Call for extra NHS funding is rejected
EAST Runcorn MP Mike Amesbury has accused Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt of ‘failing patients in Weaver Vale’ after his pleas for an urgent cash injection for services was rejected.
Mr Amesbury wrote to Mr Hunt around the turn of the New Year after hospitals in his constituency were forced to cancel procedures.
A spokesman for Mr Amesbury’s office said health services had been forced to enact emergency measures across the country including postponing an estimated 55,000 operations such as hip replacements until February, prompting an apology from Prime Minister Theresa May.
He said that in Weaver Vale, this included Warrington And Halton NHS Foundation Trust cancelling 23 elective patient procedures and non-urgent operations, announcing that it was working at ‘full capacity’.
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Northwich said six patients had procedures cancelled, with a letter from health chiefs also instructing it to cancel all elective and outpatient activity until the end of January.
The Countess Of Chester Hospital said it had seen ‘unprecedented’ numbers of patients during winter who were either acutely unwell or do not have the package of care they need in their neighbourhoods, therefore impacting on ● the hospital’s ability to discharge at normal rates.
To deal with this increased volume, the hospital trust cancelled planned operations and appointments which it said was to ‘free up’ some senior doctors and nurses to help find ways to relieve pressure.
The spokesman said that in a reply to Mike Amesbury, Steve Barclay committed no extra funding to Weaver Vale, saying that the NHS had ‘more robust plans in place than ever before’.
Mr Amesbury said: “It’s simply not good enough.
“The Government says the NHS was more prepared for winter than ever, yet we had stories of ambulance queues backed up outside A&E departments and people languishing in corridors, not to mention cancellations of procedures.
“The Government needs to listen and start funding our NHS properly.” ●