EMILY BOARDS CAMPAIGN

Early day motion 1736, tabled 1 March 2006 by Baroness Kramer (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 60 members.

That this House supports the work of the Emily Boards campaign to assist families and friends of victims of a major incident like the 7th July 2005 bombings in London; recognises that whilst hospitals and their staff are always under great pressure in these circumstances, the existing system provides little or no guidance as to which hospital survivors may have been taken, increasing anguish through uncertainty, which itself increases the human drive to find out for oneself which, in turn, further exacerbates the disruption and anxiety for emergency staff as occurred in the aftermath of the 7th July bombings; recommends that Emily Boards, possibly in the form of a whiteboard in each major hospital, but preferably on the internet, are used to post a basic non-confidential description of every person brought in from the incident which, whilst not providing answers to every worried friend or relative, is likely through a process of elimination at least to inform some of those searching that their loved one cannot be at a particular hospital; commends the family and friends of Emily Jenkins, a victim of 7th July, for starting a charity to support the scheme; and calls upon the Department of Health and the Home Office urgently to provide the permissions necessary for the scheme to go into practice, potentially piloted in London.

Signatures by party: Liberal Democrat 29, Labour 22, Conservative 5, DUP 2, Respect 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.