Minister pledges £90m for health
BURY will receive a multi-millionpound cash boost for its health services in the next four years.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock made the pledge during a visit to a walk-in centre in the town which is feared to be under threat of closure.
He promised that Bury Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) would receive more than £90.4m in additional funding by 2023-24.
This is said to be a cumulative cash growth of 25.7 per cent.
Mr Hancock met local health bosses at Moorgate Primary Care Centre after he was invited to the town by Conservative group leader James Daly.
He said: “I’m here because James asked me to come to see the services that are provided and to talk to the local leadership about putting extra services into Bury and I want to see services expanding here so that everybody can have access to the NHS that they need.”
Coun Daly described the meeting as ‘very positive,’ adding: “The government is putting record funding into services within our town and the urgent care review that’s happening at the moment in our town is really, really important for the future of the integration of social care and medical services and to ensure that all our residents get the best possible services, clinical and medical, going forward.”
The visit from the health secretary came as Bury CCG looks to make £12.5m of cuts by next year in order to balance the budget.
The local health commissioner is currently reviewing its provision of services across the borough to close the financial gap.
A review of urgent care services with a savings target of £1m is currently underway, sparking fears about the future of walk-in centres in Bury town centre and Prestwich.
Coun Daly said of Mr Hancock: “He was very positive about the vision the council had and the steps that the council and CCG were taking.”
It is understood that Bury North MP James Frith was not invited to meet the Health Secretary.
He has written to Mr Hancock asking for the government to help plug the £12.5m ‘black hole’ in the CCG’s finances.