Having campaigned hard on this for several years now, I was delighted to hear last Wednesday that Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s £46 million project for a new ‘Urgent Care Hub’ has been given the green light by the Government, and the funding will be allocated for it in the next capital review. This is a really important announcement for our area and I would like to pay tribute in particular to the hard work of my Kettering colleague, Philip Hollobone MP, who has ably led the charge, and the management of the hospital who have done so much to get us to this point and for all their efforts in producing such a comprehensive proposal, which has now received Government backing, with the funding agreed to.
In fact, Philip secured a debate on this in Westminster Hall, where the announcement was made and as ever, he made an impassioned case for our local hospital and eloquently made the argument for this much-needed upgrade. I was delighted to go along to the debate to support him, and you can watch it, here: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/664983f1-5732-427e-9229-0252b99b0cb2?in=11:00:03&out=11:26:20.
This new hub will undoubtedly help to facilitate better and safer patient care for local people, and fits alongside the brilliant Urgent Care Centre we already have in Corby - indeed, the long-established view has been that there should be a hub (Kettering General Hospital) and spoke (Corby Urgent Care Centre) model, so that people can access the right care, at the right place, at the right time. This upgrade at KGH helps to achieve exactly that.
Better healthcare for local people, meeting the demands of the housing growth we are seeing, and ensuring we can all stay better for longer is one of my top priorities and I am proud to be part of this Government which is delivering significant improvements to local health services through increased funding year-on-year - and all possible because we have a strong economy, meaning we have the means to invest. This is undoubtedly yet another very welcome boost and I want to say “thank you” to all those who have supported the campaign to make this happen!