The MP for Carshalton and Wallington is set to abseil down St Helier Hospital this month to raise money for the Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity.
Liberal Democrat, Bobby Dean MP, will attempt the 125ft descent on 25 April, with the goal of raising £1000 for the NHS charity.
The MP’s challenge is part of Abseil St Helier 2025, where members of the public are welcome to register and raise funds for key resources, such as equipment, hospital refurbishments, community services facilities and support for staff health and wellbeing.
Dean said: “Abseiling down a hospital is not exactly in the job description.
“But, if it helps raise money for the brilliant team who work at St Helier, I’m more than happy to be roped in.”
The event comes after research by the House of Commons Library on major A&E department performance revealed that the Epsom and St Helier Trust is one of London’s worst NHS trusts for wait times, with over a third of patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted.
Over the winter alone, 2,132 patients were reported to have waited over half a day just to be seen in the A&E department.
Dean said: “The queues to get emergency treatment are spiralling across the country, but the poor state of our buildings is making the situation even worse.”
“My own family saw the consequences first-hand, when an elderly relative had to wait on the floor of A&E because there weren’t enough trolleys or beds.”
As part of Boris Johnson’s campaign pledge to build 40 new hospitals in the 2019 General Election, St Helier was set to receive a new building, but health secretary Wes Streeting has since labelled the scheme “a work of fiction”.
Upgrades to St Helier have been delayed into the next decade, while work on other hospitals in some parts of the country are now not expected to begin until 2039.
Dean said: “Delays to the promised St Helier upgrades directly threaten the future of our hospital and leave patients and NHS staff paying the price.”
“The government must see sense and urgently bring forward these long-overdue upgrades.”
Molly Simpson, Head of Charity at Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity, said: “A huge thank you to Bobby Dean, MP, for joining over 100 amazing participants in our Abseil St Helier event – together, they have already raised more than £27,000 for Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity.
“Every penny supports patients, families and our NHS staff by enhancing patient care, boosting staff wellbeing and development, and creating more welcoming environments across our hospitals.”
Picture credit: Bobby Dean MP
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