Members of NHS East Riding of Yorkshire PCT board held an extraordinary meeting where they unanimously approved the business case for the new hospital.

 Graham said: “This is wonderful [...]]]> Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, said he is delighted to hear plans for a new East Riding Community Hospital have cleared one of the final hurdles.

 Members of NHS East Riding of Yorkshire PCT board held an extraordinary meeting where they unanimously approved the business case for the new hospital.

 Graham said: “This is wonderful news. I am convinced this new hospital will represent a great step forward in the quality of care available to patients from across the East Riding.

 “It has been a long campaign to get this far, but the end is very much in sight now and I would like to offer my thanks to the board and all those who have fought so hard to get this project to this stage.”

 The full business case for the hospital will now go to the Strategic Health Authority and as a Reserved Matter at planning before work can begin.

 Graham added: “The PCT tells me it is confident work will start on the site by October. There was a delay after a Great Crested Newt was found on the site, but that will not have an impact of the project going ahead.”

Graham made the comment after it was reported in the media that the project faced being left £10 million short due to delays being caused by the discovery of a [...]]]> Delays to the construction of the new East Riding Community Hospital ‘will not’ lead to a funding shortfall, says MP for Beverley and Holderness Graham Stuart.

Graham made the comment after it was reported in the media that the project faced being left £10 million short due to delays being caused by the discovery of a protected Great Crested Newt on the site.

Graham said: “After seeing this in the press I immediately contacted the East Riding of Yorkshire NHS to get clarification of the situation.

“I have been told the project is still very much on track and that the money earmarked for the hospital has not been affected by the six month delay in work starting on the site.

“I am told the documents which were referred to in the press were from a meeting back in March looking at ‘potential’ risks to the hospital project. “

And he added: “I, with so many others, have campaigned long and hard for this major new facility to be built in Beverley – it will serve the town and much of the surrounding area with state-of-the-art facilities which can simply not be provided at the Westwood Hospital.

“When I set up CHANT (Community Hospitals Acting Nationally Together) back in 2005, it seemed the days of the small community hospital were coming to an end. In the East Riding alone, Beverley, Driffield, Hornsea and Withernsea hospitals were all under threat of cutbacks or closure and it seemed we were fighting a losing battle against the former Government’s plans.

 “It took a lot of hard work but ministers finally caved in and came round to the fact hospitals like the one planned in Beverley offer superior health care close to people’s homes.”

 The full business case for the new East Riding Community Hospital will go before the PCT board this Thursday. From there it will be Reserved Matters at planning on August 12 and to the Strategic Health Authority board on the September 7 prior to submission to the Department of Health.

Graham Stuart MP has accused the Prime Minister of avoiding answering questions on the unfair health funding in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The Beverley and Holderness MP was called on by the Speaker to ask a question during Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons.

 Graham asked the PM: “Health funding is skewed to [...]]]>

Graham Stuart MP has accused the Prime Minister of avoiding answering questions on the unfair health funding in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The Beverley and Holderness MP was called on by the Speaker to ask a question during Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons.

 Graham asked the PM: “Health funding is skewed to younger, urban Labour voting areas at the expense of older, rural constituencies such as mine so that Hull receives £1,800 per head and the East Riding just £1,200. The PM knows that age rather than deprivation is the key driver of health need so why does he put Labour’s electoral interests ahead of the needs of the sick?”

But after Gordon Brown appeared simply to list a number of health projects happening across the whole of the Yorkshire and Humber region, Graham said: “The PM avoided answering my question about unfair funding for healthcare in the East Riding. Instead he rattled out selected statistics for the whole of Yorkshire.

“It is clear that it is not a change in the voting system that we need, but a change of Government so the NHS is run for the benefit of the sick and not as an electoral aid for the Labour Party.”