Rutland and Melton MP Alicia Kearns, has welcomed the Government’s decision to wipe off £350 million of historic debt from the University Hospitals of Leicester as part of their plans to defeat coronavirus.
The trust has the fourth largest debt in England which has been written off as part of a £13.4 billion move by the Department of Health and Social Care. A new NHS funding model to ensure our health service has the necessary funding and support to respond to the coronavirus pandemic has also been established.
Residents across Rutland and Melton will benefit as all NHS Trusts have had their historic debt written off, so this will also benefit Peterborough, Nottingham and Kettering Hospitals.
Rutland and Melton MP, Alicia Kearns, said:
“This move allows the NHS to focus on caring for our communities, and it also rightly recognises the sincere debt of gratitude we as a country owe our health service. Every single person working for the NHS, at the coal face of this pandemic, is a hero.
“I welcome that our hospitals close to home, and across the country now, have a clean slate and the means to provide first rate cars for years into the future when our country has healed.”
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP, said:
“As we tackle this crisis, nobody in our health service should be distracted by their hospital’s past finances.
“This £13.4 billion debt write off will wipe the slate clean and allow NHS hospitals to plan for the future and invest in vital services.”
Other local NHS Trusts benefitting from the debt write off are George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust who will see £91,109,00 remitted; and East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust who will have a debt of £14,013,000 written off.
Alicia Kearns MP continues to liaise with local hospitals and care providers to help bolster their response to the outbreak.
