WORCESTER’S MP met with the Health Secretary following three deaths at the city’s hospital.

Robin Walker met with Jeremy Hunt on his first day back in Parliament to address concerns about recent pressures at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital’s emergency department.

The Health Secretary has provided extra help and support to the hospital for the winter period and has said he will look favourably on a bid for £29 million of capital funding to expand facilities.

This followed a risk summit at the hospital before Christmas and reports of long waiting times at the Emergency Department particularly over New Year’s Day, as well as reports of a number of tragic deaths at the hospital, which are currently under investigation.

Last week whilst Parliament was in recess, Mr Walker raised these serious local concerns with the Health Secretary after constituents had contacted him regarding long waits at A&E, and asked for a meeting at his earliest convenience to put the case for extra resources.

The meeting was arranged for Monday with Karen Lumley, the MP for Redditch in attendance.

Just before Christmas senior nursing support from NHS Improvement was put into the trust and extra medical wards were opened.

Over the weekend more help was put in from NHS Improvement including management support and additional consultant cover to support discharge from the hospital.

Since Christmas two additional wards have been made available at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital to cope with the increase in emergency patients but plans are now in place to deliver a third as soon as staffing can be arranged for it.

Yesterday ahead of a statement to the Commons about NHS Winter Pressures, the Secretary of State spent time with Robin Walker and Karen Lumley to hear from them directly about the local situation in Worcestershire’s Acute Hospitals.

The Health Secretary was joined by Senior Department of Health officials including Dale Bywater the Regional MD of NHS Improvement and Kathy McLean, Medical Director at the Trust Development Authority, who chaired the recent Risk Summit.

Both the MPs pressed the case for investment in more capacity at the county’s hospitals.

In his statement which included additional investment in mental health, Jeremy Hunt announced further measures to help with the situation nationally, including funding for more GPs to help with triage at A&Es and was at pains to point out that extra help would be provided to Worcestershire.

As a Minister Robin was unable to speak in response to the statement but he supported Karen Lumley when she spoke up for the hospitals in the county and welcomed the Secretary of State’s encouraging response to her.

Karen Lumley, the MP for Redditch asked: “Can he reassure patients at both our hospitals that everything possible is being done to alleviate the problem? While I am grateful for the measures that have been introduced, what our trust really needs is agreement on a £29 million bid to increase capacity, and I urge my right hon. Friend to consider that as a matter of urgency.”

The Health Secretary replied: “Subject to staffing, a new ward will be opened at the trust next week, and a new chief executive will arrive in the spring. We recognise the need for capital spending to increase capacity at both the Alex and the Royal, and we will consider that bid sympathetically.”

Mr Walker said: “I welcome the clear intention to fund capital expansion at Worcester and Redditch and the clear and urgent focus on improving the situation at our local hospitals but I am deeply concerned that we should have reached a situation where Worcestershire is at the centre of national concerns about hospital safety.

“I never want to see this happen again. When our trust was put into special measures last year I said that patient safety must be paramount and I have taken up the concerns of all the constituents who have contacted me over the last few weeks both with the Trust and with the Department of Health.”

He said the NHS allocated £400 million to local health systems for winter preparedness; it nationally assured the winter plans of every trust, launched the largest ever flu vaccination programme, with more than 13 million people already vaccinated; and it bolstered support outside A&Es, with 12,000 additional GP sessions offered over the festive period.