I’m proud to have joined more than 120 MPs in signing a Unison letter calling for more funding for local government in the Budget. Leicester City Council’s budget has been cut by 50% since 2010 and vital services are under more pressure than ever before. I am extremely disappointed that […]
I am supporting the Breaking Point campaign and calling on the Government to end austerity for councils at next week’s Budget. The Government has cut more than £16bn from local government since 2010, and Leicester City Council’s funding has been cut by 50% in total. This is having a devastating […]
This year is the 70th anniversary of the NHS. It is also the 70th anniversary of our social care system—but this has received far too little attention to date. Yet social care is more important than ever before. A quarter of older people now need help with daily living—getting up, […]
On Friday I attend an event to celebrate the achievements of community group B-inspired, congratulated them for taking over ownership of the Health and Social Care centre and heard more about their plans of the future. I always enjoy visiting the B-inspired team. They are an absolutely fantastic organisation which […]
As we celebrate the 70th birthday of the NHS, I was delighted to join Macmillan this week to recognise the vital role they have played in our NHS since its creation in 1948. Macmillan was founded in 1911, before the NHS was born, and was a vital source of […]
On 19th June I questioned the Health Secretary about the Government’s plans for NHS funding. The NHS will not be on a stable financial footing unless social care gets a long-term funding settlement, but the Government’s plans mean there won’t be any substantial extra money for social care until 2020 […]
I was very proud to host this year’s Shared Lives Parliamentary reception on 20th June. I have been a long-term supporter of the charity, which provides a network of family based care for adults who need support, including older people and those with learning disabilities. Shared Lives helps people to […]
This week is Carers Week and I joined Carers UK to pledge that I will do all I can to support carers through my work in Parliament. There are 100,000 people in Leicester and Leicestershire who are looking after a parent, partner, child or friend, including 8,952 in my constituency. I am backing the call from Carers UK […]
I contributed to a report by Global Future that highlighted how much our NHS depends on overseas staff, with 45% of doctors in some specialities coming from outside the UK. The NHS is suffering severe staff shortages but health professionals from outside the EU are having their visas turned down […]
On 27th May I wrote a joint article in the Observer with MPs Norman Lamb and Sarah Wollaston, which called on the Government to accept the findings of new research and spend significantly more on the NHS and social care. The study from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the […]
On 8th May I asked the Care Minister what progress the Government had made on addressing the early deaths of people with learning disabilities, five years after it first promised a set of actions to tackle this appalling problem. The NHS’s Learning Disability Mortality Review this weekend revealed women with […]
On Wednesday 25th April, I spoke in Labour’s opposition debate on social care. The Government’s funding cuts to local authorities mean hundreds of thousands of fewer people are now getting the publically-funded social care they need, while family carers are being put under unsustainable pressure. The Government should listen to […]