Boris Johnson visits Colchester Hospital
The Prime Minister visited dedicated teams leading the restart of routine NHS care
Last updated 27th May 2021
Boris Johnson has visited Colchester Hospital today (27 May).
The Prime Minister met with dedicated teams leading the restart of routine NHS care.
He was given a tour of The Collingwood Centre to speak to staff and patients about cancer care, before visiting an elective surgical ward.
Nick Hulme, Chief Executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), which runs the hospital, said:
"It was a privilege to welcome the Prime Minister to Colchester Hospital and to give him the opportunity to meet some of our staff who’ve all worked so hard during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in our hospitals and in the community.
"We have robust plans in place to tackle hospital waiting times, which have undoubtedly increased during the pandemic response. Today we were able to talk to the Prime Minister about what we’re doing locally, as well as the challenges we face, as we work on delivering our routine care recovery plan to treat patients as quickly and as safely as we can."
Mr Johnson also spent time on Mersea Ward, which cares for elective surgical patients, during his visit to the Essex site.
Emma Sweeney, Associate Director of Nursing for Surgery, Gastroenterology and Anaesthetics at ESNEFT, said:
"We were delighted to welcome the Prime Minister to Mersea Ward. I’m so proud of the care provided by our hard working teams and today the Prime Minister was able to hear about the new and different approaches we’re working on to help us treat more people, more quickly to improve their lives for the better."