David Ruffley

David Ruffley MP has voiced strong opposition to the proposed creation of a massive regional ambulance service covering six counties.

The East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust already serves 2.3 million people. The merger will create one service covering the whole eastern region- a population of close to 6 million.

David said:

'This proposal is not in the best interests of East Anglian residents. This massive regional service will deal with areas as different in geography and demographics as urban Hertfordshire and rural Suffolk.

David Ruffley MP has welcomed moves to bring University Campus Suffolk to Bury St Edmunds. This project could result in a major expansion of facilities at West Suffolk College.

Suffolk is the only county in England that has a population of over half a million and has no higher education institution.

David said:

'The UCS project is of great importance to the region and will provide Suffolk with much needed higher education facilities. This will not only enable us to attract more students to Suffolk but will also help us to retain those we already have.

David Ruffley MP has today written to Tony Blair, enclosing a copy of the Evening Star's article of 27 September, urging him in the strongest possible terms to respond to the crisis in Suffolk's health service.

David said:

'The Evening Star is right to call Tony Blair to account on the state of our health service and I give them my full support.

'The NHS in Suffolk receives nearly 20 percent less per person per year than the national average. This is inexcusable. Our hard working nurses and doctors are simply not getting the resources they need to do their job.

David Ruffley MP has reacted with dismay to Suffolk West Primary Care Trust's report for 2004/05 that was published yesterday.

David Ruffley MP has welcomed confirmation today from Royal Mail that Fornham All Saints Post Office will reopen on 28 October 2005. Following the closure of the branch in July, local residents had been concerned that it would spell the end of this valuable service. The new proprietor is successful newsagent Trevor Whitehouse of Court News in Bury St Edmunds.

David said:

' I have actively campaigned on the need for rural post offices and it gives me great pleasure that my constituents in Fornham All Saints will not be losing this essential service after all.

David Ruffley MP today voiced his outrage at Government plans to merge our county's emergency services into mass regionalised entities.

John Prescott's department is to axe the local fire control room in Ipswich, replacing it with a regional call centre covering six counties and a population of nearly 5.5 million people.

Suffolk Constabulary, in one of three options looked at by the region's chief constables last Thursday, will be amalgamated into a regional force of 10,000 officers covering Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

David Ruffley MP, a patron of the West Suffolk Voluntary Association of the Blind (WSVAB), has signed an Early Day Motion supporting the 'Re-think Rehab' campaign launched by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. The motion calls on the Government to be committed to finding and funding solutions to improve the rehabilitation services on offer for blind and partially sighted people.

David Ruffley MP has today written to Dr Torbjorn Sundkvist, Consultant in Communicable Disease Control at Suffolk Health Protection Unit, asking what the County's plans and projections are for the possible mutation and outbreak of the H5N1 'bird flu' virus. Further to this David has written to Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority, the chief executives of Suffolk West PCT, Suffolk East PCT and West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust asking what their plans are for a possible flu pandemic in the County.

David Ruffley MP has this week launched a new survey on his interactive website www.telldavidruffley.com.

The subject of his latest survey is the local fire service. David is keen to ensure local residents are aware of the proposed changes to our local fire service currently under discussion.

David said:

David Ruffley has joined the new All Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change which will have its inaugural meeting in the House of Commons on 29 June.

The objective of the Group is to raise awareness of the threat of climate change and to promote policies which minimise that threat.