The reason I have requested a meeting is that the trust is responsible for East Surrey Hospital and every week – without fail – I receive correspondence from local people with tales to tell following a visit to the hospital.

Some of these are examples of a simple lack of hygiene or a lack of basic care – something that should be relatively simple to rectify.
Other cases are a lot more shocking and serious.

I always make representations to the trust on behalf of aggrieved patients or their families and I always receive letters promising that lessons have been learnt and improvements will be made.

However, it struck me a few weeks ago, whilst formulating my submission to the Fit for the Future consultation, that letters are pinging back and forth between constituents, myself and the trust, but actually, nothing seems to change.

I realised it was time to have a face-to-face meeting with the person in charge, in order to get to the bottom of these issues.

My aim is to get some answers and to see some real improvements – and quickly. Local people and indeed those in eastern Surrey deserve it.

The other, rather significant, group that deserve better are the dedicated and hardworking staff who do their best in a badly situated hospital that is failing to cope with demand.

I have absolutely no doubt that the trust wants to see East Surrey improve – who wouldn't?

The trouble is that short-term fixes will always be a pretty ineffectual sticking plaster.

For these reasons we also need to look at longer-term solutions.
And that's why I have welcomed West Sussex PCT's decision to fully review primary and secondary healthcare provision for north east West Sussex.

A crucial question that will need to be looked at during the course of the review, is that if East Surrey is already struggling, what will happen when we get the thousands of new homes that have been planned for our area?

The review should conclude, just as Sir Peter Bagnall's report did six years ago, that we deserve a new acute hospital in our area.
So, I'm looking forward to meeting Gail Wannell and having a constructive discussion about how best to improve the care that local people receive.

But I'm also looking optimistically to the future for a longer-term solution to this ongoing problem.