‘Unprecedented pressure’: Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care visits Peterborough City Hospital

The Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care visited Peterborough City Hospital today (March 9) to see first-hand the “unprecedented pressure” NHS staff are under at the hospital.

MP Wes Streeting was given a tour around the hospital alongside the Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Peterborough Andrew Pakes.

"I wanted to bring Wes to the hospital today to both to recognise the incredible work our NHS staff team are doing and to hear first-hand the pressures facing staff across the hospital and primary care system,” Andrew said.

"It makes our politics better because it’s grounded in real people’s experiences. It means our plan to increase resourcing and reform the NHS will be based on the needs of Peterborough as well as the needs of the country.”

The visit comes as staff shortages have put pressure on the NHS, causing increasing A&E waiting times and staff working longer hours.

“The staff here are consummate professionals and could not be working harder to deal with the unprecedented pressure that the hospital is under,” MP Streeting said.

"They come to work and do their best every day, but they know that their best still isn’t good enough because there is not enough staff in the NHS.

"You can see the conditions that the staff and patients are having to struggle through – whether that’s staff providing corridor care, or patients waiting longer than 12 hours in A&E departments. They were telling me about some cases where people have been waiting for days.

“This is not an acceptable situation for the NHS to be in. At the heart of the challenge facing the NHS is a workforce crisis. It’s no surprise that people are waiting to be seen when there’s not enough staff there to treat them.

"In Peterborough, they have done a good job in recruiting and retaining nurses. It’s important to acknowledge that even with the system in crisis there are still examples, which I’ve seen today, of excellent practice and real professional pride. Even against the most unimaginable challenges the NHS is facing, they are still looking at new ways of doing things.”

Andrew added: “The main message we want to give to NHS staff in the city is thank you.

"We are privileged to live in a city with such a dedicated, hard-working frontline NHS workforce.

"The people of this city – whether they work for the NHS or use the services of the NHS – need and deserve better. That’s what today is all about – learning how we can make this city better and improve the lives and health of everyone living here.”