Hospitals

Charlotte Cane Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Charlotte Cane (Ely and East Cambridgeshire) (LD)]

Many of our hospitals are crumbling, but even those that appear sound may contain hidden dangers, notably asbestos. Last week I met a constituent who is suffering from mesothelioma, contracted from asbestos. He was very concerned that so many of our hospitals and other public buildings still have asbestos within them, putting more people at risk of getting that terrible disease. We need a proper survey to find out where all that asbestos is and a plan for its safe removal.

I was pleased to hear the Minister talk about the work he is trying to do to get more funding for GPs, because that is one of our big problems in Ely and East Cambridgeshire. A while ago, when we nearly lost our GP in Sutton, residents were told, “Never mind—you can go to nearby GPs.” In rural areas, however, a GP even a few miles away is inaccessible to anyone who does not have a car. More recently, unexpected changes to the bus route with no notice left patients of the Bottisham practice suddenly unable to get to their GP.

We have seen a lot of new build around my constituency, not least in Soham, which desperately needs a larger surgery. I went there and saw the conditions staff were working in, the tiny space they now have for their pharmacy area and the difficulties they face in serving a much larger community than the surgery was built for. The practice has been trying for years to get a new surgery, but the procedure for keeping or enlarging a surgery or building a new one is incredibly complex, and GPs must put together funding from a range of sources. Those GPs should be spending their time trying to help patients, but they are instead spending their time building business plans and looking for funding. As we heard earlier from a Government Member, we desperately need NHS dentists in my constituency too, and they in turn will need premises.

We do not have any major hospitals in Ely and East Cambridgeshire, but we rely on those elsewhere to be in good condition when we need them. We need our own Princess of Wales hospital to be in good condition, and we need excellent GP surgeries and NHS dentists who can serve us into the future.