Last year I was involved in a successful campaign to save Cheltenham A&E from permanent closure.

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cheltenham A&E has since been temporarily been set up as a Minor Injuries and Illness Unit (MIIU) and the A&E transferred to Gloucester. I asked the Prime Minister to confirm that the government are working to support the re-opening of the Cheltenham A&E sooner rather than later.

Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury)

"Does the Prime Minister believe in the value of local accident and emergency units, and will he work to ensure the return of the A&E at Cheltenham General Hospital? The local hospitals trust has said that it will return, but can he try to ensure that it does so sooner rather than later?"

The Prime Minister

"Yes, indeed. I am assured that the closure to which my hon. Friend refers is only temporary, and I remind him that this is the Government who are putting in the record—the biggest ever—capital investment in the NHS, with £34 billion of investment in the NHS, to say nothing of the investments we have made just in the last nine months."

I welcome the Prime Minister’s assurance that the closure is a temporary measure and I look forward to continuing to work with him, the Health Secretary, Alex Chalk MP, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP and the local health trusts to bring about the re-opening of the A&E at Cheltenham.