23Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
No answers and no help on cost of energy lifesaving medical equipment

No answers and no help on cost of energy lifesaving medical equipment

Borough news, health and social care, Parliamentary news
People in Oldham with urgent medical needs are being ignored after the rise in the energy cap has massively increased the cost of life saving energy equipment. After a resident contacted local Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, worried about rising energy costs stopping them from running their BPAP machine which they have to use overnight, he contacted the Council to ask what support was available. There was no national support, and the Council was organising a working group to look at the problem. The working group had no timescale for reporting, and despite his requests for updates, nothing has happened in the two months since. Sam said: “I can’t understand why the response to this is a working group? Given that the cap on energy costs has been massively increased,…
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10May 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Queen’s Speech: Rescue package needed for rural communities let down by Conservatives

Queen’s Speech: Rescue package needed for rural communities let down by Conservatives

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats are demanding a rescue package for rural communities in the Queen's Speech that have been “forgotten about” by Boris Johnson and his Conservative Government. It comes after a huge backlash against the Conservatives in rural areas at the local elections with the Liberal Democrats making sweeping gains, including taking control of Somerset and Westmorland and Furness councils. The Liberal Democrats have demanded that the Queen’s Speech address some of the glaring issues being faced by people living in the countryside, such as long ambulance waiting times and the pumping of raw sewage into rivers and waterways. Sewage: Bring into law Tim Farron’s Sewage Discharges Bill, which would ban water companies from dumping sewage into rivers and legislate to name and shame those companies who poison animals and swimmers.Farming: Introduce…
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03May 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
GP postcode lottery worsens with just one family doctor per 2,200 patients

GP postcode lottery worsens with just one family doctor per 2,200 patients

Parliamentary news
The number of patients per GP across England has grown to over 2,200, shocking new figures have revealed, as some areas suffer from a growing postcode lottery. The analysis by the Liberal Democrats, based on research from the House of Commons Library, has exposed the growing shortage of family doctors that is leaving people in many areas struggling to get appointments. Since June 2017, the number of fully qualified GPs excluding trainees has fallen by 1,343, despite a government promise to hire an extra 6,000 GPs by 2024. Over the same period, the number of registered patients has soared by over 3.1 million, as growing demand puts pressure on overstretched local health services. It means the number of patients per GP has risen from 2,007 in June 2017 to 2,217…
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15Apr 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
‘Horrific’ cancer wait times revealed

‘Horrific’ cancer wait times revealed

Parliamentary news
New research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats from the House of Commons Library has shown huge disparities in cancer care across England revealing a horrific crisis right across the country. This winter, from November 2021 to February 2022 almost 195,000 patients waited longer than two weeks to see a consultant after an urgent cancer referral from their GP. The NHS target is for 93% of patients to be seen within this time but across England nearly a quarter of people don’t see a consultant for that urgent appointment. Similarly in the same time period only 1 in 7 of people received a cancer diagnosis after 28 days from an urgent referral by their GP and almost 40,000 patients waited longer than 2 months (62 days) to start treatment from their…
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01Apr 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Scrapping free Covid tests: Govt must come clean on costs

Scrapping free Covid tests: Govt must come clean on costs

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have called on Ministers to ‘come clean’ over the cost of providing free Covid tests and the basis for scrapping them, in the face of surging cases and hospitalisations. Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson, has tabled two written parliamentary questions asking for the total cost of providing free tests - but the Government has refused to answer claiming the information is ‘commercially sensitive’. SAGE member Professor Matt Keeling has urged the Government to halt plans to ditch free rapid testing, saying free tests could even be 'cost saving if they help prevent sufficiently many hospital admissions'. The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to come clean and publish figures on how much is currently being spent on providing free Covid tests,…
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10Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Ambulance waiting times: Government sitting on their hands

Ambulance waiting times: Government sitting on their hands

Parliamentary news
Responding to the news that A&E waiting times are worsening and this is impacting ambulance response times, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: “These shocking figures show too many people are being left stranded waiting for an ambulance to arrive, waiting in pain and distress for the medical care they need. “People are being let down by a Conservative Government that is sitting on its hands whilst lives are put at risk due to their incompetence. “After years of driving the NHS into the ground, the Tories need to set out a credible plan to tackle the multiple crises facing our A&Es, ambulance services, and the chronic staffing shortages across health and care that are leaving patients at risk.” Ambulance waiting times for life-threatening calls…
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09Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Javid out of ideas on NHS reform

Javid out of ideas on NHS reform

Parliamentary news
Responding to Sajid Javid's speech at the Royal College of Physicians, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: “Sajid Javid has failed to put forward a credible plan to recruit the staff needed to tackle the 6 million people now waiting for treatment and the further millions who are struggling to get a GP appointment. “Offering patients a so-called “choice” to travel hundreds of miles away from home and loved ones for a delayed operation when they’re scared and in pain and then selling that as reform is baffling. “And if Javid thinks an app on a phone will save the day, then he really is completely out of ideas.” Studies of the benefits of video calls have shown only minimal benefits, compared with traditional phone calls or in…
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15Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Scrapping free Covid tests will leave public “flying blind”

Parliamentary news
Responding to the news that free PCR and lateral flow tests will be scrapped for everyone next week, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: “Scrapping free tests when case rates are still sky high will leave the public and scientists flying blind. If there’s one sure fire way to put the country at risk of another lockdown, it’s scrapping all the warning lights like this. “It will also be impossible for the immunosuppressed to take 'personal responsibility' for assessing their risk if there’s no actual data on the level of risk in their community." In Oldha, Covid figures are below the national average, although in the week to 5th February 2022, Oldham had a total of 1,067 new cases, lower than the previous week’s total of 1,672. This…
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10Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
NHS waiting lists: The Conservatives are playing with people’s lives

NHS waiting lists: The Conservatives are playing with people’s lives

Parliamentary news
In reaction to new NHS waiting list figures being over six million people, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP commented: “NHS waiting lists were already at crisis point before the pandemic and now they’re off the charts. “This Government has brought the NHS to breaking point and the public isn’t fooled: the Tory attempts to rehash old cancer targets, and pretend it’s all down to the pandemic just won’t cut it. “After years of driving our health and care services into the ground, the Conservatives need to come up with something better, or it’ll cost people’s lives.”
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20Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Plan B ending: A desperate Prime Minister flailing

Plan B ending: A desperate Prime Minister flailing

Parliamentary news
Responding to the Prime Minister announcing an end to Plan B Covid restrictions, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: "Boris Johnson has no authority left to make these decisions. He is a desperate Prime Minister flailing out at any policy decision he can find. This is no way to govern the country. "Every time he mutters the word Covid, all the public can think about is his law-breaking party antics. For the sake of the country, he needs to stop meddling and get off the stage. "The problem now is that everything the Prime Minister does - whether or not it’s the right thing - will be seen as him trying to save his own skin rather than governing in the interests of the country."
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