High Peak MP Robert Largan has called on the Government to provide capital funding for a new maternity unit and antenatal clinic at Tameside General Hospital.
Mr Largan is supporting the bid by Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care Trust to refurbish the Charlesworth Building at Tameside Hospital. The bid is part of the NHS Health Infrastructure Plan (HIP).
The HIP is a five-year programme to deliver 40 new hospital building projects, and to modernise existing facilities.
Robert Largan MP asked the Secretary of State for Women & Equalities:
“I welcome the Government’s commitment to tackling disparity in our healthcare, which is particularly important when it comes to maternity care. I ask the Minister to speak to her colleagues at the Department of Health and Social Care about Tameside Hospital, where there is a desperate need for capital funding in a new maternity unit and antenatal clinic. The current unit is located in the Charlesworth Building, which was built in 1971 and is poorly insulated, so sensitive clinical equipment often overheats. The capital funding bid badly needs support and I hope that she will work with me on it to deliver better healthcare for the women of High Peak.”
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Maria Caulfield, replied:
“Maternity care is a top priority for this Government, and we are making progress. Since 2010, we have seen a 25 per cent reduction in stillbirths and a 29 per cent reduction in neonatal mortality. On the new maternity unit at Tameside, I understand that the Acorn birth centre opened last year and has been well received locally, but I am happy to discuss further improvements with my hon. Friend.”
Robert Largan, MP for High Peak, commented:
“Women across the High Peak deserve better than the outdated facilities at Tameside Hospital.
“That’s why I’m proud to support the much-needed bid to modernise the maternity unit and antenatal clinic.
“Whilst I am pleased that the Government have agreed to consider the bid, I am not complacent. I will continue the fight for this vital funding.”
