Julie has urged Ministers to ‘drop the NHS bill’ before it becomes law.

Unions and health professionals have warned that Ministers’ plans will fundamentally alter the health service and undermine the basic principles on which it was founded. Julie has also voiced her concerns about the government’s plans to reform the NHS in parliamentary debates.

There are already 130,000 signatures on the e-petition to ‘Drop the Bill’ and Julie is urging residents to sign up and urge a last-minute rethink by Ministers.

There will be a vote in Parliament on Wednesday about releasing the ‘risk register’ – the assessment of the risk caused to the NHS by the government’s top-down reorganisation. The government have so far refused to publish this information.

Julie stated “Since my election in May 2010, the biggest issue which residents have raised with me is the reform of the NHS. They share the concerns of health professionals who fear that patients will suffer as the NHS is run more like a business and that it will cease to be a national service”.

She added “Whilst there is still time for a rethink, I urge residents to sign the e-petition and make their objections known. I hope that the government will halt this deeply damaging policy in the face of widespread opposition before it becomes law, even at this eleventh hour”.   

To sign the e-petition, visit http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22670. To find out more about the campaign visit www.dropthebill.com