom is being bullied. Children who are being bullied also don't know where to turn to or what to do, this may also apply to the children that are bullying others. I feel that making a point of having set times where children, parents, teachers, can learn about the full effects of bullying may just save some lives, this will allow children to attend their place of education without fear. School's have a duty of care to children, and, currently this duty is not being carried out. Children need to feel safe in their environment in order for them to grow and learn. It's about time the school acted on it's anti-bullying policy and protected the children that are under their care. I have attached the link to an Inquiry into bullying and harrasment in schools, it's worth a read to get a feel of how the young people in schools feel about this subject, and notice the age of the kids that are giving feedback. This needs to be stopped. http://www.parliament.scot/S5_Equal_Opps/General%20Documents/Children_in_Scotland_-_commissioned_by_EHRiC.pdf

If you have any interest in athletics at all, or just in the development of sport in general - please take time to read. The facts are amazing. This is the most successful athletics programme in the country. It has won five National awards, three governing body awards, it has a 100% attendance to the summer programme and the most successful indoor athletics league in the country. This programme has enabled thousands of young people, no matter what their ability, to participate and compete in an atmosphere of excitement, challenge, fun and fulfilment, alongside 100s of volunteers many of whom were former competitors and GCSE or A level students, who gained valuable leadership skills and qualifications. Several internationals began their career in these programmes. Many many other, high level county and club athletes also started their careers in these programmes. Leader, Howard Court, took up his role after his England athletics role 13 years ago. His wife, Clova Court, is a former Great Britain International Heptathlete. She has supported him and his team in doing an amazing job in developing athletics in the Sandwell Area. There are many other current and past international athletes who are great role models and have contributed or still contribute to the development of sport in Sandwell. PLEASE SAVE THE SANDWELL SPORTS DEVELOPMENT TEAM.

What is a wholly owned subsidiary company? The first thing to say is that the Minister for Health, Jeremy Hunt, loves them. These companies can be used to reduce costs by cutting pay and increasing workload by rewriting contracts of employment. NHS staff who are placed under a wholly owned subsidiary company effectively have two bosses, but both of them are the same Trust!! By creating a company to deal with contracts of employment the nasty business of cutting pay and increasing workload does not tarnish the Trust’s image as a caring institution. It allows the Trust to split its responsibilities. On the wards, staff have to give the high standard of care to maintain the reputation of the Trust, while the company that actually employs them demands value-for-money. This is bound to create stress. Trade union organisation is deliberately made more difficult as the company and the Trust separate employment from work, and each can blame the other when staff complain? Why do the trade unions and health professionals oppose wholly owned subsidiary companies? Because the argument in favour of them is flawed. The Minister for Health, Jeremy Hunt, claims wholly owned subsidiary companies offer NHS trusts ‘tax flexibility’ because they will pay less VAT. This is a preposterous argument. The government can absolve the NHS from paying any VAT should it choose to do so. And as the NHS is publically funded why would any government sanction tax avoidance? Hunt also argues that Trusts have a duty to offer services that are ‘value-for-money’, but this is nothing more than dressing up cuts to the NHS as a noble public duty. Health care is important, its costs need to be found. Labour and trade union experts say that the new firms are a “back door to privatisation”. Trusts set up wholly owned subsidiary companies behind closed doors in consultation with business advisers. Only when the deed has been done are trade unions and staff informed. A public service run as a business is easier to privatise. Wholly owned subsidiary companies are a con-trick, sold to staff by Trust managers with the promise that wages and conditions will be protected. However, this is only for a limited time period - the promise expires when the financial condition of the company demands it. New recruits to the company could potentially be employed on lower pay and with worse conditions than existing NHS staff. This leads to a two-tier workforce and causes division. The company has a vested interest in replacing the established NHS staff with the cheaper option – a recipe for bullying and intimidation. What effect do wholly owned subsidiary companies have on the health service? When public services are privatised they are no longer accountable to the electorate. We lose our rights over the service and have to accept what we are given. Instead of being treated as a citizen with the right to health care we become customers. The use of wholly owned subsidiary companies destroys the ethos of the NHS by focussing on financial considerations at the expense of our health needs. Staff will certainly become demoralised by the never ending demand to work harder for less, and this is bound to affect the quality of health care negatively. For these reasons we demand that the Chief Executive of Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Trust rule out any use of a wholly owned subsidiary company, or any similar corporate venture. The NHS belongs to all of us, and it serves all of us. We value it as the best system of health care in the world and we are determined it should remain so.

This is an important asset to people in the local area and especially in the area north of the River Tees. Patients in the north of Hartlepool for example would be faced with a journey of at least 35 minutes. This is unacceptable in an emergency situation. People could be losing precious, life saving minutes if forced to travel further to recieve treatment.

My 5 year old son Murray has Doose Syndrome / Myoclonic Astatic Epilepsy (MAE). This is a rare form of epilepsy and means he lives with up to 600 seizures a DAY (4 different seizure types). He has spent months lying in a hospital bed shaking, now uses a wheelchair and has only been able to attend school for 3 weeks this year! It is very hard to control with the medicine currently available and it has been proven in other countries that medical cannabis helps people with illnesses like his. In the USA medical cannabis has helped stop the daily aggressive seizures that children with this syndrome have. The government needs to make Medicinal Cannabis legally available so that the NHS can administer it safely and change the lives of thousands of people with illnesses that could be helped by it. Thanks to the thousands of people who signed this campaign so far, Murray has now been granted a special licence to be prescribed CBD, he's the first person in Scotland to get one. But this campaign is about more than just one patient, it's about doctors being able to give all patients the medicine that could help them.

In summer of 2017 the new build of St Nicholas Community Primary School ground to a halt as the contractor went into liquidation (https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/education/schools-new-5m-building-wont-411409 ) preventing the school opening on schedule in the summer. The new site opened after a two week half term in October, this delay cost parents and teachers a considerable amount in childcare. Further delays followed as utilities on site were not up to standard. Staff endeavoured to minimise disruption to the children’s education at the cost of their own time and effort. Some of this disruption has been going on since the start of the new build over two years ago. Today the school is still a building site with areas cordoned off, and re-cordoned off when the weather blew those down. Throughout the winter children have had to access a poorly lit school for after school events and clubs. There is no street-lighting on the path leading into the school beside St Nicholas Church. It is not safe and very frightening for pupils. The path has not been widened and does not provide enough space for the footfall accessing the school with prams, bikes, scooters or more than one child. There is no easy or safe access for parents to drop off or collect their children without causing obstructions, trespass or danger to life. Choke points make it dangerous for children using their bikes, scooters and walking into school. Poor traffic control on the corner of Holme Church Lane, Bulcher Lane, and Beaver Road is also putting lives at risk. The extended closure of footpath No12 leading from Holme Church Lane to Grovehill Road continues to cause elderly residents problems, disorienting them or making it impossible for them to navigate. All these matters were raised at the planning consultations. None of them have been resolved. This is not a 21st Century school as one ward councillor hoped for. The school field was lost when the new build began, two years later children still do not have access to a large, suitable by law, play area. Currently 300 children are limited to exercise on a small tennis court. Once again contractors are delayed due to poor drainage and contractors are now damaging original work while repairing other problems. Many minor injuries have been caused on the footpath. Children are scared of attending school clubs, deciding against after school activities because of the dark. Car drivers are not able to see/react to those crossing the roads in the area resulting in a number of close calls. Children have to wear mud soaked clothes when they fall from their bikes or slip in the mud as there simply aren't enough spare uniforms to go around. Play and exercise time is limited because of lack of space. We believe our children should be able to access and use the school safely. This is not the case. The health and well-being of the pupils have been put second for too long.

The Bluewave hydrotherapy Complex is a specialist facility that serves the most vulnerable and marginalised members of our community - namely the disabled and elderly. There is no facility in Kent that offers the equipment and service that this complex can offer, such as the hydrotherapy pool, specialist weight training and cardiovascular equipment and pain management classes. This space is a social hub that provides some of the more vulnerable members of the community with a place to converse, improve their health and interact with others. The complex receives exercise referrals from the NHS and is also used by a number of special needs and state schools. The loss of this facility would be devastating for the local community! Please can you sign the petition so Bluewave can remain open and continue providing this crucial support to our community.

1. Health (how wants sewerage in water) 2. Marine environment (The sea Life will be affected) 3. Economy (Gairloch is fishing port and highly dependent on tourist trade)