On Thursday (11 February), the Government launched its blueprint for NHS and social care reform following the pandemic. Local MP Robert Largan spoke in Parliament to welcome the new plans to create a more integrated healthcare system that will help places like High Peak to level up and build back better after Covid.
The High Peak MP asked:
“I welcome the proposals for more integration and collaboration between the NHS and social care. However, it is vital that these important reforms do not get in the way of investment in NHS capacity and the commitment to recruit 50,000 more nurses. Will the Health Secretary assure the House that they will not and that the Government remain committed to the badly needed new urgent care centres at Stepping Hill Hospital and Tameside Hospital?”
The Health Secretary, the Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP, answered:
“Yes, absolutely. Stepping Hill Hospital is obviously vital to my hon. Friend’s constituents. The urgent care centres are important too, especially in ensuring that people can have access to treatment closer to home for smaller, yet urgent problems. We have also introduced 111 First and people should call 111 before going to an urgent treatment centre or an A&E to let them know they are coming and to check that that is the right setting for them. That is an important part of our wider considerations, which the measures in the White Paper will help.”
The new White Paper sets out measures that will make integrated care the default, reduce bureaucracy, improve accountability, and better support social care, public health, and the NHS. The reforms will also establish technology as a better platform to support staff and patients.
Robert Largan MP commented:
“By acting now, we can make permanent some of the changes where Covid has forced the system to find new and better ways of working and clear the path for improvements into the next decade. In Westminster, I will keep pushing for much-needed investment in our local health services, increasing capacity and improving care for people in High Peak.”
