Health secretary Jeremy Hunt visits hospital staff in Portsmouth

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt at a visit to QA Hospital on Jul 14, 2017. Picture: Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust

Jeremy Hunt paid a visit to Queen Alexandra Hospital to discuss patient safety.

Portsmouth NHS Hospitals Trust said Mr Hunt said ‘that having the right amount of doctors and nurses is essential to nursing care’ and that there was a need for openness and sharing between trusts across the country.

In a statement issued after the visit, Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, said: ‘It was a pleasure to meet staff at the Queen Alexandra Hospital and to hear first-hand about their work.

‘We discussed some of the current challenges in the NHS as well as our shared determination to continue improving patient experience and sharing innovative ideas to help make the NHS the safest healthcare system in the world.’

Mr Hunt was joined by Professor Sir Norman Williams yesterday.

Tim Powell is interim trust chief executive.

He said: ‘We were delighted to welcome the Secretary of Health, Jeremy Hunt, to talk to some of the staff working at the Queen Alexandra Hospital.

‘The secretary of state clearly understands the challenges facing not just QA Hospital, but the NHS in general, and he gave an inspiring talk about his own passion for patient safety, the need for openness and candour to support learning, and his relentless focus on continuously improving the NHS.’