The NHS turns 70 this year and as part of the celebrations, NHS England is hosting a number of awards for ‘health heroes’ across the country.
It fell to MPs to nominate exceptional candidates from their local area. Working with our local NHS, I helped to submit three nominations. These were Lancashire Care’s Mental Health Acute Pathways Team, the Speech and Language Therapy Service Team, and the Children’s Integrated Therapy and Nursing Service for developing a new website aimed at parents in need of information and support.
These three excellent teams will be up against the very best the NHS has to offer in award categories such as Excellence in Mental Health Care, Healthier Communities, and Patient and Public Involvement.
As part of the process of nominating them, I paid a visit to Lancashire Care’s St Peter’s Centre to meet the Speech and Language Therapy team and their leader, Clare Nield.
These are the professionals who help adults and children in particular who have a difficulty communicating, which could be anything from a stammer to an issue related to autism. Speech and Language Therapy services have always been close to my heart, having needed to use the service myself as a child.
I nominated our local Speech and Language Therapy team because they found a way to change the initial assessment process for children to make it less intimidating and more informal, by observing children interact in their normal environment. This made the process quicker and easier, with much improved waiting times and less paperwork. Ultimately, hundreds of children are getting the help they need quicker as a result.
It is stories like these that will be told as part of the celebrations of the NHS’s 70th birthday and at the NHS70 Awards. However, work like this that constantly improves the NHS is going on all the time. It is humbling to see the dedication of NHS staff and the level of innovation taking place across the service.
We are so lucky in this country to have the NHS, which has saved so many lives including my own. I will always work to support the NHS in Pendle and champion the incredible people who work for it.