Kent MPs have teamed up to call for a cash injection of to up to £360 million for the NHS in East Kent.
Damian Collins MP, Natalie Elphicke MP, Sir Roger Gale MP, Damian Green MP, Craig Mackinlay MP, and Helen Whately MP have called on the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock MP, to support East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) in its bid for funding to invest in infrastructure and facilities.
The Trust is one of the largest in the country and includes the hospitals at Ashford, Canterbury and Margate. Plans for restructuring services have been under consideration for some time.
Two options for improving hospital services in East Kent have now been shortlisted and are being included in a pre-consultation business case to be reviewed by NHS England and clinical leaders, before a public consultation begins later this year.
The Government has committed to spend a record £34 billion per year by the end of this Parliament in additional funding for the NHS – and to have begun work on building 40 new hospitals across the country, as well as investing in hospital upgrades. Kent MPs are determined to get their share of this investment.
Helen Whately MP commented: “Our local hospitals desperately need investment. I’m delighted to see plans for better healthcare in East Kent take another step forward with work beginning on the business case for both options. Kent MPs have put a strong case to the Health Secretary for the £360 million needed for capital spending on healthcare in our area. People in East Kent have waited far too long for better healthcare. With the Kent Medical School opening later this year, now is the time to sort out our hospitals.”