My promise to deliver more services for our local hospital has remained my priority since being elected. After two years of hard work and much lobbying alongside NHS partners we’ve most recently secured nearly £10 million for new services at Queen Mary’s Hospital, including a Community Diagnostic Centre.
Once open early next year, this Community Diagnostic Centre will provide more than 58,000 additional diagnostic tests annually, by expanding phlebotomy (blood tests) and establishing new CT, MRI and X-ray diagnostic services. To put this expansion of services in perspective, the Urgent Care Centre currently sees on average 40,000 patients per year.
The new centre will help reduce waiting times, deliver earlier diagnostic tests closer to home, and help secure the long-term future of Queen Mary’s Hospital after being saved from closure just over a decade ago by local campaigners and our dearly missed friend, the late James Brokenshire MP.
This builds on the progress we have already made for new services at Queen Mary’s Hospital in recent years including the new Cancer Centre, new operating theatres, Kidney Treatment Centre, and Ophthalmology Department.
We are making good progress together and I am delivering what I promised. But there’s more to do to secure great healthcare for all residents. This includes campaigning to increase the availability of GP appointments so residents can get a face-to-face appointment at a time that suits them.