News OnTheWight always welcomes a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below.
This from Hans Bromwich, Cowes. Ed
It is excellent to see that St Mary’s £30.4million building programme is underway, it will provide an improved intensive care unit, £6.4m, a new emergency care floor, £12.2m, along with acute bed re-configuration, £5.1m.
Work on Newport’s £6.7m mental health and community hub sadly shows no physical sign yet of beginning, despite recent reports that the number of children needing NHS treatment for mental health issues rose by 39 per cent in 2021-22.
It isn’t simply just about new resources
Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, has said work will be completed by early 2024, whilst the IW NHS Trust is a little more cautiously predicting late 2024, either way it isn’t simply just about new resources, additional NHS staff will be required when these new facilities are completed.
St Mary’s finds it extremely difficult to recruit.
Recruitment challenges
Many talented NHS staff interested in moving to the IW are unable to do so because they cannot secure affordable accommodation.
They are faced with a triple whammy. The vast majority of new builds on the Island are simply out of the price range for many younger buyers, more and more Island rental properties are becoming Airbnb lets, whilst the exorbitant cost of commuting to and from the Island creates a barrier for those who can not claim travel expenses.
It will be disastrous if in two years’ time we discover we have wonderful new hospital facilities, but lack the necessary NHS personnel to staff them.
Parallel programme of house building needed
There needs to be a parallel programme of building work going on, one that creates affordable housing that is ring fenced for essential key workers.
This work needs to start now.
Cut through red tape to urgently work together
The IW NHS Trust, IW Council, together with other stakeholder groups, need to cut through all the red tape and urgently work together to ensure affordable housing is available for key NHS staff when St Mary’s investing in our future work is completed in two years’ time.
Image: josh olalde under CC BY 2.0
