§ 11. Mr. Peter Bottomleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the future of services provided at the Eltham and Mottingham hospital.
§ Mr. MoyleThis hospital is to close and its present services are to be transferred to other hospitals in the Greenwich and Bexley area.
§ Mr. BottomleyDoes not the Minister understand that the fragmented services to which he refers at this hospital are the very services which should be kept in the middle of a community? Does he not want to avoid the mistakes that successive Secretaries of State for housing and education have made by concentrating all services in large, impersonal "people factories" instead of keeping hospital care and community work where it should be?
§ Mr. MoyleYes, but the area in question has had the benefit of considerable capital investment in recent years. Two large new hospitals have been built, one at Greenwich and the other at St. Mary's, Sidcup. There are a number of other hospitals in the area as well. I therefore do not accept the validity of the hon. Member's argument.