James Murray MP, right, at St Mary’s Hospital with, left, trust chief Professor Julian Redhead, provider group chief Professor Tim Orchard, and emergency medicine consultant Dr Barbara Cleaver

THE new secretary of state for health and social care visited Paddington’s St Mary’s Hospital.

James Murray met staff from teams across the healthcare trust, followed by a tour of the hospital’s A&E and “Same Day Emergency Care” service.

The health secretary, who was appointed last week, was greeted by , Professor Tim Orchard the new chief executive of the North West London Acute Provider Group, which was set up on April 1.

The government has been under pressure to come good on promises of major investment in the crumbling Paddington hospital.

The health secretary said: “I thoroughly enjoyed visiting St Mary’s Hospital today, to meet the teams delivering high-quality, compassionate care for patients day in, day out.

Under this government, the NHS has delivered the biggest improvement in waiting times for 16 years, thanks to our record investment, modernisation, and the remarkable efforts of NHS staff across the country.”

“Our plan is working, and I am determined to build on and accelerate this progress, going further and faster to make sure patients get the care they need, when they need it. There is, of course, more to do, but by backing our NHS staff and embracing innovation, we are building a health service fit for the future.”

The health secretary was told about the trust’s progress reducing waiting times and plans for a new hospital on the St Mary’s site, as part of an expanded Paddington Life Sciences.

There have been years of concerns about St Mary’s that has the highest cost backlog of repairs of all hospitals in the country.

Government promises of funding a major refurbishment have been backtracked on and delayed. Hospital chiefs were forced to close one of its main outpatient building in March following the discovery of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, (RAAC).

In October a “multi-agency St Mary’s Hospital Redevelopment Funding Taskforce” has appointed Simon Blanchflower as its independent chair.

Established in January following further delays to the government’s New Hospital Programme, the taskforce is a coalition of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Westminster City Council, Imperial College London, Imperial Health Charity and MPs representing Westminster residents.

At the time Professor Orchard said: “The taskforce has made a great start in identifying key opportunities for alternative funding approaches, as well as the barriers we will need to overcome.”

The new North West London Acute Provider Group is made up of Chelsea and Westminster, Imperial, London North West University, and Hillingdon hospitals, healthcare trusts.