House of Commons
Tuesday 2 March 1999
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
Oral Answers to Questions
HEALTH
The Secretary of State was asked--
Community Hospitals
1. Mr. Shaun Woodward (Witney): What assessment he has made of the likely impact on (a) health service provision and (b) social services provision in Oxfordshire of the proposed closure of community hospitals in the county. [72373]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Mr. John Hutton): I am sure that, before I answer the hon. Gentleman's question, the whole House will want to express its sympathy to the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) on her recent bereavement.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had a number of meetings with right hon. and hon. Members from Oxfordshire, including the hon. Gentleman, local general practitioners and other interested groups to discuss Oxfordshire health authority's proposals. As the hon. Gentleman is aware, my right hon. Friend is currently considering those proposals in detail.
Mr. Woodward:
I thank the Minister for that reply. He will know that it has been more than a year since consideration of the future of community hospitals in my constituency began. There is huge uncertainty, which means that it is becoming impossible to recruit nurses to community hospitals, because they do not know whether they will have a job in six months' time. Does he also know that the Oxford Radcliffe said that currently 16 of its 26 patient assessment areas are blocked because it cannot get people out into community hospital beds--and that is with the three community hospitals still open? It has also said that losing 52 beds in my constituency will have a catastrophic effect on health, not only in west Oxfordshire, but in Oxfordshire as a whole.
Does the Minister accept that cuts for social services this year, under which Oxfordshire will lose £10.5 million, will create an impossible situation for those who require health care and social services? An urgent decision by Ministers on keeping open Burford, Witney and Chipping Norton community hospitals is absolutely essential.
Mr. Hutton:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is urgently considering the proposals. As I said, we intend to discuss them and the available options in detail with all the interested parties. However, we are clear that any changes in Oxfordshire must lead to a modern and dependable health service for local people, and our priority is to ensure that. We recognise the important role that community hospitals play in delivering locally based patient care, but it is the responsibility of individual health authorities to determine the most appropriate balance of health services for their population and to ensure that those services are provided in the most clinically effective and resource efficient manner.
Dr. Evan Harris (Oxford, West and Abingdon):
Does the Minister accept that the proposal to close community hospitals in Oxfordshire, which also affects Abingdon community hospital, was made at a time when the Government were sticking to Conservative spending plans, before the comprehensive spending review settlement, and before the savage cuts to social services that have been forced on Oxfordshire county council by a combination of the settlement and the crazy capping system? Will he give an undertaking that some of the money in the comprehensive spending review will be available to give Oxfordshire people what they want--good quality local care, at a level that is affordable to the health service, in their local community hospitals?
Mr. Hutton:
I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is aware that there is a limit on what I can say today because my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is currently reviewing all the proposals. My right hon. Friend is doing that in an inclusive and open fashion, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman acknowledges and supports that.
On the issue of resources for Oxfordshire county council and its social services budget, I do not recognise the figures quoted by the hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Woodward). In 1998-99, total social services expenditure for Oxfordshire was £76.8 million; next year, it will be £78.2 million.
Mr. Alan Duncan (Rutland and Melton):
Does the Minister agree that the role of community hospitals is vital in reducing waiting lists in a legitimate way that benefits patients? The record of community hospitals in Oxfordshire and elsewhere is rather better than the hon. Gentleman's record of fiddling the figures. Why will he not admit that the total number of patients now waiting to get on the waiting list has increased by more than 220,000, and that, therefore, today's real waiting list figure is half a million more than he boasts?
Mr. Hutton:
None of that has anything to do with the question or the issue of hospitals in Oxfordshire. I have already tried to make clear the importance we attach to the role of community hospitals. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will have the opportunity to check Hansard tomorrow.
2. Mr. Colin Burgon (Elmet):
What assessment he has made of the performance of NHS Direct. [72375]
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Frank Dobson):
In March last year, we launched NHS Direct pilot schemes in Newcastle, Preston and Milton Keynes. An independent survey has shown that 97 per cent. of the callers surveyed were satisfied with the service they received from the three pilot schemes, which shows that NHS Direct is a great success. That is why we are extending that 24-hour, nurse-led helpline to cover more than 40 per cent. of the country by Easter. That coverage will include West Yorkshire NHS Direct, covering my hon. Friend's constituency. NHS Direct will be extended to cover 60 per cent. of the country by the beginning of December.
Mr. Burgon:
I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. As he said, the NHS Direct initiative will be launched in West Yorkshire on 7 April and will cover some 2 million people. Does he share my hope that in my city of Leeds, the new initiative will help to reduce the number of admissions to accident and emergency units, which currently run at 12 per cent. above the national average?
Further to a conversation I had a with a nurse when I was in hospital the other week, will my right hon. Friend assure me that the new scheme will be given the maximum possible publicity campaign, so that the people of West Yorkshire will be aware of the Government's excellent initiative?
Mr. Dobson:
The object of NHS Direct is to provide a better 24-hour service to people. In some cases, people will be referred instantly to an accident and emergency department; in other cases, they will receive advice, help or reassurance. The object is to provide anyone who rings the service with the assistance that they need. That is the crucial point. One of the few complaints revealed by the survey of the three pilot schemes was that they were not receiving enough publicity. Therefore, I shall do my best to ensure that as each new NHS Direct scheme comes into operation in different parts of the country, it gets the publicity that it clearly deserves.
Mr. Alan Duncan (Rutland and Melton):
Why, when the Secretary of State delivered a statement about NHS Direct only a month ago, did he make no mention of his plans to consider replacing all contact with the family doctor and diverting people instead through a remote national call centre? That is what he told the newspapers on Sunday. He must have known of the proposal in Northumberland when he made his statement. Why did he not have the honesty to tell the House that he was looking to move NHS Direct into a whole new area?
Mr. Dobson:
The hon. Gentleman was present on 2 February when I announced the proposal to extend NHS Direct to 40 per cent. of the country by Easter and to 60 per cent. of the country by December. If he checks Hansard, he will note that I drew attention to the proposal advanced by local doctors from around the Newcastle centre in Northumberland to go ahead with the scheme, under which people would ring NHS Direct first rather than go straight to their doctors. That was part of the statement that the hon. Gentleman may recall he welcomed.
Mr. Duncan:
I have Hansard here. The Secretary of State implied that the proposal was for only out-of-hours
Mr. Dobson:
All that I can say--if it is not out of order, Madam Speaker--is that it seems rather empty-headed to have listened to a statement about a 24-hour helpline and concluded that its extension would not cover a 24-hour period. That is what it will do. I emphasise that I did not provoke or encourage the scheme in Northumberland: the proposal came from the Northumbria ambulance service, the local health information service and Northern Doctors Urgent Care--a GP co-operative which provides services in that area. Those bodies want to go ahead and pilot the scheme and, if it works, I have no doubt that other doctors and people elsewhere in the country will want to introduce similar schemes. We are conducting a pilot scheme to see whether the proposal will work, but it will not prevent people in Northumberland from ringing their own doctors.
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