I was delighted to be welcomed to Hillingdon Hospital by Consultant Paediatrician Dr Jide Manakaya on Monday. We had a useful discussion about the integrated care projects the hospital has been working on in the Children and Young Peoples’ department and talked about his role as a Director of the Early Intervention Foundation.

As somebody with a great deal of experience in the provision of services for children and children’s wellbeing from my time in local government, it has been something I am keen to continue focusing on in Parliament. Across government, it is encouraging to see that there is an increasing focus on early years and early years intervention, and those of you who have been following my work in Westminster may be aware that I have been working alongside a group of colleagues, led by Dame Andrea Leadsom, on early years development. My visit to Hillingdon has provided me with some great examples of how local interagency work can be done and certainly something I can share in upcoming parliamentary discussions and with the parliamentary review group.

Lastly, I was also pleased to take part in some online talks with a number of parents to learn about their experience as service users and met with Chief Executive, Patricia Wright, to briefly discuss the Trust's work.

It was a very useful visit and I am grateful to the staff for their time. I look forward to visiting again in the near future.