South West Norfolk MP Terry Jermy on ‘budget boost’

In his fortnightly column, South West Norfolk MP Terry Jermy talks about ovarian cancer and the budget…

I was delighted to meet with South West Norfolk resident Diane Boothby in Parliament last week. Diane, along with friends Josie and Barbara, also from the constituency, are active campaigners for Target Ovarian Cancer, a national charity seeking to improve diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer.

This is a disease that causes more than 4,000 deaths every year and one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women. Having been lobbied by Diane, a Downham Market resident, during the election campaign, I was pleased to be able to follow up on my commitment to support her efforts and join with the new Labour public health minister Andrew Gwynne MP in pledging to tackle this disease. I would encourage people to look at the Target website - www.targetovariancancer.org.uk for information about the symptoms as misdiagnosis with ovarian cancer in particular is a huge concern.

As part of the Labour election manifesto, there was a pledge to cut heart disease, cancer and suicide deaths across the UK. Labour’s manifesto pledged to double the number of cancer-related scanners available and produce a specific ‘Catch Up On Cancer’ plan. We are so fortunate in South West Norfolk to have such dedicated community campaigners like Diane and I hope to use my voice and platform to support and strengthen their efforts.

The health theme has continued into this week with the amazing news about the Queen Elizabeth Hospital - left for too long off the new hospital programme but now finally on the road to rebuilding thanks to the funding commitment from the Government. Securing health and social care improvements was one of my campaign priorities and I’ve been lobbying ministers over the last few months about the QEH so I am naturally thrilled with this news.

In addition to the QEH, additional money for adult social care is very encouraging and welcome and providing an extra £25billion over two years for the NHS, across resource and capital budgets, will cut NHS waiting times with 40,000 extra elective appointments a week. NHS waiting lists were a particular concern raised during the election campaign, impacting people’s ability to work, reducing workforce productivity and causing misery and pain for many. There are huge challenges too with special educational needs services, particularly in Norfolk, so the extra £1billion in funding will provide much-needed support for parents and children and I am pleased this new Labour government acknowledges the scale of the challenge before it with SEND and I hope for more improvements to come.

I very much welcome this commitment to health and social care from our new Government and this budget boost for South West Norfolk.