On Friday 18th October I spoke at the National Association for Hospital Education (NAHE) annual conference in Leicester. Around 360,000 children and young people a year are persistently absent from school because of a physical or mental illness. This can have a real impact on their education and later life […]
It’s almost 2 years since we won our campaign to save the children’s heart surgery unit at Glenfield Hospital. I visited the service again today to talk to NHS staff and patients, and to hear about the improvements that are being made. I am particularly proud that the unit has […]
On Friday 20th September I attended an event to celebrate the construction of a new mental health inpatient unit for children and young people alongside many local NHS staff, like Consultant Psychiatrist Alvina Ali and Senior Matron Danica Izycki. The new center will have 15 beds with their own bathrooms, including 5 for […]
Absolutely delighted to have popped into Cancer Research UK’s roadshow in Leicester City Centre recently where they were advising people on how to recognise the symptoms of cancer and what we can all do to prevent it in the first place. Spotting cancer early means treatment is more likely […]
Every year around 1,200 people in Leicester are diagnosed with cancer but the good news is there is now a huge amount we can do to treat cancer and prevent people from getting it in the first place. I recently met with nurses from Cancer Research UK to talk about […]
Every Friday I like to get out and about speaking to local people about any issues or concerns they have. On Friday I held my latest coffee morning at the Manor House Community Centre. Lots of residents came along and we discussed many issues including Brexit, NHS and school funding, […]
On Friday I popped into our local Asda to hear about how the supermarket is helping to support local people. I heard all about their work supporting our local foodbanks and their Breast Friend campaign with Breast Cancer Now and Breast Cancer Care. One in every two women don’t check their […]
NHS England published its long term plan on 7 January. I have long campaigned for many of its goals, including tackling health inequalities, shifting the focus of care towards prevention and early intervention, joining up NHS services with social care, making better use of technology, improving the involvement of patients, […]
Thanks to matron Vicky Osborne and Deputy Head of Nursing Julie Lankester for showing me around Ward 17 at Glenfield Hopsital on Friday. I also really enjoyed chatting to some of the patients of this high dependency care unit for people with breathing problems. They all told me of the […]
On 30th November, I marked Carers Rights Day. This is the annual event to raise awareness about the needs of the UK’s six and a half million unpaid carers. I’ve been backing Carers UK’s calls for 10 days of paid leave for carers who are also holding down paid work. […]
On 30th November, I spoke at the Centre for Progressive Policy’s conference about how to create a truly sustainable, high-quality health and care system. First, we must put tackling the root causes of ill-health at the top of the agenda: poverty, inequality, poor housing and the environment. Second, there needs […]
I am proud to have signed and voted for Stella Creasy and Conor McGinn’s amendment to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Function) Bill that could lead to reform of Northern Ireland’s abortion and marriage laws. The amendment says that in the absence of the Northern Ireland Assembly […]