New NHS services opening in Harlow

A major new NHS investment in the introduction of new renal services for patients in Harlow is to be welcomed.

This comes over and above the extra £24 million already allocated for protecting services in the NHS West Essex area.

Harlow patients who use dialysis services will benefit from a new renal unit. This has been announced by the Midlands and East Specialised Commissioning Group (SCG) following a formal tendering and procurement process.

The contract to provide a new renal satellite unit in Harlow has been awarded to East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust.

The two new units should be available for use by patients from January 2013. This is excellent news for patients who have to travel three times a week for their dialysis and who can spend many hours travelling and waiting for hospital transport.

This is great news for kidney dialysis patients in Harlow who need to make regular journeys for their treatment. To have services on their doorstep will be of great benefit to the patients and their families.

People on dialysis have been waiting a very long time for this news. It has been major concern for them and their families and they will be really pleased that their long journey to receive treatment three times a week can finally be reduced and they can be cared for locally.

This proves that this Government is investing in Harlow's NHS, on top of the extra £24 million that has already been allocated to our town.

There has been a lot of misinformation about what is really happening in the NHS, but look at the reality. 100,000 more patients are being treated every month. Britain now has 4,000 extra doctors and 4,000 fewer managers; more clincal staff; and the number of people in mixed-sex wards is down by 94 per cent.

Waiting lists are down to their lowest ever levels. The number of people on long-term waiting lists has also hit record lows.

The Coalition Government's reforms are about stopping the waste, and putting our GPs and hospitals like Princess Alexandra Hospital in the driving seat.

Altogether, a total of £4.5 billion is being taken out of bureaucracy and ploughed back into frontline patient care.

In the East of England alone, scrapping the Strategic Health Authority will save at least £45 million a year, in lower management and administrative costs. This means at least £700,000 more in Harlow, to invest in more nurses and doctors.

Finally, there is now a Cancer Drugs Fund of £200 million a year to help Harlow cancer patients get greater access to cancer drugs that their doctors recommend for them.