Newcastle (Hansard, 8 February 1960)

§ 39. Dame Irene Ward
asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that, in the area covered by the Newcastle Regional Hospital Board, the number of beds available for general medicine and general surgery, mental deficiency, mental illness, chronic sick and geriatrics and convalescent, are below the national average; and when he intends to allocate money to bring the number of beds in the region up to the national average.

§ Mr. Walker-Smith
Yes, Sir, and the Newcastle Regional Hospital Board is consistently being given favourable capital allocations with this deficiency in mind.

§ Dame Irene Ward
I thank my right hon. and learned Friend for that soporific reply, but is he aware that it is now more than a decade since the National Health Service was introduced and we are still, in most cases, below the national average in the matter of beds? Does he think it is fair that we on the North-East Coast should go on paying taxes for facilities which are denied to us but which others have? Would he like me to lead a campaign against paying taxation for facilities which we do not receive?

§ Mr. Walker-Smith
I am not trying to lull my hon. Friend to sleep. I am merely patiently trying to educate her in the facts of the situation. In none 28 of these specialties is the figure for Newcastle the lowest for the country, and in general medicine and surgery there are seven regions with lower figures. The Newcastle figure is only 0.07 below the national average, whereas the lowest regional ratio is 0.5 below. The Newcastle region is doing particularly well in these matters. My only fear is that, if my hon. Friend keeps on with these questions, I shall be subjected to questions by other hon. Members about why that region does so well.

§ Mr. Peyton
Will my right hon. and learned Friend bear in mind that the national average is a sort of optimum line below which every board is, including the board spoken of by my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Dame Irene Ward), and I hazard a guess that the South-Western Regional Hospital Board is at the bottom of the list? Will he particularly consider the desirability of ensuring that those boards which have the capacity, the ability and the plans to spend money receive the money instead of it being handed back to the Treasury?

§ Mr. Walker-Smith
My prophecy has come true very quickly. My hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Mr. Peyton) has started the competitive process on behalf of other regions. I will certainly bear in mind what he has to say, but it is quite clear that any Minister must allot these capital moneys as fairly as he can between the regions, and I think we are succeeding in that respect.

§ Dame Irene Ward
Will my right hon. and learned Friend accept that I do not agree at all with that answer and other people have just as much right as I have to act for their own regions?

§ 40. Dame Irene Ward
asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the inadequate hospital accommodation in the Wansbeck area of the Newcastle Regional Hospital Board and the board's anxiety about this; and when money will be made available for remedying the position.

§ Miss Pitt
My right hon. and learned Friend is aware that more hospital accommodation is needed in this area, 29 and the construction of a new 87-bed ward block at the Ashington Hospital, estimated to cost £250,000, is due to start this summer.

§ Dame Irene Ward
I thank my hon. Friend for giving the North-East Coast a little bit of encouragement in that satisfactory answer. Will she now urge my right hon. and learned Friend to be as generous to other parts of the Northern region which have not had any further allocation of capital?

§ Miss Pitt
The particular area of the region to which my hon. Friend has addressed her Question was the subject of an earlier Question by the hon. Member for Morpeth (Mr. Owen) in February last year, when he was told that several building schemes were being undertaken in the Wansbeck Group. These have now been completed except for the ward block and boiler house at Ashington Hospital, so I think that this area has done rather well.

§ Mr. Popplewell
We are glad to thank the Parliamentary Secretary for that reply and note that something is being done, but may I add my representation to that of her hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Dame Irene Ward) for something more to be done in this region? The Minister has said that we are doing fairly well in medicine and surgery. We have some of the finest medical and surgical staff in the country, but they are very limited through inadequate hospital facilities. Will the Minister not ride off on that smug, complacent reply and give us what is so urgently needed?

§ Miss Pitt
My right hon. and learned Friend has already replied to the general Question about the position in the region.