My Manifesto

Pledges

I will campaign endlessly to have a minor injuries unit and out of hours GP service located at Bolton One. This centralised location will benefit the whole of the Borough by having both services under one roof, A minor injuries unit separate from the existing A&E department will ensure that those with minor/non-life threatening injuries are seen in a dedicated area central to the communities within Bolton, Bolton One has a full X-ray dept. that is currently underutilised, and as a Minor injuries unit can be more heavily staffed by Nurses, Nurse Practitioners and just a few junior and 1 senior doctor for reviewing more complex cases along with Nursing Associates will mean the operating costs of the unit would be greatly reduced compared to the staffing of an enlarged full A&E dept. that covers Minor and urgent life threatening injuries, not only could overall urgent care costs for Bolton NHS Trust be lowered, but it would eliminate the heavy backlogs the current A&E department are being forced to work under.

When AN A&E dept. is working constantly near, at or over capacity then standards of  patient care is lowered, NOT by choice but by staff having to divide themselves between multiple patients at the same time, also there is only so much bed space within A&E and having to share that with all levels of care from very sick to a broken bone, creates backlogs where very sick patients are often in the corridors which is unacceptable. Where a person doesn’t have life threatening injuries and where Ambulance crews or qualified nurses/Doctors from 111 feel the patient does not require or unlikely to require hospital admission, they can be taken to advised to attend the minor injuries unit, where the Dr’s & Nurses can also direct a person to the out of hours GP which can also be housed in the same unit within Bolton One, and if a persons condition changes then an ambulance can then transfer them to A&E, this will still see not only a reduction in overall urgent/emergency care costs, but will mean better patient experience with less waiting all around and better staff morale due to not being overworked.

1, To campaign/battle to have every single FRONTLINE emergency worker taken out of the higher tax bracket, This will have a number of effects, firstly and most important, they will feel valued for the hard work and sacrifice they give each and every day. Secondly will stop the NHS from Haemorrhaging staff oversea’s because they are better paid. Thirdly will aid in recruitment and retention of all frontline staff. Fourthly  Will mean we do not have to import as many qualified Dr’s and Nurses from overseas and lastly will prevent unreasonable pay rise demands in future years. This will ensure ALL branches of our emergency services/NHS will no longer have to waste money training so many new recruits as turnover’s will be small, enabling these services to devote more time to public services.

2, Demanding value for money for ALL other public services, to make sure no more money is wasted, ensuring all NEW contracts signed providing ANY service or goods to any public body should include stringent financial clauses to ensure best value and any projects are finished in budget and on time. When awarding these contracts local based companies who can fulfil the contract should be awarded extra points, this will keep local economies running better, better for the environment due to reduced emissions resulting from any contracts, and wherever possible keeping British taxpayers money in the hands of British Companies before foreign companies are allowed to be awarded ANY public services contract.

3, I will campaign for proper funding for our armed forces, ensuring they have the equipment they need to keep our nation safe. I will campaign to stop ALL cuts to all branches of our armed forces and will champion for more rights for our veterans, who have been used abused and thrown to the kerb by successive Governments, if we funded our armed forces properly they would have a higher retention rate, therefore keeping the knowledge and training that cost thousands of pounds per person, it is false accounting to keep letting them leave and spending more and more on training new recruits, not to bolster the numbers but to try and replace those who have left the service. 

There needs to be better care for the men and women of every branch of our forces who have been deployed and upon returning need to have properly funded support services openly offered to them.

4, Due to the failed successive Tory Governments, failing to build the prisons we need, we have a Labour Government releasing hardened criminals, Murderers, Rapists and sex offenders due to the lack of prison spaces. Prisons need to be a deterrent they need to be functional and fit for purpose, not built like a holiday camp to make inmates feel better about themselves. Buildings specifically for remand prisoners and those meant for detention can be built as tall as office blocks with certain floors designated for exercise (Even at floor 6,12,18 etc, sections can be open to the elements whilst still secure with bars and nets to prevent escape and contraband from getting in by any means) this will greatly reduce the footprint required for larger establishments, along with more automation in higher security prisons can reduce attacks on prison officers. Private Prisons should all be re-classified as return home, only housing inmates in the last 6-12 months of sentences where misconduct resulting in additional time being added to sentence could mean a return to a higher category prison with greatly reduced privileges will ensure that most behaviour is good. The amount of privileges and the availability of these should be tightly locked into a prisoners behaviour, EVEN someone who is said to be a lifer (with nothing to lose) Actually does have a lot to lose. NO prisoner should have the right to TV 24/7, there should be aa system installed in all new prisons immediately and existing on a roll out program where by TV’s are able to be used only at specified times, and the ability to shut off power to TV’s etc to restrict the privilege where there is a need to. A prisoner who wants any type of early release MUST take part in rehabilitation programs like work experience where they can earn money to spend in the prison canteen, or through education and group sessions where they display clear understanding and remorse for their crimes, when someone fails to adopt these methods they MUST fulfil the entire sentence without parole.

5, Proper AND fair funding for ALL Urban District Councils, this will enable them to reopen closed community centres and the opening of new ones, this will boost community bonds, social cohesion culminating in better community unity across all sectors.

6, Abolishment of Social care financial assessments, these costs should be met by the NHS, Central Government or a combination of both. When a person needs help through Social care, they need it for health reasons, disability or through age related inability, none of these are due to the fault of the individual who needs help, yet they are forced to endure at minimum yearly re-assessments and in most cases multiple times per year, whilst people who get social care help from self-infliction ( Drink or Drugs ) do not have to go through this process. This is unfair and discriminatory towards all other people who need help and needs to be addressed asap.

7, A proper living wage for carers, so often we see that people who DO care are leaving the profession as they can earn more at a supermarket checkout! That means there are fewer and fewer carers who actually care out there looking after our sick and elderly.

Quite often you will find carers rushing in and out of calls, cutting visit times down dramatically or even just not attending full stop, but still claiming the full amount of money.

Right now you may not have a loved one who needs this type of support but it could happen to anyone at anytime where circumstances change overnight or in an instance, when this happens who do you want looking after you! Or a sick or elderly loved one? Who do you want to help look after your Nan?

Someone dedicated and caring? Someone who takes the time to ensure your loved one has eaten, taken medication, got sufficient drinks, that ALL personal care needs are met at EVERY visit?

Or someone who rushes in and out not really caring if your loved one is really ok! Not taking the time to ensure they are medically fit? Someone who wants to claim as many hours as they can EVEN when they are not attending!

From personal experience a carer who isn’t rushing in and out CAN save lives, MY own life was potentially saved by one of my carers who had taken the time to make sure I was ok! Only to find I was speaking gibberish and nonsense and whose quick action calling 999 for an ambulance helped to ensure prompt treatment for sepsis.

On the flip side a previous carer who came to me claimed for a 1 hour visit but was actually only in my home for a total of 11 mins, practices such as these need outlawing immediately.

From MY own experiences of different care companies and carers, from being put through the wringer from un-qualified & un-experienced individuals, to having one of the best teams who have ever helped and assisted me, so all my views above are from direct experience.

8, STOP granting ALL non-qualified employment visas.

There are too many visas being issued that is a fact, it needs to be reduced to a more manageable level quite urgently.

The easiest way is to deny ALL current visa application from non-qualified employment, where a company can demonstrate to the relevant dept within a Local Authority that they have working capacity that needs to be filled by additional worker or workers and that existing staff are unable to fulfil these duties, and that the said company can demonstrate to the relevant Authority that they have tried and been unsuccessful in recruiting locally, only then will the Local Authority stamp the application ok to go to the immigration department for review. Only then can the immigration know that if the person meets any requirements of the visa that they will have a job waiting for them upon arrival.

Family/Spousal sections of visa also need to be cut dramatically. Additional emphasis on visas where both spouses have been offered work over single applications where spouse is a dependent.

Also legislation requiring ANYONE seeking a visa MUST pass a basic English test, both WRITTEN and ORAL before a visa can be issued.

9, Where someone has been arrested by a police officer following a report of a crime, and the police officer can demonstrate to the on duty custody sergeant that there is sufficient evidence to prove the persons guilt, then it should be the custody sergeants decision on whether to charge that individual and put them before the courts or not, NOT a person from the CPS/DPP (Crown prosecution service/Department of public prosecutions) who will only charge a person suspected to have committed a crime if 1 they have confessed, or there are multiple independent witnesses who are willing to testify in court therefore makes the Job of the prosecutor easy, if that person feels they may have to put in a little effort in most cases they refuse to allow charges. Where a crime has been committed and there is evidence that identifies the offender by any means then they should be put before the court to face justice. And I will be campaigning for tougher sentences for crimes and a 3 strikes policy that ensure repeat offenders who are charged and found guilty of 3 similar crimes will DOUBLE the custodial sentence, and again double with each subsequent similar conviction. I don’t mind being hated by criminals, as long as victims see justice happening, and that a victims rights trump any of an offender may have.