Be proud of our local NHS!

Nothing is more important to us than our health and the health of our families.

We are lucky in Halesowen and Rowley Regis that we know we can depend on some fantastic health services locally.

Since being elected, I have been able to meet with many of the doctors, dentists and nurses who provide a top class service for us when we need it.

I have visited a number of surgeries and have seen for myself the excellent care provided in our local hospitals.

The facilities at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley and at the Sandwell General in West Bromwich are matched only by the skill and dedication of the staff. It is reassuring to know that if we are seriously ill or involved in a serious accident, the best treatment provided by highly qualified professionals will be available on-site to give us the best possible chance of a speedy recovery.

However, bigger is not always better. The trend in recent years for merging and centralising health services into super-hospitals and large GP practices has sometimes meant that we have lost some of the things that made our community hospitals special.

There is room for both in our NHS. Offering people more choice about where and how they are treated not only helps to make sure that they get treatment that is better suited for their individual needs, but also pushes up standards for everybody.

That is at the heart of plans to give more powers to patients over their treatment and more powers to medical professionals over the way that the NHS operates in their area.

Shortly before I was elected to Parliament, I was contacted by staff from Rowley Regis Hospital who were upset about plans to close the remaining in-patient wards.

I visited the hospital a number of times before – and since – the election and took Andrew Lansley, who is now Health Secretary, to see the services offered there.

Patients and staff all spoke of the personal nature of the hospital compared to the vastness of larger hospitals and how that created a fantastic atmosphere for patients recovering from treatment.

Together with local residents, I campaigned to keep in-patient services at Rowley Regis and more than 1,000 people supported our campaign.

The NHS Trust has now announced that two new in-patient wards are opening at Rowley Regis. I know how vital the strength of local support was in persuading them to open these new wards.

I am delighted that the Trust has invited me to open the first of the wards – the Henderson Unit – later this month.

That it is opening at all, shows that even an organisation as large as the NHS can respond to the wishes and priorities of our local community.