I was very pleased to meet with Jonathan Wade, Chief Executive Officer of Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, along with senior members of his team and the Member of Parliament for Sevenoaks, Laura Trott, at Darent Valley Hospital.
It was great to hear of the continuing success the hospital has had since the pandemic which includes a reduction in the long-term waiting list from 900 to 100. This will be helped further by the Government’s funding package for a refurbishment which will create extra beds across three wards this winter. This follows the news that Dartford is getting one of six new community diagnostic centres which will carry out a range of tests at the refurbished Livingstone Community Hospital, benefitting thousands of local people.
The Dartford and Gravesham Trust is now ranked 5th out of 120 NHS trusts in the UK, which is a huge achievement and is down to the extraordinary hard work of doctors, nurses and other hospital staff, as well as excellent leadership from Jonathan and his team.
I will continue to work closely with the hospital to help support their bids for further funding and expansion.