
On Saturday, February 1, Jayne Kirkham, MP for Truro and Falmouth, will host a ‘town hall’ meeting for the people of Falmouth to have their say on the future of the NHS.
Last year, the government launched an initiative, it said, to ignite a nationwide conversation about the national health service.
Change NHS: A Health Service Fit for the Future aims to bring together voices from NHS staff, parliamentarians, local leaders, and the public—drawing on their ideas and experiences to put together a vision of the future NHS to help Health Secretary Wes Streeting shape a ten-year health plan.
This Saturday Jayne Kirkham will hold a ‘town hall’ meeting about the NHS, asking the Cornwall public for their input.
Ms Kirkham said: “The health secretary is working on a ten-year-plan to reform the NHS—and everyone should feed into it.
“When the NHS does these kinds of workshops, they invite people who sit on their boards. It’s a merry-go-round of the same people. What I want is people who have something to say, with experience of the NHS in Cornwall, what they think it should be like, and their expectations.
“Our situation here is well documented. I am still meeting people when I knock on doors who are unable to get out much, or work, because they are waiting for treatment or operations.
“Waiting lists have been going up for 14 years and Cornwall is underfunded on a per head basis compared to everyone else.
“With that said, lots of people’s experience of the NHS are good and if you want to come along and celebrate the NHS that’s totally fine, whether that’s the brilliance of staff to what’s working in Cornwall that’s not working elsewhere.”
Ms Kirkham says she wants to hear all voices—from young and old, to people from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds, or people with long-term conditions who use the NHS on a weekly basis, to those in good health who’d value more support to stay well. Local government, health and care system workers, community and social groups leaders, and representative for specialist charities are also welcome.
She says this is the public’s chance to openly discuss the problems and consult with her constructively on the potential solutions for the NHS.
She says so far, the online portal at change.nhs.uk has been visited over a million times and almost 9,000 ideas have been submitted with themes including the importance of cutting waiting times for GP appointments and improving patient records.
“After the town hall I will then take these voices and say to the Health Secretary: ‘Look, Cornwall has very specific needs. Please take those into account.’ The whole point of me being in the Labour government is to make the NHS better. As a party, that’s what we do. If we don’t make it better, then we should expect to be held accountable.
“The public agree that the NHS is broken but not beaten. Turning it around will be a team effort. This is the perfect opportunity to have your say and make the NHS fit for the future.”
The Town Hall meeting will take place on Saturday, February 1 in Falmouth in the morning. E-mail Lamorna.Reid@parliament.uk to book a place as spaces are limited.