In response the Minister reassured that the government is taking further steps to identify the individual trusts needs in order to support them to achieve consistent standards of quality and financial sustainability. The Minister of Health, Andrew Lansley, promised an announcement later in the year.

He said: “The national health service is forecasting a healthy surplus for 2011-12. However, the last Government left a legacy of up to six hospital trusts whose private finance initiative payments are a risk to their financial sustainability and up to 24 trusts having such high levels of debt following years of bailouts that they may not meet the tests for their future financial sustainability.”

Dr Lee commented: “ I am reassured the government is taking the necessary steps in saving our local hospitals and is further looking into the support of indebted hospitals such as Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot.”

The full response can be read here

Safety Express addresses common harms including falls, pressure ulcers, catheter use and thrombosis, which occur in all healthcare settings and impact profoundly on patients’ quality of life, collectively affecting over 130,000 patients each year in England alone. Hence, safety express is a safety improvement programme to increase the number of patients that receive ‘harm free care’.

Dr Lee commented: “It is time that we accelerate Quality and Safety Improvement. It was an honour to speak and give away the winning awards for the category ‘Patients at the Helm’ to Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, for ‘Measurement for Improvement’ to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, for ‘Sharing Best Practice ‘to South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and for the category External Engagement with Safety Express’ to the Combined Communications Team from NHS West Midlands, NHS East Midlands and NHS East of England.”

“In my speech I mentioned that it was time that politicians got real about their future health policies. Managing future healthcare demand is the real challenge for my political generation.”

Dr Phillip Lee, as a practising GP and Member of Parliament for Bracknell, and having worked before his election in around 50 GP practices in the Thames Valley, has a deep understanding of the Mental Health services that are offered for the Bracknell area as well as the challenges that any Government faces in providing healthcare into the future.

Understanding the needs and challenges Mental Health provision in this country is facing, Dr Lee, attended the World Mental Health Stand at the Princess Square Shopping Centre, in support of the World Mental Health Day on the 10^th of October 2011, with Mayor, Chris Turrell and Berkshire Healthcare. The day promotes open discussion of mental disorders, and investments in prevention, promotion and treatment services.

Dr Lee commented: “I attended the Mental Health Day to raise public awareness about mental health issues and to show my support for people who suffer from mental health disabilities and people who care for MH patients. I believe that we need to increase investment for mental health and to shift the available resources towards more effective and more humanitarian forms of services.”

Ewan Ross (31) is supporting Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF)’s campaign ‘Counting the Cost of Meningitis’  which shows the shocking lifelong financial costs of surviving meningitis and septicaemia and is calling on the Government to pursue the widest and earliest implementation of vaccines to prevent the diseases.

Ewan said: “I contracted meningococcal septicaemia whilst at University when I was 19. I was found very ill by cleaning staff at my halls of residence and taken to a local GP surgery where, crucially, I was given a huge dose of penicillin before being taken by ambulance to the local hospitaI. I spent two weeks in hospital before returning home and i know how lucky I am to have made such a recovery against the odds. Looking back the local GP saved my life, as without her quick diagnosis and treatment I wouldn’t have made it to the hospital let alone made it home. I often think back about how lucky I am but with some guilt for those not as lucky as myself. “

One in 10 who contracts the disease – an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord – will die while a quarter of survivors are left with life-altering after effects such as amputations, brain damage, deafness and blindness.

Vaccines for meningitis C, HiB meningitis and for pneumococcal illnesses which include meningitis are already included in the routine jabs given to all children. A jab against meningitis B is currently being developed.

Dr Phillip Lee – has agreed to support the Counting the Cost of Meningitis campaign by asking health secretary Andrew Lansley to include it in the childhood immunisation programme as soon as the vaccine hits the market. Pledging his support to the campaign, Dr Lee said that finding a vaccine for meningitis B had proved problematic.  

He commented: “The development of a meningitis group B vaccine has been very difficult because the bacteria only incites a weak response for the immune system. Despite this, I believe that the vaccine will be available in the near future and therefore I am happy to support the Meningitis Research Foundation Campaign ‘Counting the Cost of Meningitis’ to secure a widespread vaccination programme for meningococcal group B, a dreadful disease that can have such appalling consequences, can be eradicated.”

Read full article here

Phillip Lee, MP for Bracknell visited Bracknell Area Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Support Group (BADHOGS), on Monday 19^th of September.  The meeting aimed at discussing the organisation’s report: ‘Survey of Deaf / Hard of Hearing users of GP services and Survey of Practice Managers’.  The meeting also assessed how changes in the NHS, SHA and PCT’s might affect the organization.

BADHOG’s Survey seeks to understand the experience of deaf and hard of hearing (HoH) in the Bracknell Forest area when making appointments with their GP and engaging in consultation with surgery staff and clinicians.  It also sought to understand the perspective of Practice Managers in relation to how these patients access GP services. Findings show that a significant majority of respondents (61%) felt that receptionists needed training for dealing with deaf and HoH patients, that there is a low use of the loop systems in surgeries and that generally practice managers were not aware of how to obtain information in formats accessible for deaf/HoH patients.

As a result some key recommendations were to encourage more GP practices to offer a greater variety of making appointments as well as to provide training for reception and medical staff to benefit people who are deaf/HoH. The suggestions made will improve the support of patients who will have an equal level of access to GP services and level of care at the practice surgery.

Dr Lee commented: “The meeting gave me valuable insights into the challenges that deaf and HoH people face living in Bracknell. I will fully support the BADHOGS to make sure that the deaf and HoH are well served by our GP practices.”

Staff at Heatherwood Hospital is concerned to become redundant as Bracknell and Ascot population fears that the hospital may be closing in the future. Heatherwood Hospital has for a long time been cherished by the local community and serves a population of 450,000. The hospital provides services in orthopaedics, urology, maternity unit, minor injuries unit, diagnostics – MRI and X Ray, physiotherapy and outpatient clinics.

Dr Phillip Lee commented: “I think Heatherwood Hospital has a future. We need to work on a sustainable plan. We have to be realistic about how our healthcare will be in the future. First, the future of our healthcare system will lead to a centralisation of acute and emergency services on one site. And second, acute emergency spend per head should be equally spent within each region. I will fight for Heatherwood hospital to provide chronic care and rehabilitation services within a sustainable healthcare plan.”

Dr Phillip Lee is suggesting the need to provide services for a larger population that are affordable, acceptable and above all of the highest quality for his constituents. Dr Lee advises that local healthcare demand is not ideally served by the current location of the Heatherwood hospital and supports the need of a new hospital in the future to be at an accessible point to serve at least 650,000 people in a joint location with neighbouring constituencies on the M4. He suggests that the future of healthcare is going to be a split model with an increase of chronic care in the community and the need for consolidation of acute and emergency service sites.

Dr Phillip Lee commented: “I am determined to fight for the retention of appropriate services at Heatherwood Hospital. The Labour government did not improve healthcare provision despite a doubling of the national healthcare spent over the last 8 years. Going forward, Heatherwood Hospital can provide chronic care and rehabilitation services within a sustainable healthcare plan. I will be fighting hard to secure this.”

The recently built Bracknell Clinic is in use since June 2011 and aims to make it easier and less stressful for around 500 people a year receiving treatment. It is part of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Berks Hospital in Reading and is responsible for cancer and renal care across the county. The site is situated on the north western corner of the A329 London Road/A322 Broad Lane roundabout junction in Bracknell offering a good connection to Bracknell Town via bus.

Visiting the site, the most striking feature is the 50ft glass atrium containing the reception, a snack kiosk, staircases and lifts to the different levels. The hospital offers a 20-bed renal area, imaging, which will provide X-rays and other diagnostic tools, radiology, and areas for treatment using high-tech equipment, including a CT scanner and a linear accelerator (LinAc) machine, capable of providing highly-targeted radiotherapy. There will also be outpatients and consulting rooms, chemotherapy and pathology departments.

Dr Lee commented: “It is fantastic to have a high-quality cancer and renal treatment in a modern facility here in Bracknell”

Dr Phillip Lee’s speech in the House of Commons during the Contaminated Blood debate 14th October 2010

See Hansard extract of the speech here:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101014/debtext/101014-0002.htm#10101429001862