Last week I met Jane Kennedy, MP, Minister of State in the Department of Health with other MPs to impress upon her the need for NHS approval for the drugs for Alzheimer's Disease. 
The decision of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence about these drugs was announced on Monday and while providing for the provision of three of the drugs for patients with moderate dementia, it apparently excludes those in the earliest stages who are the people who would seem to need this treatment most. 
I am seeking clarification of this apparent anachronism.

I met Lord Hunt, the Minister with responsibility for the Child Support Agency and impressed upon him the need to give the Agency more teeth to collect money from non-resident parents who had found loopholes through which to avoid payments to support their children. As everybody is aware of the deficiencies within the Agency I hope we will soon see changes that will make it more effective.

This week the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has announced the consultation paper about welfare reform. 
I welcome the recognition that those on benefit need greater help to return to work and that the most severely sick and disabled will receive greater support. When I was working as a doctor, I often wished it was possible to certify that somebody was fit for modified work rather than the single option, fit or unfit for work. I believe this paper will address this issue as, to quote the Minister, "the assessment process must ensure that it is focussed on a person's potential capability and capacity to engage in the labour market rather than just their incapacity" and "all claimants will be assessed not just to determine their eligibility for benefit but also for their capability for work."

I attended the launch of the Disability Rights Commission Statutory Code of Practice entitled "The Duty to Promote Disability Equality". 
This spells out the duty of all employers and organisations to promote disability equality and to remove discrimination against disabled people which still exists widely.

I think we have all been lulled into a sense of inevitability over the merger of our Primary Care Trust with the others in the county to form a single large PCT. 
Following the Health Committee report I think it is vital for us to mobilise our arguments and people power to maintain our local voice on health issues through the continuation of our own Wyre Forest PCT. 
As we know only too well, mergers do not produce financial savings nor do they improve the quality or accessibility of care. 
The arguments for better commissioning by a larger PCT do not hold water as arrangements for better commissioning from groups of PCTs are already in place. 
Please come to the consultation meeting in Kidderminster Town Hall at 6.30pm on 8 February.