Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers has urged the Government to deliver its Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan on the ground as quickly as possible.
Speaking in a debate in Parliament this week, Theresa highlighted improvements being delivered to health services in Barnet:
“I welcome the fact that Barnet Hospital’s emergency department will be expanding and improving its facilities and taking on new staff, and of course I welcome today’s announcement, but I urge the Secretary of State to ensure that it is effective on the ground soon, because there is a real crisis out there,” she told MPs.
“This is a good announcement, but it must be delivered so that patients and staff feel it on the frontline as soon as possible.
In reply the Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: “I could not agree more, which is why this morning the Prime Minister and I were at University Hospital of North Tees, where it is effective on the ground.
“It is about looking at hospitals where such measures have been effective and are having an effect on the ground, such as in North Tees and at Maidstone Hospital, and how we take best practice from them. We then have to do what has sometimes been more difficult in the NHS, which is to scale those innovations and get them adopted across the piece.”
The plan announced by the Health Secretary focuses on five areas: increasing capacity in urgent and emergency care; growing the workforce; speeding up discharge; expanding and joining up new services in the community; and making it easier for people to access the right care.
Speaking afterwards Theresa added: “I recently visited the emergency department at Barnet Hospital because I was worried about delays and crowding at A&E.
“I was told the department can sometimes see double the number of patients in a day than it was designed for. The action now being taken by the Government to tackle waiting times and pressure on NHS services is a really important step forward. I have repeatedly said in Parliament we need for more staff. So delivering on the plan’s focus on growing the workforce is crucial.”
