§ 3. Mr. FatchettTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he has any plans to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the National Health Service; and if he will make a statement on the future of health care in Northern Ireland.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Richard Needham)Any plans to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the National Health Service in Northern Ireland will be left to individual health boards to decide. As regards the future of health care in Northern Ireland, that is as set out in the "Regional Strategy for the Health and Personal Social Services 1987–92", published in August 1987.
§ Mr. FatchettWill the Minister take this opportunity to thank the health workers of Northern Ireland for their dedication and courage over recent years? Will he also take this opportunity of looking again at the cuts in the budget for the Northern health board and the fact that the board is underfunded in terms of health spending? Will he also give the House and the people of Northern Ireland a commitment that he will set up a public inquiry to consider those cuts?
§ Mr. NeedhamI join the hon. Gentleman in paying tribute to the health workers of Northern Ireland. They themselves have something to celebrate. In the seven years to December 1986, the number of employees in the Health Service in Northern Ireland increased by 9 per cent., hospital-related services by 10 per cent., health centres by over 50 per cent., health visiting services by 14 per cent. and home nursing services by 40 per cent. There has been a large increase in health spending over the past 10 years. I cannot give the hon. Gentleman a guarantee about setting up a public inquiry for the Northern health board over its proposals for hospital closures. This has been debated thoroughly throughout Northern Ireland over many months. There has been every opportunity—an opportunity that they have not taken—for the leaders of the trade unions to come and discuss it with me. I believe that the Northern health board's strategy for rationalising acute care and community hospitals in Northern Ireland will benefit all the people in its area.
§ Mr. McGradyWill the Minister join me in expressing grave concern about the health of the elderly and the disabled, who are being deprived of basic home-help and telephone connection facilities because of the cuts that are being imposed on the health boards? Many of these people live in isolated rural communities and their only contact with others is by means of the telephone or through the home-help service. Will the Minister take the necessary steps to provide additional finance to reinstate these greatly needed services?
§ Mr. NeedhamThe hon. Gentleman knows that care in the community is a main plank of our strategy in Northern Ireland. I cannot accept that the rationalisation that is taking place in the Health Service has led to a diminution of care, although the hon. Gentleman is right to say that there are fewer home helps than there were. However, in proportionate terms there are still roughly two or three times as many in Northern Ireland as are available in the rest of the country. Much of the service that is provided by them is being assisted through an increased number of health centres and through residential accommodation and the voluntary sector. We shall continue to build on services in the community.
§ Rev. William McCreaWill the Minister accept from me that many of the members of health boards in Northern Ireland are nominated and are not representative of the people? The Northern health board's strategy for health services and hospital provision in future is not the one that is desired and does not reflect the will of the general public. Will the Minister institute an inquiry immediately into the basis of the board's decisions, which will affect the major hospitals in the area?
§ Mr. NeedhamI shall not. I do not believe that the representatives of the district councils and the members of the Northern health board can agree among themselves on 514 what they want. The mix of the board—it is a large body with representatives of the entire community within the area that it covers—is extremely representative of the public in the area. I believe that it has come to the right decisions in its strategic proposals.