Because my wife died from cancer last year & these hospices should receive government funding instead of having to rely totally on fundraising.

On the 1st of July 2017, Angus Council plan to commence the implementation of proposals which will see social care provision changed, services cut and privatised. ‎The number of staff responding to Community Alarm calls will be cut during the day, working hours will be cut, some staff will be forced to provide a car to undertake their duties and there will be approximately 170 job losses. All of this will impact on the most vulnerable members of our community. We believe that the evidence does not exist to support these plans or to implement them safely. We believe that private sector interest to provide social care in rural Angus just isn't there. Care for profit is wrong. We call on Angus Council and the Integrated Joint Board to halt these plans and to reassess this strategy. Cuts to vital care services will impact on the most vulnerable members of our community.

I’m calling for a change in the rules so that people with dementia are specifically eligible to apply for a Blue Badge, which means easier trips to the shop, the doctor’s or the hospital for dementia patients if they choose to apply. “I hope the Government will consider this change.” The final decision on who is eligible is up to local councils. But Government provides guidance can prove crucial in earmarking badges - and dementia is not on the list of criteria. Charities say some local authorities give blue badges to people with dementia while others enforce much tighter rules. Although the person with dementia may be able to walk the required distance that exempts them from being issued a Blue Badge the person has to be helped in and out of their vehicle, and guided, they can be unsteady on their feet and suffer dizziness/confusion as to where they are because of their dementia. This means that, e.g. they cannot be dropped off while a driver goes to park, because they are in danger from wandering off or walking into the road. Campaigners say the disease can be as mentally and often physically debilitating as other illnesses. The number of people with dementia is set to rise from 850,000 this year to over two million by 2051. Alzheimer’s Society national campaigns manager Sam Gould said: “Many people with dementia gradually lose their ability to walk and perform simple tasks as their condition progresses. “This means activities that many of us take for granted, like visiting the shops or attending GP appointments, can become physically challenging and make some journeys daunting. “We support the call for people with dementia to be able to access the Blue Badge scheme, as this could mean that more people with dementia are able to continue doing the things they enjoy and maintain their independence for longer.”

Residents have already been greatly affected by the recent restriction in opening hours to only three mornings a week. As such, most are expected to travel to the White Horse Medical Practice in Westbury to seek medical attention. Yet, this is very difficult seeing as White Horse Medical Practice in Westbury is situated on the outskirts of town and therefore is not accessible to those who do not possess their own transport. In addition, White Horse Medical Practice has already been struggling to cope with demand, due to continuing growth in the town's population. All in all, the current situation is already unsustainable and will only get worse, should Smallbrook Surgery close altogether at the end of the current 3-days-a-week trial period.

THE HOSPITAL IS NOW REGULARLY ON `BLACK ALERT` WHICH MEANS IT CANNOT ACCEPT ANY ADMISSIONS DUE TO LACK OF AVAILABLE BEDS AND BOLTON PATIENTS FALLING ILL/BEING INJURED HAVE TO BE FERRIED TO SALFORD OR WIGAN. MEETING AT `FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE` SILVERWELL STREET BOLTON ON THURSDAY 23RD MARCH AT 7.30 : SPEAKER DR JACKIE GRUNSELL GP.

Britain’s only clinic specialising in the treatment of chronic urinary tract infections has been closed to new NHS patients for over two years. Hundreds of patients who have been referred to the clinic cannot be seen. They are being denied care and living in agony because they cannot afford to pay for private treatment. This is deeply unethical and unfair. The partial closure of the clinic has also affected its ability to recruit staff and leaves its future uncertain. The LUTS clinic run by Professor James Malone-Lee is pioneering research and treatment of chronic urinary tract infections which affect hundreds of thousands of sufferers in the UK. This includes infections that have become antibiotic resistant. Chronic UTI wrecks lives. The LUTS clinic is doing vital, life-saving work and needs your help! After suffering for a year with repeated urinary tract infections, 40-year-old Kirstin Lavender was referred to her local hospital in Yorkshire for an exploratory cystoscopy. Doctors confirmed her bladder was inflamed but didn’t know why. Following this invasive procedure, Kirstin bled for 6 months and her infection symptoms – nausea, fever, frequent urination, urgency and back pain – got so bad she became bed bound. Repeated tests showed no evidence of infection so Kirstin’s consultant diagnosed the incurable inflammatory condition, Interstitial Cystitis. All doctors could offer her was pain management. Kirstin’s life was unbearable. She had lost her health, her job and her identity. She was disabled by extreme kidney and bladder pain and facing life in a wheelchair. Finally, Kirstin persuaded her GP to refer her to Professor Malone-Lee at the LUTS clinic. Here she was diagnosed with a chronic bladder infection that had likely become embedded in her bladder lining. Her infection was complicated but, after seventeen months in treatment with the clinic, Kirstin is healthy, free of pain and has her life back. In October 2015 – after a single adverse event – the clinic was closed at a day’s notice by the Whittington Trust. Professor Malone-Lee’s patients brought a legal action against the Trust and it reopened the clinic a month later. Worryingly, 29 months later the clinic remains closed to new NHS patients. Repeated assurances that it would open in April 2017 have come to nothing. Islington Clinical Commissioning Group is responsible for commissioning NHS services in the borough & wishes to see the clinic become a specialist tertiary provider. Whilst discussions for a move to a London tertiary hospital are ongoing, a phased reopening to new patients at the clinic's current location has, in principle, been agreed by the Whittington Hospital and the local commissioning groups for the spring of 2018. However, critical timelines have been missed, causing more delay to this phased reopening date. While NHS managers stall, hundreds of patients with chronic UTI are being denied treatment. No other clinic treats this way so they have no choice but to wait – in terrible pain with debilitating symptoms - while their condition worsens.

Children are still dying from playing in the polluted area. Shortly after the leakage Union Carbide sold the plant to Dow, to avoid meeting their obligations to the people of Bhopal. Upjohn Polymer have recently sold their Isocyanate plant to Dow. Dow chemical is aiming to expand its business in PU in India. Polyurethane (PU) foams use 50% isocyanates in their manufacture.

The youth project and KRAN are based at the Shed. They work with local young people many of whom live in Harbour Ward, one of the most deprived in the area. The young people receive sex and health education, drug and alcohol awareness, and help with writing CVs and applying for jobs. They are also encouraged to take part in a range of positive activities (such as sport, art, and music technology) and are able to make friends and integrate with other local young people. The Shed is a safe, non-judgemental space where all are welcome. One young person who uses the Shed said this, "People who find it hard to fit in anywhere else come here which enables them to feel valued...it also provides them with education and teaches them that everyone is equal no matter what their background is. We wouldn't have learnt these life lessons and morals if it wasn't for the Shed and the kind-hearted staff that give up their time to make sure we feel we belong."

People are in danger of contracting hepatitis, HIV and other viruses.

The Potting Shed@Radstock is an important resource for local people who suffer with mental health and isolation issues. Closing the project will result in the loss of a valuable wellbeing project and a possible route into employment for people living in Radstock and the surrounding areas. Many people have benefited from the project. The community also benefits from the project. It makes no financial sense for the Trustees to charge the group rent and water charges to maintain the gardens voluntarily, as without the group they will need to pay a gardening contractor to do the same work. Without a Support Worker managing the project and encouraging people to attend the project is doomed to fail.

Trowbridge Birthing Centre offers crucial services for mothers and families in the area. I had two of my children at the unit, and the centre offered me a very personalised service. It is essential that women have the choice to give birth locally, and this unit is a respected and well-loved option. Trowbridge Birthing Centre also offers much needed antenatal and postnatal services for local women and babies.

There is no safe level of asbestos exposure. We don't want to wait 30 years for a cancer cluster in Cranleigh to prove that we are at risk from our drinking water. We want independent testing to be carried out now to assess the risk to public health. Almost 30% of the drinking water supply pipes in Cranleigh (highlighted in pink on the above map) are made from asbestos cement (AC), compared to a reported average of 2% throughout the rest of the Thames Water Region. The pipes are between 50 and 70 years old and frequently burst, increasing the amount of free asbestos fibres entering the drinking water supply. Evidence shows that ageing AC drinking water pipes also degrade internally over time through water friction and low pH levels, releasing free asbestos fibres into the drinking water supply. Furthermore, an increase in water pressure within these deteriorating AC pipes to accommodate significant housing development in Cranleigh will lead to more bursts and the release of more asbestos fibres. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has been testing for asbestos fibres in drinking water since 1992 due to decaying AC water mains. No one is testing our drinking water for asbestos fibres, no one is calculating the risk to residents in Cranleigh.