Today I wrote the Chief Executive of Highways England calling for the deployment of a full complement of Highways England Traffic Officers to Suffolk to assist our local police with traffic control on our major roads. Currently there isn’t a single Traffic Officer based in Suffolk. This means that, unlike in many other counties, Suffolk Constabulary’s specialised road policing units have to manage traffic control when they should be able to focus on improving road safety, preventing crime and catching criminals.

As someone who struggled and continues to struggle with dyspraxia and dyslexia, I’ve said before I’m passionate about using my position in Parliament and on the Education Committee to raise awareness of the need to support young people with SEND.

It was therefore a privilege to be asked to become an Associate Governor of the Sir Bobby Robson School in Ipswich and have the opportunity to be involved in this issue at the level where that support must be delivered. When the Sir Bobby Robson School opens in September it will offer specialist places for youngsters with complex social, emotional and mental health needs.

This week I again wrote about the campaign to prevent elective orthopaedic services being transferred from Ipswich Hospital to a new centre in Colchester. A decision will be made on Tuesday by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and I have further meetings scheduled with some of those central to the decision making process. Operationally the local Hospitals Trust and CCG are very much in the driving seat when it comes to the way in which our local health services are organised and though Government intervention wouldn’t be without precedent it seems that on this occasion it won’t be forthcoming. It became clear during the adjournment debate last week that this has been something that has been in the pipeline for a number of years and though I have done everything within my power as the local MP to stop it I was coming to the party at a late stage. Over the past few weeks I have secured a Parliamentary debate on the topic, raised on two further occasions in the House of Commons Chamber, have tabled a number of written Parliamentary questions and have written a number of cross Party letters to the local CCG Chair with the leader of Ipswich Borough Council. As I say in my column, I’m really not sure what further steps I can take other than carry out the further meetings I have planned ahead of the decision being made on Tuesday. Public opposition could not have been any clearer with nearly 10,000 signing the petition opposing it and the public consultation demonstrating clear opposition to the plans.

I was hopeful that the local Hospitals Trust and the local CCG would listen to the public opposition and take into consideration the very strong arguments opposing the proposals and it still be that they might and I won’t be giving up before Tuesday but the honest answer is sadly that I’m not overly hopeful.

I will post again post the decision to outline clearly what steps I will take going forward. To date I haven’t been satisfied by how this has been handled by the local NHS management and I’m glad to see some news coverage that suggests there could be some reform to the system to ensure that the views of local people and local elected representatives is taken more into account than currently.

Yesterday evening was my adjournment debate on orthopaedic services at Ipswich Hospital. And I called on the Health Minister to carefully look into the plans to move elective orthopaedic surgery away from Ipswich Hospital to a new centre in Colchester and meet with me again to discuss my concerns ahead of the decision on the plans on July 14th.

Public opposition to what can only be described as a downgrade to our hospital is overwhelming, and frankly the local NHS management have had their head stuck in the sand when they haven’t been openly dismissing the public’s concerns. It was therefore only appropriate to raise as many of these concerns as I could in the House yesterday evening and bring them publicly to the Government’s attention.

I said when I stood for election that I would always fight with everything I had for Ipswich’s interests and the campaign to keep elective orthopaedic surgery at Ipswich Hospital doesn’t end here. Waiting times and cancellations to planned hip and knee replacement must be tackled, but in a way which keep services local to the people who need them. And I’ll continue to fight these plans at every opportunity locally and in Parliament, and make the case for new ones where neither Ipswich nor Colchester has to lose out.

Some good news! Yesterday I was informed that I’ve been successful in securing an adjournment debate on this issue for this coming Tuesday. This will be a special debate about orthopaedic services at Ipswich Hospital at the end of the days sitting in Parliament that will take place in the House of Commons Chamber. The relevant Government Minister will be in attendance throughout as well as other MPs. This is a significant development and will enable me to go into great detail about all the various reasons why the proposal to strip Ipswich Hospital of its elective Orthopaedic services should not go ahead. This represents the best opportunity head to outline our case. I will provide more details over the coming days.