HEREFORDSHIRE has two main issues with health. 
The first is a hospital that was built to replace the County, the General and the Eye Hospital but did not have enough beds. 
This continues to lead to unsafe numbers of patients needing to be admitted on a far too regular basis. 
The A & E department, the ambulance service, planned operations needing to be postponed and the general running of wards in the hospital are all affected by this.
The only solution is to build new wards and for the old huts to be finally demolished. 
The second issue is the lack of money from government for adult social care. 
This causes problems for patients, carers and staff who all want to see a first-class service, which is impossible on current funding levels. 
The hospital also has problems in recruiting trained staff and I have been encouraging local training to be made available to allow local people to fill these vacancies. 
All areas of our lives continue to be affected by the unfair funding we receive. It is one of the main reasons I became involved in politics, to fight for a fair share for our county, and I will continue to do so until government listens. 
I am proud that the Liberal Democrats have asked for targets to help improvements in mental health care. 
Dementia diagnosis rates in Hereford were the lowest in the country and although now rising, we still need to work to help people be diagnosed and to get help to live well with dementia. 
Dementia Friend Awareness sessions, which I have been hosting for the Alzheimer’s Society, are just part of helping with awareness. 
Any groups who would like to take 45 minutes to understand more, please get in touch with the Alzheimer’s Society.