Securing the long-term future of healthcare in Sutton has always been our top priority as your local Conservatives. We are pleased that the Epsom & St Helier NHS Trust are seeking opinions from Sutton residents about the future of healthcare in the borough, making it clear that St Helier hospital will stay open.
The staff at St Helier hospital provide great care, but many of the buildings themselves are no longer fit for purpose. Over 40% of the estate is functionally unusable to deliver healthcare.
Now the Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust has called for views on the future of its buildings at Epsom, Sutton and St Helier Hospitals. The Trust is making the case for £400 million of investment to replace the current buildings with new, modern, purpose-built facilities, but they want to hear from you about how they go about this.
Both Epsom and St Helier Hospitals will remain open and continue to provide us all with the great care we have come to expect, but there are three possible scenario for a new acute facility:
1. A new facility at Epsom Hospital,
2. A new facility at St Helier Hospital,
3. A new facility at Sutton Hospital working in partnership with the Royal Marsden.
For the first time in years we have a proposal from the NHS which doesn’t risk local residents having to travel to St George’s in Tooting for A&E and maternity services, instead protecting them within the area already covered by the Trust.
There's been much too much scaremongering about our hospital by Labour and especially by the Lib Dems, who routinely invent threats of closure to bolster their own political campaigns. We hope that this will now stop and they will instead concentrate their energies on working with us to secure this exciting future for our local healthcare.
This is only the start of a very long process, but regardless of the outcome, the good news is that St Helier is going nowhere as the Health Secretary confirmed when he visited the hospital a before the General Election. In addition, 100% of the services currently provided by the Trust, including A&E and Maternity services, will continue to be provided locally.
If we are going to be successful we need everyone to get involved. To find out more and to have your say, visit the Trust’s website here.