December 13, 2007

12:17pm Wednesday 12th December 2007

LAST week I mentioned the well-meaning petition for a radiotherapy unit in Kidderminster and my impending meeting with Primary Care Trust chiefs.

December 6, 2007

11:28am Thursday 6th December 2007

LAST Friday I had the second meeting with business leaders organised by Wyre Forest District Council. This began with a review of strategies and actual developments taking place and planned. Then we concentrated on transport issues including air quality, co-ordination of road repair schemes, so lacking in Stourport recently, and Wyre Forest's traffic congestion and difficult links to motorways. Major new road or bypass building is unlikely soon so suggestions were made about staggering working hours, better timing of traffic light sequences, better warning of road works and better signage including satellite navigation indicators for drivers about unsuitable routes for HGVs.

November 29, 2007

12:07pm Wednesday 28th November 2007

Sadly the 'Brown Bounce' has burst. I was pleased when Mr Brown became PM as I hoped that openness and honesty would be a feature of his administration.

November 22, 2007

9:14am Wednesday 21st November 2007

SINCE my brief contribution to the debate on the health aspects of the Queen's Speech last week when I concentrated on the quality of health care, I have had a meeting with the chairman and chief executive of the acute hospitals trust and some press and radio exposure.

November 15, 2007

11:31am Thursday 15th November 2007

I attended a briefing meeting with Lord Mackenzie, the minister with responsibility for the Child Support Agency and the chief executive to hear about their Operational Improvement Plan to make the renewed organisation more efficient and effective.

November 8, 2007

10:04am Wednesday 7th November 2007

LOCAL talent was on display last weekend with a win for the Harriers, another successful exhibition of work by members of the Kidderminster Art Society and the Mists and Music Concert by the Stourport Choral and Operatic Society with their excellent soloists, Claire Worboys and Jonathan Darby.

November 1, 2007

10:10am Wednesday 7th November 2007

Parliament underwent prorogation on Tuesday which marked the end of this session.

October 25, 2007

10:53am Wednesday 24th October 2007

LAST week I hosted the launch at Westminster of the Healthcare Commission's Annual Health Check of NHS Trusts.

October 18, 2007

3:06pm Wednesday 17th October 2007

INFECTION due to clostridium difficile (C diff) has recurred alarmingly with the outbreak at hospitals in Kent that was unrecognised and led to probably avoidable deaths.

October 11, 2007

4:15pm Wednesday 10th October 2007

So there is not to be an immediate election! Mr Brown can get on with running the country and I can continue tackling local problems and my work at Westminster.

October 4, 2007

8:50am Thursday 4th October 2007

WITH the rumours of an impending election, life becomes difficult because when an election is announced MPs have 48 hours to vacate their offices.

September 27, 2007

10:51am Wednesday 3rd October 2007

LAST week I attended the AGM of Leukaemia Care, a national charity with its headquarters in Worcester.

September 20, 2007

9:47am Wednesday 19th September 2007

I AM delighted that the long-desired presence of a doctor in the minor injuries unit at our hospital is to become reality when the pilot trial begins soon.

September 13, 2007

11:19am Wednesday 12th September 2007

AS we are now in the Parliamentary Recess I am not in London from every Monday to Thursday and so having been a member of the Hospital League of Friends committee for more than 30 years I was glad to be able to attend their September meeting this week.

September 6, 2007

2:27pm Wednesday 5th September 2007

IN my experience during previous years, constituency work has decreased in August.

July 19, 2007

12:19pm Wednesday 18th July 2007

STATEMENTS in the Commons this week have covered women's priorities, local and regional economic reform in England and Alexander Litvinenko. The last outlined the measures the UK plans to take against Russia for its refusal to allow the extradition of the alleged murderer of Litvinenko. These were widely welcomed across the House but Andrew Mackinlay, MP for Thurrock, one of the more forensic and outspoken Labour members, expressed his concerns that the response will be ineffective and that the House's mood seemed to be anti-Russian. He reminded us that we are enabling people to remain in this country to avoid returning to Russia to face their courts.

July 12, 2007

10:10am Wednesday 11th July 2007

FOLLOWING Gordon Brown's arrival at Number 10 and his reshuffle things are moving fast at Westminster.

July 5, 2007

8:13am Thursday 5th July 2007

THE Government re-shuffle has taken place. It is easier to ask which ministers have stayed rather than which have moved. Five out of six Health Ministers have been changed. We have lost Andy Burnham with whom I had a good working relationship. The new Ministers will have to prove themselves quickly at this difficult time.

June 28, 2007

2:06pm Friday 29th June 2007

HARD on the heels of the unwelcome news from Ceramaspeed comes the devastation to parts of Wyre Forest by unexpected and probably unpredictable flash floods.

June 21, 2007

11:13am Wednesday 20th June 2007

There is sad news this week from Ceramaspeed, manufacturers of glass ceramic heating devices and electronic control systems in Kidderminster since 1974.