Conservative minister visits Princess Alexandra Hospital
Health / Sat 23rd Sep 2023 at 10:42am
ROBERT, MP for Harlow, welcomed the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Lord Markham, to Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) this week.
Following a decade of lobbying from Mr Halfon, the new hospital building programme was re-confirmed earlier this year by the Health Secretary Steve Barclay and will mean a new high-tech health campus backed by hundreds of millions of Government investment will be built in Harlow.
The Minister and Harlow’s MP toured the Hospital so that Lord Markham could see the site and also meet with representatives from NHS England to discuss the business plan that will mean the new hospital’s construction could begin in 2025.
Speaking to Your Harlow Mr Halfon said:
“I was delighted to meet with the Minister from the Department of Health, Lord Markham, to visit Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) in Harlow.
“We spent the morning touring the hospital and meeting with representatives from NHS England, including the CEO of PAH, Lance McCarthy, and the Director of Strategy and Estates, Michael Meredith, to discuss the confirmation and construction timeline for our new hospital and I am delighted that construction work could begin in 2025.
“I have nothing but huge admiration for everyone who works at the hospital: doctors, nurses, consultants, support staff, hospital leadership, and the volunteers who work tirelessly to care for our town. I am so pleased that their endless hard work has paid off and we will see a new state-of-the-art health campus in Harlow to support their work in just a few years time.
“I will continue to work hard to drive this development forward and to ensure that Harlow’s new hospital campus delivers exactly what is needed for our town.”
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health Lord Markham said:
“I am absolutely delighted to have visited Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust and seen the excellent care being provided to patients. I understand the challenges presented by the existing environment which is why I’m really proud to be championing the New Hospital Programme and a new hospital in Harlow.
“I am confident that the construction of a new hospital by 2030 will improve how this Trust delivers essential services to its patients and supports the local community.”
YourHarlow was not given an opportunity to speak to the minister.
Tony Edwards
2023-09-23 12:10:45
The work "could begin in 2025" - The question they refuse to answer is - "Will it begin in 2025?"as The Treasury have yet to approve the final business plans! So why was Your Harlow not given the opportunity to speak to the minister? Could they have something to hide? Answers on a post card!
Adam
2023-09-23 12:34:52
Did he ask them why they are striking when there is 28,000 on the waiting list for PAH?
Nicholas Taylor
2023-09-23 13:17:41
Lets not forget that the move to a new site was supposed to mean that the new hospital would OPEN in 2025. This together with the move of Public Health England to Harlow promised way back in 2017, the site having clearly been mothballed, means I wont trust anything our MP says until work begins on the new site, which I believe to date has not even been purchased.
Luke Burton
2023-09-23 16:23:44
Visiting for what reason? To laugh at the patients in corridors or stand there with a riding crop threatening staff to work harder?
Mark
2023-09-23 17:21:29
Another photo op, more promises he won't keep, all to distract from Mr Halfon's failings as a Minister in the Department of Education. that led to chaos at the start of term.
tom
2023-09-23 17:59:05
Well i see that the photo shoot has brought the rat out into the open for everyone to praise him again. Never ever believe any thing this idiot says as you can be sure that it will be a bunch of lies. Does not this incompetent clown realize what an idiot he his. Is he so stupid that he does not know the difference between lying and giving a truthful answer but then again he never responds to anything except if it has been agreed by his westminster mates. He is just a lapdog of sunak. For gods sake go now with some dignity instead of being humiliated at the next election
Despairing
2023-09-23 18:18:42
We need another hospital not a replacement located outside the town. I'm delighted he was able to visit the hospital, an appointment with a specialist that I have been fighting for for years has been cancelled
Mark Ingall
2023-09-24 09:03:14
Who exactly is going to work in this hospital if it is ever built? Trained doctors are being poached by other countries that can offer better pay and conditions. Nurses, porters, cleaners and other staff are leaving in droves because they can't make ends meet. Yes, we need a new hospital, but we also need to staff it properly.
David Forman
2023-09-24 17:06:46
Mark Ingall makes a sound point in that doctors only have to catch a flight to Dublin to get vastly better pay. Tony Edwards correctly highlights "construction work could begin in 2025". My parents told me as a toddler that Santa Claus landed his sleigh on our roof, shinned down the chimney and left my presents by the tree. I wondered why there was not any spot on the presents. Logic always trumps fairytales.
David Forman
2023-09-24 17:07:57
Should have typed soot on the presents.
Jamie W
2023-09-25 11:49:43
Halfon. Jackanory.
Mark Lavender
2023-09-25 15:55:38
Unless I'm mistaken, PHE has had another relaunch with banners refreshed on the site. Instead of National Institute For Health Protection we now have... drumroll... UK Health Security Agency. It feels like that Simpsons episode where Homer gets excited over new billboard day. Plus ca change... Really is this the best we can expect taking this was a fair portion of the promises made to Harlow voters at the last election along with PAH? The land that's on and Parndon Hall - in whatever condition it's now in - should bring in a few quid for the investors eyeing it up...
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