Nesil Caliskan has become the next MP to back our campaign for a new A&E at Queen’s Hospital after visiting the department and seeing the conditions for herself.

The MP for Barking spoke to staff on her visit which comes off the back of a December which was our busiest month on record seeing nearly 31,000 patients across our A&Es.

Staff spoke about the increase in patients and ambulances which adds to the challenges. Ambulance arrivals rose from 2,284 in January 2023 to 3,420 this January.

Our staff are often caring for more than double the number of patients the department was designed to care for on a daily basis. On one day at Queen’s last month, 752 people attended our A&E which was built to care for a maximum of 325 people a day.

Nesil said:

Thank you to the amazing staff who showed me around Queen's Hospital, including the hard-working emergency consultants who told me about the impact that winter pressures are having on patients and staff.

It's clear the NHS is under pressure, with long A&E waits and beds in corridors on a daily basis. Staff are working incredibly hard to look after patients, but after years of underinvestment and like many other hospitals, the Queen's Hospital building is not fit for purpose. 

I support their campaign to expand their A&E department, and will continue to raise the challenges the hospital is facing with the Government on behalf of the people of Barking who use the hospital for vital services.

Mathew Trainer, our Chief Executive added:

I’m grateful for the support of Nesil and our other MPs for our campaign.

Getting a new A&E is a vital step toward ensuring our patients get the care they deserve in an environment that is fit for purpose. It will also end corridor care which is so significant that we can now care for up to 50 patients in these spaces.

Nesil joins our other local MPs Andrew Rosindell, Julia Lopez and Margaret Mullane to publicly support the campaign.

We’re asking patients to contact their MP to express the urgency of securing the estimated £35m in funding to transform the department.

Since launching the campaign, a number of local, regional and national media outlets have covered our campaign including Sky News, BBC London, the Romford Recorder, Havering Daily, The Guardian and more.

Visit our campaign page for more information.