Read on and find out....
MP Question Time Public Meeting held on Friday, 6th December 2024, at Brighton Road Baptist Church
Martin Bruton welcomed our supporters and guest speakers, both present and on Zoom, to the HDOPF 2024 MP Question Time Public Meeting. He thanked Optimal Future, which provides care throughout the Horsham district, for providing refreshments for the meeting and serving refreshments.
End of 'walk-in' Blood tests?

Laura Robertson - NHS Sussex
Laura spoke about the free-up hospital beds initiative, which started in December to discharge medically fit patients from hospitals to ensure beds are available for those who need an expert level of acute care.
There is, at present, a lot of work happening across our communities to ensure that those who can be supported at home have care from hospital consultants so that they do not have to go to the hospital. We have discussed virtual wards at previous Forum meetings and how we care for those patients at home. Emergency NHS response teams are working closely with SECAM, the ambulance service providers, to respond to patients quickly and provide care in their homes. It works well, particularly for falls, as patients would have been taken to hospital in the past, but now they can be provided care in their homes.
One of the key things you can do is have your vaccinations to ensure you are protected going into the winter months.
You will have seen the headlines about the nationwide increase in flu and RSV cases, especially among children and young people. Our rates in Sussex are thankfully low for flu, COVID, and RSV. The online booking system, which is how most people arrange their vaccinations, (has now closed), but the offer will remain, and you should contact your GP.
Some people have become unwell after having the COVID and flu vaccinations together and are questioning whether it is worth having them in future. She would encourage everyone eligible to receive these vaccinations to have them. It prevents people in some cases from getting COVID and reduces the severity of the symptoms if you do test positive. In some cases, it's been suggested that there is a time gap between having the two inoculations. The national policy states there is no need for a gap between the two vaccinations, so you can have one of each simultaneously. It's safe to be able to receive both vaccinations at the same time.
You may have heard that in early 2025, blood tests in Horsham, Crawley, and East Surrey Hospital will only be by appointment, and 'walk-ins' will cease. This is correct, but it will not happen until staff are trained in the new system and it’s been widely published. The reason for making these changes is to avoid overcrowding in the waiting areas and blocking up car parks.
Post-meeting note:
Pharmacies
High street pharmacies can treat common winter ailments such as colds, sore throats, and upset stomachs. From the 31st January 2025, through the Pharmacy First scheme, many pharmacies can even dispense certain prescription medications without needing a GP appointment.
So, what did our new Horsham MP have to say?

John Milne MP Horsham
John thanked HDOPF for inviting him to speak to the Forum and started by briefly outlining his political journey from Forest Neighbourhood Council to HDC and then WSCC to becoming an MP and representing Horsham in Parliament.
He is often asked if winning the seat was a surprise, and the answer is ‘Yes’. In January 2023 he became the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Horsham. At the time, the idea that they might win the seat was extremely unlikely. Horsham has been a continuously conservative, safe seat for 144 years. It is the longest serving single party seat in the country with 21,000 majorities. By all electoral logic, he said he should not, statistically have won.
Things started to change around Christmas 2023. Lib Dems were knocking on a lot of doors and it felt they were getting closer and closer, so by the time of the election he actually felt they had a 50-50 chance of winning the seat. If you ask one thing that swung it for him he would say it was then PM, Rishi Sunak who came to Horsham for his second visit just a few weeks into the campaign.
The media asked why Rishi Sunak was returning to Horsham as it was theoretically a rock-solid, safe Conservative seat. So, of course, everyone said they must think it's not a safe seat, which may have got him the extra 3000 votes. That is pretty much what he won by. It was the hardest thing to convince people that it was possible for him to win because, understandably, they thought there was no point in voting. Loads of people have come up to him since the election and said they were really pleased because it's the first time they felt their votes have ever counted.
John felt as if he had two different lives. There was before and there's now. On top of that, his life now is actually divided into two halves: roughly Monday to Thursday, he lives in Westminster, and the other half of the week, he’s in Horsham.
He wanted to be a constituency MP and his focus is on Horsham. He struggles to make more time to be in Horsham because as an MP there is so much to do in parliament and there is a massive learning curve, not least as to how parliament works. It really did help him coming from a local government background, but frankly, parliament needs reform. It's absolutely arcane with all the bizarre procedures. You probably have seen members standing up and down, which is called 'bobbing', to get called by the speaker to address parliament. When a vote is called, it is a most extraordinary, inefficient system. You have to troop around the lobbies, which takes about 12 to 15 minutes for each member to vote, whereas pressing a button would take 5 seconds. For the budget, they had 10 votes in succession, so it took the best part of two hours, which took them late into the night. Another bizarre thing is that the house chamber itself has roughly 430 seats and 650 MP's. This means when, on occasion, everyone wants to be there because there is a big formal ceremony, they’re crammed in, so you get very cosy with your fellow parliamentarians. On occasions, there is standing room only.
Who would build a chamber that was not big enough to take all the members? The answer is Winston Churchill. The house was bombed in the Second World War. Churchill was tasked to redesign the house, but although he did many great things, he liked the adversarial nature of parliament and deliberately made the benches face each other. He also intentionally did not provide enough seats. It was a deliberate choice to get that sort of concentrated impact. Other parliamentary chambers you see around the world are circular. They regret it now because the parliamentary facilities, such as offices and space, are very limited. It's not easy to do your job properly.
Another thing that hits every new MP, particularly where there's a change of party, is that you will probably need at least six staff, two in Westminster and the rest in the constituency office. They’re still looking for a suitable office space in Horsham and are currently in a temporary office opposite Avon House and Sainsbury's.
The state should own an office for the local MP in every constituency that, having been elected, they could just move straight into, and that would be much simpler as hiring staff is absolutely crucial. On day one, he got a shiny new laptop, and when he opened it up, he had 300 emails, and there was only him. He had tried to keep on top of it for the first couple of weeks because you know there are important things in there but you can't do it. Having promised that he was going to serve the constituency and be responsive to people's needs, he began by doing the job badly.
The truth is you just can't get around to all those things on your own. Over time, he’s recruited five staff members, with one more joining shortly. His life has now got a whole lot more pleasant. Over the first couple of months, it was extremely tough, and since then, he is now finding his MP life a lot more doable. He can now make more of an impact in parliament because he now knows his way around the system and when to submit a question. It has been a steep learning curve, but it is becoming more enjoyable now. In the next year, he wants to be on the front foot because right now, he's just reactionary to whatever comes in. He has thousands of cases, but there are things he wants to lead on by using his role in parliament, such as crime and bus services.
John was asked if he supported the government's changes in the winter fuel payments and if there was anything he could do to change the government's decision. The short answer is 'no'. He opposed it very strongly. The government has made a mistake, but instead of targeting the benefits they simply cut the whole thing and at very short notice. He thinks the government are completely wrong and it will lead to very significant hardship. The mitigations they've talked about are not sufficient. What can we do to oppose it? As you know, the government has a massive parliamentary majority, so they can do whatever they want. However, there are still things we could do.
A few weeks ago, he was honoured to be appointed to the Work and Pensions Select Committee. Select Committees are the one thing that parliament does really well.
A lot of what you see in the House of Commons chamber is a bit pantomime. It's not where the decisions are made because everyone is 'whipped', and you've got to follow party lines. The select committees are different in that they're made up of cross-party members and try to work cohesively in more detail. They call expert witnesses, and the idea is that you do work a bit more cross-party to really analyze a problem and try and solve it. John was delighted to have been appointed to one of the biggest committees. He could say that he and his Lib Dem colleagues tried to raise winter fuel as a priority issue to be discussed, as well as any possible mitigations and see if there’s a way to reduce the impact. He regretted to say that as the majority on the committee were Labour MPs, they said 'no'. But then they would, wouldn't they?
Martin Bruton thanked John for a very frank, informative talk and for giving us an insight into how MPs and parliament work. We will invite John back in the future and look forward to hearing more about his time representing the Horsham constituency in parliament.
Mobility Scooters
‘You won’t catch me on one of those things’ ‘I’m not THAT old!’ ‘I was nearly knocked over by one!’
Unfortunately, while we may not want to think about the challenges of getting older and the adverse effects on our mobility when getting out and about, our bodies have other ideas. Those who now use a mobility scooter often wish they’d started earlier and welcome the freedom they can give. They are excellent for just getting to the shops or around the town. Some say they have been 'a life changer.'
There is a warning, though. Most of us who have driven for most of our lives can be forgiven for thinking that we know it all and that riding a mobility scooter is simply a case of sitting on it and twisting the throttle. When you learnt to drive a car or a motorcycle when you were a lot younger, did you just get in or on and drive, or did you get some instruction, however short?
Well, the same applies to using a mobility scooter. You don't 'know it all.' How about getting a Forum mobility scooter 90-minute safety and handling course under the guidance of a trained instructor, all for free? Swallow one's pride? You are never too old to learn, which could save your or someone else's life. It could be finding out something as simple as how to swivel the seat to easily get on and off, stop as they don't have brakes, or disengage the drive to push the scooter backwards.
Want to avoid this type of thing happening?
A few well-spent minutes of advice and practice could save you from pure embarrassment or serious injury (to someone else and an expensive legal bill!). If you can’t get to Horsham Park, they may be able to come to you.
Phone to register your interest: 07906 211 030 or email horshamscootersafety@gmail.com
HDOPF – meeting dates for your 2025 diary
Quick update
Our Forum's AGM was held on January 7th, 2025. David Searle has taken up the role of Chairman. Our AGM will now be in January each year. Our Constitution has been amended. The Forum committee decided to hold our public meetings in 2025 at different venues around the Horsham District.
When, where and how much?
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, 1st April 2025, at 10 am at Henfield Leisure Centre, Henfield BN5 9QB, with our usual topical and informative guest speakers with time for questions and answers.
All meetings are free to attend, starting at 10 a.m. and finishing around lunchtime at 12.30. You can also participate via Zoom.
That will be followed by Tuesday 1st July, 10 am at Chanctonbury Leisure Centre,
Spierbridge Road, Storrington, RH20 4PG and then
Tuesday 9th September, 10 am Billingshurst Village Hall, Roman Way, Billingshurst, RH14 9QW
We are planning our 2025 MP Question Time for 10 am Friday, 5th December 2025, in Pulborough and inviting Andrew Griffith, MP.
If there is someone you would like to be a guest speaker at any of our public meetings, please let the Forum know.
Who can attend Forum meetings?
Anyone aged 60+ who lives in the Horsham district or cares for someone who is. Anyone involved with, knowledgeable about, or interested in issues affecting local older people.
Local HDC, WSCC, Neighbourhood and Parish Councillors are much welcomed.
What will you gain by attending?
As always, we will talk about and listen to issues you want to discuss and get answers if possible. We will have topical and knowledgeable guest speakers who know or need to know the current concerns of older people. Are others worried about the same things you are? Almost certainly! Would you like to hear about something you didn't know, i.e., NHS updates, what and where help is available, access to GP services, pharmacy, medicines availability and prescription issues, community transport, and more?
Meet others in a warm, safe, friendly environment with complimentary tea, coffee, and maybe even biscuits. If you cannot attend in person, you can do so via Zoom.
Come and find out for yourself. Be informed! You will be welcomed; we guarantee you will be glad you did.

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