Public opposition to the Government's reckless Health and Social Care Bill has been fierce.

Caroline believes in a genuinely public National Health Service which prioritises people's health over company profits.

Speaking about her efforts to safeguard this fundamental public institution against the forces of privatisation, Brighton's Green MP said:

"I believe that the Health and Social Care Bill, which will vastly increase the commercialisation of the NHS, poses a serious risk to the future of our healthcare system.

"Parliament's passage of the legislation on 20 March was a major blow, but the Greens will continue to oppose these measures and hold Ministers to account."

"On behalf of the many constituents who have contacted me with their concerns about the Bill, I  sought to put pressure on the Government to urgently rethink their misguided and deeply unpopular plans.

"Below is a selection of some of this work. 

Speech: I spoke in the Opposition Day debate on the NHS on 13 March (full version) 

Press statement: I have called on the Government to come clean on the risks of its NHS plans

Urgent Question: I challenged Health Secretary Andrew Lansley in Parliament to drop the Bill

Written Question: I asked the Health Department if it planned to publish the Bill's risk register

Written Question: I queried whether the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley was willing to encourage more integrated care between existing NHS providers, GPs, social services and third sector bodies

Amending the Bill: I backed efforts to return the NHS to its core principles and make dental care, eye care and prescriptions free at the point of service

Amending the Bill: I supported amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill to address the problems of NHS facilities being used by private patients

Speech: I spoke out against the Health and Social Care Bill at the NHS Support Federation AGM

Letters to Ministers

I have lobbied Ministers extensively on behalf of the many hundreds of constituents that have contacted me about the NHS.

- In December 2010, I contacted the Secretary of State about threats to frontline nursing services, including reports of plans to freeze the incremental pay increases that staff receive each year if they perform to the appropriate level, as well as nurses' basic pay.

- In June 2011, I asked the Secretary of State to guarantee that the Health and Social Care Bill included a duty for him and all relevant health bodies to promote medical research. I also stressed the importance of retaining the Government's duty to provide a comprehensive health service and wrote to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister about this too.

- In August 2011, I wrote to the Secretary of State to raise concerns about the proposed funding arrangements for Local Healthwatch, especially the lack of ring fencing at local authority level and the likelihood of huge variability in local authority preparedness for the implementation of new arrangements. I also put questions to Ministers concerning means testing, the regulation of commissioning consortium, equality of service without geographical variation and the continued responsibility for the NHS to provide services such care of pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and young children.

- In September 2011, I sent a detailed legal briefing to the Department of Health that raised a number of points including provision for staff and property transfer schemes. I also asked Ministers about the costs to the NHS at present of complying with procurement legislation and registered by objection to the planned changes to procurement, including options to use alternative providers.

- In March 2012, I urgently emailed the Secretary of State objecting to reports he does not intend to comply with an information rights tribunal ruling ordering the release of the NHS Risk register. I also took that opportunity to repeat my calls for the Health and Social Care Bill to be scrapped.