City MP Stephen Morgan joined Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, at the official opening of the new QA Hospital Emergency Department in Portsmouth today.
Mr Morgan said it was “an enormous honour” to welcome Princess Anne to Portsmouth to see the new urgent care centre, and speak with the staff and patients who will benefit from it.
The city MP successfully lobbied the government to secure the £58 million funding for the new department at Cosham.
Mr Morgan regularly visited the hospital to be updated on progress on the department which will enable the local NHS to better meet the needs of the local community and provide the best clinical care in a modern, safe environment.
On the visit the Portsmouth MP, The Princess Royal and other guests saw the new state-of-the-art facilities which have better access for ambulances, separate waiting areas for adults and children and extra space for patients who may need resuscitating.
The new urgent care centre replaces the old department, which had been in use since the late 1970s and had a smaller capacity.
Hospital bosses called the unit a “much-needed investment” due to increasing demand for emergency care.
Commenting on the visit, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said:
“It was an enormous honour to welcome Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, to our city for the official opening of the new QA Hospital Emergency Department.
“I was delighted to join the Princess Royal in seeing the fantastic new urgent care centre again, and speak with the staff and patients who are benefitting from it.
“As someone who long campaigned for this new department to be built, I was very proud to see the state-of-the-art facilities up and running, and to hear about the huge impact they are already having to shorten wait times and improve patient care here in Portsmouth.”
The city MP has made getting Portsmouth’s NHS back on its feet one of his top priorities. He has successfully lobbied for government investment in local services and campaigned to deliver a medical school and dental academy in the city to train the future NHS workforce.
