HEALTH education and sickness prevention risk neglect in the fight for resources when competing with acute, community and mental health care. For the future, investment in education about the dangers from HIV, smoking, drugs, obesity and inactivity is just as important and must receive funding and appropriate co-ordination.

NHS care is no longer free from cradle to grave. The increasing level of privatisation supported by both main political parties threatens the ideals of the NHS. The Private Finance Initiative for hospital building risks financial disaster, and private-public partnerships, although expedient in the short term, can only harm the NHS for private services compete with the same staff with offers of better conditions and controlled work loads.

I support the original ideals of the National Health Service - a service available when people need it, where they need it and regardless of the ability to pay.

I will fight for rational and open debate on the future of health care. This will be increasingly vital to accommodate constant advances in medical treatment. Even with increased resources a better, more transparent system of allocating them will be required.

The downgrading of Kidderminster General Hospital is a disaster for Wyre Forest, neighbouring areas and for the whole county.

The new hospital, although improving the buildings for Worcester residents, will not improve access to health care. Departments will continue to be stretched beyond commonsense limits and nursing staff will still have to be imported from other countries.

No other large concentration of people (100,000) with an additional scattered population (35,000) has been deprived of emergency services as we have. We aim to expose this gross unfairness. Our services must be restored.

The immediate short-term answer is simple.

Re-open inpatient beds for elective surgery and provide doctors qualified in A&E medicine in the minor injuries unit at Kidderminster.

This would be a welcome first move.

But the people's needs and demands for restoration of full A&E services have not changed since 1997.

An elected representative's duty is to represent the views of the people and to fight unceasingly for these.

It is not to represent the wishes of Government or some medical opinion against the people.

In the heartfelt words of one of our voters referring to the 1997 election: "I did not elect him to tell me what I want".