Forest of Dean Residents Send Well Wishes to King Charles III and Princess Catherine Amid NHS Waiting Time Concerns

The people of the Forest of Dean wish King Charles III and Catherine Princess of Wales a speedy recovery from cancer as civic chiefs highlight lengthy NHS waiting times for treatment.
Forest of Dean District Council has agreed, on behalf of residents, to write to the Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, Edward Gillespie OBE, to convey their thoughts, best wishes and hopes for speedy recoveries.
They also proclaimed long live the King.and all those affected by cancer at a meeting in Coleford last night (April 18).
Conservative Councillor Clayton Williams (C, Hartpury and Redmarley) put forward the motion which was seconded by fellow Tory Cllr Nick Evans (C, Tidenham).
They accepted a friendly amendment by Green Party Cllr Chris McFarling (St Briavels). “After long live the King to add ‘and all those living with cancer,” Cllr McFarling said.
“I think the King would go with that. I hope the mover of the motion will accept that amendment.” Cllr Williams said he was happy to include that.
And Progressive Independent Cllr Julia Gooch (Newent and Taynton) commended the motion and said it was very sad to see people affected by cancer.
Liberal Democrat group leader Gill Moseley (Newent and Taynton) raised concerns about the shocking lengths of waiting lists for NHS treatment for cancer treatment.
But did not go into detail because “it might be rather churlish”. She said her group welcomed the motion and would support it.
The Labour group also supported it and Cllr Matt Bishop (L, Cinderford East) said cancer affects many people in different ways.
Newly elected council leader Adrian Birch (G, Tidenham) said it was an incredibly important issue and some 3 million people are living with cancer at the moment in the UK.
“Some 55,000 people waited more than four weeks to find out if they had cancer or not in February of this year,” he said.
“We have a massive waiting list which must be resolved as soon as possible. This has got worse over the last ten or 15 years.”
He said he hopes both the King and Princess of Wales recover well along with the 3 million people affected in the country.
Chairman Di Martin (L, Cinderford East), a survivor of cancer, said she “absolutely” endorse the sentiments raised by fellow councillors.
A total of 31 voted in favour, there was one official abstention from Cllr Mark Topping (G, Lydney West and Aylburton) and Cllr Bernie O’Neill (Progressive Independents, Ruspidge) was absent from the chamber at the time of the vote.
Last month, Gloucestershire County Councillors concerned over the state of the health service agreed to write to the chief executive of the NHS in Gloucestershire over cancer waiting times.
Gloucestershire NHS Intergrated Care Board said in a joint statement with Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at the time that they are absolutely committed to improving cancer waiting times.
They recognise the impact that waiting for diagnosis and treatment has on individuals and families. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​