Theresa Villiers, Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet, visited Barnet Hospital on Friday to discuss the work underway there to cope with winter pressure. After meeting the hospital’s chief executive, Dr Steve Shaw, and his management team, Ms Villiers visited the Emergency Department to hear the perspective of doctors and nurses.
Speaking after the visit, Theresa Villiers said: “At this time of the year, many NHS has hospitals across the country face additional pressure because more patients than normal need their help, particularly when winter flu is widespread. So I wanted to visit Barnet Hospital to hear at first-hand how its Emergency Department was coping with winter pressure.”
“I’ve been reassured by my visit. They clearly have an excellent team in Barnet Hospital. Inevitably at this time of the year, with much greater numbers visiting A&E, some people will have waited longer than is usually the case. Despite the increased numbers coming to Barnet A&E, nearly 80% are being seen within four hours. That is better than most of the hospitals around this part of north London.”
“I would like to pay tribute to the management and staff at Barnet Hospital for their hard work in caring for patients, particularly our frail elderly population.”
The NHS is delivering more healthcare than ever before in its history. Last year NHS England delivered 1.9m more operations, 5.9m more diagnostic tests and 2.4m more people seen at A&E than was the case just seven years ago. According to research produced independently by NHS England, outcomes for most major conditions are dramatically better than was the case three, five or ten years ago. Cancer survival rates are at an all-time high: 7000 more people surviving cancer than three years ago.