More than £130 million worth of debt has been wiped from Milton Keynes University Hospital as the Government looks to make sure hospitals are in the best possible position to deal with coronavirus.
The nationwide £13.4bn debt write-off will rid more than a hundred NHS hospitals of historic debt, freeing them up to invest inmaintaining vital services and longer-term infrastructure improvements.
This announcementalso comes alongside a new NHS funding model to make sure the NHS has the necessary funding and support to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
This package is launched in combination with a simpler internal payment system to help NHS trusts in dealingwith the coronavirus response, which was agreed with NHS England last week.
This significant change will mean hospitals will get all the necessary funding to carry out their emergencyresponse, despite many hospitals cancelling or limiting their usual services such as elective surgery or walk-in clinics due to the virus.
Ben Everitt, MP for Milton Keynes North, commented: "This is excellent news for Milton Keynes Universal Hospital - the team there are doing a fantastic job and this will remove a lot of worry about future stability.
The debt being wiped means our mental health and community services across Milton Keynes, as well as the hospital will be in astronger position not only to deal with coronavirus in the short term, but on a stable footing in the long term as well."