The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Norfolk has ranked as the worst-performing of all 134 acute hospitals across the country in a new league table published by the government.
Terry Jermy, Member of Parliament for South West Norfolk, said that staff and patients had been “failed for many, many years” and now called for immediate action. The hospital serves Mr. Jermy’s constituents of South West Norfolk.
Jermy said, “Patients and staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital have been failed and have been failed for many years. I am deeply disappointed to see our hospital ranked as the worst performing in the country, something reflected week in week out with casework received into my office. Of particular concern are the long wait times for cancer diagnosis and A&E backlogs. I know firsthand, the devastating consequences of these kinds of failures and I am acutely aware that behind every statistic will be a family’s personal anguish and all too often a life ruined.”
Jermy added, “It is clear that many of the challenges are deep rooted, with health inequalities across West Norfolk persisting as well as recruitment difficulties and poor management.
“We continue to see the legacy from 14 years of Conservative mismanagement and neglect of our NHS and the erosion of our public services more generally.
“I know that the staff at the QEH are working hard to provide the best possible care in difficult circumstances, and I want to thank them for their efforts and reassure them that I am doing everything in my power to lobby the government for more support.
“We need to urgently make progress with the QEH rebuild and give West Norfolk the first-class hospital it deserves. Whilst not specifically linked to these performance metrics, having a hospital literally held up by thousands of metal and wooden props simply adds to the challenges for staff and are no doubt a contributory factor. The hospital should have been added to the New Hospital Programme years ago by the previous government, not left to the last minute. Much progress has been made over the past year with more than £1.4billion of funding confirmed, now we must move at pace to get the new hospital realised as soon as possible.”
Jermy concluded by saying that, “When I stood to be the MP for South West Norfolk, I made clear that improving health and social care in West Norfolk was my number one priority and I will continue to work to ensure that every person gets the access to the best treatment and care.
“This latest news is a further reminder that for too long the people of Norfolk have not had that and frankly, they have every right to be angry.”
Health Secretary, Wes Streeting said, “We must be honest about the state of the NHS to fix it. Patients and taxpayers have to know how their local NHS services are doing compared to the rest of the country.
“These league tables will identify where urgent support is needed and allow high-performing areas to share best practices with others, taking the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS.
“Patients know when local services aren’t up to scratch and they want to see an end to the postcode lottery – that’s what this government is doing.”
