Local people have made their priorities clear for Barnet, and the NHS is right up at the top. Theresa Villiers listened to residents and got to work.
Since being elected in 2005, she has always campaigned for the best NHS services for her constituents. She worked with local residents to secure the £100m high-tech hospital at Chase Farm and the 2015 expansion of A&E at Barnet Hospital.
Now funding for TWO vital new improvements to local healthcare is being delivered, a diagnostics centre at Finchley Memorial Hospital and a bigger emergency department at Barnet.
The new facility at Finchley Memorial will deliver a one-stop shop where patients can get lifesaving checks for cancer, stroke, and heart disease. The investment in Barnet Hospital A&E will provide enlarged premises, and more doctors and nurses, to get waiting times down.
Welcoming these important projects, Theresa Villiers said, “New improved facilities at both Finchley Memorial and Barnet Hospitals will significantly improve local NHS services.”
“Since Covid, emergency departments across the country have struggled to meet waiting time targets and the numbers attending Barnet A&E continue to spiral.”
“It is clear that expansion of the premises and the staff team at Barnet ED is vital. This is something I have called for in Parliament. Barnet Hospital’s emergency department sees approximately 400 patients every day in a facility that was initially built for approximately 280.”
“Enabling works to prepare for construction have already started and it is hoped that the £7.9m redevelopment will be completed by September next year. I will be following progress carefully. The next thing we need is for Barnet Council to make a decision on planning permission.”
The Royal Free Foundation Trust have issued the following statement about Barnet A&E:
“Redeveloping urgent and emergency care at Barnet Hospital will create more capacity in our emergency department by increasing the number of patients who can be seen in the urgent treatment centre.
This transformation will also help us reduce ambulance handover times and dispatch vehicles back into the community more quickly.
The urgent treatment centre, paediatric emergency department and ambulance area will move to newly refurbished locations. There will also be two dedicated rooms for staff to provide specialist mental health care to patients.
When the work is complete, walk-in patients will arrive via an entrance at the front of the hospital where they will be assessed and transferred to the most appropriate service for their medical need. This could be the urgent treatment centre, emergency department or other services such as pharmacies.”
