Government’s NHS funding must mean repairs and new hospital site for Stockport

Local Liberal Democrat MP Lisa Smart has said the extra funding for the NHS announced in the Budget must deliver the urgently needed repairs at Stepping Hill, and that local residents must be able to see a clear plan for how – and importantly when – this spending will have a local impact.

Coming just weeks after the Health Minister Karin Smyth said that no additional funding was available for Stepping Hill, MP Lisa Smart said: “It is still unclear what this funding means for Stepping Hill; I want confirmation that this means that there will be the urgent repairs that are so desperately needed. 

“It is also vital that when they have talked about a sustainable hospital building programme that this will include a new additional site for Stepping Hill in the centre of Stockport.

“As ever, the devil is in the detail, and so far we have no detail about what this means for local people.”

However, while there was funding for the NHS, the budget was still lacking in tackling the social care crisis which is engulfing the UK. The failure to deal with this means more people are forced to wait until their condition is so serious it requires hospital care; others have to remain in hospital because of a lack of appropriate support when they leave. 

Lisa added: “We know that the Labour Government has inherited a sadly neglected social care system from the Conservatives, but they haven’t addressed this in the budget. We have been calling for the cross-party talks that are needed to tackle this crisis so that people stranded in hospital beds can finally get the care and dignity they deserve.”