Re-elect Jacqui Smith

 Diary 19 October 2009

In January, when I was Home Secretary, I started a campaign to make sure that burglars weren’t able to take advantage of hard economic times.  I’m delighted that the campaign has come to Redditch today. The police are handing out Home Office packs in the Kingfisher Centre and providing advice to keep your home secure.  The packs contain money off vouchers for DIY stores so if you don’t manage to get one locally, you can apply for one through www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims.

Last week, I raised the issue of hospital infections in the House of Commons.  Locally, the Alex has been really successful in reducing the numbers of people suffering with MRSA and other infections.  In fact there have only been seven cases across the whole of Worcestershire this year.  This is really good news and the staff deserve congratulations for the hard work. I pushed Health Ministers to ensure this continues, because it not only saves lives, but saves money too.  Money that can be reinvested to improve patient care even further at the Alex.

I was singing nursery rhymes at the Woodrow Library recently!  This was to promote Bookstart.  With government help, local libraries, nurseries and health visitors are giving sets of books to children at 9 and 18 months and when they start nursery.  If you have children of this age and haven’t received your pack, get in touch with the local library or ring my office on 523355.  From babies onwards, books can be great fun and they provide the best possible start to learn reading – don’t miss out!