As we head into December, last week was another varied one,
with lots going on both in Westminster and in Mid-Cornwall.
In Parliament I was pleased to speak in a number of debates,
including questioning the Secretary of State for Transport on regional transport
infrastructure investment following the recent announcement of the A30 link
road to St Austell, and voicing what I am sure is the opinion of the vast
majority of residents of Mid-Cornwall in criticising the reckless and
ill-informed tweets made by President Trump promoting right wing hate groups in
the UK.
Meanwhile in Mid-Cornwall I attended a great business
breakfast event at the Eden Project on Friday, followed by supporting the
excellent work carried out by the local foodbank and Tesco, a visit to the B4
Project to discuss their work protecting our bees and a busy constituency
advice surgery in St Austell on Saturday.
I was also delighted to attend and give a speech at a
charity dinner at The Bristol Hotel in Newquay on Sunday where we raised thousands
of pounds for local charities.
The highlight of my week last week was when I joined the
night shift with the local Southwestern Ambulance Service crew as an observer.
Since my election I have made time to visit our emergency
services to be able to obverse first hand how things operate on the front line
and therefore better understand the challenges and pressures they face.
We all know the pressures the NHS as an organisation faces
and I am pleased to see the Government has recognised this with a real terms
year on year increase of funding for NHS Cornwall since its creation.
I am also aware of the financial constraint ambulance
services such as the South Western Ambulance Service face. The South Western
Ambulance Services was the first ambulance service in the country to be
registered to operate as an NHS Foundation Trust in its own right and as such
has different funding arrangements to the other NHS organisations in Cornwall.
This means they have a greater freedom to determine their own future and more
flexibility to tailor services to the particular needs of the communities they
serve – an important distinction that defines it from other services in
Cornwall such as the Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group and Treliske.
One thing that struck me was how busy the shift was. As soon
as one case was finished another was assigned within seconds – a constant
workload but one that the dedicated and professional staff remained on top of
at all times.
One thing the crew did raise with me was the status of the
public sector pay cap. I am pleased that the Secretary of State for Health
announced in October that the cap is to be lifted, which will benefit the 1.4
million NHS staff who have been affected by the cap and should mean decent pay
rises going forward.
One thing that the crew did press upon me was that people
need to value this service as a precious but limited resource. For example, they dealt with 6,159 incidents
in the last weekend of November, a 12% rise compared to 2016. The advice given
is to only call 999 if the casualty is suffering from severe bleeding,
breathing difficulties, chest pains or loss of consciousness, essentially an
emergency for serious or life threatening situations.
All in all I had a very interesting time during my
observation of the shift. I learned a lot and have nothing but admiration for
our paramedics.
My team and I are here to serve the whole constituency and
work hard to make a real difference to the lives of everyone needing support.
The office is open to the public Monday – Friday 10.00am – 4.00pm (no
appointment necessary). If there is an issue you would like my assistance on
then please, either visit the office or contact me on either 01726 829379 or
office@stevedouble.org.uk. Additionally, I hold regular, appointment only,
advice surgeries across the constituency. Dates of these can be found at:
www.stevedouble.org.uk/events
