General & Local Elections

So here we are again its Election Time in May for both local MP's and also the Prime Minister!

I had a leaflet come through my door the other day for Chris Oxlade who is hoping to be elected for Labour outlining the things he stands for and it got me thinking. I have no idea what the major parties are standing for in the General Elections and more to the point and in my immediate interests other than Chris Oxlade I have no idea what any of his opponents stand for.

Now I have no particular affinity to any political party but try and make a decision based on what I think is best for me, my family & the town I live in.

In 2010 that was Henry Smith his big thing at the time was to restore a Hospital to Crawley which 5 years later has still not been fully achieved and I know the argument from Henry would be there are more services and staff at Crawley Hospital than before he was elected but thats not what he was selling at the time.

Now it seems to me that both with the General Elections and the Local Elections people seem to be keeping quiet and not wanting to really deliver a manifesto to the VERY people who will elect them in to power. The simple equation in my mind is this at the moment:

General Elections - We have now had Labour & Conservative in power although with a little help from Lib Dems and neither have done a good job but to be honest we are out of options!
Local Elections - I am leaning towards Chris Oxlade simply because I do not know what anyone else stands for and they have not taken the time to tell me!

I think Politics is a mess in general but I always take the view if I do not vote then I am not entitled to an opinion afterwards.

I also feel that people aged 16 should be allowed to vote, they are the voice of a generation that we are not capturing at the moment and will be the very people who at 21 will help to shape the Elections next time around!

Crawley Needs A&E Services Back!

Crawley Hospital used to be a fully functional Hospital that provided many services for the local people, as I mentioned before I was born in Crawley Hospital and had a few operations as a child in Jumbo Ward which still sticks in my mind as a fantastic ward! On top of this I also required the services of Accident & Emergency at the hospital as a youngster before it became a walk in center.

In 2004 many of the services at Crawley Hospital were closed down and merged with East Surrey Hospital which I have long thought was a huge mistake and as I have got older I realise this more on every occasion that I visit the hospital.

The first thing here is that Crawley was planned as a new town and the idea is that it would continue to grow over the years and so would the infra structure to support the Town as it continued to grow.

Now before I begin I should state that both my children were born at East Surrey and they were excellent my thoughts on the hospital do not reflect on the staff who are excellent and work incredibly hard.

Now on to my points as to why Crawley needs & deserves its own Hospital!

Location - One of the biggest issues I have with East Surrey Hospital no matter how trivial this may sound its in a different county altogether than Crawley, anyone that has ever driven to East Surrey will know that the traffic conditions can be beyond a joke at times and certainly the crossroads outside the hospital are dangerous and difficult to cross let alone how it must be trying to get an Ambulance across the road in an Emergency and the fact the road that leads down to the crossroads always has cars parked on either side of the road surely this should be restricted to make sure the road is passable for Ambulances as lets not forget this can be a matter of Life & Death! Even the distance between Crawley and East Surrey Hospital is to far for people living on the side of Crawley nearest Horsham its even further so surely a centralised hospital in Crawley would make more sense. I have personal experience of this as when my Father collapsed due to internal bleeding he never stood a chance and by the time he arrived at East Surrey there was nothing that could be done for him.

Growth Of The Town - Now in 2004 when the A&E Department was closed at Crawley the town was substantially smaller than it is now, if you think about the number of dwellings that have been created in the last 10 years just in Crawley alone (Pembroke Park, Kilnwood Vale, Forge Wood, Buchans Mead, The office blocks at First Choice House, Stoner House, The Old DSS Building and The Old Doosan Babcock building in the town centre being converted to flats.) These are just some in Crawley consider the scope of East Surrey (Crawley, Horsham, Horley, Gatwick Airport, Redhill & Reigate). This has created significantly more demand for the Hospital at East Surrey and as some of the ones mentioned above are completed more demand will be there for the services and to my eye nothing has been done at East Surrey to expand or cater for this increase in catchment.

Gatwick Airport - Lets take into consideration the fact there is a major international airport on our doorstep which is great and even before we get into the debate about the expansion of the Airport in the event of a major incident at the Airport then surely we need 2 major hospitals to deal with the aftermath of such an event (Which fingers crossed never happens).

The bottom line is this surely Crawley has the demand to need a major hospital and should be working to make this happen, what I find sad is that it all comes down to money rather than saving lives! There have been many plans over the years to construct a new hospital which have never amounted to much and I know Henry Smith is working to try and restore services at Crawley Hospital which I fully back and was pleased to hear that there are now more Doctors and Nurses working there but the simple fact is until the services are restored that were taken away it will never be enough. Crawley residents must surely pay enough National Insurance to be able to pay for a Hospital!

I for one would welcome the opportunity for my Grandchildren to be born at Crawley Hospital!