A visit to Compton Hospice

Yesterday I visited Compton Hospice and met with Ron Middleton (Chief Executive) and Gerard Paris (financial Trustee). The Hospice comprises a purpose built in-patient unit, day centre and education unit. It also provides a multi-disciplinary team approach to palliative care to help patients, relatives and carers. The vast majority of the patients never come to the Hospice but receive care at home.

After spending most of the morning at the hospice we then went over to the  lymphoedema unit. The lymphoedema service sees many children and adults who suffer from this condition and does a wonderful job.

I can sincerely say that I got a fantastic insight into the workings of Compton Hospice and an appreciation of the phenomenal work done by all members of staff.  The most poignant moment of the day related to a conversation I had with a patient called Mary. When I walked into the room she smiled broadly at me and said “ what a wonderful day, I’ve just been given the all clear on my cancer”. I won’t go into the finer details of our subsequent ten minute chat, but it’s conservations like these which make you value the really important things in life and help to put our priorities in perspective. 

 

Paul

Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas !

Having been a prospective parliamentary candidate for just under one and half years now I felt compelled, after the recent vote by MPs to retain their allowances for a second home, to offer my two pence worth. Wolverhampton currently has three labour MPs and I’ve watched and listened to them as they’ve attended various functions over the last eighteen months. The standard responses are handed out carefully tailored to the nuance of each audience. It’s particularly acute with the Labour MP I’m up against because he’s sitting on such a small majority. The result is that I see him deliver a speech at a Hindu Temple shamefully chastising British imperialism for raping India of her wealth yet at the same time portraying himself as patriotic, proud of Britain’s heritage and almost jingoistic at a Tettenhall coffee morning. Left wing or right wing he’ll put on the appropriate political coat to suit the weather. Having seen these Parliamentarians in action I am convinced that we need to drastically reduce the number of MPs at Westminster.

The vast majority of the surgery work can be covered by local government representatives and you end with absurd situation of many MPs carrying on as super councillors, postal redirection providers or amateur social workers. It’s often said to me as I turn up to various events “The MP will be along in a minute, I know that because he’ll turn up at the opening of an envelope”. So much for the grand idea of the constituency being represented at Westminster and our elected representatives debating the big ideas of the day. It’s more a case of an over powerful executive utilising the voting fodder in the legislature to meet it’s own needs. You can just imagine our previous Prime Minister, buoyed by his large majorities, instructing his backbenchers (via the whips office, of course) to turn up if anything serious needed voting on, but to otherwise nurse the marginal seat along. Coupled with this of course is the fact that so many MPs have little experience of real life and are in fact career politicians.

The vote on MPs allowances and expenses illustrates the problem pertinently and compounds the discontent many now express towards the body politic. By reducing the number of MPs you would reduce the power of the executive, as you lessen the prospect of untouchable majorities, and save the taxpayer money in the process. One hundred forty labour MPs voted to keep the allowances and expenses system as it is (including the member for Wolverhampton South west) which displays an arrogance and contempt towards ordinary voters who are struggling to make ends meet. After eighteen months and from my current perspective I can only conclude that there are too many of these characters happily maintaining the status quo, claiming expenses and pampering their egos. If I were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to represent the public at Westminster, even if it meant me losing my own seat we need to revisit this issue, and yes this turkey would vote for Christmas.

Paul

A visit to Smestow School and Sports College

A few weeks ago I attended a Tenants and Residents meeting in Castlecroft. During the visit Paul Stoddart (deputy headteacher) invited me to spend an afternoon at Smestow school and last week I took him up on his kind offer.  Paul had arranged for me to meet with about a dozen students to discuss issues relating to the curriculum, school discipline and the support they receive from their families. 

The school has a wonderful ethos and I was struck by the candidness and confidence expressed by all the children I spoke to. At a time of increasing concern about knife crime, with relations between differing age groups appearing to be more fractious, it’s vital to maintain a dialogue between teenagers, teachers and parents. Special thanks to Paul and all the staff for allowing me to gain an insight into the school’s workings.

Paul