Richard recently visited Southend Hospital with a group of MPs and councillors to see their latest investment upgrades.
Speaking after the visit, Richard said:
"I had a really good time over in Southend to visit the hospital there recently. Funding was signed off for this investment from MSE trust under the last Government for the brand-new A&E department which will serve us all and relieve pressure on Basildon and I also saw the recently upgraded their radiotherapy department with a £3.5 million LINAC machine.
This machine, as expertly explained by Nicky Whilde, will use focused radiation on cancer cells across the whole body, and it even takes images there and then to make sure the latest information on the patient’s cancer is available.
I overwhelmingly welcome the massive investment and expansion. Whilst this is based over in Southend, it will serve constituents of Basildon and Billericay well.
It is a big strides in the right direction like this that are helping change the way people react when they hear the dreaded word: “cancer”. No longer a guaranteed terminal sentence, now we can positively look at how we’re tackling cancer diagnoses. The staff here are fantastic too, and I know that patients are in good and caring hands."
