I read with interest Sir Sydney Chapmans article about Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals (Trust's new facilities need financial help', April 24) and must say I agreed with a lot of what he said. The NHS is turning the corner.
But, as Sir Sydney says, the only way for improvements to continue is through investment. Locally there have been clear improvements.
Over the next three years, the Barnet Primary Care Trust budget is rising by £83.3million (30 per cent). At the end of February this year, the number of people waiting more than 12 months for a hospital operation had fallen to 102, compared to 158 the year before. In the period October to December 2002, the number of patients waiting less than four hours in A&E departments in Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals had increased to 83 per cent, compared to 62 per cent the period before.
At December 2002, 71 per cent of patients in Barnet were able to see their GP within two working days, compared to 58 per cent in March 2002.
It is only Labours programme of investment and reform that has delivered these improvements and will continue to do so.
Dr Rudi Vis
MP for Finchley & Golders Green
April 28, 2003 13:30
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