§ 14. Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he next expects to meet the chairman of South Glamorgan health authority to discuss health services.
§ Mr. GristMy right hon. Friend has no immediate plans to meet the chairman of South Glamorgan health authority.
§ Mr. MorganDoes the Minister agree that such a meeting is urgently required? At a meeting on Wednesday this week, South Glamorgan health authority will consider an emergency proposal to close six hospitals. Three of them are in my constituency—St. David's and Glan Ely hospitals and Ely ear nose and throat hospital. The shortfall for next year's budget is £7.5 million, and as a result the authority is reduced to planning in a panic, and having to sell capital resources to fund a revenue shortfall. I should have thought that the Minister would regard that with the utmost seriousness.
§ Mr. GristThe hon. Gentleman will know that those proposals are the responsibility of the health authority. As they may eventually come before my right hon. Friend for a decision, it is impossible for me to talk about them. He will also know that the health authority that he and I share is the best resourced in Wales. In the forthcoming year its capital allocation will be increased by 122 per cent. which I think the hon. Gentleman will agree is fairly generous.
§ Dr. MarekHow much extra will it cost the authority when it has to pay for its patients to be treated in England, and how much extra will it cost when the authority has to pay value added tax?
§ Mr. GristThe health authorities will be funded for value added tax and for contracts taken out elsewhere.
The hon. Gentleman must understand that South Glamorgan health authority is as likely to attract inward patients as anywhere else, as it is a regional centre and a highly regarded university hospital-based authority.