[peterlParticipant]

Dear All,

If when you’re about to receive treatment – you’re a little knowledgeable regarding the drugs that are universally available, but you get a negative from your consultant regarding costs, or other NHS constraints, then please can I ask you to email your local MP regarding the issue.  My wife had a senior role in the NHS prior to her retirement, and the process handling of an inquiry/complaint from an MP’s office triggers all sorts of ‘complaint handling/time to respond processes’ that are particular when dealing with MPs.  It is a very worthwhile action to take.

You don’t have to go through the mainstream (like Mr Hunt, NICE or the cancer drugs fund), in fact you probably won’t get anywhere if you do.  But involving the MP at local level, and if enough get involved, you just might get some surprising and unexpected results.  So please don’t just confine your gripes to this website, get involved with your local representative who is paid a good salary to look after your interests.

Best wishes to all,

Peter

[suenevParticipant]

You are quite right. I have worked in the public sector in communications, education and local government. If you write to your MP it becomes a ‘flag’ case and everything else has to be dropped while it is prioritised. A friend of mine had success down this route when her son’s head teacher refused a term time holiday to see her very sick mother in Costa Rica!

[peterlParticipant]

Yes, thank you for your post.  Our local blood test centre has been closed for three months, of all things due to a plumbing problem.  Yes, three months.  I have to have regular, GP initiated blood tests, and I got fed up travelling to the ‘local’ hospital, where two weeks ago, the minimum wait time was 100mins.  It’s terrible if you’re on a fasting test, like the young mum that sat next to me with a toddler, waiting…

I emailed my MP, and got a formal reply back from the NHS supervisor that controls all the local blood test facilities;  saying the usual fluff, BUT also, that the closure of the facility has been revisited, all requisitions for work (to bring the facility up to standard) have now been signed-off, and it will be reopened within the next week!

So it’s nice to report just a little success in these things.

[Author]

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