Thank you to everyone from Erith and Thamesmead who contacted me about attending Age UK’s Summer Reception and the important issue of healthcare for older people.
I’m pleased to say that I attended their July event and spoke to many members of the Age UK team, their policy experts, and elderly people struggling with long waiting lists and a lack of support.
Thanks @AgeUK for hosting a reception in Parliament on Monday to raise awareness of the state of healthcare for older people.
I was pleased to see their stats for Erith and Thamesmead and I want to thank all my constituents who have contacted me about this important issue. pic.twitter.com/7W4buUW6cy
We all know having access to life-saving defibrillators saves lives. The issue is not their design but their location and public awareness about what they are and how to use them.
Having access to a life-saving defibrillator depends on where you live. Today, I called on the Government to address this cruel unfairness to save lives. That was my message in my Westminster Hall debate on public access to Defibrillators.
Research from the Resuscitation Council UK shows that access to defibrillators, or AEDs, is not fairly distributed across England. Each year, there are 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK, with less than one in ten surviving. Whilst immediate CPR and defibrillation can more than double the chances of survival, defibrillators are used in less than one in ten cases. If you have a cardiac arrest and have access to a defibrillator within a minute, have a 90% chance of survival.
According to the BMJ, access to a defibrillator varies widely by location:
140 per 100,000 people in Swansea
61 per 100,000 people in London
2 per 100,000 people in Birmingham
The issue was highlighted to me by the experience of my constituent, Bonnie McGhee, who works on the cardiology unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Bonnie sadly lost her father to cardiac arrest and has since successfully raised funds for a defibrillator in his memory.
Access to a defibrillator may have saved his life. Bonnie successfully fundraised for a defibrillator in memory of her father.
To save lives, defibrillators must be in a well-signposted location, unlocked and easy to find so that members of the community can access them immediately in an emergency. They must be maintained and ready for use. Information about defibrillator locations is hard to come by. People do not know where to find them and how to use them. The Circuit is a national database of defibrillators but it is incomplete, meaning that emergency services may not be able to direct someone to save a life.
In my debate today I said “Knowing where a defibrillator is and how to use one saves lives. Learning simple resuscitation skills can make all the difference in an emergency. Today, I’m calling on Ministers to listen and help save lives.”
You can read my full speech here and watch it here.
It was wonderful to meet the team from Age UK Bexley this month after their Parliament tour. It was encouraging to see such a great turnout and to discuss their work and the support they provide to older people in Erith and Thamesmead.
As always, please get in touch if you live in Erith & Thamesmead and would like me to arrange a tour. You can contact me via email on abena.oppongasare.mp@parliament.uk.
You can also see my social media post about this visit below or here.
We all know that Defibrillators and CPR save lives. I’m happy to support all the great work done to increase awareness and the number of Defibrillators and CPR Training in our communities.
This month, I hosted an event with the British Heart Foundation to discuss the work they are doing on this important issue and share our thoughts with other Members of Parliament. You can see my post about this here: https://twitter.com/abenaopp/status/1638501687051558912
I want to send a special thank you to Bonnie McGhee, my local constituent who first contacted me about this issue regarding the lack of Defibrillators in our community. You can read about her story here. You can also learn more about BHF’s RevivR on their website here.
https://www.abenaoppongasare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/bhf.jpg565543Calum Pincheshttps://www.abenaoppongasare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SM-Logo-3.pngCalum Pinches2023-03-20 10:13:002024-07-12 16:09:55Hosting British Heart Foundation Event
Home Instead in Erith provide vital care to ageing residents to enable them to live happily, comfortably & independently at home. The office opened in the latter part of 2019, and most of their journey was heavily impacted by the Covid. However, they came through it and are now supporting clients across Erith and Thamesmead.
Last week I met with them to discuss their experience through the pandemic, how they are being affected by the recruitment crisis & how increasing costs, from living to fuel, are putting people off the care profession.
As part of my role in the Shadow Treasury Team, I have been pushing the Government to provide more support to people who need to self-isolate.
Labour has always said that health and economic measures must go hand-in-hand, but the Government’s failure has meant too many people have to choose between self-isolating and paying the bills.
At this weeks’ Treasury questions, I asked the Chancellor about reports that the Treasury had suppressed information about how the furlough scheme could be used to support self-isolating employees. This shocking revelation show’s how poor the Government’s approach to economic support during the pandemic has been.
I called on the Chancellor to appear before the joint parliamentary inquiry into the handling of the Covid crisis to explain why the Government has not listened to the experts and introduced a robust self-isolation support scheme.
The Government have been warned 12 times by independent experts & their advisory bodies that support for self-isolation must be improved.
Yet at the height of the second wave the Treasury supressed information about furlough for self-isolation.
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After a local GP raised concerns with me about delays in receiving vital test results, I asked the Health Secretary to look into the problem and resolve it as soon as possible.
I will continue to push the Government to improve on cancer care and diagnosis in our area.
Early diagnosis of cancer is critical for saving lives. I was very concerend to hear about local delays in recieving blood test results. I have now raised this directly with the Health Secretary. @CRUK_Policy@macmillancancerpic.twitter.com/JN7fJ3QdfJ
https://www.abenaoppongasare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/nhs-e1615397117710.png288288abena oppongasarehttps://www.abenaoppongasare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SM-Logo-3.pngabena oppongasare2021-06-18 15:47:582023-03-01 21:16:27Raising Cancer Concerns in Parliament
This week I brought together a group of local disability advocacy and support groups to raise concerns about the operation of the benefits system on people with disabilities with Justin Tomlinson, the Minister for Disabled People, Work and Health.
Earlier this year I met with the Minister to raise concerns about how the pandemic had affected people with disabilities and the failure of the DWP to meet the needs of disabled people.
The Minister agreed to take part in a roundtable with local organisations working on the frontline with disabled people.
I have raised a number of these issues in Parliament during a recent debate on the impact of the pandemic on people with disabilities. In that debate I called for the Government to bring forward a national strategy for disabled people as soon as possible.
Key issues raised at the roundtable included a failure to provide accessible information to disabled people, the problems people with learning difficulties face accessing PIP, the impact of benefit assessments on claimants mental health, and the lack of appropriate training for assessors.
Participants also raised problems with disabled people accessing Universal Credit and the problems some people face due to the increasingly online-only system.
The roundtable discussion will feed into the Green Paper on health and disability which is due to be published shortly.
I urge local organisations and individuals to contribute to the consultation process once it is open.
I am determined that nobody is left behind in Erith and Thamesmead, and this means that disabled people need better treatment from the Government.
I hope the Government will listen to the concerns and bring forward concrete proposals to improve the benefits system for disabled people.
Kara Lee from Bexley Mencap said: “It was fantastic to be involved in such an important conversation to share the experiences and views of people with learning disabilities about the benefit system and how it could be improved. Thank you for organising the meeting to give small organisations, and more importantly the people they represent, a voice about such an important topic.”
Alan Kerr from Metro GAD said: “I really valued the opportunity to speak directly with the Minister of Disabled People to express our very real concerns about the benefits system and the impact it has on their lives.”
https://www.abenaoppongasare.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Photo-Roundtable-with-Minister-for-Disabled-People-002.png8611868abena oppongasarehttps://www.abenaoppongasare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SM-Logo-3.pngabena oppongasare2021-05-20 12:10:402023-02-26 17:47:39Roundtable with Minister and local disabled advocacy groups
On Friday 12 February, I hosted a special virtual event with Target Ovarian Cancer, the UK’s leading ovarian cancer charity, meeting with Erith and Thamesmead survivors of ovarian cancer to help raise awareness about the disease ahead of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in March.
At the event we heard from Sue and Della, two inspirational survivors of ovarian cancer who are both campaigning to raise awareness. Together, they are making sure that more women are being diagnosed early. You can read both their stories here: Sue’s story and Della’s story.
Sue, 62, who is an Erith and Thamesmead resident, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in March 2017. I had the pleasure of meeting her last year to hear her story and find out what more can be done to raise awareness. She said:
Very little is known about ovarian cancer even though over 7000 women are diagnosed in the UK each year. I want all women to be aware of the symptoms and don’t delay contacting their GP, especially in during the pandemic, as the sooner ovarian cancer is diagnosed the better the outlook. For Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in March, I would like the women of Erith and Thamesmead to spread the word: make your mothers, aunts, sisters, cousins and friends aware of what to look out for.
Tragically, 11 women die every day from ovarian cancer. If diagnosed at the earliest stage, 9 in 10 women will survive ovarian cancer. But right now, two thirds of women are diagnosed late. More women’s lives could be saved if we are more aware of the symptoms of ovarian cancer.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer are:
Persistent bloating
Feeling full quickly and/or loss of appetite
Pelvic or abdominal pain
Urinary symptoms
Other symptoms can include unexpected weight loss, a change in bowel habits and extreme fatigue. Anyone experiencing these symptoms, which are not normal for them, should see their GP.
The pandemic has exacerbated existing health inequalities, especially for women. People are worried to see their GP and we’ve seen cancer referrals plummet. This is a life-threatening problem that needs action from everyone and I am glad that this event helped to demystify the disease. The sense of care and support for one another, even over zoom, was palpable.
Please call Target Ovarian Cancer on 0207 923 5470 if you have any questions or need support.
The NHS Parliamentary Awards, sponsored by Fuji Film, were set up for the NHS’ 70th Birthday to recognise the massive contribution made by the individuals who work in and alongside the NHS.
This year, more so than ever before, the NHS Parliamentary Awards highlight how health and social care staff continue to put others ahead of themselves to protect our community.
I was among over 260 MPs in England who put forward outstanding nominees who have innovated, impressed and made a real difference to how local health and care services provide care for patients.
I’m pleased to have nominated Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice team for the Excellence in Healthcare award. The hospice team went above and beyond during COVID-19 to keep loved ones together and make sure vulnerable individuals were supported. I have to commend not just the team but the many volunteers who stepped up during this period in their work with Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice.
I am also pleased to have nominated Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust for the Wellbeing at Work award and Kate Hudson, Lead Dementia Nurse Specialist for the Care and Compassion Award. As individuals and as a team employees at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, these amazing key workers went above and beyond to offer online support services and staff wellbeing support during COVID-19.
Everyone in Erith and Thamesmead is rightly proud of our local NHS and care services, The Coronavirus pandemic has shown the determination and bravery of thousands of NHS, care and key workers across Erith and Thamesmead and so I’m delighted to be taking part in the NHS Parliamentary Awards as a way of thanking and recognising the people who work in or support those services.
Nominees put forward by MPs across England will initially be judged by senior local and regional NHS experts to find regional champions in each category, which will be announced later in November and will be featured in The House Magazine.
These regional champions will then be judged by a national panel made up of senior clinicians, union leaders, former winners and patient representatives, with the overall winners announced at a special awards ceremony held in Parliament on Wednesday 7 July – the week of the NHS’ birthday.
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