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8.33 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Mr. John Horam): I am glad to be able to respond to my hon Friend the Member for South Suffolk (Mr. Yeo) on an issue that, as he says, is of considerable local importance. I know that he takes a keen interest in health care matters--he is a former Health Minister-- at both national and local levels. He is a tireless champion of health services in Suffolk, and I am well aware of his efforts to resolve the unique difficulties surrounding the development of a new hospital in Sudbury.
I understand that my hon Friend recently wrote to Sir Stuart Burgess, chairman of Anglia and Oxford regional health authority, regarding the matter, and that Sir Stuart plans to reply shortly with an offer to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the subject. The scheme has clearly enjoyed general support for a long time, and I hope that my hon. Friend and his constituents are in no doubt about the extent to which it is regarded as a sensible and necessary step for Sudbury.
Although I have not visited Sudbury in my ministerial capacity, I understand that Walnuttree hospital is one of two small community-style hospitals serving the people
of Sudbury, the other being St Leonard's. Both form part of the West Suffolk Hospitals NHS trust, which is largely based in Bury St. Edmunds. Walnuttree hospital is a former workhouse, and St Leonard's probably dates back to a similar era.
There is no doubt that both buildings have passed their prime, as my hon. Friend pointed out, and the residents of Sudbury plainly deserve new, updated medical care facilities. That need has been long recognised by Anglia and Oxford regional health authority--and, since its inception in 1993, by West Suffolk Hospitals NHS trust, which now has management responsibility for Walnuttree and St Leonard's hospitals. As I have just repeated in response to my hon. Friend's request, that support remains as strong as ever.
As my hon. Friend pointed out, work on developing a new hospital for Sudbury began in the mid-1980s, when the regional health authority purchased some land in the town known as Harps Close meadow. The aim was to build a new 120-bed hospital on part of that land, with work beginning in 1991. Problems to which my hon. Friend referred meant that by 1993, when West Suffolk Hospitals NHS trust was established, no progress had been made on the development. As the problem continues to be unresolved, work on the new hospital remains at a standstill.
Over the time that elapsed, however, advances in medical technology--together with improved ways in which health care is provided--meant that the original plans for the hospital needed to be updated. In particular, clinicians and managers at the trust, supported by their colleagues in Suffolk health authority, felt that the proposals did not meet the changing pattern of elderly care and were not in line with local patient needs.
It was generally felt that the scheme offered no more than an exercise of replacing existing hospital beds with new ones. It did not reflect the moves that were taking place for the care of patients in the community and the provision of nursing home places for long-stay patients.
As a result, West Suffolk Hospitals NHS trust revisited the proposals. It sought the views of local purchasers in Suffolk, and also the view of those from the adjoining area of north Essex. The trust then prepared a new, revised business case that took account of the changing circumstances. It was submitted to the Anglia and Oxford NHS executive regional office, and in May l995, outline approval was given for the new community hospital in Sudbury.
We are discussing the plans for that hospital. The hospital was intended to replace both Walnuttree and St. Leonard's hospitals, and--as my hon. Friend said--to include 40 elderly rehabilitation beds, 24 elderly mentally ill beds, 15 to 20 day case places, 20 interim placement/respite beds, and a community health base.
In addition, the trust outline business case proposed that the development should contain the opportunity for a potential GP surgery with a minor injuries suite staffed by trust nurses, a potential ambulance station, and a potential nursing home. We have no doubt about the need for the facilities that we hope to gain at the new Sudbury hospital, or about their scope and ambitiousness.
This new proposal clearly offers a considerable improvement in the level of services currently provided for the people of Sudbury--I am sure that my hon. Friend
has no doubt about that--and in saying that, I mean no criticism against the staff working at Walnuttree and St. Leonard's, who, as my hon. Friend will confirm, are providing sterling efforts in what are obviously difficult, trying and outdated conditions.
I am therefore saddened to learn of the local problems that have delayed the building of the new facility. I understand that those focus around a claim that part of Harps Close meadow should be left as open space and designated as having village green status. That claim against Suffolk county council by two local farmers has already been the subject of a judicial review, when the courts ruled in the council's favour. I understand that the two farmers have appealed against that decision, and that the subsequent appeal is expected to be heard later next year.
I cannot, of course, comment on the merit or otherwise of the dispute. In this overcrowded world, I appreciate only too well the importance of open space and I know how much pleasure it provides for the community at large. I understand, however, local residents' acute impatience, graphically instanced by my hon. Friend, for work on the new hospital to begin as soon as possible.
I am informed by the Anglia and Oxford NHS executive regional office that, although the judicial review's outcome will not stop the trust from building the hospital--legal advice is that building a health facility will not be illegal--if the appeal is successful, any non-NHS use of the site may not be acceptable. As my hon. Friend has said, the trust's proposals envisage a degree of independent partnership.
I am told that the uncertainty over that land's future use is making the project unattractive to any private sector partners who may want to come forward to fund the proposed new development via the private finance initiative.
I am informed that, even following the judicial review appeal, the possibility exists that either party could refer the case to the House of Lords, and that that could delay a final decision for several more years to come. My hon. Friend and his constituents face a sad position, and obviously, I am genuinely sympathetic to the people of Sudbury's plight.
Apart from the support that, as I have said, exists at all levels for the building of the new hospital as early as possible, I intend writing to Sir Stuart Burgess, chairman of Anglia and Oxford regional health authority, drawing his attention to my hon. Friend's representations tonight, and asking him to consider what reassurances he can provide for local residents over their future new hospital. I shall do that as soon as possible.
The trust could do something for itself. It could instruct its lawyers to apply to the High Court to get the hearing on the appeal application expedited, so that it is heard as early as possible next year. That might resolve the problem, as there are clearly heavy costs for the litigants in this case. In any case, even if it does not quickly resolve the problem, it is a sensible next step to expedite the hearing as far as possible.
I add my words to my hon. Friend's in appealing to the family involved to recognise the people of Sudbury's needs and the wider health considerations. I therefore join him in making the appeal to that family to recognise the common sense of the position. As he says, they have fought for a particular point of view well and hard, but perhaps they should recognise that opinion has moved decisively in the hospital's favour.
Meanwhile, apart from writing to Sir Stuart Burgess in making my hon. Friend's case to him, I assure my hon. Friend that I will keep in close touch with the position on the ground.
Question put and agreed to.
12 Dec 1995 : Column 911Adjourned accordingly at seventeen minutes to Nine o'clock.
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