Julia Lopez MP has welcomed news that Queen’s Hospital is to get a £3 million surgical assessment unit to speed up the hospital treatment of Havering residents.
The announcement follows a long-running campaign by Hornchurch & Upminster representative, Mrs Lopez, to improve local health services and forms part of a £250 million government package to treat patients faster this winter.
Earlier in the year, Mrs Lopez had made representations to Health Minister, Will Quince, about the quality of local services after meeting residents about their experiences at Queen’s. The funding will now see Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust (BHRUT) become one of 30 NHS organisations across England to receive special funding to ease pressure in urgent and emergency care.
It is the latest breakthrough in a number of improvements Mrs Lopez has secured, and comes after an announcement last month by Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, that Hornchurch will benefit from a new Community Diagnostic Centre to provide local residents thousands more scans and checks. Queen’s Hospital will also be getting a £1.1 million ambulance hub to ease recent pressures on the service.
The new surgical assessment unit will be able to see ten extra patients at a time to prepare for theatre and will mean more people can be treated quickly, speeding up flow through hospitals and reducing frustratingly long waits for treatment.
Commenting, Mrs Lopez said ‘This new £3 million investment into Queen’s Hospital is incredibly welcome as we prepare for winter. My team and I have been relaying to Ministers some of the local challenges we have experienced over the last year or so, where the patient experience has too often not been good enough. Working with local NHS teams, I am really glad we continue to be heard - this week’s news is just the latest breakthrough we have made as the PM continues to pursue his commitment to cutting NHS waiting lists and delivering fantastic healthcare to everyone. We will continue to give this our relentless focus and constituents should feel free to write to us with their experiences so that we can continue our mission to improve local care’.
