Croydon to get brand new A&E department following Labour campaign

The NHS has agreed plans for a brand new £21m A&E department at Croydon University Hospital.  The news comes just weeks after the department went into meltdown with ambulances queuing up outside and sick patients left for hours on trolleys in corridors.

Two years ago, Croydon’s crumbling A&E department faced an uncertain future with a consultation listing it as an option for closure or downgrading.  Together with NHS staff, local residents and councillors, Labour MP Steve Reed launched a petition opposing any potential closure and called instead for investment to improve the service.  The petition immediately secured thousands of signatures from local people.

Today’s news means the improved A&E will now be built.  Steve Reed MP said: “This is the good news local people have been desperate to hear.  Earlier this year our A&E hit crisis point, the need for investment could not have been clearer.

“I’d like to thank everyone who supported our campaign to bring in the funding our A&E needs.  It’s a crying shame that £11m was wasted on a botched and abandoned consulation two years ago instead of being invested in the NHS services we needed at the time.  Today’s welcome news means we will now see the improved A&E we’ve been campaigning for and I’m sure everyone in our community will welcome that.”