Arranging a meeting with your local MP is a great way to campaign for better hepatitis C awareness and care, or to explain personal problems you might be having with your PCT or local health services. MPs are keen to engage with their constituents, and you can usually arrange a meeting by calling up their local office and asking for an appointment.
When you meet your MP, make sure you are clear about what you want to talk about. Our MP briefing (download from the right hand side of the page) can help to prepare you. You could download a copy to give to your MP, so they know the facts about hepatitis C.
Make sure you use the meeting to ask your MP to do something positive to help you or hepatitis C patients in general. For example, you could ask them:
- To join the All Party Parliamentary Group for Hepatology (ask them to contact jane.allen@hepctrust.org.uk to register)
- To sign EDM 119, ‘Hepatitis C Trust’s Get Tested Campaign’
- To write to the Chief Executive of the local PCT to ask what action they are taking to increase hepatitis C diagnosis rates and to improve services and support for patients in the area
- To write to the Public Health Minister, Anne Milton, to ask her to ensure that addressing hepatitis C is a major component of the National Liver Strategy that is being developed
- To assist you in receiving support from your local health services or social services if you have experienced problems.
