Parliamentary update from our Public Affairs team

Earlier this month, our Public Affairs Team met with Tim Farron MP and Mark Prisk MP at Westminster, to discuss the current issues with NHS Continuing Healthcare provision.   These meetings were very constructive, with both Members of Parliament kindly agreeing to support our Care Cuts Campaign work (eg by tabling Parliamentary Questions and writing to Clinical Commissioning Groups).    Tim Farron also gave us invaluable insights into the workings of Parliament and tips on lobbying politicians.

Excitingly, we have secured an early-July meeting with Lord O’Shaugnessy, who is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health (Lords) in the Department for Health and Social Care.  We will be using this meeting to discuss Spinal Cord Injury Centres’ bed provision.  In particular, how Winter bed pressures in host NHS trusts have led to specialist beds being used for general patients rather than spinal cord injured people, with a substantial number of beds in some SCI centres being effectively unavailable to SCI people for upwards of a third of a year.

We also have three other important meetings with Parliamentarians in the diary.   We are seeing Julie Cooper MP, who is Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care.   Secondly, Diane Johnston MP, who is a member of the influential House of Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee.   Finally, we have a meeting with Owen Paterson MP, who was treated recently in the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries following a riding accident.

Find out more about our Public Affairs Team.