Our Man in Westminster – East Kent Hospitals and the Intensive Recovery Programme – KentOnline

A new study by the Kings Fund and the Nuffield Trust has reported a 5.6% increase in
NHS satisfaction – the first increase since the coronavirus pandemic. This is the largest
decrease in patient dissatisfaction since 1998. Although there is a lot of work to do to
build an NHS fit for the future, this is a sign that things are progressing in the right
direction for patients. The Labour Government has invested £26 billion in the NHS and,
thanks to this and the hard work and dedication of NHS staff, waiting lists have fallen by
374,000 since the election in July 2024, and ambulance response times for category 2
this winter have been cut to the lowest in five years.

I also welcome the new measures introduced by the Department of Health and Social
Care, which have placed East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust into the
new Intensive Recovery Programme. This will provide extra assistance for NHS Trusts
which have been consistently underperforming on waiting times, struggling with
financial issues, or having high leadership turnover. An intensive strategy to provide
help for hospitals in East Kent has been something my fellow Labour colleagues and I
have been pushing for since we were elected, and I was pleased that we were able to
speak with the Secretary of State, Wes Streeting, on the day of the announcement and
discuss how the measures will be used to improve the William Harvey Hospital and the
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital. It was positive to hear that his Department
is taking this issue seriously and not shying away from the situation our local healthcare
services are in.

However, beginning today, we are set to face a new challenge of industrial action from
resident doctors from the British Medical Association (BMA). I believe their decision to
strike, when the NHS is seemingly turning a corner and the Government has already
delivered a 28.9% pay rise over three years for resident doctors, is misguided.

During the strikes over the summer in 2024, Wes Streeting met with the resident
doctors just one week after Labour entered Government – as a result, the decision to
strike today seems even more misconceived. For the first time in well over a decade,
there is a Health Secretary in office who is willing to meet and discuss terms with the
BMA, rather than use resident doctors as a political football. The NHS staff across our
hospitals in East Kent do incredible work, often under very difficult circumstances, and
we should all be very grateful for their dedication. As a former NHS worker myself, I do
understand the frustration many of the resident doctors are feeling in terms of pay and
working conditions. Services were stripped away under austerity and, as a result,
pressure has been piled onto frontline workers. However, adding to the strain on other
NHS staff, including non-BMA resident doctors, by striking is not the way to resolve the
dispute. The BMA needs to rethink its strategy, call off the strike, and negotiate with the
Department of Health and Social Care.Despite the industrial action, all scheduled appointments will be going ahead as
scheduled unless you have been told otherwise.

You can read the original article in KentOnline: Opinion: Ashford MP Sojan Joseph says results of new study show NHS ‘progressing in right direction’