Delivering a new QEH remains my priority and so on Friday I was pleased to meet the new Executive Managing Director, Michelle Arrowsmith. After a lot of change in the NHS locally, Michelle is a permanent appointment and this was an opportunity to discuss key issues including how we can work together to deliver better care for patients and staff, including securing the new QEH our area urgently needs.
This was a useful opportunity to review progress on the new hospitals programme and to discuss the importance of pressing ahead with key enabling works, such as the new multi‑storey car park.
So it is welcome news that work began this week to relocate Lynn’s hospital’s bus stop which is a small, but key, step in making way for the new car park. It is essential that approvals are speeded up and given so that we move ahead on the main construction as once it is complete the existing car park can be freed up for the new hospital.
Clearly, it was very disappointing when QEH was ranked poorly in the Health Secretary’s league tables last year. To get back on track requires meaningful action to tackle waiting times including for A&E and cancer. I certainly came away from my conversation with confidence that this is a real area of focus to deliver better care for patients, as well as supporting staff to deliver improvements.
The meeting was also an opportunity to raise concerns following the Royal College of Surgeon’s report which highlighted unacceptable care for some patients. There are plans in place to deliver the recommendations that were made and I stressed the importance for public confidence of these being reviewed to ensure they have been implemented. I also highlighted the experiences constituents have shared with me about their care and how the process where things did not go as expected can be improved.
Transparency on waiting times and quality of care can help drive improvements and I am committed to supporting the Trust's efforts to improve and to deliver the new hospital that patients and staff deserve.
One of the areas where waiting times for treatment are too long is for cancer cases, where the target is that 85% of patients with an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer should begin their first definitive treatment within 62 days. This target has not been met for a long time.
After QEH, I visited the Big C Cancer Centre on Railway Road as the National Cancer Strategy had been published on World Cancer Day that week. I met staff and volunteers to see firsthand the vital support it provides for local people affected by cancer and the difference they make every day.
The centre offers a welcoming space for patients, families, and carers and I heard how they work alongside NHS services to complement hospital‑based treatment with support groups, counselling, practical advice, as well as wellbeing activities, and rehabilitation support. So many families are affected by cancer and I was very impressed by the dedication of the team.
Healthcare is rightly one of the top issues people are concerned about and raise with me. The cancer strategy is rightly ambitious and now we need plans to allow them to be deliver. And with new management at the QEH there is the opportunity to look afresh at some of the challenges facing the hospital to ensure that there is better care for patients. I’ll continue to support efforts to improve the situation for patients and staff.
