I receive a great deal of correspondence about many different policy issues and I would like to take this opportunity to update local residents on two very important Government announcements.
The first is the recent announcement of £1.8 billion for NHS frontline services, helping to deliver more beds, new cutting-edge equipment and additional wards at hospitals across the country.
20 hospitals will benefit from £850 million of new funding and this includes £17.6 million for the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust to create 3 new modern wards to improve capacity and patient flow in Stoke, delivering approximately 84 beds for this winter.
This is excellent news. The NHS is always there for us, free at the point of use for everyone in the country and I welcome this funding for our local acute hospital in Stoke.
I also continue to fight on behalf of all my constituents for Leek Moorlands Hospital to ensure that we are able to access, not only existing health care services, but enhanced ones.
Following the feedback report from the Consultation, there are now many processes to go through which I am following carefully. The aim is to take the Decision Making Business Case to an Extra Ordinary Governing Body in Public in December 2019 and at this point, the Governing Bodies will consider options and decide.
The second important announcement is the recruitment drive to deliver 20,000 new police officers and make our streets safer.
I welcome this announcement and know that local people in Staffordshire Moorlands want to see more officers in their neighbourhoods, protecting the public and cutting crime.
The drive to deliver more frontline officers will start in September with the launch of a national campaign, led by the Home Office, recruiting 20,000 officers over the next three years.