One of the scariest moments during pregnancy is right before birth, a mother wondering whether she’ll get to the hospital in time. A constituent recently wrote to me about her daughter who haemorrhaged badly during a breech birth. The blood transfusion and life-saving surgery to remove her placenta needed to happen within minutes.Thankfully, in this case, that is exactly what happened, because suitable facilities were still available nearby. It is unthinkable what would have happened if that were no longer the case. In April 2024, 22.7% of births at Winchester Hospital were performed by emergency c-section. A 20-minute drive in such situations would inevitably put the lives of women and babies at serious risk.
After 14 years of Conservative mismanagement of our NHS, we have a record 7 million people on waiting lists across the country, which includes 2 million people waiting for mental health treatment. That Conservative government promised a series of new hospitals including one for Hampshire. Now we know there was never any money allocated. Now, the future is uncertain.
Like much of the UK, Winchester Hospital is struggling with the significant challenge of capacity. Up to 200 patients in Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust are ready to be discharged at any given time but stuck waiting for appropriate social care to be arranged. This puts increased pressure on resources, and costs the public more money. This is a consequence of the past governments’ disjointed approach to health and social care, which remain siloed under separate management structures and places the financial burden squarely on the shoulders of the NHS.
Simple choices like – where healthcare facilities are located, are so critical to achieving good outcomes for patients. This is the key challenge we’re facing in Hampshire and it’s not just my constituents in Winchester who fear they’ll lose accessible services in the future.
My Liberal Democrat colleague, Liz Jarvis MP has spoken several times in Parliament about the challenges facing health services in Eastleigh. If A&E and consultant-led maternity services are lost in Winchester, then everyone in Eastleigh will rely on Southampton’s hospital.The Director there showed me the amazing job they’re doing handling their current level of demand but it’s difficult to see how they could cope with an additional influx of patients from Eastleigh and Winchester on top.
In North East Hampshire, Alex Brewer MP tells me a vital need is the urgent re-building of Frimley Park Hospital, which is 65% RAAC concrete. Hard-working NHS staff, already under pressure to deliver critical care with finite resources, deserve to work in buildings which are fit for purpose, and above all, safe.
All of these facilities, whether they’re in Southampton, Winchester, Basingstoke or Frimley need to be able to work together to ensure everyone, no matter where they live, have access to top quality general and specialist medical services. A Winchester resident wrote to me saying that she had been given an appointment at Basingstoke hospital as the type of x-ray she needed was mostly no longer performed in Winchester. Her journey to Basingstoke hospital took well over an hour and involved multiple buses, a train, plus considerable walking time. She pertinently asked me if people without cars were to become second class citizens and be denied access to decent healthcare.
Whether it’s the New Hospitals Programme or projects to repair older hospitals, we must avoid the trap of delaying investment in the name of fiscal credibility, only to end up costing patients even more on transport and the government through poorer health outcomes, which we know have huge knock-on effects across the economy. I believe when it comes to our healthcare infrastructure, we shouldn’t be forced to choose which communities get care and which ones are sacrificed to balance the books. We need a comprehensive national plan to get everyone adequate, local care throughout their lives and escape from the endless cycle of crisis after crisis. I am confident in the long run, we’d all be richer for it.
Investing for the future of healthcare in Hampshire
