A comment on Mims' activities through the week, and the latest news from Parliament.
First of all, I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. As I write this, everybody is returning to work after what I hope has been an enjoyable Christmas Break, and I’m gearing up for another busy “term” in Parliament.
This being said, so many individuals continued to work throughout the holiday period, particularly our emergency services and NHS staff, and I would like to thank them for their selfless dedication.
The winter poses extra challenges to many areas of our lives, but it poses particular pressure upon our NHS. We have an aging population and the demand for beds is rising; and these difficulties are compounded by cold weather and the various bugs that go around year on year.
It is so important to anticipate these pressures, and that is why I warmly welcome that this year the NHS was better prepared for winter than ever before.
The Government committed to extra funding so that hospitals were more easily able to cope with the pressure associated with this time of year, investing an extra £437 million into the system. Locally, this equated to up to an additional £2,622,000 for the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and £1,892,000 for the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. A huge amount of money which will hopefully make a big difference.
This funding boost couples with other measures to help provide relief to our services – including more beds being made available, a reduction in the number of delayed discharges of elderly people who would otherwise have been in NHS beds rather than in social care and an extended the flu vaccination program.
I hope these measures will support the excellent staff who look after us all so well if we become ill – our NHS staff play a vital role in our society and it is ultimately their commitment and devotion that make the difference, and led to our NHS being ranked as the best and safest healthcare system in the world and we want it to continue to deliver outstanding care.