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9.55 pm
Ms Julia Drown (South Swindon): I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Mr. Wills) for allowing me to contribute to the debate on Swindon's hospital care. I congratulate him on securing this debate so early in the Session.
This is my first speech in the House and I should like to say that it is an honour to be the first Member of Parliament to represent the people of South Swindon. The old Swindon constituency has been split in two--my constituency takes part of the former Swindon seat and a small part of the old Devizes constituency.
I pay tribute to the work of my predecessors. Mr. Simon Coombs greatly enjoyed his 14 years in the House. He answered thousands of letters from his constituents and helped hundreds of people. He was a keen supporter of some of the town's important activities, such as our football team and the local choral society.
I follow in the footsteps of David Stoddart, who was the Member of Parliament for Swindon from 1970 to 1983 and who is now in the other place. It is an interesting coincidence that he also made his maiden speech within a day of the new Parliament beginning. I am proud to follow him in that respect.
I am delighted to be the first woman to represent Swindon in Parliament. This election saw a sea-change in the number of women in Parliament, and I am pleased to be part of that change. We will make Parliament a better place. I was a health service professional for 11 years and now bring my skills to the House. I should like to use my experience of health service finance for the good of Swindon's health and for the good of the health service across the nation.
Swindon is a great town. We have some of the best leisure facilities in the country; we have one of the best local authority collections of modern art; and we have access to wonderful green areas, within the town and in the rural parts of my constituency. We have an active voluntary sector and an active chamber of commerce. Our environmental centre would make most towns green--but only with envy. I am also proud to have the national dance studio in my constituency.
In Swindon, we are aware of our history as a railway and industrial town, now diversified to include many financial services and communication businesses. In our rural areas, farming remains vital to the economy. We know that the ability to change and diversify is the key to business success and prosperity. We have a higher level
of employment than many other areas, but there is still a need for skills training and job opportunities for many. We welcome the firms that have made their home in Swindon, attracted by our facilities, our work force and our excellent communications with the rest of the country.
Swindon's borough council has done much for the town. It has this year become a unitary authority and looks forward optimistically to the revival of local government.
The town of Swindon has grown quickly, and facilities such as the health service have been under huge pressure to keep up with demand. My hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon raised a number of concerns that my constituents share. I should like to pay special tribute to the many staff of all trades and professions in Swindon's health services who have worked tirelessly for patients in what have been, over the past 18 years, increasingly difficult circumstances.
Princess Margaret hospital has experienced large increases in patient work loads, partly because of the increasing population of the town, but partly also because of the closure of Princess Alexandra hospital in Wroughton, which is also in my constituency. It was a services hospital, but it treated thousands of NHS patients. It was highly valued by local people and is much missed. Millions of pounds were spent on new theatres and a scanner for the hospital only a few years before its closure--
It being Ten o'clock, the motion for the Adjournment of the House lapsed, without Question put.
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Pope.]
Ms Drown:
South Swindon finds it difficult to understand why a much valued hospital with all that recent investment was closed. Princess Margaret hospital was built using state-of-the-art designs and building materials of the 1960s and 1970s. The buildings are now out of date; the Health and Safety Executive and the fire service are concerned about our buildings. We must meet those concerns and ensure that the facilities are updated to modern standards.
Not only did we face a number of weeks last winter when the hospital could accept only patients with life-threatening conditions, but the number of patients waiting more than 12 months is now significantly higher than it was last year. Because the urology waiting list is already 18 months long, GPs are not putting any more patients on the list. That means patients waiting until they become emergency cases to get treatment.
There are genuine problems with recruiting nurses. Many people feel that the training courses are too academic and may put off recruits who would do the profession proud. Mental health facilities also need upgrading, and plans for that are progressing well. Support for our community facilities is also vital.
In all parts of the NHS, more managers are in place and there is increased bureaucracy. Our health region spends £320,000 on bureaucrats every day: that cannot be right. Swindon wants money spent on patients, not paperwork. Yesterday's Gracious Speech outlined how the Government will do just that.
The most pressing need, however, is for a decision on the future of Princess Margaret hospital. The business case was approved some years ago in principle. It then had to be tested under the Government of the day's private finance initiative. That process caused delays.
In April of last year, Swindon was told that it would have a completely new hospital; we were told to expect work to commence soon after September 1996--yet not even a planning application has been lodged. The new hospital proposal is with the Treasury as we speak. It is regrettable that many details of the scheme have not been available to patient groups or the general public. Less has been available in Swindon than has been provided to groups concerned with projects elsewhere in the country. The people of South Swindon have a right to know what is planned for their health care provision. I hope that the Minister will ensure that more information is made available to the people of Swindon.
We have lived with the uncertainty over our hospital for long enough. Swindon needs to know that its hospital will be modernised. It needs to know that the proposed privately financed scheme will provide value for money for generations to come. It is no good having a more expensive big shiny hospital if we find in future that we do not have the money to send patients to it.
Swindon needs to know that a modernised hospital will be run by the NHS in the interests of Swindon patients. That is of particular concern to the hospital's hard-working staff. Many of them have put in years of dedicated service to the NHS because they wanted to work for the NHS. They are now threatened with forcible transfer to private companies. I urge the Minister to find ways to allow those who wish to remain part of NHS teams to continue their valued service as part of the NHS.
Having pointed out the difficulties, I want to record my optimism about the future of the NHS in Swindon. Morale has been low, but health service workers are enthusiastic about the new Labour Government. If we can harness the enthusiasm and initiative of health workers and learn from their experience, I am confident that the NHS will once again be the envy of the rest of the world.
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. Alan Milburn):
It is a special honour to be able to respond to this Adjournment debate--first to welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Deputy Speaker; secondly to congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Mr. Wills) on securing this debate so early in his parliamentary career; and thirdly to congratulate him and my hon. Friend the Member for South Swindon (Ms Drown) on making such impressive maiden speeches. They have argued their case forcefully, sincerely and, if I may say so, with some expertise.
I have had the opportunity to speak to both my hon. Friends since their election and I can confirm that they are health service experts. I value that greatly as an incoming Health Minister. I shall be relying on some of the expertise that they have to offer, not just on issues relating to Swindon, but on more general issues.
I am, of course, sympathetic to the concerns that my hon. Friends have expressed about the state of the national health service in the town. I pay tribute in particular to all
those who in recent years have worked so hard in difficult circumstances to cope with the pressures that the local health service has had to face, particularly during the winter months.
There are obviously no quick and easy solutions to the problems in the NHS that the outgoing Government have bequeathed to this Government, but I can assure my hon. Friends that we are already taking action to tackle bureaucracy in the national health service and we are taking the first steps towards replacing the absurd internal market, which is the cause of so much of that excessive bureaucracy. Our ambition for the national health service is no less than to modernise it and equip it properly for the challenges of not just the next few years but the next century.
The Swindon and Marlborough trust faces particular pressures, as my hon. Friends said, because of anticipated high population growth in the area and the recent closure of the hospital at RAF Wroughton. As my hon. Friends have made clear, there is pressing local concern about the facilities from which care is currently delivered and about the delays that there have been in replacing those facilities under the private finance initiative.
Proposals for a new Princess Margaret hospital were first put forward for approval in 1994. Since then, they have been subject to delay after delay. It has become clear that the initial proposal fell short of the demanding standards required to secure clear approval.
I understand that the trust has now submitted the final details of its revised proposal for consideration. Whatever the outcome of that deliberation, I assure my hon. Friends that clinical considerations and service needs will in no way be overlooked. They will be central to an assessment of the proposal. I am pleased that a Swindon forum has been established, meeting regularly and chaired jointly by the trust and the health authority. I hope that it will ensure that local decisions are taken not in isolation but with proper regard to the views of all interested parties.
It is clearly important that such a major proposal secures the confidence of the local people. As far as possible, open details should be made available to people in the area about the nature of the proposal. It is not the consortium's national health service; it is not even the trust's national health service; and it is not mine. It is the people's national health service, and we should never ever forget that.
Schemes such as the one in Swindon have been in the PFI procurement process for too long and I believe that that cannot continue. In such cases, a decision needs to be made, which confirms either that the project is suitable for agreement with the private sector partner, or that it is not. Both public and private sector participants must not be left indefinitely wrestling with schemes, trying to satisfy ill-defined rules, only to find that there is a finishing line that moves forward continually.
Unlike our predecessors, this Government are committed to developing public-private partnerships in the national health service which actually work and do the business of getting new hospitals off the ground. They should lay the bricks and the mortar. The time for talking on these issues has come to an end. This Government want to be remembered as a Government who built hospitals rather than as a Government who promised the building of hospitals. We are determined to rejuvenate the private finance initiative and to get it working.
It is precisely to deal with problems such as those faced by Swindon that my hon. Friend the Paymaster General announced on 8 May a major review of the PFI across government. His aim is to remove the obstacles in the way of bringing projects to fruition and to find ways in which to streamline the whole process. At the same time, I can announce this evening that I have asked my officials to carry out an urgent review of the PFI process in the national health service. I will listen to the views of those closely involved with the PFI from both the public and private sectors. The objective will be to identify how the current gridlock can be eliminated and to ensure that much needed schemes are completed quickly, making best use of the skills and expertise of both the public and private sectors to achieve best value for money.
I know that all talk of a review inevitably leads to some concern about the potential for delay, so I shall try to pre-empt my hon. Friends' concerns on that point. Perhaps I can best point to the progress that we seek to make on the PFI by reference to the proceedings today in another place. The Government introduced a new Bill in the other place to speed progress on the PFI. The Bill will clarify the powers of NHS trusts to enter into PFI-type agreements and it will remove one roadblock that has caused considerable frustration and delay for some of the
most advanced schemes. It signals the Government's absolute determination to speed up the process of attracting private capital into the national health service and our commitment to make sure that public-private partnerships actually deliver the goods.
I very much hope that a PFI solution can be found for the redevelopment in Swindon. I share the desire of people in the town to see their NHS facilities improved. I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friends for making their case so eloquently. I can tell them that today, I have instructed the NHS executive to agree with the trust a clear way forward for the project and for other schemes that have already been approved, but which have not made the progress expected of them. I shall also ask the trust's chief executive to make himself available to meet my hon. Friends to explain the PFI proposal in more detail, so that they and their constituents are clear about it.
I offer my hon. Friends an open invitation. I am happy at whatever point to meet them to give them the opportunity further to press their case on this very important proposal. The way in which they have rationally and cogently argued their case this evening is important and it speaks volumes for the Swindon team that we can expect in this House for many years to come.
Question put and agreed to.
Adjourned accordingly at fourteen minutes past Ten o'clock.
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