The Member of Parliament for Eastleigh, Mims Davies, has welcomed the Government’s multi-million pound investment in the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust this winter, as it emerged that the two Trusts had been granted up to an additional £2,622,000 and £1,892,000 respectively to help cope with winter pressures.
Commenting, the Eastleigh MP said:
“This is great news for patients and residents across my Eastleigh constituency. We all want to know the NHS is there for us and our families whenever we need it, so I’m pleased the Government is giving the NHS extra support at this critical time of year, when cold weather and flu can increase the pressures on hard-working hospital staff.”
“It’s thanks to our strong economy that we can make this extra investment in the NHS. Polls show the NHS is the institution that makes us most proud to be British, and my party will always back and fund it.”
Both of the Trusts and the wider health system has prepared earlier and more extensively than ever before for Winter this year, with a focus on securing the right numbers of doctors and nurses, increasing bed availability, and making sure there is strong social care and community care support available to help discharge patients from hospital quickly.
The extra funding granted to the Trusts is the equivalent of 105 annual nurse salaries, and was announced as part of a £337m immediate funding boost for NHS hospitals this winter in the recent Budget, in addition to an extra £2.8bn investment over the next two years.