Milton Keynes North MP Ben Everitt has shared his delight after the Conservative Government announced Milton Keynes University Hospital would receive a £4.9 million boost to support it through winter.
A new nationwide £700 million investment into the NHS is providing funding for 785 schemes across 187 hospital trusts to increase capacity and tackle waiting lists.
MKU Hospital has received £3 million in capital funding and an extra £1.92 million in digital funding to support with six projects to help them support patients over winter.
Today’s investment is part of the £5.4 billion already announced to support the NHS response to the pandemic in the second half of the year. In total, the government is investing over £34 billion of additional funding in health and social care services this year.
Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, said: "The team at Milton Keynes University Hospital have done an incredible job in extremely difficult circumstances throughout the pandemic and I'm delighted the Government is providing them with extra funding which will be so vital this winter."
Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said: "Ahead of what is going to be a difficult winter, we’re putting everything behind our health and care services, so everyone can access the services they need, when they need them.
"Our £700 million investment will help more people get treated over the coming months by upgrading wards, operating theatres, and diagnostic kit.
"We’re taking unprecedented steps to keep people healthy this winter, putting the booster roll-out on steroids, and delivering the largest flu vaccine programme in UK history.
"We can all play our part in the national mission – when you get the call, please get the jab."
To prepare for this winter, the NHS and national and local government has undertaken a range of actions, which include:
- working to recruit 18,000 more staff, including nurses, healthcare support workers, medical support workers, alongside making use of temporary staffing and staff banks
- supporting the workforce with access to health and wellbeing support and mental health hubs, which have helped 30,000 people so far
- keeping the nation protected against the virus, especially against the new Omicron variant, through vaccination with over 15.5 million boosters delivered in England and the biggest flu vaccination programme in UK history
- secured new COVID-19 antiviral and therapeutic treatments to help save more lives including Ronapreve, Lagevrio and Paxlovid, in addition to tocilizumab and dexamethasone
- continuing to provide free lateral flow testing alongside contact tracing, regular asymptomatic testing and the use of self-isolation and quarantine
- bolstering capacity across urgent and emergency care and the wider NHS, including with a £250 million investment in general practice and the forthcoming Elective Recovery Plan
- publishing an adult social care winter plan including £388 million to support infection prevention control and £162.5 million for workforce recruitment and retention
- investing £478 million for support services, rehabilitation and reablement care following discharge from hospital, and ensuring health and social care services are joined up
From April 2022, thanks to the new Health and Social Care Levy, UK-wide healthcare funding will rise by a record £36 billion over the next 3 years. The new funding includes a commitment to ring-fence an additional £8 billion to fund waiting list recovery – the biggest catch-up programme in NHS history.
The levy funding is on top of the government’s previous historic long-term settlement for the NHS, which will see NHS funding increase by £33.9 billion to a total of £148.5 billion by 2023 to 2024, which has been enshrined in law.
