This has been a big week for Leicester West in Parliament. On Monday, MPs finally had the chance to debate the future of Glenfield's children's heart surgery unit.
The debate was made possible because more than 100,000 people signed a Government e-petition set up by Adam Tansey, whose son, Albert, has been treated at Glenfield.
MPs from across the East Midlands gave passionate speeches about the fantastic services at Glenfield, including Conservative MP for Harborough Edward Garnier, and my parliamentary neighbour Jon Ashworth, the Labour MP for Leicester South.
My speech focused on the fact that survival rates for Glenfield's children's Ecmo service are 50 per cent higher than any other Ecmo unit in the country.
It simply does not make sense to shut this world-class service when our aim must be to provide the very best standards of care.
Hours before the debate, we learned that Jeremy Hunt, the new Health Secretary, has followed the advice he was given in September to have a full independent review into the recommendations on children's heart surgery, including the decision to move Glenfield's services to Birmingham.
I welcome this new review but I'm extremely disappointed Mr Hunt says it should not include previous Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's decision to close Glenfield's children's Ecmo service.
I argued in the strongest possible terms that it must, because Glenfield's children's heart surgery and Ecmo services are inextricably linked.
During the debate, health minister Anna Soubry said the Ecmo decision might be looked at again in "exceptional circumstances".
I will continue to lead the cross-party campaign of MPs to champion Glenfield's case. Our fight goes on.
On Tuesday, Leicester was again at the heart of Westminster. I invited some of our brilliant youth service providers to Parliament to showcase their work and give young people the chance to tell MPs why good services matter.
More than 30 young people came along. They were joined by some of our Youth Council representatives and Leicester West city councillors Vi Dempster and Wayne Naylor.
It was great seeing Soft Touch's Beatsmobile and Streetvibe's bus underneath Big Ben. There was lots of music, dancing and even a rap about the event.
I was really pleased that Stephen Twigg, Labour's shadow education secretary, and Graham Stuart, the chairman of Parliament's powerful Education Select Committee, came to meet our young people and youth workers to find out what we're doing in Leicester.
One of my constituents, Shelby, from Braunstone, told these MPs that youth services aren't just great fun but have helped her get the qualifications she needs to get on in life.
Investing in good youth services makes sound social and economic sense – boosting young people's self-esteem, helping them get qualifications and keeping them out of trouble and off the streets.
I want the Government and other policy makers to understand why youth services are so important and the lessons that could be learned from our achievements in Leicester.
Contact Liz Kendall on 0116 204 4980 or:
liz.kendall.mp@parliament.uk
