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writing to your MP etc http://www.writetothem.com

9 Replies

just sent this to a Lord and will copy to my MP too.

I know you will be supportive of this concern and I urge you to garner support in the Lords to amend this health-damaging change.

Respiratory disease (including COPD) has not been included within the four therapy areas covered by the new list of ' Strategic Clinical Networks' (SCNs)

As you will know, care for people with respiratory and lung disease had benefited from the work of 'Regional Respiratory Programme Boards' - regional organisations set up with funding and support from the Department of Health to help healthcare professionals work together to improve respiratory care and services in the local area.

However, funding for these boards runs out in 2013 when the new SCNs become active. This could mean that care for respiratory illnesses such as COPD does not improve at the same rate as the therapy areas (such as cancer and cardiovascular disease) that will continue to receive funding and support through the new SCNs. This is awful and especially at a time when breakthroughs in treatment are on the horizon - according to many researchers and specialists in the field. Surely proper focus on COPD would save money as well as suffering - people do already with better treatment work longer and pay ttaxes, and they don't go into hospital as often. As new developments come on stream in the next few years, we need to maintain this key disease at the very centre of strategy. Only recently beginning to become more publicly known about, COPD was not understood at all by many of those, including myself, who now live with it. So I would think it even more important to dedicate strategy to this disease that threatens so many people and the economy.

Yours sincerely,

Julie Kay

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9 Replies

Great, I have copied this and emailed it to my (ineffective) m.p Just hope he gets off his backside now. :)

in reply to

all we can do is work together - and many voices are being raised it seems. :) fingers crossed.

BLFCommsTeam profile image
BLFCommsTeam

Hi Julie - that's great, thanks for sending your letter! The more people who contact their MP, the greater our chance of making a difference.

If anyone else is interested in sending a letter, like Julie, the BLF can provide you with a free template that you can complete with a few personal details and just email off to your MP. We can also send you a printed out version, that you can just sign and send off. Please just email Malcolm in the BLF office at malcolm.reid@blf.org.uk if you are interested in doing this.

Thanks!

Gordon57 profile image
Gordon57 in reply to BLFCommsTeam

Oh dear, I did as suggested, sent email to Malcolm to ask for the template and the message bounced!

Remote host said: 550 5.7.1 Message rejected as spam by Content Filtering.

Gordon57 profile image
Gordon57 in reply to Gordon57

I've sent a shorter message, from a different email account, and that seems to have worked - no error message.

Spam filters are good, as long as they are not too aggressive or set up with known keywords that may actually be valid.

Mine is a very simple system called 'eye scan'. I have some filters set up to catch the obvious junk mail, and it's all put into one 'junk' folder - but I always do a scan by eye before emptying it, in case something got in there that should not have done.

BLFCommsTeam profile image
BLFCommsTeam in reply to Gordon57

Hi Gordon, thanks for letting us know about the spam filter. We know a few people have had this problem. If anyone else is having a problem getting through to Malcolm, they can call our press office on 020 7688 5580.

spiderman profile image
spiderman

Hi All,

Looks like the BLF facebook site is getting involved in making a big difference, breathe easy groups, top of the agenda

Wonderful keep up the good work

Spider

Gordon57 profile image
Gordon57

I've now had a copy of the letter from Malcolm and have sent it to my MP, with a minor edit to emphasise that Doncaster is one of Europe's hot spots for COPD.

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banner

well done , love banner

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