Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health, joined local MPs Craig Tracey and Marcus Jones, George Eliot Chief Executive Glen Burley and Chairman Prem Singh in an extensive visit to our hospital.
At the meeting with the Government Minister, they discussed the hospital’s current work and plans for the future. Future developments earmarked at the Eliot will be driven by patient centred care. This will be focussing on proactive prevention of illness and a holistic approach to health and wellbeing in the community.
The MPs then met with the team who manage capacity at GEH and learned about how the hospital use IT to monitor the progress of A&E patients; particularly how quickly their issues are being resolved.
Craig and Marcus then accompanied the Minister to the Mary Garth Ward to meet staff and patients. This is an 18-bed medical ward focusing on Gastroenterology. Here they met with Elaine Frearson the ward manager and heard about innovative staff-led projects which are improving patient care and wellbeing. For example, the staff have developed a new toolkit for how the ward monitors patients for pressure ulcers.
Finally the group then headed to the Year of Wellbeing launch event. The MPs and members of the public made pledges of actions they will take this year to improve their health and wellbeing. North Warwickshire and Bedworth MP Craig Tracey pledged to take up running again. Craig also signed his office up to do the Race for Life!
Craig commented:
“It was important for staff, patents and Marcus and I, that the Health Secretary could see for himself the important work and quality of care that takes place at our local hospital. Matt Hancock was very personable with everyone he met, which went down really well. The George Eliot faces a number of challenges, as does the NHS, with demand for care at unprecedented levels. The Government has pledged an additional £20bn in funding for the NHS to address these pressures.”
Marcus Jones MP for Nuneaton said:
“I was delighted to welcome the Secretary of State who was so positive about district general hospitals and the importance of hospitals like the Eliot to the healthcare system. It was a great opportunity for Matt to meet with staff and see the excellent work they are doing for our local community, and to hear first-hand about the challenges that staff and the hospital face with increasing patient volumes with ever complex health conditions.”
Discussing his visit to the George Eliot Hospital, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:
“I was delighted to visit the George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton with local MPs Craig Tracey and Marcus Jones. I was particularly impressed with the efforts of the hospital to empower staff to come forward with ideas to improve working conditions in a spirit of continuous improvement to benefit both staff and patient care.
“Good initiatives like this bode well for the future of the George Eliot. And it’s great to see the dedication and effort put in by local MPs like Craig and Marcus working in partnership to support the local NHS.”
