Celebrating

the NHS at 60
MP congratulates NHS on its 60th birthday
and looks ahead to the future.

This year marks sixty years of the National Health

Service. Paul has been out in Gillingham and Rainham
to offer his support to hardworking NHS staff who
continue to provide a fantastic healthcare system.

The latest figures for Medway show that things are

improving. Over the last ten years, treatments have
improved and life expectancy is up. The NHS budget
has trebled this last decade.
All around there is evidence of an improved NHS. The
new Rainham Health Centre; the Will Adams NHS
Treatment Centre; the new MacMillan Cancer Care
Unit now underway; and radiology services being
upgraded at the Medway Maritime Hospital.
Looking to the future, an NHS Constitution has been
announced and the Government has published its
report into the next stages of the NHS, setting out
the future for all NHS services in England.
Dear Constituent
As a local lad, I can look back on the past few
decades on the NHS in Gillingham and Rainham, and
it makes me proud to see how far things have come. A
hospital with Foundation Trust status so it can be
even more responsive to local needs, plus more doctors,
more nurses, greater facilities than ever before. Now
we?re also getting a new GP-led walk-in centre at
the heart of our community. So let?s celebrate the
NHS at 60 and look forward to another six decades
of the best healthcare system in the world.

You can find out more by visiting Paul’s website

Best wishes
at www.paulclarkmp.com

Inside this edition >

How your health service is improving, have your say in Paul’s survey, and
the view from the local health boss on your NHS in Medway
 Page 2 Paul Clark MP National Health Service Update Paul Clark MP National Health Service Update Page 3

In Good Shape
Useful The NHS at 60
Vernon Hull, Chairman of the Medway Maritime NHS Trust looks forward

Contacts to the next 60 years of the NHS.

to Keep Despite what you might read in some newspapers, the NHS is performing better than
ever. We have more nurses, more doctors, and greater resources than ever before.
The NHS is 60! It is quite right this anniversary is getting a lot of attention because no
other development in the Country's history has had such a direct impact on the lives of
everyone in Britain.
Take a look below at some of the facts about the NHS in Medway, taken from the We take it for granted that if we fall ill or need care the NHS will be there. But it was not
2008 NHS Health Profile for our area. always the case and before the NHS, the quality of healthcare you received depended
Paul Clark MP largely upon your ability to pay.
For help and support
on many issues call
Your NHS in Medway: Here in Medway we have seen huge improvements in the range and quality of care over Always
the course of the last sixty years. We have more GPs, new health centres and all sorts of
01634 574261
www.paulclarkmp.com
community based health services. The Hospital has been transformed since the days when
it was a naval hospital. We are now living longer and healthier lives than ever before. here to
Or write to Paul
However, as far as the NHS goes, becoming 60 years of age does not mean it can put its
feet up. There are still huge health challenges. Some of these challenges barely existed
help you
Clark MP, 62a when the NHS was a baby - such as obesity.
Watling Street, Paul holds
Other challenges are the result of the success of the NHS - we are an ageing society and
Gillingham ME7 2YN the longer we live the more healthcare we require. regular advice
surgeries for
In an emergency So there is till much to do. But it is right that we should take time to celebrate what the constituents .
always call 999 NHS has achieved now it is 60. The fundamental principles on which the NHS was funded
remain as relevant as ever. Your access to health care should not be determined by your
ability to pay but by need. If you have a
NHS Direct for
advice and support problem that you
24 hours a day call: would like to
The
H bichanging
hd NHS face of the NHS in Medway discuss with Paul
08 45 46 47 Improvements in the past five years: that relates to
crime, anti-social
Or visit online: behaviour, or any
www.nhsdirect.com A New GP-Led Walk-in Centre in Gillingham other issue then
Opening soon from 8am-8pm, 7 days a week. A new NHS Centre to call to book an
NHS Choices for redevelop part of Canterbury Street. There when you need it.
appointment:
information about all
NHS services in your
The Will Adams NHS Treatment Centre 01634
area visit: Paul
www.nhs.uk Explains: What is a polyclinic? Having carried out thousands of operations already, the Will Adams
Centre has helped to increase choice and cut waiting times. 574261
The Patient You will no doubt have heard a great deal about so-called ‘polyclinics’ over the past few
Advice and Liason months. I think this is a good opportunity for me to dispel some of the myths about polyclinics Healthy Living Centres across Medway
Service (PALS) and explain what is really happening. Lottery-funded and offering a wide and range of services to
supporting patients
and answering your
The polyclinic idea was put forward by Ara Darzi, an eminent surgeon who pioneered keyhole
thousands of patients. Medway has three centres already.
Turn
Over
surgery and the use of robots in medical operations. He had been asked by the Government to
questions about the develop a new system of healthcare for London. As London is such a differently organised city Training for the Future: The School of Pharmacy
NHS to the rest of England, its needs from the NHS are different. There never was and there isn’t A unique collaboration between the University of Greenwich and the

Visit online:
any plan to expand the polyclinic model outside of London. It is not a system that has been
designed for any other part of England.
University of Kent, training future NHS professionals for Medway.
>>>>
www.pals.nhs.uk
For Paul’s
Instead, what we are getting in Gillingham and Rainham is a new GP-led walk-in health centre
Want to stay in touch? survey on crime
that is open longer than most GP surgeries, and can offer a wide range of services at short and anti-social
Or Phone: Paul sends out regular emails to constituents who are interested in a whole range of
notice. This is in addition to our existing GP surgeries and will widen the number of services
01634 382792 available to everyone in our communities. issues. To sign up visit Paul’s website, www.paulclarkmp.com and follow the links. behaviour

On Your Side Stay in touch with Paul on his website www.paulclarkmp.com Any Questions? Email Paul: clarkp@parliament.uk On Your Side