Robin Walker's Westminster Diary - The Worcester Observer

Robin Walker's Westminster Diary

Worcester Editorial 26th Sep, 2020   0

WORCESTER MP Robin Walker writes for the Observer….

I was pleased with the news last week that the Worcestershire Royal Hospital is set to receive an additional £2,500,000 in order to support A&E capacity ahead of the winter months. This comes on the back of welcome news in the expansion nurse training places at our University.

The £2,500,000 will be used to expand and upgrade A&E facilities at the hospital, ensuring they have more space to treat patients, manage patient flow and improve infection control. The funding will be used for re-locating the Medical Assessment Unit, ambulatory emergency care and Stroke ward, releasing capacity for the emergency department expansion and increased same day emergency care. I continue to campaign for further expansion of our hospital, but this timely funding is a welcome first step.

I am all too aware of the difficulties that come constituents have been having regarding securing coronavirus tests in Worcestershire and I have been taking up individual cases with my ministerial colleagues and the Director of Public Health for Worcestershire. I am hopeful that in the coming weeks more national capacity and more local tests and testing centres will make sure this situation is improved.




After all the sacrifices of the period of lockdown it is essential that we all keep taking measures to stop the spread of the virus. I urge all residents of Worcester to continue to follow the Government guidelines on Covid-19. I appreciate that there are frustrations around further restrictions to our normal way of life. However, with the number of cases beginning to rise again, we have had to take measures to stop the spread and save lives, including no socialising in groups larger than six, indoors or outdoors, unless everyone is from the same household or support bubble.

Spending so much time indoors during the lockdown highlighted the importance of physical exercise and it was a pleasure to attend the opening of the tennis courts at Cripplegate Park earlier this month. This marked the completion and re-opening of the courts which have received investment from both the LTA and Worcester City Council. Five courts have been resurfaced at Cripplegate, along with two additional resurfaced tennis courts at Gheluvelt Park, providing excellent facilities to help open tennis up to more people in Worcester. It was a pleasure to enjoy the blue skies and have a knockabout on the fantastic new facilities.


Speaking of blues skies, it was also a privilege to be able to attend and say a few words at the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain with the Worcestershire Polish Association, honouring those who fought and gave their lives for our country including the 145 Polish pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain, a memorial to one of whom sits just outside Worcester. Whilst events of this nature have been necessarily constrained due to the extraordinary circumstances, we find ourselves in, it is important to remember the huge sacrifices made in previous generations for the freedoms we enjoy.

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