Worried residents in Maybury and Woodham have been contacting Anne Lee and asking for her help about the proposal for an anaerobic digestion and gasification plant to be built in the industrial estate at Monument Way.
"The Adult and Community Care Committee kept hearing about poor service caused by staffing problems," County Councillor Diana Smith explained. "So it set up a task group to look at Recruitment and Retention. Proper statistics were hard to come by. We eventually got figures for the reported high vacancy rates in 'front line' teams, from 18% among the essential Home Based Care staff to 31% of highly-skilled Occupational Therapists. We heard of one team of Occupational Therapists entirely consisting of stand-ins. Looked at in purely economic terms, terms the Conservative Executive understands, we found under-staffing led to a big bill for agency staff, over 40% of Surrey's total. The costs in human terms are don't get counted, but they include de facto rationing of care for the people who need it, lack of continuity of care, and stress for staff. Sickness rates are higher among Adults and Community Care staff than in any other Surrey service."
In launching the Inquiry, which is being delivered to 40,000 homes in Woking, Dr Anne Lee said: "people have contacted me with a range of concerns about health-care provision across the Borough. Most people are complimentary about the care they have received from doctors and nurses. Unfortunately they are still reporting worries about waiting times for specialist appointments, the availability of specialist equipment at St Peters and concerns about the shortage of GPs and national health dentists.
Woking Liberal Democrats Parliamentary Spokesperson, Dr Anne Lee, said: Cllr Rosie Sharpley (Liberal Democrat Councillor for Goldsworth East) has tirelessly campaigned for her residents to try to make the waste collection scheme respond to their needs. The Council Meeting last night proved her right. The Conservative led Executive admitted that they had been incompetent when the leader, Conservative Councillor Jim Armitage said "we did make mistakes in not allocating resources for the pilot...we got it wrong".
Anne Lee said "The SEERA meeting, at the H G Wells Centre in Woking on 29th November, brought home to us how unaccountable this Quango is. It is a half-baked idea of devolution. Votes are cast by vested interests (eg the CBI and the National Housing Federation) and various county councillors. It is chaired by a Conservative County Councillor.
Dr Anne Lee said: "Access to health-care is vital. There is a pincer movement in health care happening in Woking. There is a shortage of GP's in Woking, which means that more people are going to use the walk-in centre at the Community Hospital.
'Woking's work on Climate Change must be internationally recognised' said Anne Lee when she answered questions at a Question Time session recently.
Will there be enough nursing home places in the future for Woking's older people? Nationally, the number of care home places for the elderly has fallen consistently since 1996. There was a further loss in this last year of 10,000 independent, NHS and local authority places. In spite of projected increasing demand, the number of places in the southern home counties fell by 2.6% - which is getting on for twice the average for the country as a whole.
In spite of a request from Dr Anne Lee to the Woking Conservative MP to ask for a vote in the House of Commons before British troops were sent out of UK control, he has not argued for this in the House of Commons. Dr Lee said "I would contend that this decision was not 'just an operational matter', it was a new and strategic decision. We have subjected our forces to a much increased risk.
October is Black History Month - a chance to celebrate the Black British community, acknowledge their contributions and discover their stories.
Read Ed Davey's speech to the Liberal Democrats' Autumn Conference in Brighton
Carers are not just support for their loved ones—they are the glue holding our fragile social care system together. They deserve more than token acknowledgements or empty promises.
Liberal Democrats believe that everyone has the right to enjoy clean, safe water and unpolluted rivers, lakes, and coastlines. We are committed to ending the national sewage scandal and holding water companies accountable for their environmental impact.
Liberal Democrats have passed new policy to stand up for bereaved families and kinship carers, so more young people can grow up in a loving, stable home.
We are committed to tackling the challenges facing our music industry head-on. By doing so, we can maintain the UK’s reputation as a global leader in music, while giving future generations the chance to share in its success.
The Liberal Democrats are committed to rebuilding the trust and compassion that the UK was once known for. We believe that our country has a responsibility to support those in need, no matter where they are in the world.
For too long, years of neglect and mismanagement by the previous Conservative Government have pushed our prison system into a deep crisis.
The Liberal Democrats have long championed proportional representation, advocating for a voting system where every vote truly counts. We believe that reforming our electoral system is crucial for a fairer democracy and better governance.
