HC Deb 23 November 1964 vol 702 cc885-6
10. Mr. Dudley Smith

asked the Minister of Health if he proposes to retain small general hospitals within the revised hospital system.

Mr. Robinson

Some will be retained. As improved facilities are made available others will be closed or their use will be changed.

Mr. Smith

Is the Minister aware that these small hospitals are usually very popular in the communities which they serve, particularly if they lessen the burden on some of the larger hospitals in the same area? Does not he think that there is a significant case to be made out for retaining the majority of them as small general hospitals rather than incorporating them into specialised units?

Mr. Robinson

These are some of the possibilities open to me when proposals for closure come forward. They could perhaps be used as long-stay geriatric units; as maternity units where the distance from a district general hospital is excessive; or as peripheral clinics for medical emergencies. But before any small hospital is closed, the proposal for closure will come to me for my decision.

Sir A. V. Harvey

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that when my right hon. Friend the previous Minister announced the list he said that many of these hospitals would not lose their status for another 10 or 15 years? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware of the consternation and upset caused to many people in this regard, and will he look at the case of the Congleton War Memorial Hospital, which was paid for by the local people and is very efficient and particularly up-to-date, and try to allay the anxiety of the local population?

Mr. Robinson

Long before any hospital is due for closure, the matter will come to me with the board's recommendation, and the fullest consultation will be made with local interests before even a recommendation comes to me. I am sure that that will apply to Congleton as to any other hospital.