I was asked this week to attend the debate led by the former Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, or more commonly referred to as ME. I will acknowledge this is a condition I know too little about, but I have that in common with the majority of the population, and indeed too many healthcare professionals. The commentary during the debate from colleagues was about too many sufferers being ignored, dismissed and even ridiculed. As a result patients often avoid the very people they are supposed to turn to for help.
What I had not appreciated is that it is a very gendered condition, with women five times more likely to suffer than men. Which is why we must continue to address the research gap in medicine between men and women, and make sure those conditions which do predominantly impact women are not ignored.
I was also in Westminster Hall earlier in the week for the debate on assisted dying. That is a very emotive subject, and I have to pay credit to Hampshire resident Dame Esther Rantzen who has done so much to highlight the importance of a reasoned debate on this in Parliament. It was not an easy debate to listen to, with many members becoming very emotional. Earlier that day I had spoken to one of my constituents who attended the Dignity in Dying drop in event. He had been to see me some years previously to talk to me about his mother’s death and how as a serving police officer at the time he had been excluded from family discussions about his mother’s wishes to die at a time of her own choosing after having had a terminal diagnosis.
It is important that as MPs we get the chance to listen to all sides of debates, and I try to do that. It is not always easy and there is an all too common view that it is effective just to shout the loudest, or bombard inboxes with the largest number of emails possible. I always welcome hearing form those who share their personal experiences and thoughts.
Finally it was great to see representatives of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance in Westminster this week. They do great work and I very much enjoyed my visit to them earlier this year.
