§ 1. Mr. Rentonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish in the Official Report a list of the new general hospitals that he expects to be opened in England in the next five years.
§ The Minister for Health (Dr. Gerard Vaughan)I shall be glad to send this information to my hon. Friend.
§ Mr. RentonIf, as I suspect, the first phase of the new mid-Sussex general hospital is not on that list, will my hon. Friend share my deep regret at that omission? Is he aware chat my constituents, in an area of rapidly growing population, have waited 20 years for this new hospital? Will he ensure that his Department's new limits on the size and duration of capital contracts do not mean that we shall wait another 20 years?
§ Dr. VaughanI am aware of my hon. Friend's concern in that respect. I assure him that the re-examination of the size of the hospital will not delay the contract. It is expected to start in 1982–83 and to be completed in 1989–90. It is agreed that there should be a full accident and emergency department in the new hospital.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Before I call anyone else may I tell the hon. Gentleman that he should have put down a question about his constituency, because he has made this an open question, which I do not allow.
§ Mr. William HamiltonIs the Minister aware that the question asked for the information to placed in the Official Report? Will he do that?
§ Dr. VaughanYes, I shall be glad to arrange that, but I should point out that the list will be provisional. It may need to be changed, depending upon economic circumstances.
§ Mr. RentonMr. Speaker, I should like to reply to your implied rebuke.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman may ask me a question, but he cannot reply to me.
§ Mr. RentonMay I ask you a question, Mr. Speaker? I tried to put down a specific question about the mid-Sussex hospital, but it was ruled out of order by the Table Office.
§ Mr. SpeakerI still say that the hon. Gentleman could have added the words"especially with regard to Sussex", or something like that.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyWhy is the Minister so coy about giving the figures openly to the House? Will the provisional list be changed because he thinks he can hive off a lot of National Health Service work to private hospitals? Or is he merely seeking to make those of his friends who are in the private sector more viable at the expense of NHS hospitals? If so, he should have the honesty to say so now.
§ Dr. VaughanThe hon. Lady sees mysteries and plots where none exist. It is a rather long list, and I did not want to weary the House with explanations about what was provisional and what was not.