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Mr. Tyrie: The Government are making matters worse.
Mr. Hutton: No, we are not making them worse. We are trying to get to grips with the problems in the NHS and in social services. By providing record levels of spending, we are ensuring that those two services receive more resources than they ever received during the 18 years when the hon. Gentleman's party had responsibility.
The hon. Gentleman referred to winter pressures. I am grateful to him for praising NHS staff on their efforts to tackle the acute pressures that the service came under over the winter holiday period. A huge effort was made in West Sussex to ensure that everyone received the necessary treatment and care. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will join me in congratulating the staff again. A huge amount of collaborative work has been done across health and social care to ensure effective service planning, commissioning assessment and delivery of services to the people in West Sussex.
That effort has paid particular dividends this winter, despite a sharp increase in the levels of illness, especially for older people, which resulted in a huge increase in the number of patients using the NHS. It was better prepared than ever before to cope with those illnesses, and in most places, including across West Sussex--despite what the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham said--most hospitals have coped well with the pressures.
Mr. Loughton:
I am interested in the general points that the Minister is making, but he has not addressed the fact that West Sussex has effectively had a £4.7 million cut in its social services budget and West Sussex health authority has by far the longest waiting lists of any health authority in the country, with one in seven of our people
Mr. Hutton:
I will address the hon. Gentleman's points in the course of my remarks, but I have only just started to try to do so. As he will know, 2,200 schemes are under way nationally. Of those, we have supported 28 schemes in West Sussex, with the help of an additional £1 million from the resources which the Government made available before Christmas. Those schemes include £70,000 for a project in the hon. Gentleman's constituency of Worthing to reduce medical and acute admissions for the elderly; £31,000 for rehabilitation to be provided in residential establishments; and more than £100,000 to fund a medical assessment area, thus preventing admissions to main wards.
The additional money has helped, but we have not stopped there. From the £50 million contingency fund announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health last month, we have provided another £500,000 to support 15 new schemes in West Sussex, including £75,000 for a joint collaboration with social services for a nursing home discharge scheme in Mid Sussex; £20,000, again in Worthing, for the provision of three non-NHS beds at a local rest home to facilitate early discharge; and £10,000 to provide additional elderly care consultant sessions at the Queen Victoria hospital.
We have encouraged health authorities to support joint schemes such as those that I have outlined. Indeed, the local health authority has provided support to West Sussex social services by transferring funds through section 28A of the National Health Service Act 1977, which, as the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham will be aware, has long been a key funding mechanism, also used by the previous Administration, to enable health authorities to support the work of social services. Significant resources have been transferred to assist that process.
This winter we also extended flu vaccinations to all those over 75, rather than confining vaccinations to particularly vulnerable groups. As a result, nationally a third of a million extra doses have been given this year compared with last, and the vaccine remains available. I am sure that many older people in West Sussex have taken advantage of that initiative, and they will have had the opportunity to benefit from the many other initiatives recently announced, including the national lottery new opportunities fund; the renewal of a quarter of accident and emergency departments across the country; and NHS Direct.
Mr. Tyrie:
What about the cuts?
Mr. Hutton:
The hon. Gentleman who seeks to intervene from a sedentary position got into trouble recently because he made inappropriate remarks to other hon. Members.
Mr. Gibb:
I did not say a word and I hope that the Minister will apologise.
Mr. Hutton:
I shall not apologise to the hon. Gentleman. Someone on the Opposition Benches is
The hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham mentioned the rise in waiting lists and times in his and other constituencies in West Sussex. We are aware of the problems, especially in the orthopaedic service, but those problems did not start on 1 May 1997. I am assured that the hospital to which the hon. Gentleman referred, the Worthing and Southlands NHS trust, is aiming to meet its target for waiting list reductions by the end of March.
The rise in waiting lists and times in West Sussex were as much a consequence of historical financial pressures as of the increasing need for treatment by patients. We are putting that right by investing more in West Sussex. In 1998-99, we invested an additional £6.3 million, which was the largest real terms increase in the then South Thames region. That is not the picture that the hon. Gentleman presented. From the first stage of our £21 billion extra investment, in 1999-2000 the health authority will receive nearly 4 per cent. real growth in funding of some £16 million.
Mr. Loughton:
Will the Minister give way?
Mr. Hutton:
No, I will not. We are therefore delivering our promises to the people of West Sussex, both with this additional money and also our firm commitment to reduce waiting lists overall. We have provided extra money and we will deliver on our commitment. Nationally, the waiting lists reduced by 136,000, or nearly 10.5 per cent., between April and November 1998.
In West Sussex we have set very demanding targets--some of the most demanding in the whole of England. To their credit, the health authority and the local trusts are getting on with it and have been able to reduce the waiting lists by nearly 4,000 since March 1998. I understand that the health authority is aiming to reduce the waiting lists by just under 28 per cent., or nearly 7,000 patients, before the end of the year. That substantial programme of work includes treating a great many more patients, including treatments targeted mainly at older people, such as those for cataracts.
The hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham mentioned problems with cataract surgery. He might be interested to learn that if the figures for the first six months of last year are compared with those for this year, they show that more than 450 more cataract operations have been performed for West Sussex residents. That is a positive and encouraging step.
I know that the West Sussex health authority is keen to reduce waiting lists even further in the next financial year, especially in targeting in-patients, and is currently discussing that with the south-east regional office of the NHS Executive.
The hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham mentioned the situation of the local authority in West Sussex. The hon. Member for Worthing, West (Mr. Bottomley) asked whether I would be prepared to meet a delegation. I am always happy to talk to hon. Members about issues to do with social services or the NHS that are my responsibility. If the hon. Member for
East Worthing and Shoreham and his hon. Friends wish to arrange such a meeting, I would be more than happy to try to accommodate them.
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