ONE of my first visits after being elected was to Warrington A&E.
You don’t need to be a doctor, nurse or healthcare worker to see the pressure it’s under.
Staff trying their best.
Ambulances queueing.
Patients waiting in corridors, anxious and exhausted.
The department was built 50 years ago for a much smaller population.
Today, it regularly cares for well over 100 people.
Since becoming your MP, A&E waiting times have been among the issues I’m contacted about most.
People are worried.
They’re frustrated.
And they’re right to expect better.
In January, Warrington was recorded as the sixth worst hospital in the country for waits over 12 hours in A&E.
More than half of patients were waiting over four hours.
When you’re worried about your health, A&E feels like the only option.
And here in Warrington, for many urgent problems, it is.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
That’s why I’ve been working with the NHS and ministers to bring forward a proposal for a new Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC).
A UTC provides medical help when it’s not a life-threatening emergency.
It treats many of the problems people currently take to A&E because there’s nowhere else to go.
Broken bones.
Minor injuries.
Sprains.
Cuts and burns.
Eye or skin infections.
A child with a fever who needs checking over.
These are not trivial concerns.
But they don’t require the full resources of an emergency department built for heart attacks, strokes and major trauma.
Around 60 Warrington residents a day travel outside the borough for this kind of care.
Others sit in A&E because we don’t have another option.
That means A&E is trying to be everything at once, emergency department and urgent care clinic.
An UTC could treat around 130 patients a day.
It would free up capacity so A&E can focus on the most serious cases and reduce waiting times.
In simple terms, it means the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
I know many residents want to see a completely new hospital.
Do I support the principle of a new hospital?
Absolutely.
But it’s a complex, billion-pound, multi-year project.
Warrington was never included in the previous Government’s programme and big change doesn’t happen overnight.
It happens step by step.
Planned properly.
Funded properly.
Delivered properly.
That’s why I’ve been working on a phased plan with our local NHS.
Phase One: An Urgent Treatment Centre tackling immediate pressure.
Phase Two: New non-urgent facility and diagnostics so more care happens outside the hospital.
Phase Three: Phased redevelopment of the hospital itself, modern facilities built in stages keeping services running while we transition to something fit for our town and its growing population.
It’s a pragmatic approach.
Acting now to ease pressure, while putting Warrington in the strongest possible position for future investment.
As ever, if constituents in Warrington South would like to get in touch, request a visit, or arrange a surgery appointment, you can do so at sarahhall.co.uk/contact.