Local MP reacts as NHS panel recommends St Helier lose its A&E and maternity services

Last night a 60 person panel made up of GPs, patient groups, NHS representatives and South West London councils recommended that St Helier should become the centre for planned surgery in SW London losing its A&E and maternity units. The recommendation of the panel is part of the Better Services Better Value review being run by the local NHS.

Local MP Paul Burstow visited a pioneering support service for people living with dementia run by the Avenues Trust Group in Sutton this Friday, 16 March.

The pilot dementia service has run in Sutton since last summer when Sutton Council recognised there was a growing need for specialist dementia support in the area. The group, held at the Anchor's Admiral Court, is funded by people pooling their social care direct payments to pay for the scheme run by Avenues, ensuring that the group can get more support and stay together. Members are put in touch with people who live with dementia and their carers/families within the community in which they live to ensure that they don't become isolated and excluded, whilst the community also benefits.

Over 20 million working people will be better off next year after Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government delivered the biggest ever increase in the income tax personal allowance in the Budget.

The massive £3.5bn tax cut for working people delivers:

• The biggest ever single uplift in the tax threshold
• A personal allowance of £9,205 in April 2013
• 21 million working people getting an extra £220 tax cut
• Brings the total tax cut for basic rate tax payers to £550
• Brings the total number of people lifted out of tax to 2 million.

Sutton and Cheam MP Paul Burstow has announced that millions of funding will be given to charities to help improve the lives of thousands of vulnerable people.

Nearly £7 million is to be invested into projects that will improve people's health and wellbeing across the country.To celebrate the award of this funding to over seventy charities, local MP and Liberal Democrat health minister Paul Burstow will today host a roundtable with charities and present Surrey-based Cool2Care with Big Society Award for their work with disabled children.

Local MP and Minister for Care Services, Paul Burstow, has introduced an event which explored the challenges faced by people with mental health problems in accessing emergency care.

Paul joined nearly 40 MPs at a House of Commons reception hosted by the charity Mind to hear about ongoing problems with people struggling to get help from hospitals or community teams. The Sutton and Cheam MP heard suggestions for improvements so that people with urgent mental health needs can get the good quality care they need, as soon as they need it.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg used his speech to the Party's Spring conference in NewcastleGateshead to call for the forthcoming budget to be a "budget for fairness" and pledged that it would help working familes.

The Deputy Prime Minister pledged that by 2015 Britain would have seen an end to control orders, the first gay marriages and the first elections to the House of Lords.

Fairer taxes, promoting green jobs, protecting your civil liberties - these are just some of the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in government.

We're building a freer, greener and more liberal country - and stopping some of the worst excesses of the Conservatives. Find out more in this infographic.

£5.5 million is to be spent on providing vital services to patients in need of urgent treatment.

Local MP and Minister of State for Care Services Paul Burstow has welcomed a £5.5 million boost to develop an urgent care centre at St Helier hospital in Sutton.

The money will increase the size of the centre, allowing it to treatment up to 13.500 extra patients a year. The funding includes £300,000 to be spent on creating a dedicated children's area, including a separate waiting room and play area. Another £500,000 will be invested in the latest computer system to track patients, their medical history, treatment plans and tests.

Local MP and Minister of State for Care Services, Paul Burstow visited the local British Heart Foundation Shop located at 124 Central Road, Worcester Park, by donating a bag of unwanted items to help the nation's heart charity continue its lifesaving work.

BHF Shops sell over 90,000 items a day. The BHF Worcester Park Shop is always keen to receive donations of good quality clothing, accessories, handbags, shoes, books, records, videos, DVDs, CDs and bric-a-brac.