Under Labour there are now 89,000 more nurses and 44,000 doctors than in 1997 and Hospital waiting times are at there lowest levels since records began with a guarantee of treatment within 18 weeks. Suspecting you have cancer can be a terrifying ordeal, that's why Labour has introduced the two-week guarantee on cancer referrals that the Tories have said they will scrap. The Tories have also said they will scrap the 18 week and the 4 hour A & E treatment guarantees.

The Tories can't be trusted to protect the NHS. They starved it of funds when last in power and now opportunistically stand outside Ealing Hospital holding Conservative posters. My Conservative parliamentary opponent never even bothered to turn up at the crucial Council Health Scrutiny Committee, of which he is a member that discussed these important matters with local health chiefs in January.

I'm fully signed up to the Gazette's "Save our Services" Campaign to protect Ealing Hospital's acute services. I have met with all the key decision makers and the consultants at Ealing Hospital and have raised the concerns of local residents in Parliament, tabling an early day motion and speaking in a recent debate about Health Services in London. In this debate I was given a categorical assurance from the Health Minister that there are no plans to close Ealing Hospital's A & E Department.

My children and grandchildren were born in Ealing Hospital and it is my local hospital, just a short walk from my home, so I know how important it is to local people. I will fight to protect it and all other local NHS services until the day I die.