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Clegg vows to help Sheffield mum’s healthcare fight - VIDEO
Deputy PM Nick Clegg pledged to personally intervene after a Sheffield mum revealed her child faced a six-month wait for vital medical help because of budget cuts.
Mr Clegg vowed to look into the desperate mum’s plight after she challenged him over the impact of £1 million mental health service cuts.
The promise came at The Star’s Meet Nick Clegg event last night - during which the Hallam MP told the 130-strong audience he had suffered months of personal vilification by opposition politicians since signing a coalition pact with the Tories.
He said: “I have been, for months, subject to the most outrageous scaremongering from Labour in Sheffield, predicting the end of the world as we know it because of the cuts.”
The Lib Dem leader was tackled by Helen Basu Chaudhuri, aged 45, over why mental health services in Sheffield had been slashed by £1m.
The widowed mum-of-three said her child, a primary school pupil, saw a GP in November and was referred to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service - CAMHS - with signs of severe anxiety.
But three months later an appointment has not yet been set up with a child psychiatrist.
Doctors have told Mrs Basu Chaudhuri budget cuts have left them with diminished resources and it may be another three or four months before her child can be seen. .
The mum asked Mr Clegg: “The Government have given a commitment that there will be no cuts to frontline services. You personally have talked about an increase in funding for mental health. I have a child who has mental health problems and CAMHS in Sheffield has had 16 per cent cuts. Their waiting times have increased from six weeks to six months. Can you explain this?”
Mr Clegg said he was very “incredibly distressed” to hear about her experience and pledged to sit down with her to find out what the issue was. He added: “For too long mental health provision for children has been short changed and overstretched.”
Mrs Basu Chaudhuri, who lives in Millhouses in Mr Clegg’s Hallam constituency, told The Star: “This is a hidden problem because people feel unable to come forward to get help.”
John Reid, director of nursing at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said cuts had had an impact on waiting times.
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Comments
There are 20 comments to this article
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equity for asd kids
Sunday, July 17, 2011 at 11:32 AMTo Egalitarian Mum, I am fighting the same battle: Clegg is not my MP. I'm lucky enough to live in Central consituency. I'm very keen to hear what response you got after seeing Clegg & whether you got any feedback. Like you, I'm concerned about the service not just my child. The national picture is not as bad as Sheffield. I'm on Sheffield Forum: user name Gaucin. I've got a CAMHS thread running and would greatly appreciate if you could post on there so I can contact you. Hope you did start to get some help for your little one.
jillifer
Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 01:48 PM#11 Real socialists are not racial bigots! We support immigration and fight for equality for the working classes regardless of race. I take my hat off to this lady who has stuck up for her child no matter what her roots are. I hope that Clegg does do something to help - although I won't hold my breath!!!!!!
vote for reality
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 10:41 PMTHE QUESTIONS FOR THE CLEGG IDIOT ARE, WHY ARE YOU GIVING MONEY TO INDIA , IS IT TO KEEP THE CORRUPT LABOUR CLOWN VAZ HAPPY WHY GIVE MONEY TO CHINA, THEY HAVE BILLIONS WHY ARE WE LOOKING AFTER 3,000,000 IMMIGRANTS THE SCUM blair and brown INVITED INTO THIS COUNTRY THIS LOT ARE AS BAD AS THE CORRUPT INCOMPETANT PREDECESSORS IN GOVERNMENT. THIS LADY DESERVES HELP FOR HER FAMILY AND ALL SHE WILL RECIEVE IS A LOAD OF BXXXXXXT FROM THIS CLOWN
Sir Taxedalot
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 09:58 PM#15 Bankers work to the rules laid down by governments. Don't let Labour propaganda fool you into believing Brown was helpless in the face of international bankers. After all he knighted more than a few and could not spend their tax revenues fast enough and claim the credit for abolishing boom and bust. Brown was a very very stupid man to believe the good times could go on forever.
stevee
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 09:24 PMNo 14 - being left of centre myself my perception is that the narrow minded bigots in denial are on the right of centre, but then thats democracy for you!
Boomdocker
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 06:03 PMCome on folks. This is pure smoke and mirrors for the gullible and Liberal Democrat backers. There are thousands in the country whose circumstances have been worsened by this horrendous coilition of Tories and Wanabee Tories. The mess this country is in was caused internationally by the greedy bankers. It is now a bigger mess because the ConDem mob are frightened to make these get ricj quick people pay up. labour played its part in the position we were in up to May 2010. The rest is from dexcisions by the ConDem government. All the cuts are front loaded to ensure that in 4 years time Cleggy and Cable get a safe Tory seat. Because the Liberal Democrats have imploded around the country. Do not be fooled by Cleggy trying to re-invent himself and history.
seenitall
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 05:28 PMI wonder why a majority of "narrow minded bigots" appearing on this forum tend to have distinct left of centre views...reinforced by a definite streak of "denial"?
Dingle Dickie
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 04:53 PMRegardless of the merits (or not) of this story, the ability of Clegg to have his principles prostituted by the first starry-eyed glimpse of 15 mins of fame should mean that we never see him or Uncle Vince again after the next election. That of course won't happen, as their reward for selling his party down the river will be a couple of safe Tory seats in Surrey or Berkshire......
clarkson
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 03:52 PMhorseman of the apocalypse, Clegg is deffo not a middle class chump. He is an upper-class chump.
Sir Taxedalot
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 03:09 PM#7. Racist bigots are 10 a penny in the socialist movement. They just look at your name and make up their own stories. Thankfully there are some intelligent people about. You do right to raise that issue with Cleggy. I have had exactly the same problem and he's done a good job for me. The wretched Dame Sonia Sharp cut funding for the excellent work done by the CAMHS service but kept most of her pointless and pathetic managers. It is scandalous.
Lifelong owl1
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 02:53 PMPOST 2 & 4-- still not figured it out i see ? The reason these government cuts are having to be made is because of the sheer amount of national deficit run up by the previous useless Labour Government. Now , if the last waste of space government had run the country properly ( which is something Labour have NEVER done), we wouldnt be in the mess we are now , would we ?
SDeburgh
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 02:52 PMWell done that mum for standing up for her child. It must have taken some guts to make her own family situation public knowledge. And shame on you horseman of the apocalypse for your narrow minded and bigoted views based on someone's surname!!
deborahhwoodhouse@hotmail.co.uk
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 02:44 PMVery shocked at the racist comment of horseman. This is a child with medical issues we are talking about here, a vulnerable child in need. Have some compassion! to be honest i think you should be deleted from the site because I for one find your comments offensive. The issue here is front line services have been cut for this child and other children in Sheffield with mental health problems. Can you imagine if children with cancer, or physical conditions were turned away; there would be an outcry. Why should a child with mental health conditions suffer with no support for 6 months, this appears cruel to me? The coalition government pledged not to cut front line issues so it appears this pledge has been broken. I hope Nick Clegg helps this family and others like it in Sheffield.
egalitarianmum
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 02:20 PMMy purpose in raising this matter was not just to fight for my child but the children's mental health provision throughout Sheffield. In order to do this I had to use my particular example - a decision which was not taken lightly by me and about which I had to think long and hard. Your comments show your impulsive ignorance as I am in fact a member of your so-called indigenous working-class. My late husband, who incidentally worked hard for this country assisting those with health and financial problems as a nurse and CAB advisor, was mixed race and could count in his ancestry Lancasastrian and Northumberland miners who went down the pit as young as nine! But this is beside the point - any child has a moral right to receive essential health care, even the children of bigots!
Lifelong owl1
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 12:46 PMPOST 2 & 4-- still not figured it out i see ? The reason these government cuts are having to be made is because of the sheer amount of national deficit run up by the previous useless Labour Government. Now , if the last waste of space government had run the country properly ( which is something Labour have NEVER done), we wouldnt be in the mess we are now , would we ?
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