POLITICALLY SPEAKING: We owe Pinderfields and the NHS so much, including higher pay and more support - MP Yvette Cooper

As Covid cases have risen, Pinderfields has been one of the most heavily affected hospitals in the country.

Mid Yorkshire Trust told me they now have more than 330 Covid patients – around twice as many as they had back in the spring at the time of the first lockdown.

The Wakefield district has one of the highest levels of infections.

Speak to anyone in our local hospitals and you’ll hear how hard people are working, after what has already been a really tough and tiring year.

We owe NHS staff huge thanks, and we need to support them in every way we can.

They are on the frontline again but this time it is harder because they have more patients yet fewer staff.

I’m really worried about the pressure staff are under. Many people are understandably exhausted but they are still going the extra mile.

They can’t keep going like this all the way until Christmas.

That’s why I have called in Parliament for more support for our local hospitals, and have spoken to the Health Secretary and other ministers to urge them to help.

They have agreed to look at what extra staffing support they can provide over the next few weeks until we can turn the corner, but we need it fast.

I’ve also asked why the Harrogate Nightingale isn’t open.

Mid Yorkshire Trust has told me that there just aren’t enough staff to do it.

The government has said that if our Yorkshire hospitals want to send patients there, then they need to send their own staff to care for them.

But that makes absolutely no sense, because if the hospitals are so full they need to use the Nightingale, it means they also obviously don’t have any spare staff to send.

All of us have to do our bit to help – and that means taking Covid-19 seriously and helping each other too. Lockdown is really tough for everyone, and we need proper support for small businesses and jobs – especially those who missed out last time.

We’ve been working with Wakefield Council and local volunteers to make sure there is support in our community hubs.

Please ring them if there is anything you need.

We also need the government to sort track and trace so we can come back out of lockdown and get to something better by Christmas.

In the meantime we should all show our thanks to our NHS.

Back in the spring, we clapped NHS and care workers from our doorsteps.

We need to thank all our friends, family and neighbours working in the NHS again now.

I think its time the government showed support too – including finding a way to thank nursing and social care staff properly with higher pay and support this winter.

We all owe them so much. It’s the least the country can do.