West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has today welcomed a £200 million boost to help the NHS deal with extra winter pressures.

Health services face heightened demand in the winter months and the Government this week confirmed that extra funding is being made available to help the NHS to be more resilient.

Locally, health chiefs have been already been investing millions of pounds improving the local hospitals and adding extra capacity.

This winter, the Worcestershire Royal Hospital is expected to open its £22 million new Emergency Department, which will also free up extra space to improve services.

In previous years, the management team has used the winter pressures cash to improve admittance and discharge areas to improve the experience for patients.

Harriett welcomed the news and added:

“Our local NHS has been planning for this winter now for many years with significant investment already allocated to the impressive new Emergency Department.

“Over the years, we have seen the hospital get a new oncology department, a specialist breast centre and extra bed capacity. It is my hope that these capital investments will lead to a better experience for patients.

“I’m still encouraging people to get their flu and Covid jabs if asked. Both measures can themselves help to take the pressure off the NHS and I am looking forward to meeting with the new hospital chief executive, Glen Burley, to get more detail on his plans for improving our local hospitals further.”