Champion Local Health Provision

'I have worked to ensure the right local health services and facilities are available; so I successfully campaigned to keep Macclesfield A&E open, to bar car-parking charges at Congleton Hospital, for better support for GP surgeries, and for better support for those experiencing mental health difficulties.'

Fiona has strongly campaigned to keep Congleton War Memorial Hospital vibrantly serving the town of Congleton, including successfully challenging attempts to introduce inequitable car-parking charges there, raising this with the Communities Minister.

Together with others, Fiona also successfully campaigned to ensure that local A&E facilities in Macclesfield stay open - confirmed November 2016 - and is determined, if ever required, to fight just as vigorously to retain maternity services at Macclesfield Hospital. Furthermore, it was announced in July 2017 that not only will the A&E stay open but also that the Government has announced that an additional £879,000 has been awarded to support Accident and Emergency care at Macclesfield Hospital.

On mental health provision for the area, Fiona has continually worked in a number of ways to highlight the currently inadequate provision and draw in better resources to support local needs. She is pleased the Government is now treating this issue with the gravity it deserves, and has committed more funding to it nationwide - but there is a clear need to ensure that this impacts locally - as Fiona raised with the Secretary of State for Health. She has supported residents strongly in their campaign to keep the Millbrook Centre open at Macclesfield and was recently very pleased at the news that this is to be the case - for the time being, but she stands ready to provide further support if needed. Fiona has also supported and campaigned for a group of mothers in Middlewich, working to secure better funding for those who experience autism in their young lives.

Fiona has long been a supporter of improved end-of-life care, and of both St Luke's Hospice, of which she has been a Vice-President for many years, and East Cheshire Hospice, of which she was more recently pleased to have been made Vice-President. Fiona promotes high-quality palliative care. In autumn 2015, Fiona took a lead part in successfully opposing an attempt to legalise euthanasia, and in promoting instead improved palliative care.

Of considerable concern for some time on the part of local residents, and a concern which Fiona shares, are the difficulties of obtaining a GP appointment and the challenges which local doctors' practices face in ensuring there are enough doctors to serve local needs. Fiona has raised this more than once, directly with Health Ministers - for example, after meeting practice members at Holmes Chapel Health Centre - and while the situation is far from fully resolved, she pleased is Government has listened to such calls and decided to invest substantially in GP training. Fiona is currently raising concerns on behalf of residents worried about the potential closure of Rode Heath Surgery.

Fiona was one of the strongest campaigners for improved provision for arthritis sufferers, working in partnership with Arthritis UK; she has ensured they met Health Minister David Mowat recently, and a speech on by Fiona on this issue, can be found here. Fiona is delighted that she has a strong local champion for arthritis sufferers' support in her local constituency - Christine Walker - and pays tribute to her.

Fiona has worked extensively on the issue of Alcohol Harm and has campaigned for many years to promote responsible, enjoyable alcohol consumption. She has spoken a number of times about this, and recently led a major debate on tackling alcohol harm, following which Health Minister Nicola Blackwood - who was visibly moved in the debate on hearing the impact that excessive alcohol consumption has on families - has agreed to take steps to address this. Fiona, recently produced a powerful report, The Frontline Battle, the impact of excessive alcohol consumption on doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, police and others who work in the emergency services. A specific campaign which Fiona has been running, together with David Burrowes, is to press Treasury Ministers to increase the tax on high-strength white cider - one bottle of which, costing under £4, can contain as much alcohol as 72 shots of vodka. This drink can be lethal, and tragically, to many young people who drink it, it is. Evidence shows that increasing the affordability would save lives.

News

Fiona attends Active Cheshire event

Fiona said:

"Good to see so much support at last Friday's Active Cheshire #PartOfTheMOVEment 2 gathering at Cranage Hall in my constituency - I'm in!"

Fiona Bruce MP welcomes Health Minister commitment on alcohol harm

Some weeks after leading a major debate in the House of Commons on tackling alcohol harm, Fiona Bruce has met with Health Minster Nicola Blackwood MP who agreed, in responding to the debate, to consider how her Department could take action.

Fiona said: