For many years the Royal Sutton Coldfield Cottage Hospital, bequeathed to the Royal Town in the mid-1800s, served the needs of our Royal Town.

When I was first your Member of Parliament the Cottage Hospital provided ‘in patient’ care – albeit in outdated mixed sex wards. More recently, it has provided office space for the NHS. I am keen that this fine old Sutton Coldfield facility should be brought into more productive use for the benefit of local people and in line with the intentions of those who so generously bequeathed it to the Town.

I have, therefore, been exploring with Dame Julie Moore, who now heads up the local secondary health services which serve my constituency, what better use we could make of our Cottage Hospital for the benefit of Sutton Coldfield.

I am very pleased to report that progress is being made.

I want to see Royal Sutton Coldfield’s Cottage Hospital brought back into significant community use. I want it to become a place to which older people throughout the Royal Town can look as the provider of on-going care and support for ailments and complaints which, while debilitating, do not require hospitalisation. In other words appropriate care closer to home – which is what my constituents want.

Above all I want the support from our Cottage Hospital to encourage independence and – what matters to most of us as we grow older – the ability to continue to live in our own home with multiple ailments and conditions. For example a dementia clinic, a falls clinic, a stroke clinic and support for the carers of patients with multiple long term conditions.

Clearly public consultation is necessary with our Town and undoubtedly our Town Council will have views. Most importantly those who are responsible for our secondary health care are enthusiastic about this proposal because it is absolutely at the forefront of future plans for the on-going development of our NHS.

I want this service to provide multi-disciplinary support for the specialist needs of older people. Most especially I want it to help those older people who need to be seen within 24-48 hours in order to prevent hospital admission. Such a service would be far more convenient for my older constituents and reduce NHS costs by deferring or preventing admissions to hospital.

Dame Julie Moore, Chief Executive of University Hospitals Birmingham, said: "We know we are living longer and whilst this is great news, it can result in some health problems for people as they become older. As a health system, we are now trying to provide care closer to people's homes to promote independence. This could include care such as therapy support to help with walking and moving, wound care, help with maintaining blood sugars etc. Such early interventions can often prevent more serious problems arising which can then lead to hospital admission”.

I believe this would be a real step forward in the provision of care for the elderly in our Royal Town. It would provide a brilliant and appropriate use for our Royal Town Cottage Hospital. This is a facility inherited from the generosity of our forebears for the benefit of people of Royal Sutton Coldfield. It should now be brought back into far more productive and pro-active use.