Letter from Parliament - Jim Dobbin MP

Jim Dobbin MP

The world has just celebrated the 90th birthday of Nelson Mandela, Rochdale has celebrated the 80th birthday of Sir Cyril and the NHS celebrates its 60th this Saturday. Congratulations to one and all.

I believe that it is thanks to the NHS that we have so many people in the constituency celebrating their 80th, 90th and even 100th birthdays. The NHS is one of this country’s greatest achievements. A service, founded in 1948 by Labour MP Nye Bevan, that is available to all based on need and not the ability to pay. It is now in better shape with more staff and more new hospitals. Did you know that the modern NHS since 1997 has more new nurses, more doctors and performs 1 million extra operations a year? Behind every statistic is a life improved by a better NHS. The Government’s mission is to make the NHS a personal service fitted to the needs of families and focused on preventing ill health as well as curing it.

Many changes have taken place in health care over the last 60 years and with change comes challenge. New drugs, new medical technologies and better clinical practices provide us with huge opportunities but diabetes, obesity and an ageing population in my constituency present big challenges. We need an NHS fit for modern life where we as patients are given a greater control and choice in local services. That is why access to services is important and why by 2009 the majority of GPs' surgeries will be open for at least one evening or weekend session every week.

The Government intends to bring services other than traumatic specialist services closer to local communities and will continue to build local health centres and walk in clinics to cater for your busy lives. The introduction of GP led health centres or polyclinics is not intended to replace existing GPs but to complement and enhance the present system. This will mean more GPs nurses and other health care professionals, more access to appointments and more convenient opening hours. The new health centres will be open 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week. This will alleviate the pressure on some of our overstretched GPs and can only be good.

As someone who worked in the NHS for 34 years, 22 of them at the Royal Oldham and whose constituency has no hospitals but is served by 4 main hospitals, I am excited by the new proposals. It will encourage the service providers to work more closely together and encourage better and closer working relationships between the hospital and the community providers of health care. Surely that has to be much better for young families and retired people; a service that is still accessible and free at the point of use.

I wish to thank the local authority Highways Department through Donald Forrester and his team as well as United Utilities for the excellent work they put into preventing another serious flooding episode damaging the homes of my constituents. It was a close call and they deserve a big thank you. Although the immediate danger has been averted, there are various aspects of the flooding problems that I intend to take up with the authorities.

I had to return to Parliament last week to vote on the Planning Bill. Most Labour MPs were satisfied with the concessions made by the Government on the Public’s involvement. There was a relatively small rebellion. Following my operation, I am beginning to break myself in gradually and although I have started driving again I don’t intend to return to Westminster until after the summer recess. I will however be able to work in the constituency until then.

Friday 27 June was one of those invitations that MPs love, the opening of the all singing, all dancing Derby Street Sure Start and Children’s Centre. The entire provision from childcare, I.T., health care and advice available in other areas is a credit to the local partnership. Sandra, Karen, Kath and Pauline can be justifiably proud at this local oasis in the community. I said at the opening that this was a visible sign of the positive things that are happening across the country and totally different from the doom and gloom that we hear in the national media.

Heywood people will see more new facilities in the foreseeable future with the new health centre sports village. Middleton too is undergoing similar change and I am in discussion with various bodies about the regeneration of Castleton. The Transport Innovation Fund details indicate little or no investment for Heywood and Middleton, a good reason why I will oppose the congestion charge proposal. I want to see the colour of the money first. Heywood has no train service and the rest of the constituency is served by a third rate bus service.

The TIF bid must be more specific in identifying real hard investment for real improvements. The light rail proposal floated by the Rochdale Lib Dem office is a non starter at this time. I’m a member of the Light Rail Group in Parliament but see the extension of the East Lancs Railway from Bury, through Heywood and Castleton and on to Victoria as the more realistic option at the moment. This would allow for freight transport as well.

I attended the Residence of the Papal Nuncio who, in the presence of Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, presented me with the insignia of a Papal Knighthood. Many MPs in Parliament past and present have endeavoured to protect life from conception to natural death and I have always been open and honest about my support for these issues. As science progresses, these very difficult ethical debates will become more complex. There has to be stricter regulation to protect society from the unknown dangers that we may face as a result of scientific development, where scientists are pushing boundaries and the biotech industry is making huge profits.