Health Secretary welcomes extra East Lancs medics

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust has been praised by a Government minister in turning around a situation that led to it being placed in special measures in 2013.

By The Newsroom

Published 10th Mar 2015, 20:00 BST

Speaking in a House of Commons debate, Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson said the Trust exited measures last July and had employed an additional 201 nurses and nursing support staff and 26 more doctors since June, 2013, taking the total increase since May, 2010 to 391 additional nurses and 40 additional doctors.

He invited Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to join him in paying tribute to the dedicated staff for turning the Trust around, to which Mr Hunt replied: “I absolutely will. This is a great example, and I would like to thank my hon. Friend for the interest he has shown in this issue.

“For one hospital to have 390 more nurses over four years is remarkable. This is a dramatic turnaround for the quality of patient care, which we all welcome. That just shows that if we get the incentives right from the centre, trusts do want to do the right thing.”