John Battle joined fellow Leeds Labour MPs Paul Truswell (Pudsey) and Colin Challen (Morley & Rothwell) to meet Health Minister Melanie Johnson to put the case for a children’s hospital for Leeds. “It would be a major improvement for children’s hospital services if they were all on one site, so families and children didn’t have to travel between sites, and if they had full modern facilities – at the moment we have some excellent medical staff working incredibly hard in some less than ideal buildings,” said John. “We made the case to the Minister powerfully and she listened closely and took it on board, and particularly that it wouldn’t just serve the city of Leeds, but also children from the surrounding areas.”
“It’s also important that we think about how to improve all our Leeds hospital facilities, as we plan a new dedicated children’s hospital,” he added. “It’s a vital campaign and organised by one of my constituents – he’s put many hours of work into this from his home in Wortley.”

©John Battle MP 19th May 2004