More money for hospital

Peterborough City Hospital will receive a funding boost to try to alleviate some of its pressures, the Health Secretary has promised.

Matt Hancock visited the hospital last Thursday alongside Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Peterborough Paul Bristow.

The cabinet member held a question-and-answer session with staff and toured a number of areas including the Emergency Department and a medicine for the elderly ward, which has been transformed to make it a more calming environment for patients with dementia.

He later told the Peterborough Telegraph: “I get the pressures and I saw some of them for myself. What we need to do is re- spond to that with extra support.

“So we’re putting in an extra £20 billion into the NHS over the next five years, and a decent chunk of that will come to Peterborough because Peterborough is a growing town.”

Mr Hancock also sought to ease fears about potential medicine shortages in a no deal Brexit, while responding to fears European staff at the hospital might leave after Brexit, he replied: “The European staff in Peterborough hospital are not only able to stay, but we very much hope that they will stay.”

Chief executive of the trust which runs the hospital, Caroline Walker, thanked Mr Hancock for his visit, adding that it was “great to be able to show him the fantastic work our teams are doing, day in and day out.”