On Friday, I visited the Alexandra Hospital to talk to the chairman and chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

This is one of my regular meetings to see how the hospital is performing. It gives me the chance to discuss issues raised by local people.

I was pleased to learn of the progress that has been made at the Alex in cutting waiting times and in its preparations for winter.

Also, the hospital has succeeded in improving its cleanliness record. This was especially good news in the week when the Government launched a national crackdown on the spread of the MRSA bug in hospitals.

The campaign is focused on very straightforward advice for staff, patients and visitors to be vigilant, to wash hands often and to keep surfaces clean and free from rubbish.

To drive this forward, each trust will have a director in charge of dealing with potential infection sources and they will back up the work already done by modern matrons, a post often thought of as pivotal in the efficient running of wards. I am told matrons are doing a great job at the Alex.

Last week saw the publication of a report by the NHS saying hospitals and our doctors' surgeries are improving services dramatically.

Day case surgery increased by 14.9 per cent, inpatient waits of more than six months were down by 28.5per cent and outpatient waits of over 13 weeks were down by 38 per cent.

When I was first elected, people often came to my surgery faced with two-year waits for operations.

Whilst there is still more to do, these long waits are now a thing of the past.

We have further to go but the hard work of the extra 55,000 nurses and 14,000 doctors in the NHS is transforming our healthcare. They should be congratulated for their efforts.