I was pleased to receive the news this week that Stoke Mandeville Hospital would receive £10.58 million in extra funding to increase capacity as part of the Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan. This investment is part of the £250 million recently allocated by the Government to increase capacity at NHS hospitals and it will help Wycombe residents.
This investment will enable the Trust to build a new unit at Stoke Mandeville which will provide space for up to an additional 21 in-patients. Further, it is hoped that this new unit will help lessen the wait faced by patients arriving in A&E who need to be admitted to hospital.
Raghuv Bhasin, Chief Operating Officer at the Trust said:
“The Trust is extremely pleased to have received funding for this much needed new unit. Building work has already begun on site and we hope to be able to open the beds for patients in the new year. This new unit together with the reopening of our Olympic Lodge facility will provide vital additional beds for patients as part of our wider winter plan.”
This is great news for my constituents in Wycombe, and for all across Buckinghamshire who use the services at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Furthermore, alongside my fellow Bucks MPs, I continue to campaign for a new hospital in Wycombe.
This is one of 30 schemes across the country to create 900 extra hospital beds which includes over 60 intermediate care beds and improved space and assessment areas in A&Es.
The expansion of hospital capacity is just a small part of a much greater long-term spending plan for the NHS in order to cut waiting times and improve NHS services.
For example, at the Autumn Statement last year, the Chancellor committed £8 billion of funding for the NHS and adult social care in England in 2024-25. As part of this, the Government is investing an additional £3.3 billion over the next two years to support the NHS in England.
NHS England will also deliver year-on-year improvements in A&E waiting times until 2025, as well as improved access to general practice, so that everyone who needs an appointment with their GP practice can get one within two weeks, and those who need an urgent appointment can get one on the same day.
The Government is working hard to improve NHS services and cut waiting times following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, in the face of this, all the Labour Party has offered is opposition and obstruction.
We don’t need to wonder what the NHS in England would look like under Labour, just look at the NHS in Labour-run Wales:
There is more to be done, but I am pleased to see the Government working hard to improve NHS services and cut waiting times across Wycombe and the rest of Bucks.
