On Friday 27th June, Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst, Member of Parliament for Solihull West & Shirley, and Saqib Bhatti MBE, Member of Parliament for Meriden & Solihull East, met with representatives from Solihull Hospital, as part of their ongoing campaign to improve urgent care provision for local residents. The meeting formed part of a longstanding effort by the MPs to advocate for better healthcare services in Solihull.
During the meeting, Dr Shastri-Hurst and Mr Bhatti examined the current provisions at Solihull Hospital, explored the operational requirements necessary to improve urgent care delivery, and discussed their shared ambitions for Solihull Hospital. This latest engagement follows prior discussions with the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB) and an Adjournment Debate in Parliament, where the case for restoring and enhancing services at Solihull Hospital was made clear.
Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst MP commented:
We have consistently pressed to ensure that Solihull Hospital receives the resources it needs to deliver first-class urgent care. As the ICB undergoes transformative changes, its funding restructuring must take into account the opportunities at Solihull Hospital for enhanced urgent care provisions. The hospital has the foundations to be a trailblazer for innovation and efficiency.
As both a former NHS surgeon and now the local MP, I will continue to bring clinical insight and constituent feedback to the table as we make the case for increased capacity and more resilient services at Solihull Hospital.
Saqib Bhatti MBE MP said:
Since my election in 2019 I have made returning healthcare resources to Meriden and Solihull East one of my top priorities and alongside Neil, I have constantly fought to ensure Solihull Hospital receives the funding it needs to deliver the healthcare provision my constituents urgently need and deserve.
We have seen progress in the battle to return these resources with a fantastic new Community Diagnostic Centre designed to slash waiting times for diagnosis that opened in North Solihull just last month, an Urgent Treatment Centre to provide easier access to non-life-threatening emergency care that opened in Summer 2023, a Locality Hub to provide community based care for long term conditions that opened in December 2023 and an Elective Hub to provide state-of-the-art robotic surgery that opened in November 2024. As the ICB undergoes transformative changes, its funding restructuring must ensure that the opportunity for enhanced urgent care provision is preserved.
I will continue to fight to ensure my constituents across Meriden and Solihull East have access to a first class NHS.
The MPs reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that all residents in Solihull have access to high-quality urgent care services, underpinned by the investment, infrastructure, and planning necessary to meet local demand.
