a3 focus february 2019 · overloaded doctors in england. your gp is working hard just to paper over...

Where have all our GPs gone?Whatever you do, don’t get sick in Horsham

News from your local Lib Dem team:Louise Potter and Matt Allen

on Broadbridge HeathFOCUS

Do you find it hard toget a GP appointmentwhen you need it?You’re not the onlyone. BroadbridgeHeath residents reallydo have a bad deal.

It turns out that Tory-controlled Horsham hasalmost the worst accessto GPs in England!

One thing’s for sure. It’snot your GP’s fault. ABBC report on January19th reveals average GPavailability for all to see. And the facts show thatyour Horsham GP is likely to be one of the mostoverloaded doctors in England. Your GP is workinghard just to paper over the cracks.

The Horsham and Mid Sussex area has just 1 GP foralmost 3,000 patients. In the whole of England,only Swale in Kent is worse off. But if you’re luckyenough to live in Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshireeach GP has only 1,200 patients on their books.

Different areas have different needs. Butcomparing the best with the worst, there are twiceas many GPs. It’s a postcode lottery and Horshamis the unlucky loser!

Prof. Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the RoyalCollege of General Practitioners, believes thehealth service is 6,000 doctors short of what itneeds today. That means care has to be considered‘not safe’ in some areas.

So the moral of this story is….whatever you do,don’t get sick in Horsham. Not till we have achance to sort out this mess!

How did Horsham slip so far behind?Everyone knows the NHS has been squeezed. ButHorsham is far from the poorest part of thecountry – so how did things get this bad? It goesbeyond money, to failings of management, andpoor planning by the Tory council & Government.

Former Horsham GP, Dr David Skipp (a Lib DemCouncillor), has seen this happen at first hand.“Although the Government’s pledge of additionalfunding is welcome,” Dr Skipp says, “money alonewill not solve this very complex problem. Much ofthe problem relates to poor planning at nationaland regional level over many years.”

‘Shock and anger over poor GPaccess’ (West Sussex County Times 23rd Feb ‘19)

County Councillor Morwen Millson set out the casefor more GPs in Horsham in a letter in the WestSussex County Times on January 24th. We’ve alsocalled on Jeremy Quin, the Horsham MP, for anexplanation. The more noise we make, the soonerwe’ll get some action! The LibDems also supportideas that are working well in other areas:

● A home visiting service – many commissioninggroups make Paramedic Practitioners availablefor home visits, instead of a GP appointment

● Streamlined patient care - NHS and social carestaff work together in teams with GPs, localhospital staff and community workers in whatare known as ‘Communities of Practice’

Finally, the Lib Dems want to make better use ofHorsham Hospital, as a community hub for medicalservices. Dr David Skipp, leader of Horsham DistrictCouncil Lib Dems has been campaigning on this forseveral years. He wants to see more out-patientclinics, and better use of the rehabilitation facilitiesin the hospital, as well as more integration of localGP services. The Lib Dems recognise the need to

improve parking andpublic transport so thatpatients and visitors canaccess the hospital moreeasily, and will work tointegrate the efforts ofthe NHS and the Districtand County Councils toachieve this.

Your BroadbridgeHeath Focus Team

Louise PotterLouise has lived inHorsham since herfamily moved to thetown 34 years ago. Sheattended primaryschool in BroadbridgeHeath before movingonto Tanbridge HouseSchool and Collyer’s

Sixth Form College. She read History atUniversity and is now a teacher of Historyand Politics at a school in Crawley.

Louise lives in Broadbridge Heath and ismarried to Matt Potter and they have threesons. In her spare time she enjoys takingthe dog on long family walks and visitingNational Trust locations. Louise is also theLiberal Democrat candidate for the nextGeneral Election.

Matt Allen

Matt has lived inHorsham his entirelife, attending ForestBoys and Collyer’sSixth Form College.He spent his teenageyears working on thecheckouts of theBroadbridge Heathsupermarket andcurrently studies Economics at Universitywhere he works part time in IT support.

Matt enjoys spending time with friends andwatching sport, in particular football andcricket.

Liberal Democrats -demanding better

Over the past eight years, West SussexCounty Council has made ‘budgetarysavings’ - cuts - of £145 million.Louise Potter says, “There were major cuts inyouth services, support for older people’s careneeds, & bus services.”

The Tory-run Council will increase Council Taxby 4.9% from April, but will still make more cutsto balance its budget.

The cuts include slashing grants in housingsupport for vulnerable people and women’srefuges, and emergency assistance for those inneed. Highways maintenance and bus serviceswill be hit again.

Most councils are making cuts, due to a triplewhammy of Government grant cuts, cappedCouncil Tax and greater demand for servicesfor adults, children and young people in care.

Matt Allen says, “Age UK has estimated thatmore than 50,000 older people have died,waiting in vain for care, during the 700 dayssince the Government first said it would publisha Social Care Green Paper in March 2017. TheLiberal Democrats would put a penny onincome tax to invest in social care.”

Louise adds, “The current Government hasforgotten that its main role is to provide decentservices for the people it is meant to serve. I knowthat people are really struggling. Amber Rudd has at

last admitted that theGovernment’s own policy hasdriven many people into poverty,but many families need urgentchanges to the system.”

Morwen Millson, former Lib DemParliamentary candidate says,“Local Tory councillors complainthat the Government is forcingthem to make these toxic cuts. Butresidents know that, withConservatives in control at everylevel in West Sussex, the Toriesare to blame for the cuts that arehurting local people.”

Printed by Forest Print, 76 Comptons Lane, Horsham, RH13 6BJ Published and promoted on behalf of Louise Potter and Matt Allen and Horsham Liberal Democrats, all at 6 Coniston Close, Horsham RH12 4GU

LET US KNOW YOUR VIEWS

Crisis in County fundingServices for all residents to be hit

Age UK Horsham - one of the local organisations picking up the pieces!

Broadbridge Heath Liberal Democratsworking for you

Two issues that have frequently beenbrought to our attention by BroadbridgeHeath residents, both on the doorstep andin correspondence to us, are streetlighting and dog fouling. In particular, anumber of people raised that they wouldlike to see lighting around the VillageGreen so that they can take their dogs forwalks there more easily in the wintermonths. We raised this with the ParishCouncil who have kindly agreed toinvestigate the possibility of lighting in thislocation. We are continuing to follow upon the issues surrounding dog fouling anddog waste bins in the village. HorshamDistrict Council are now carrying out morefrequent bin collections in some areas andthey are continuing to review thesituation.

Your Broadbridge Heath

Help us push for the things that matter most toyou and your family. Fill in our quick survey andsend it back to us (12 Edwards Close, BroadbridgeHeath, RH12 3PL or email us at potterlmo@aol.co.ukor mattallen048@gmail.com):

Worst street for speeding:

Worst maintained pavement:

Worst street for parking:

What would you like to change most inBroadbridge Heath:

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Can you help our campaign to turnBroadbridge Heath Liberal Democrat?

Please tell us here what you can do to help:

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Lib Dems pledge to buildhousing for key workers

A Liberal Democrat controlled district council will build anew generation of affordable housing, to be available tokey public sector workers in Horsham District. The homeswill be owned and managed by Horsham District Councilfor those who need them most.

Lib Dem Leader Dr David Skipp says, “This is a first step tocreate a fairer and more prosperous District. It’s clear thatHorsham District has a crisis in affordable housing, but theLib Dems are the only party in Horsham with the policiesto fix our housing crisis. The Tories talk about needingmore affordable homes. but they don’t walk the walk.”

To prove David’s point, the Tories voted down a Lib Demamendment to next year’s budget. It would have provided£6 million over the next three years for affordable homes.This was a prudent proposal, as the Council has significantreserves available, and it would provide much neededhomes for families and individuals.

Results of our survey for Broadbridge HeathresidentsThank you to everyone who responded toour recent survey for the residents ofBroadbridge Heath. In the survey the keyproblems that you identified in BroadbridgeHeath were dangerous pavements and dogfouling. In response to the question aboutroad safety and transport, the keys issues

that you felt needed to be improved wereillegal parking, speeding traffic and potholes.We are already looking at how we canimprove the issues raised by residents in oursurvey and we will keep you updated withour progress. If you have any BroadbridgeHeath issues that you would like to raisewith us, then please do using the contactdetails below.