The Government has this week given further details of its plan to reduce NHS waiting lists and to ensure patients get the care and treatment they need. I have seen first-hand in recent weeks the incredible work our local hospital teams do. It is important they have all the resources and investment they need to support our community here in Fylde.
That is why the Government’s £1 billion investment in the NHS is so important, putting extra ambulances on our streets, making more beds available in our hospital wards and, crucially, providing a boost to recruitment, to ensure we have the doctors and nurses we need. Alongside ongoing increases in everyday funding for the NHS and major capital schemes, including plans for a brand new hospital in Preston, funding is going in to our NHS which can make a real difference.
But the health service cannot go it alone. That is why investment in social care is of equal importance. Our social care workers are as much on the front line of modern healthcare as hospital doctors and nurses. This winter’s £500m investment to increase the number of social care placements available, speeding up hospital discharges, is most welcome. What is important now is that the significant funding increase for social care is maintained, to ensure more people can be cared for at home, with their loved ones.
Another major development over the past seven days has been the release of the Government’s strategy for farming. Fylde is home to many fantastic agricultural producers. They not only work every hour possible to put food on our tables but are the custodians of our beautiful countryside. The new Environmental Land Management schemes are a vital step in restoring the balance between food production and our environmental goals, something I know farmers here in Fylde have been concerned about and keen to see. The new strategy shows we can work towards improving our domestic food security while at the same time ensuring we protect our countryside for generations to come.
Finally, it was good this week to catch up with the team at Tandem Bank, based here in Fylde, a company with its own green goals. Nearly 70 per cent of all the company’s lending is on green investments, helping people reduce the carbon footprint of their homes and cut their bills in the process. It is good to see a growing firm, one of the new challenger banks, looking to put something back into the local community, with a financial education programme designed to help young people better understand and manage their money. In an age where purchases are one click away it is all too easy to fall into debt. Teaching young people about financial resilience, credit and money planning has never been more important and is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision. I am looking forward to seeing the classes, supported by Tandem’s financial education bus, rolled out in our local classrooms.