THE value of the House of Lords was amply demonstrated last week in a debate on the Second Reading of the Personal Care at Home Bill. Speaker after speaker opened their contribution by stating his or her expertise relevant to the debate.

There were members of the previous Royal Commission on Long-Term Care for the Elderly, a disabled peer whose husband had had long-term health problems, president of the Local Government Association, a geriatrician, vice-president of Carers UK, president of Alzheimer Scotland, chair of the Co-operation and Competition Panel, a previous president of the Royal College of Physicians and others.

But the House of Commons in its wisdom is to discard all this bank of experience and knowledge, having voted some months ago for an all elected second chamber. What a disaster!

I was very pleased to meet Helen Leedham of Helen Leedham Saddlery, Cookley, at an awards ceremony in the House of Lords last week.

She had been chosen in the Countryside Alliance Awards Competition 2009 as the West Midlands winner in the Daily Telegraph Traditional Business category. She told me about the art of making saddles to fit the horse first and only after that, the rider. Well done Helen.

There have been two more local winners of awards from the Big Lottery Fund. A veteran of the Second World War has been granted funds under the title of “Heroes Return” for a commemorative visit to Singapore next January and Bewdley Youth Café has won £10,000 to support the build-up of facilities and opportunities at the café.

This is a tribute to Derek Killingworth, Mayor of Bewdley, who worked so hard to establish the café and continues to prepare breakfasts for many of the users on a daily basis.

I am writing this before the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee has discussed the future of the Worcestershire out-of-hours primary care service but after a statement in the House on Tuesday about the findings of the inquest into the death of the patient unlawfully killed by the German doctor in Cambridgeshire working for Take Care Now.

The dissatisfaction with some of the out-of-hours GP services across the country led the Government to ask the Chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), Professor Steve Field, one time my house physician at Kidderminster General Hospital, and the National Clinical Director for Primary Care to carry out a review of GP out-of hours services.

They published their report last week and the Minister of Health wrote when introducing the report “I will require PCTs to increase their engagement and involvement of GPs in ensuring high quality provision of out-of-hours services through, for example, Local Medical Committees, RCGP groups, RCGP facilities, clinical executive groups, local and with practice-based commissioning consortia.”

I hope the PCT when deciding on the future of our county’s out-of-hours provider, now being considered, will take this into account so we have local GP involvement to ensure that the out-of-hours service from now on is fit for purpose.

Although emergency care practitioners when used appropriately are excellent there must be adequate numbers of suitably trained general practitioners to provide the diagnostic backbone of out-of-hours care.

DR Richard Taylor MP