New MPs call for urgent hospital repairs

Two newly-elected Liberal Democrat MPs have written to the health secretary calling on him to take "urgent action" over the poor state of a hospital.

Cheadle MP Tom Morrison and Hazel Grove MP Lisa Smart have urged Wes Streeting to visit Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport after one building was condemned and the intensive care unit had to shut due to a leak in the ceiling.

Ms Smart said they wrote a joint letter asking to give the hospital the funding and investment needed so "local people get the health service they deserve".

The Department of Health said: “The NHS is broken and this government is determined to fix it."

Stockport MP Navendu Mishra, who has been re-elected, also raised the issue at Prime Minister's Questions in May as bulldozers demolished the condemned outpatient building.

The town's Labour MP said the ageing site was a "serious concern" and he also wrote to the health secretary on Wednesday.

Ms Smart told BBC Radio Manchester: "Stepping Hill's buildings are falling down.

"Outpatients B has already had to be knocked down and local people deserve better."

She said during the general election campaign it was a recurring issue for residents.

"Doorstep after doorstep in recent months people have been talking to me about their worries for Stepping Hill," she said.

"They've had some fantastic care from our wonderful healthcare professionals but they are worried with buildings closed they are taking a long time to get their treatment."

The Department of Health said: “It is clear that many hospitals, like Stepping Hill Hospital, are in a state of disrepair meaning patients have not been able to access the care they so desperately need.

“The NHS is broken and this government is determined to fix it.

“We will provide the investment and reform needed to get patients the care they deserve.”

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