Recess is always a welcome opportunity to spend even more time at home in Swindon working in my constituency, as I have done for many years now. In fact, my work here in Swindon began around twenty years ago, and I have been working hard ever since!
Over the Easter Recess, I have been busy visiting local businesses, organisations, and charities, as well as holding an Advice Surgery for local residents at Park South Community Centre last Saturday. I would like to thank all of the residents who attended, as well as my office team who were on hand to assist me.
Back in November 2023, you may recall that along with North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson, I welcomed the news that the Conservative Government had selected Swindon as a location for a new Community Diagnostic Centre. I am pleased to announce that the West Swindon Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) has opened this week at the West Swindon Health Centre. The new centre is initially providing CT and MRI scans, with a wider range of tests available on-site from July 2024, including respiratory, echocardiography, cardiology, sleep studies and pathology tests and scans.
The new West Swindon CDC will increase diagnostic capacity and reduce waiting times here in Swindon. Once fully operational, it will deliver up to 18,675 checks, tests and scans a year, tailored to meet the needs of patients.
Set for completion in just a few months, the brand new £26 million Conservative Government-funded Emergency Department and Children’s Emergency Department will also open at Great Western Hospital, alongside the improved Same Day Emergency Care and Medical Assessment Unit.
I am delighted to have helped secure this important investment for the West Swindon CDC, as well as the biggest-ever investment at Great Western Hospital, alongside Justin Tomlinson MP. We lobbied hard to deliver this funding and the Conservative Government has rightly seen how it will transform both emergency care and transitional care in Swindon.
Following the publication of The Buckland Review of Autism Employment, I have been working hard to ensure that the report’s nineteen recommendations are adopted widely. The recommendations set out a clear vision for workplace culture changes to support autistic people to start and stay in work.
All too often Neurodivergent people have their skills and experience overlooked by employers, however, with the right support neurodivergent people can bring valuable skills to teams, which is why the Buckland Review on Autism Employment recommends employers signing up for the Autistica Neurodiversity Employers Index to access guidance and support on designing inclusive processes and procedures in the workplace.
I am calling on employers large and small, here in Swindon and beyond, to sign up and learn more about what good support looks like and become leading neuroinclusive employers. You can find out more here: https://www.autistica.org.uk/get-involved/employers/ndei/
Charities such as Autistica and NiB (Neurodiversity in Business) provide employers with a wide range of resources, as well as sharing industry good practice on neurodiverse recruitment, retention, and empowerment.
To find out more about how the charity NiB supports businesses in building a better workplace for neurodivergent employees, as well as accessing neurodivergent talent and supporting neurodivergent employees to navigate independent fulfilling carers, please take a look at their website here https://neurodiversityinbusiness.org/
