Maria Miller called in at Basingstoke Hospital to meet Chief Executive Mary Edwards and Board Chair Liz Padmore for a discussion of a range of issues relating to the Hopital.

Maria asked about waiting times in Accident and Emergency and the procedures the Hospital has to speed up the transfer of patients from ambulances to being seen by a doctor. She also raised the role of the midwife in providing new mothers with breastfeeding support, and the forthcoming Care Quality Commission inspection of the North Hampshire Hospital Trust.

They also discussed the plans for the proposed new critical treatment to the west of Basingstoke. Maria said: “I fully support the proposals for the new critical care hospital, which will separate out treatment for the sickest patients and make sure people get the treatment they need when they need it. The new cancer care centre will ensure state of the art clinical care is available to all residents who need it. This will enable the Basingstoke Hospital to focus on the 85% of patients who will continue to be treated here.”