Surrey Lib Dems urge Chancellor to fix local hospitals

Surrey Lib Dems have called on the Chancellor to include an emergency fund to fix the growing backlog of local hospital repairs.

New figures from the Liberal Democrats have revealed a staggering £76,675,894 is needed to repair Ashford and St Peter's Hospital Trust buildings which provide health services to a large proportion of Surrey residents.

The state of England's hospitals has been making the headlines in recent weeks, with an investigation finding there were hundreds of sewage leaks in hospitals last year which resulted in staff becoming sick. In the last week, ITV found some hospitals are at "sudden risk of collapse."

The local Liberal Democrats are urging the Government to put health services at the heart of the Spring Budget, amid a lack of GP appointments and a shortage of NHS dentists in the area.

Will Forster, Leader of Surrey Lib Dems said:

"The sheer amount of repairs needed at our local hospital is frightening. Years of underinvestment and neglect of our local health services has led to crumbling hospital buildings.

"The Chancellor must include an emergency fund in his budget next week to fix our hospital. Heroic nurses who work tirelessly at all hours of the day deserve the dignity of working in safe environments. Patients, who often have to wait hours for an ambulance to arrive, should know they are at least to be treated in a modern hospital which is up to scratch.

"The NHS should be a top priority in the budget. People tell me it is almost impossible to see their GP, let alone find an NHS dental appointment in the nearby area. It just feels like nothing in our local health service works anymore.

"Too often this area gets taken for granted by the Conservative Government. Jeremy Hunt must listen to local people and fix our NHS before more people suffer."