’13 years under the Tories, with little to no meaningful investment, has led to such traumatic conditions in our hospital’-Labour Prospective Parliamentary candidate visits Queen’s.

On Wednesday 30 May Margaret Mullane, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Dagenham and Rainham, and Andrew Achilleos from Jon Cruddas MP’s office met with senior directors of BHRUT at Queen’s Hospital. The purpose of the visit was to establish what impact diminishing primary care and GP services was having on the Emergency Department.

The Director of Strategy and Partnerships, along with Clinical Group Director and other senior staff conducted a tour which centred on rising demand, and lack of capacity to accommodate the health needs of residents living across the NHS Trust area.

Margaret Mullane commented: “This visit was a real eye opener to the challenges faced by the NHS. Funding is a problem, but the starker concern was the lack of investment in training, staff retention, and the knock-on effect this is having on the ability of Queen’s Hospital to cope with patient demand. It was shocking to see hallways repurposed as clinical areas, and it really infuriated me to think that 13 years under the Tories, with little to no meaningful investment, has led to such traumatic conditions in our hospitals for staff and patients alike.”

There was a discussion about communication across services in the Barking, Havering, Redbridge NHS University Trust area, and it was broadly accepted that the system was too convoluted. The Clinical Group Director suggested empowering GPs to directly book services with the hospital, and the proper regulation of Physician Associates as parts of the solution.

The Director of Strategy and Partnerships explained that the new diagnostics centre at Barking Community Hospital had already carried out an additional 30,000 tests, reducing pressure on Queen’s, but that no additional staff had been recruited and it was currently operated by existing BHRUT staff on a rota system which was not long-term sustainable for the Trust.

The key asks for politicians focused on five points:

1. Investment in training and a long-term workforce plan.

2. More support for the social care workforce and incentive to retain carers.

3. Change the GP contract.

4. No further structural changes. Work with what we have until the NHS is in a steady state.

5. A fairer funding formula that benefits the North East London Outer Boroughs.

Margaret concluded: “I intend to keep an open dialogue with Queen’s Hospital moving forwards and will work hard to lobby the government. The big take-away of the day was that the GP contract needs changing, and the NHS needs more staff. I know local people are concerned about healthcare and a Labour government would deliver the meaningful investment necessary to provide the good quality care residents in Dagenham & Rainham deserve.”

Later in the year Margaret Mullane will be joined by Shadow Health Minister Wes Streeting for another visit to Queens Hospital.

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