Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, welcomed the news that the Lister A&E department will receive an additional £596,976 of Government funding to ease the pressure on emergency departments in time for next winter.

Stephen McPartland MP said, "The additional £596,976 funding for the A&E Department at the Lister Hospital will bring direct benefits to local people. Locally, the Lister Hospital is performing well against national targets, and although admissions to the hospital were up 13.9% in December 2016 compared to December 2015, the Trust still performed 5% higher on achieving the four hour A&E targets from the previous year. This money will help improve that even more and hit the 95% standard of admitting, transferring, or discharging patients within 4 hours.

"I am very proud of the NHS staff we have for the amazing work they do, as part of a team that saves lives every day. I believe that we need to maintain staffing levels to ensure the safety of patients and staff, and I want the best staff, best rewarded, providing the best possible patient care. Nationally, 1,600 more doctors and 3,000 more nurses were on our wards than a year ago, bringing the increase since 2010 to a total of 11,400 doctors and 11,200 more hospital nurses."

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