• Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust to receive £2,200,000 to upgrade hospital accident and emergency (A&E) facilities ahead of winter.
• Part of £1.5 billion announced by the Prime Minister to further support hospitals, accelerate building plans and expand A&E facilities.

Henry Smith MP has welcomed news that Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust is set to receive an additional £2,200,000 in order to support A&E capacity ahead of the winter months.

The extra £2,200,000 means that the Trust covering Crawley will be able to increase its emergency capacity, put enhanced infection prevention and control measures in place and make improvements to urgent treatment services.

Across England, the Government is providing £300 million to A&E departments, with work to be completed by the start of next year so hospitals can benefit from the upgrades during the peak of winter.

Henry said;

“Our local NHS staff have worked tirelessly over recent months, and I’d like to thank them for everything they’ve done to get our community through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While we hope for the best this winter, it’s right that we plan for the worst. This funding to upgrade A&E across the Trust which serves Crawley will ensure that we are in the best possible position for any challenges that the winter months may bring.

“I was re-elected last December on a promise to deliver record NHS investment and I’m delighted to see the Government is getting on with doing exactly that.”

In June, the Prime Minister announced plans to accelerate £5 billion of infrastructure spending as part of his New Deal for Britain – an ambitious economic strategy to rebuild Britain by putting jobs, skills and infrastructure investment at the heart of the Government’s plans. This funding forms part of the New Deal, which allocated a total of £1.5 billion this year for hospital maintenance, hospital building and A&E expansion.

The funding also comes on top of the additional £3 billion that the Prime Minister recently announced to help prepare the NHS for the winter months ahead. This funding will allow the NHS to continue to use the extra hospital capacity acquired from the independent sector through the coronavirus pandemic, and also to maintain the Nightingale hospitals until the end of March next year.

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, commented;

“We continue to deliver on our promise to build back better and faster, with £300 million allocated today for NHS trusts to upgrade their facilities and improve A&E capacity.

“These upgrades will help our fantastic NHS prepare for the winter months, helping them to deliver essential services and reduce the risk of coronavirus infections.

“Thanks to the hard work and tireless efforts of NHS staff throughout the pandemic, our A&Es have remained open for the public.

“It’s vital that those who need emergency treatment this winter access it, and for those who remain concerned about visiting hospitals, let me assure you that the NHS has measures in place to keep people safe.”