Fair funding for Cornwall would be my number one priority if elected in St Ives

“If you are elected what will be your number one priority for your constituency and why?”

My number one priority as MP would be to get a fair deal for Cornwall’s funding, not only because it would be the right to do, but also the public are crying for decent public services.

As I see it, there are 3 major problems that need to be addressed by government and have been ignored by politicians for far too long. 1 this constituency has the lowest wages in all of Cornwall and some of the worst across the UK. 2 Cornwall is one of the poorest parts of the European Union and second poorest in the UK. 3 We are given a raw deal for government on funding and this makes the first 2 problems so much worse.

Here’s some examples, recently John Pollard said that Cornwall Council was short changed by £48 million a year by government. Our school child funding per head is £154 less than the national average. In the years 2006-2013 our NHS got £220 million less than the funds government even declared they needed. We need fair funding and I am proud to represent the only party which has addressing this issue as a manifesto commitment. This would be my priority.

Mitie and the impotency of the NHS in face of private profit

Today the BBC are reporting that the private cleaning firm Mitie are being fined by the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust. The service being provided is not up to scratch and there were 50 incidents that left RCHT the only option they have and that is to fine Mitie 51% of their profits. This is the fallacy of privatisation, even if it goes wrong, the firm still gets 49% of the profit. The firm does cleaning and catering services at Treliske, St Michael's in Hayle and the West Cornwall Hospital here in Penzance. It is horrific to think basic things like cleaning, so important in health care, can be falling below required standards across West Cornwall.

It's high time we revaluated the profit motive and what it is doing to public services in Cornwall. We can't carry on with services falling below standards. We saw with the Serco Out of Hours service, that things fall below what is necessary and nobody can do anything about it. I strongly believe we need an NHS in public hands, accountable to the people and delivering the highest standards of care. We are not getting that at the moment.

There is an election coming up and people need to think long and hard about the kind of health service that they want and recognise that all of the three big parties Tory, Lib Dem and Labour believe that the future is more and more privatisation of the health service and other public services. If like me you think that is the wrong direction, please vote MK in May and send a message to the cosy pro-privatisation consensus of the establishment parties that you've had enough.

The troubling lack of debate over TTIP in this election

TTIP the massive issue that should be being talked about, but isn't. It stands to fundamentally change the EU's relations with the US, give yet more power to corporations and cede sovereignty of governments to companies. It's part of that worrying trend in politics that corporate interests get more and more say behind closed doors.

Dispensing entirely with concepts of democracy and accountability. In this regard it is starting in the way it means to go on. It will give corporations the rights to sue governments for loss of profit and stands to strengthen profit in the post- nationalised world of public services. It's so wrong it should be stopped.

Despite these grave fears, Labour, Tory, Lib Dems and UKIP all support it. (Greens and Plaid Cymru against TTIP and other parties not funded by corporate donors e.g. NHA, Left Unity). No question of a referendum or even something as old fashioned as a public consultation. The only real difference between the lot of them is that Labour and UKIP don't want the NHS included and the Lib Dems want to determine how NHS services are provided, with a privatised system open to international competition I'm not quite sure what that means. Perhaps just being on the fence as usual. The more eagle eyed among you will note that Labour doesn't want to exclude the NHS by renationalising it, they still welcome privatisation, with profit controls.

I must admit Labour (and UKIP's) postion perplexes the hell out of me. Yes include all kinds of public services in TTIP but not the NHS. So libraries, prisons, schools, public transport, utility companies are all fine to be thrown to the wolves of privatisation but not the NHS?

In case it isn't clear I don't agree with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership at all.  As my Mebyon Kernow colleague Stephen Richardson wrote TTIP privatisation of democracy? and I'd agree with that. It may cut against the grain of the Neo-Liberal policies of the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems but I don't agree that multi national companies should be the most powerful bodies on earth. I also don't agree that more and more privatisation is necessary. We need to give power back to the people and end this endless flow to big business.

My views on the NHS in Cornwall, it needs to be public and funded

My piece in the Cornishman on the question of the NHS answering the following question.

“What are your views on the future of NHS services in Cornwall 

and how they are funded?”

The NHS is a great institution, I’m sure myself and many of us, have relatives that would not be 

alive without the NHS and it’s dedicated nurses and doctors. Yet our health system is under 

threat from 2 angles underfunding and privatisation.

For decades the Cornish NHS has been underfunded. This has resulted in things like the closure

of Poltair and the continuing threat to services at West Cornwall Hospital and St Michael’s. 

Leaving us here in the west, to travel further (at increased risk in emergencies) for health 

services. 

We’ve seen in recent days the failings of Hinchbrooke, much revered as an example of public 

sector profit making. As we’re all keenly aware in Cornwall, after the Serco out of hours debacle, 

for profit often means cuts in service provision and an increased profit, privatisation does not 

work. 

If I was elected as MP, I would lobby for fair funding for the Cornish NHS. To resist the push to 

make the NHS a profit making machine and to maintain a system that is free at the point of use 

and local to the people. We need a health service as envisaged by it’s founders with care the top 

priority.

West Cornwall Healthwatch hustings last week

Last wednesday I attended the West Cornwall Healthwatch hustings at the Methodist Chapel on Chapel Street in Penzance. It was quite a long debate as there were the 6 candidates and a very lively one. It's of no surprise that the NHS is a major issue in politics, it always has been indeed always should be. This has intensified over the last government with the continuation and acceleration of the privatisation introduced by Labour. 

As you can imagine the issue of privatisation came up time and time again. I was very happy for the round of applause when I explained that Mebyon Kernow's policy is to say not to privatisation of the NHS and other public services and the need to bring them back into public administration away from the undemocratic and unaccountable trusts and groups. I also spoke on the need for decentralising health care services and my view that more needs to be done at West Cornwall Hospital and that Cornwall deserves more than one general hospital. I was also proud to be the representing the only party calling for fair funding of Cornwall's NHS. For example Cornwall's NHS was underfunded by £220 million from 2006-2013. You can watch/ listen to the debates here:
and here:

We need a NHS that is in public hands, well funded and close to home

The NHS is a crucial issue, understandably so many of us would not be here on this earth without it. It is understandable that so many people hold it in such high regard and view it as a crucial election issue. It is no surprise that I receive so many emails from constituents asking my views on the future of it. Whether if elected as the MP for St Ives will support the marketisation of the NHS started under Labour and accelerated under the Tory and Lib Dem coalition and whether I would oppose the NHS being part of TTIP.

I try to respond to every email I receive asking my views as candidate, I can't say it's easy with dozens of emails every day, but I try and it's a no brainer for me that we have this technology that allows freedom of communication. That the future for democracy is to utilise the internet to get closer to voters. I'm always very glad when people respond to the comments I send to them and more than a little disappointed when people express their frustration that none of the other candidates reply.

I think three things need to change with the NHS in Cornwall. We need proper funding and end the decades of underfunding, no to privatisation and control by undemocratic bodies and bring/ keep health services close to the people.

Cornwall's NHS has been underfunded for years, I wrote a few years back: NHS funding boost, meagre crumbs for Kernow on the 6.2% gap in 2010/11 between the money the government determined we needed and what they paid. This is a shocking situation, especially as the incumbent Cornish MPs all stood on platforms of fair funding and have done very little to progress this situation. It is little wonder with such underfunding that Cornwall has only one major hospital and cottage hospitals like Poltair have closed down.

The NHS like all public services should be delivered publicly and with care as it's priority. As we saw with the Serco out of hours debacle, it does not present what is best for care. We must say no to privatisation and in my view this is whether it is Cornish, UK, European or US companies bidding for services. Also the managment of the NHS should be done in a democratic and accountable way. The MK devolution document Towards a National Assembly for Cornwall calls for the various trusts and boards to be brought back under public control and I fully support this.

Unfortunately the debate about centralisation of health services is no longer in the public eye. Perhaps in part as it has happened less under this government than the last, but the problem still remains. For far too long in the name of efficiency, services have been centralised to Treliske and Derriford and people can not go to their local hospital for even the most basic of treatments and appointments.

Successive governments have played politics with health and unfortunately in some cases patient care has suffered as a result. We need a health service that is publicly owned and run, modern and efficient with patient care at it's core. As the NHS was originally intended to be, these are my views and those of MK and this is why I was happy to sign up to the NHS Reinstatement Bill campaign. They have a great website and a great facility to contact general election candidates, check it out here.

Cornish hospital chief unfairly dismissed but cancer services not to change, madness!

Heard the news on the radio yesterday that the old CEO of NHS Cornwall has successfully sued the NHS for unfair dismissal, John Watkinson was awarded £1.2 million as a result. He opposed the move of upper gastro-intestinal cancer services outside of Cornwall in principle and believed that legally there needed to be a public consultation. So the point has been conceded and he was right, they sacked him because he didn't agree with their centralising agenda. I waited to hear if there was more to the story, specifically if the move of cancer services would be reversed, but no. So in effect John Watkinson has received £1.2 million, the trust has spent nearly £400,000 and the people of Cornwall are left in the same position as before. The original argument was that survival rates would be better if the service moved, a point heavily contested.

I believe considering the geography of Cornwall and the amount of people here, the move of any hospital services out of Cornwall is to the detriment of Cornish people. People like me who live in Penzance face a hard enough journey getting to Truro to go to Treliske hospital (24.9 miles, 37 minute bar journey according to google maps it can take longer and believe me feels like an age when your wife is in labour). Penzance isn't the furthest west in Cornwall, or the most inaccessible place. Below are some of the distance travelled to hospital in south and west Cornwall.

Travel times by car to Treliske hospital (according to google maps):

Zennor: 27.3 miles, 42 minutes

St Just in Penwith/ Pendeen: 32.4 miles, 49 minutes

Sennen Cove: 33.9 miles, 53 minutes

St Buryan: 30.7 miles, 48 minutes

Penzance: 24.9 miles, 37 minutes 

Rosudgeon: 24.3 miles, 37 minutes

Porthleven: 23.6 miles, 40 minutes

Lizard: 28.8 miles, 49 minutes

Coverack: 26.1 miles, 50 minutes

St Keverne 26.2 miles, 51 minutes

Helston: 18.1 miles, 36 minutes

So at a guess we have about an average of 45 minutes-in good traffic-for the people of west Cornwall to make it to Cornwall's only major hospital at Treliske Truro. Is this too far for people to travel for cancer treatment? after all once we add on the parking and getting to a department it's going to probably be over an hour. I think it is it's already an unnecessary strain on people who are already suffering. So anyway this was the previous system for upper GI care (also this is the distance to the only major casualty department, fully staffed maternity service amongst other things.) But the powers that be decided to move it to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, so in effect all of Cornwall's near 600,000 residents now have to travel outside Cornwall for this type of care. So let's have a look at the distances and times with the new service:

Travel times by car to Derriford hospital (according to google maps):

Zennor: 79.8 miles, 1 hour 48 minutes. (to Treliske 27.3 miles, 42 minutes)

St Just in Penwith/ Pendeen: 84.9 miles, 1 hour 55 minutes (32.4 miles, 49 minutes)

Sennen Cove: 86.3 miles 1 hour 59 minutes (33.9 miles, 53 minutes)

St Buryan: 83.1 miles, 1 hour 54 minutes (30.7 miles, 48 minutes)

Penzance: 77.4 miles, 1 hour 44 minutes (24.9 miles, 37 minutes )

Rosudgeon: 76.7 miles, 1 hour 43 minutes (24.3 miles, 37 minutes)

Porthleven: 76 miles, 1 hour 47 minutes (3.6 miles, 40 minutes)

Lizard: 82.3 miles, 1 hour 58 minutes (28.8 miles, 49 minutes)

Coverack: 79.5 miles, 2 hours 1 minute (26.1 miles, 50 minutes)

St Keverne 79.7 miles, 2 hours 2 minutes (26.2 miles, 51 minutes)

Helston: 71.1 miles, 1 hour 42 minutes (18.1 miles, 36 minutes)

I despair at the state of society and healthcare in Cornwall, when we are asking really sick people to travel for over another hour each way, to get the care treatment they need and indeed pay taxes for. So a tribunal has decided that Watkinson was unfairly dismissed for acting as a whistleblower for the move of cancer services, they agree this that much they have awarded him a large slice of cash (unfortunately coming out of the already stretched budget). So distance is factor not in the best interests of the patient, widespread public opposition, no public consultation, the tribunal seems to agree moving the services was wrong. So we might conclude the government would see sense and reverse the decision, maybe at last we might see some substance to this localism spiel? alas no. An 'independent' panel (independent of public consultation and decmocratic accountability apparently) agreed with the move and Andrew Lansley rubber stamped it. Yet another example of Devonwall and the centralisation of services and jobs east of the Tamar, undermining the Cornish economy and reducing services for the Cornish people. When will see any benefit to localism? When will the need of Cornish cancer patients become a priority?

For more on the subject read the BBC Cornwall's report on the outcome of the tribunal here.

To read my blog on the chronic underfunding of the Cornish NHS here.

If you want to e mail your MP about this click here http://www.writetothem.com/