Newly elected MP, Darren Paffey last week [19th September] visited St Mary’s Surgery in Southampton for a tour of the surgery and to meet with NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight leaders and GPs, to learn and discuss the opportunities and challenges facing primary care in his constituency of Southampton Itchen and form a ‘partnership’ between them to improve healthcare in Southampton.
The visit and meeting occurred a week after Lord Darzi’s report into the state of the NHS following his independent investigation, commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting MP. The report found the NHS to be ‘in serious trouble’ with 2010s austerity being a significant contributor to the state of the NHS.
Proceeding Lord Darzi’s report the Government has announced emergency measures to cut red tape and provide additional funding in the hiring process to hire 1,000 more GPs. This is in addition to the uplift in contract pay for GPs and staff by 6%, the first real-term pay rise in years.
In the election, Darren Paffey MP made ‘making the NHS fit for the future’ and being able to ‘see a GP within 48 hours’ a key pledge of his.
Research by Purpose Coalition has said that access to local healthcare is the biggest barrier to opportunity in the Mr Paffey’s Southampton Itchen constituency.
Commenting following the meeting, Southampton Itchen MP Darren Paffey said:
“General Practice is the front door to the NHS in Southampton but has been neglected for too long, which is why I was so keen to have this meeting and meet GPs at St Mary’s Surgery as quickly as possible. This meeting proved what I already knew, that GPs and their staff are working hard every day to provide the best care possible to patients in Southampton, despite the crisis the Tories left them in and I want to support them in delivering the best care possible.
“This meeting allowed local GPs and NHS leaders to raise issues around the barriers they face in delivering the care they want to provide, particularly in the challenges around funding formulas and the hiring of new GPs. I reassured them that I want to be in partnership with them in breaking down the barriers they face by raising their concerns directly with the Government and inviting ministers down to see how new reforms will work in Southampton”
Also commenting following the meeting, Lena Samuels, Chair of NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight said:
“I hugely welcome the opportunity to work with Darren Paffey MP to improve the services, care and outcomes of people across Southampton. As NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, we are focusing our efforts towards proactive and preventative care, and our visit to St Mary’s Surgery was a chance to see real life examples of where this is happening to support the local community”.
Following the tour of the surgery by Phil Aubrey-Harris, Manager of St Marys Surgery said:
“We’d like to thank Darren and Lena for their time visiting us at St Marys Surgery today. It was a great opportunity for us to discuss our challenges, successes and ideas for delivering good care for our patients.”
In this meeting, Mr Paffey and leaders of Hampshire and Isle of Wight agreed to future meetings to discuss the state of NHS dentistry and hospitals in Southampton. Following on from this meeting, Mr Paffey will be setting up meetings and visits with the local pharmacies, opticians and Southampton’s urgent treatment centre; to help put Southampton on a path to having a community health service.