Celebrating the NHS at 60 MP congratulates NHS on its 60th birthday and looks ahead to the future. This year marks sixty years of the National Health Service. Paul has been out in Gillingham and Rainham to offer his support to hardworking NHS staff who continue to provide a fantastic healthcare system. The latest figures for Medway show that things are improving. Over the last ten years, treatments have improved and life expectancy is up. The NHS budget has trebled this last decade.
Dear Constituent As a local lad, I can look back on the past few
All around there is evidence of an improved NHS. The new Rainham Health Centre; the Will Adams NHS Treatment Centre; the new MacMillan Cancer Care Unit now underway; and radiology services being upgraded at the Medway Maritime Hospital.
decades on the NHS in Gillingham and Rainham, and it makes me proud to see how far things have come. A hospital with Foundation Trust status so it can be even more responsive to local needs, plus more doctors, more nurses, greater facilities than ever before. Now we’re also
Looking to the future, an NHS Constitution has been announced and the Government has published its report into the next stages of the NHS, setting out the future for all NHS services in England.
getting a new GP-led walk-in centre at the heart of our community. So let’s celebrate the NHS at 60 and look forward to another six decades of the best healthcare system in the world.
You can find out more by visiting Paul’s website at www.paulclarkmp.com
Best wishes
Inside this edition > How your health service is improving, have your say in Paul’s survey, and the view from the local health boss on your NHS in Medway
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Useful Contacts to Keep Paul Clark MP For help and support on many issues call
Paul Clark MP
National Health Service Update
In Good Shape Despite what you might read in some newspapers, the NHS is performing better than ever. We have more nurses, more doctors, and greater resources than ever before. Take a look below at some of the facts about the NHS in Medway, taken from the 2008 NHS Health Profile for our area.
Your NHS in Medway:
01634 574261 www.paulclarkmp.com
Or write to Paul Clark MP, 62a Watling Street, Gillingham ME7 2YN In an emergency always call 999 NHS Direct for advice and support 24 hours a day call: 08 45 46 47 Or visit online: www.nhsdirect.com
NHS Choices for information about all NHS services in your area visit: www.nhs.uk The Patient Advice and Liason Service (PALS) supporting patients and answering your questions about the NHS Visit online:
Paul Explains:
What is a polyclinic?
You will no doubt have heard a great deal about so-called ‘polyclinics’ over the past few months. I think this is a good opportunity for me to dispel some of the myths about polyclinics and explain what is really happening. The polyclinic idea was put forward by Ara Darzi, an eminent surgeon who pioneered keyhole surgery and the use of robots in medical operations. He had been asked by the Government to develop a new system of healthcare for London. As London is such a differently organised city to the rest of England, its needs from the NHS are different. There never was and there isn’t any plan to expand the polyclinic model outside of London. It is not a system that has been designed for any other part of England.
www.pals.nhs.uk Or Phone:
01634 382792
On Your Side
Instead, what we are getting in Gillingham and Rainham is a new GP-led walk-in health centre that is open longer than most GP surgeries, and can offer a wide range of services at short notice. This is in addition to our existing GP surgeries and will widen the number of services available to everyone in our communities.
Stay in touch with Paul on his website www.paulclarkmp.com
Paul Clark MP
National Health Service Update
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The NHS at 60 Vernon Hull, Chairman of the Medway Maritime NHS Trust looks forward to the next 60 years of the NHS. The NHS is 60! It is quite right this anniversary is getting a lot of attention because no other development in the Country's history has had such a direct impact on the lives of everyone in Britain. We take it for granted that if we fall ill or need care the NHS will be there. But it was not always the case and before the NHS, the quality of healthcare you received depended largely upon your ability to pay. Here in Medway we have seen huge improvements in the range and quality of care over the course of the last sixty years. We have more GPs, new health centres and all sorts of community based health services. The Hospital has been transformed since the days when it was a naval hospital. We are now living longer and healthier lives than ever before. However, as far as the NHS goes, becoming 60 years of age does not mean it can put its feet up. There are still huge health challenges. Some of these challenges barely existed when the NHS was a baby - such as obesity. Other challenges are the result of the success of the NHS - we are an ageing society and the longer we live the more healthcare we require. So there is till much to do. But it is right that we should take time to celebrate what the NHS has achieved now it is 60. The fundamental principles on which the NHS was funded remain as relevant as ever. Your access to health care should not be determined by your ability to pay but by need.
The changing face of the NHS in Medway Happy birthday NHS Improvements in the past five years: A New GP-Led Walk-in Centre in Gillingham Opening soon from 8am-8pm, 7 days a week. A new NHS Centre to redevelop part of Canterbury Street. There when you need it.
The Will Adams NHS Treatment Centre Having carried out thousands of operations already, the Will Adams Centre has helped to increase choice and cut waiting times.
Always here to help you Paul holds regular advice surgeries for constituents . If you have a problem that you would like to discuss with Paul that relates to crime, anti-social behaviour, or any other issue then call to book an appointment:
01634 574261
Healthy Living Centres across Medway Lottery-funded and offering a wide and range of services to thousands of patients. Medway has three centres already.
Training for the Future: The School of Pharmacy A unique collaboration between the University of Greenwich and the University of Kent, training future NHS professionals for Medway.
Want to stay in touch? Paul sends out regular emails to constituents who are interested in a whole range of issues. To sign up visit Paul’s website, www.paulclarkmp.com and follow the links.
Any Questions?
Email Paul: clarkp@parliament.uk
Turn Over >>>> For Paul’s survey on health. Or complete online for a chance to win in this month’s prize draw
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