On 5 July we celebrated the 65th anniversary of the NHS. I began with a day's visit to the Evelina children's ward at St Thomas' hospital, where I made a speech on the enduring values and future challenges of the NHS. The anniversary provided a chance for all of us to celebrate everything the NHS has achieved - polls show it remains the institution which, more than any other, makes us proud to be British.
I also took the chance to set out the major challenges for the NHS in the years ahead, and what I believe we must do to respond to them. To ensure we provide better care for our growing elderly population, I proposed the introduction of a named, accountable clinician for all frail elderly whose responsibility it is to ensure that person receives the care and support they need outside hospital. Work will continue here on our Vulnerable Older People's Plan, to be published in the Autumn.
I continued my constituency visits over the Summer and was delighted to visit the youngsters at Beacon Hill School just before their holidays. (Pictured above) The school have gone from strength to strength over the years, expanding their building and the breadth and richness of teaching to support the curriculum with it. Despite their young age the children asked me some very interesting and well informed questions about my role as MP and I do hope that some of them will continue to develop their keen interest in politics!
Improvement of specialist Dementia Care continues to be area of focus for me in line with the Vulnerable Older People's Plan. In July I celebrated the 35th anniversary of Huntington House, a care home in Hindhead and an example of an organisation which is keen to pioneer a new shift in understanding and provision of quality Dementia Care. Whilst there I had a tour of the site of their new specialist dementia residential centre, Langham Court - a state of the art building being built in their grounds which they hope will become a centre of excellence providing support and advice on Dementia to the whole community and I look forward to opening the facilities in November.
In August I announced that £500 million will be spent on helping A&E departments to prepare for winter. Following the difficulties experienced by many A&E departments over the last few Winters I have made a pledge to do whatever it takes to make sure the best A&E care is there for every patient when they need it and we’re backing our hard-working NHS staff with the resources they need to deliver this.
Following the announcement I undertook two 'Frontline' shifts at Frimley Park Hospital and Haslemere Hospital. Working a shift within the Emergency Department at Frimley provided an invaluable insight - the new multi-million pound facilities underpinned by excellent, innovative systems and procedures and truly inspirational, hard-working staff. I then visited Haslemere Hospital following its extensive refurbishment programme and thoroughly enjoyed working alongside the nursing team who are very proud of the services they offer to the community. Whilst there I had an opportunity to chat to patients who made clear that being able to access post operative care at a local hospital made such a difference to their well-being and sped up their convalescence.
A busy Autumn is upon us with a packed diary of constituency visits, the Conservative Party Conference and the G8 International Dementia Summit, dedicated to seeking an effective and international response to tackling the condition. It is the first of its kind and I am so proud to be hosting it along with the Prime Minister.