Investments and Improvements in Our Local Health Service
I was delighted by the recent Government announcement that St Peter’s Hospital will receive an additional £6 million to support A&E capacity. With Covid cases rising and winter approaching, much of the discussion has been returning to the need to protect our health service. We must protect our NHS to ensure we have capacity to treat everyone this winter.
To help ensure we can meet whatever demands covid plus the flu season bring, the £6 million additional funding will be used to expand and upgrade A&E facilities and the Urgent Treatment Centre at St Peter’s Hospital. This will ensure they have enough space to treat patients, manage patient flow and improve infection control, and planning is already underway to bring about these service improvements.
While we hope for the best this winter, we need to ensure our NHS is prepared. Staff at St Peter’s and across the Trust have worked tirelessly over recent months, and it is right that we invest to ensure that we are in the best possible position for the challenges that the winter months may bring.
Of course it is not just A&E on which we rely. I am also engaging with the CCG and Surrey County Council on the need for improvement in local Child and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in particular. This year may see more people struggling with mental illness made worse by anxiety & loneliness caused by the Covid pandemic. We must work towards parity of esteem & service delivery to ensure everyone has fair access to treatment for all health conditions.