Farron meets with 'NHS Together' lobby in Parliament

4.00.00pm GMT Fri 3rd Nov 2006

Local MP Tim Farron met yesterday with representatives from the NHS Together lobby in Westminster. The lobby aims to persuade the Government to reconsider the planned reforms of the Health Service and to rally support for the NHS.

The NHS Together lobby operated around four key messages; firstly to secure more recognition for the contribution of staff, secondly that deficits in trust budgets are causing redundancies and a cuts in patient care, thirdly that there is too much top-down untested reform and finally that the fragmentation of the NHS is resulting in the poor use of tax payers money.

Tim Farron said:

"Given the proposals in my constituency to dramatically reduce services at Westmorland General Hospital I am sympathetic to the views of the NHS Together lobby, and it was interesting to meet with representatives and hear their views.

"Situations like that concerning Westmorland General prove that this Government does not take into account the views of local people in rural areas, 26,000 local people signed a petition protesting against the cuts and yet the NHS bosses still refused to listen."