§ Mr. Eddie Loyden (Liverpool, Garston)I present a petition that has been signed by 8,000 citizens of Liverpool who are concerned about the reorganisation of district health nursing, which is being reduced from 89.5 FTE to 57. The people of Liverpool depend more and more on qualified nurses in the district health service. It is interesting that Liverpool pioneered district nursing in the 1860s when Florence Nightingale and a social worker in Liverpool, a man who wrote much about the problems of the city, William Rathbone, joined to make, as it were, the first district nurse in the United Kingdom. It is significant that the response of the people of Liverpool to cuts in the service has reached the level of open opposition to the trust scheme.
Therefore your petitioners pray that your honourable House requests that the Secretary of State for Health intervenes to ensure that this reduction in service is prevented and that the level and quality of services provided by the district nursing service in North Mersey is protected and enhanced to meet the real needs of the community.
I beg leave to present the petition.
§ To lie upon the Table.