At the end of last year the provision of NHS services locally and nationally developed as a major issue of concern with stories abounding in the press about large financial deficits and potential cuts.

Locally there was also a specific concern in Harlow about the future of Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) as a result of the “Review of Acute Services” launched by the Eastern Region Strategic Health Authority (SHA). I lobbied the SHA and the Health Secretary and received reassurances that the services at PAH, including the A & E Department, were not under threat.

However, given the growing level of local interest in health issues it seemed a good time to find out more about what constituents think of the service at PAH.

Only by finding out more about the views of local people can I better represent the interests of constituents and act as your advocate when dealing with local agencies like the Hospital.

So I drew up a simple one-page survey and distributed it over the last few months to around 17,500 households across the town. The questions were open and simple and there was plenty of room for constituents to set out their own views in detail - so there was no attempt to skew the findings!

The response was astounding – 1467 constituents sent back their views in the biggest single response to one survey in all my years as an MP.

In the weeks since, I and my volunteer support team have been combing through the information. The results are contained in this report which has now been submitted to the Chair and Chief Executive at Princess Alexandra Hospital for their response.

I hope you find it of interest. 

Yours sincerely,
 
Bill Rammell MP. 

Click on the .doc  symbol to view the Survey Report