Graham Stuart, Member of Parliament for Beverley and Holderness, has welcomed the announcement of a £981,000 cash injection for the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which will be used to improve Accident and Emergency (A&E) services at Hull Royal Infirmary.
The cash boost, announced by Minister of State for Health Philip Dunne, is designed to improve first-line responses in A&E departments. More money is being spent on necessary equipment, staff and infrastructure to ensure that each patient receives a quick and thorough assessment.
This funding could therefore be particularly important for the Hull Royal Infirmary, which was deemed to ‘require improvement’ by the latest Care Quality Commission Report in February 2017.
The Infirmary is on an upward curve, however, surpassing its intermediate target for improvement in A&E response times according to the CQC Report, and it is hoped that the latest funding announcement will encourage further improvement. By March 2018, the Government has demanded that 95% of patients that arrive in A&E are processed within four hours.
Graham Stuart commented: “I welcome the news of this significant cash injection for the Hull Royal Infirmary. With winter approaching, it is vital that our local A&E department is prepared for the increased demand.
“This is good news for local patients, and I am pleased that the Trust is getting support from the Government to build upon its recent progress in reducing A&E response times. NHS England has set itself an ambitious target of 95% of patients being seen within four hours across all A&E departments by March 2018, and I welcome the significant investment being made by the Government to help achieve this.”
