NHS amended duties and powers bill

I have always opposed the privatisation of our NHS.

It is the duty of the UK government, rather than the EU parliament to protect the Health Service from the possible negative effects of trade deals such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Exemptions can be secured but the current conservative-led government have made no effort to secure any, in fact David Cameron has been more than a cheerleader-like rather than statesmanlike when it comes to TTIP.

The needless top down reorganisation of our NHS has resulted in thousands of nurses and frontline staff being lost from the NHS. We are seeing the unwelcome return of waiting lists, there is a crisis in A&E; in the last 12 months, almost a million people have waited more than four hours to be seen in and more people are being kept in ambulance queues outside A&E. Treatments like cataract and knee operations are being rationed.

I know that we did not get everything right in Government so the decision by Northumberland County Council to end the PFI arrangement for Hexham Hospital is welcome. Labour had to rescue the NHS after years of Tory neglect, but PFI locked hospitals in to agreements beyond the parliamentary term, It is clear that the next Labour Government will be different from the last: We will build an integrated health and social care system for the benefit of patients and put an end to privatisation

Last Friday that work was started,

The National Health Service (Amended Duties and Powers) Bill 2014-15 has made it through to the next stage. This will make it possible to reduce the potential damage that privatisation could do to our NHS, The bill also aims keep it from being adversely affected by the TTIP.

The sitting MP for Hexham was absent and did not vote for the bill, If I was an MP, I would have been in Parliament, along with the other North East Labour MPs supporting the NHS Amended Duties and Powers Bill. With the aim of defending our NHS.