HC Deb 25 April 1989 vol 151 cc793-4
5. Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the state of the National Health Service in Leicestershire.

Mr. Mellor

Leicestershire has benefited substantially from the extra money that the Government have made available—almost £200 million this year to Leicestershire health authority compared with £177 million last year, which is a real terms increase of some 2.4 per cent. There has been a substantial investment in new and improved facilities, including a new community hospital at Coalville opened in 1988 at a cost of £3.3 million, and further phases of Glenfield general hospital and Leicester royal infirmary, which are due to open in August 1990 and July 1991 respectively.

Mr. Vaz

Is the Minister aware that, despite those mythical millions, currently 16,000 Leicestershire people are on the waiting list, more than 1,000 of whom have been waiting for longer than one year? Is he aware also that in Leicestershire, it takes 12 months to have a hearing aid fitted after referral from a GP? The Leicester royal infirmary has overspent its budget by £750,000 to protect local hospital services. Is the Minister further aware that last Friday I met general practitioners in my constituency, many of whom were lifelong supporters of the Conservative party, and many of whom said that their patients will suffer and in some cases die if the Government's doctor-capping proposals are brought into effect? When will the Government defend the National Health Service rather than destroy it?

Mr. Mellor

There can be nothing mythical about the work being done at Glenfield and at Leicester royal infirmary, which will result in 700 new beds at a cost of more than £30 million. There can be nothing mythical about the fact that in the years 1982–86, some £47 million was spent on capital works in that district. However, there was something mythical about capital spend in the late 1970s under the Labour Government, when only £1 million was spent in 1978–79. We have increased that figure tenfold every year.

Mr. Latham

Is my hon. and learned Friend aware that Rutland people warmly welcome the offer of my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Health to visit Oakham and—in view of Leicestershire health authority's regrettable decision to close Oakham maternity unit—to talk to people there about rural services? Can an early date be set for that visit?

Mr. Mellor

My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State is for ever using his Away Day ticket to travel to such meetings. It is a regrettable fact that when there is massive capital expenditure on major facilities in a district such as Leicestershire, it is necessary also to close smaller facilities. That is particularly so with maternity units, where the necessity to continue reducing perinatal mortality means that larger maternity units are needed. I understand the stress and difficulty that such decisions sometimes cause local communities, which is why we have a system in which community health councils can object and in which, ultimately, Ministers can make a separate determination as to whether a closure is justified.