It is very good news that York Teaching NHS Foundation Trust is set to receive close to £1 million to support A&E capacity ahead of the winter months. It’s part of an extra £1.5 billion announced by the Prime Minister to upgrade hospitals, accelerate hospital building and expand A&E facilities. The extra £936,000 means that York and Scarborough hospitals which serve much of the Thirsk and Malton constituency will be able to increase their A&E capacity, put enhanced infection prevention and control measures in place and make improvements to emergency care and urgent treatment services. Across England, the Government is providing £300 million to A&E departments, with work to be completed by the start of next year so hospitals can benefit from the upgrades during the peak of winter.
Staff at York and Scarborough hospitals have worked tirelessly over recent months and I would like to thank them for everything they have done to get our local community through the coronavirus pandemic. Whilst we hope for the best this winter, its right that we plan for the worst. This funding to upgrade A&E across the Trust will ensure that we are in the best possible position for the challenges that the winter months may bring. As a Conservative, the NHS is my top priority and I was re-elected last December on a promise to deliver record NHS investment and level up the health service across the country. I am delighted to see the Conservatives in Government getting on with doing exactly that.
In June, the Prime Minister announced plans to accelerate £5 billion of infrastructure spending as part of his New Deal for Britain, an ambitious economic strategy to rebuild Britain by putting jobs, skills and infrastructure investment at the heart of the Government’s plans. This funding forms part of the New Deal, which allocated a total of £1.5 billion this year for hospital maintenance, hospital building and A&E expansion.
The funding also comes on top of the additional £3 billion that the Prime Minister recently announced to help prepare the NHS for the winter months ahead. This funding will allow the NHS to continue to use the extra hospital capacity acquired from the independent sector through the coronavirus pandemic, and also to maintain the Nightingale hospitals until the end of March next year.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “We continue to deliver on our promise to build back better and faster, with £300 million allocated today for NHS trusts to upgrade their facilities and improve A&E capacity. These upgrades will help our fantastic NHS prepare for the winter months, helping them to deliver essential services and reduce the risk of coronavirus infections. Thanks to the hard work and tireless efforts of NHS staff throughout the pandemic, our A&Es have remained open for the public. It’s vital that those who need emergency treatment this winter access it, and for those who remain concerned about visiting hospitals, let me assure you that the NHS has measures in place to keep people safe.”
