James Wild and fellow MPs from Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire urge Liz Truss to take urgent action at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn
MPs have banded together and written to Prime Minister Liz Truss, urging her to take urgent action at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn.
Representatives from across Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, and Lincolnshire have called on Ms Truss to ensure that the Department of Health and Social Care elects the QEH as one of the Government’s new hospital schemes.
In a letter organised by North West Norfolk MP James Wild, they 'warmly welcome' her leadership election pledge to tackle serious structural issues at the hospital.
Mr Wild was joined by fellow MPs Steve Barclay, Richard Bacon, Duncan Baker, George Freeman, Sir John Hayes and Jerome Mayhew in putting together the plea. They aimed to express their constituents' 'incredible frustration at the delay in decisions on the new hospital programme'.
During the leadership campaign, Ms Truss had said: “I’m completely committed to the hospital building programme. I’m committed to sorting out the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.”
The letter has come the week after exiting QEH chief executive Caroline Shaw said she was 99.9% sure the town will be getting a new hospital in the near future.
The group of MPs has also written to Therese Coffey, the new Health and Social Care Secretary of State.
Mr Wild said: “Securing a new hospital for QEH to benefit patients and staff remains my priority. With the new Prime Minister having supported that campaign, I look forward to working with her and the new Health Secretary to ensure we get the hospital people across West Norfolk and beyond need.”
In their letter to Ms Truss, the MPs said: "The QEH is over 40 years old having been built to last only 30. Around 80 per cent of the estate is covered in deficient Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) planks.
"QEH is the most propped hospital in the country with over 1,500 timber and metal supports holding up the cracking roof. In short it needs to be replaced.
"The new hospital programme offers a once in a generation opportunity to transform the hospital benefitting our constituents from across Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Cambridgeshire served by QEH."
The MPs endorsed plans for a single phase new build to replace the ageing building with a modern hospital - and they hope it can meet demand in areas with significant housing growth.
They also highlighted the strong backing for a new hospital, saying: "Public support for a new hospital for King’s Lynn and West Norfolk is very strong with 12,500 people having signed a petition.
"This is an anchor institution employing 4,000 people. The borough and county councils are fully backing the case, as are key institutions including the College of West Anglia which has opened its new School of Nursing Studies in partnership with QEH.”
The letter added: "Having come out of special measures earlier this year, QEH and its staff are delivering better care. A new hospital is an important element of continuing that improvement and supporting QEH’s ambition to be the best rural District General Hospital."
A concluding plea said: "The Department of Health and Social Care is committed to the removal of RAAC from its estate. By including QEH in the programme, the inevitable need for replacement will become a funded part of the capital investment programme rather than an unplanned demand."
