Apart from the war, most East Anglian MPs get more letters from the public about the NHS than anything else.

Quite right too. The peace of mind that knowing the NHS is there for our families in times of need, regardless of ability to pay, is something we all support. We all back the NHS and the principles underpinning it.

Who can fail to be impressed and inspired by the tireless devotion to duty that our local nurses, doctors, support staff, midwives and all those in the caring professions show day in, day out? I saw that with my own eyes when I was a patient in a West Suffolk Hospital ward not long ago. Yet at the same time, I hear the question 'Is Suffolk really getting its fair share of the extra Government money?' It's a very good question because waiting lists are still too long, locally.

I have come to the conclusion that it is the fault of the out of date structures and organisation of the NHS and NOT, of course, the front line clinicians who serve it so magnificently. That is why I asked some searching questions about Suffolk funding on your behalf in the House of Commons last week. The Government's OWN FIGURES show that our part of Suffolk isn't getting its fair share of resources that it so obviously needs. The West Suffolk Hospital Trust has the lowest number of staff per 100 beds- 31 compared with 40 at Ipswich Hospital Trust, 56 at the Norfolk and Norwich and 67 at Addenbrooke's.

Then I got some more figures to my Commons' questions. I was told that the amount of NHS spending per person in West Suffolk is £664. Amazingly, this is the joint lowest figure compared with anywhere else in Suffolk. It is also lower than anywhere in Norfolk and Essex! So why is our part of Suffolk being discriminated against?

It is not the fault of our hard working local health chiefs, John Parkes at the West Suffolk and Joanna Spicer at the local Primary Care Trust. It is to do with the way London doles out the money. The last Health Secretary once told me he thought Suffolk was a 'well heeled' rural area. He seemed to think our rural health needs were less important than those in Hackney or Birmingham.

Rest assured I am going to get to the bottom of why these resources are not getting to our part of Suffolk as these new figures reveal.

Let's ensure that all our Suffolk NHS professionals get the resources we know they deserve. They care for us and we must look after them!