The Coronation weekend was a very special reminder that no country in the world does events like this as well as we do. I thought moments from Prince William were very touching and his speech about service and recognising doctors, teachers and others was excellent. Much has been written about my colleague Penny Mordaunt’s arms of steel holding the ceremonial sword and she did a great job but so did many others, with the whole world watching. Thanks to all the people here who organised events to mark the occasion, bringing family, friends and neighbours together. I very much enjoyed those I attended in Misterton and East Coker.
I’ve been promoting the role and importance of pharmacies a lot recently so am pleased to see them getting a huge boost through the new Primary Care Recovery Plan published this week. This is a series of measures to make access to GP or similar services quicker and easier. Many of us will have experienced the rush at 8am when the phonelines open to try to get an appointment and it’s great that this problem is acknowledged and ways to tackle it being trialled. It must be very stressful for the staff also and there are concerns that it disadvantages older and more vulnerable people.
A major change is that some prescription medication for things like earache or a sore throat will be available directly from pharmacists without needing a GP appointment. This should mean more GP slots are available. Access to primary care is something many people have contacted me about and I have been talking to Government Ministers about a lot so I am really pleased to see this progress and will be scrutinising the detail including the funding.
Thank you to Avishayes School in Chard for a fun and interesting session on the internet and online safety last week. Pupils and I were joined by people from Parent Zone which is a group working hard to promote safe and sensible use of the internet for families. I think it’s an issue that a lot of parents really worry about and we need to do more on. We all want our children to get the best out of modern technology and there are great career opportunities in things like coding. Sadly though there are darker parts of the internet and as parents I think a lot of us worry about what our children may be exposed to as well as having more screen time instead of being outdoors having fun.
Finally Yeovil Rugby Club are putting on a great day on Saturday to celebrate the Army v Navy match. It’s open to everyone and looks like they will be partying into the night with live music. It’s a nice way to support a local club and also our Armed Forces.