An MP in Essex who is campaigning for first aid training to be a part of the school curriculum has had a positive response for his efforts from the health secretary Jeremy Hunt, who said that his idea has “a lot of merit”.
Bob Russell, an MP for Colchester, has been campaigning on the issue for a while now and has raised the proposal on many occasions. He even put forward a bill under the last government, claiming that it would help to create around a million new first aiders within a generation of school pupils, but this was unsuccessful.
When putting his ideas to Mr Hunt as part of a debate following the government announcement of allocation of funding for NHS England this winter, the health secretary said in response:
“We do need more young people to know the basics of first aid, and that can be extremely important—even life-saving.”
However, Mr Hunt also said that the government needs to prioritise the NHS, ensuring that accident and emergency departments can be there when needed and that they operate in an efficient way in the short and the long-term.