§ 4. Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what initiatives he proposes to encourage the building of neighbourhood hospitals.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary State for Wales (Mr. Gwilym Jones)It is the work of the health authorities to plan health care facilities, but I give my support to neighbourhood hospitals, for I see them bringing care closer to the people.
§ Mr. MorganI congratulate you, Madam Speaker, on your first Welsh Question Time and I congratulate the hon. Member for Cardiff, North (Mr. Jones), who represents the neighbourhood constituency to mine, on his appointment. If he applies his mind I am sure that he will be able to outshine his predecessor in the role.
Does the Minister accept, from the evidence that we have in Cardiff and in Barry, that there will be a delay of at least a year in the construction of the new neighbourhood hospitals that were supposed to follow on from the demolition of the former St. David's hospital and of the Barry neighbourhood hospital? On top of that there are horrifying reports of the forthcoming closure at Llandough hospital of the children's cancer ward and other wards. Does the hon. Gentleman accept that when it comes to defending the NHS the Tories are nothing more than a bunch of frauds?
§ Mr. JonesI must thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind remarks, which he phrased in a way that was typically kind of him.
I understand from South Glamorgan health authority that the neighbourhood hospitals for St. David's and the Neale Kent hospital in Barry are meant to be proceeded with at the earliest opportunity. There is already provision in the all-Wales capital building programme, and in my new responsibilities I look forward to consulting South Glamorgan health authority about exactly that.
I am also aware of the reports to which the hon. Gentleman refers about Llandough hospital and others in South Glamorgan, and I have caused them to be investigated. I have been told that the proposals quoted in the press have not even been discussed with senior management in the health authority, let alone with the health authority itself. By contrast, I suggest that South Glamorgan health authority has an excellent record. In the past year it has increased its number of in-patients by 12 per cent., of day patients by 12 per cent. and of out-patients by 17 per cent. The hon. Gentleman might care to note that and to join me in congratulating the excellent staff in South Glamorgan who are achieving these results.
§ Mr. DickensWill my hon. Friend confirm that record numbers of patients are being treated by the national health service in Wales and that the service there is receiving record funding? Does not this reflect credit on the health service and on the Welsh Office?
§ Mr. JonesI am pleased to say that my hon. Friend is quite right. The health service in Wales has a record of excellent achievement and there has been a staggering increase of 227 per cent. in the number of day patients being treated since the Government came to power. My hon. Friend is also right about expenditure. New money this year amounts to £9 per week for every man, woman and child in Wales. That is an excellent record.