Hospitals

HC Deb 20 May 1992 vol 208 cc252-4

14. Mr. Tom Clarke

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last consulted Lanarkshire health board on the future status of Monklands district hospital and Bellshill maternity hospital.

Mr. Lang

An expression of interest in trust status has been made by clinicians and management in Monklands district hospital and Bellshill maternity hospital. I will be consulting the health board as and when a formal trust application is received.

Mr. Clarke

Before the Secretary of State takes a final decision on these matters will he carefully consider the third report of the Select Committee on Health, which sets out what a shambles previous opt-out arrangements have proved to be? Will he specifically give assurances about the quality of care that is being provided in mental health and geriatric services in the unit and the future status of Coathill hospital?

Whatever else the Secretary of State might have said today, will he have the sensitivity genuinely to consult those who provide services as well as the communities that receive them, especially as the Government's thinking on these matters was overwhelmingly rejected by the people of Lanarkshire on 9 April?

Mr. Lang

I am sure that the health board will take account of all relevant factors in considering the matter. There will be a consultation period of three months, during which such points can be made to it. The hon. Gentleman talks about an alleged shambles. If he examines the experience of trust hospitals in the south he will find evidence of more patients treated, more equipment bought, more consultants recruited and an all-round improvement in the quality of medical service.

Dr. Reid

In the light of what the Secretary of State has said about opt-outs, will he explain why the Tory placemen and placewomen who constitute the Lanarkshire health board assured my colleagues from Lanarkshire and myself on 16 September 1991 that there was not a whiff of interest in opting out, when five months later there is, apparently, a great deal of interest in it? Will he explain what has happened other than a general election? Was information suppressed because the placemen and placewomen and those who placed them—the Tories on the Government Front Bench—knew that if they told the people of Lanarkshire that their best hospitals were to be opted out, their share of the vote would be more derisory than it turned out to be in the general election?

Mr. Lang

The reason for the revived interest in trust hospital status derives from the fact that the threat of the nine-day wonder proposed by the Labour party has now been removed. People are now more aware of the reality of trust status and the advantages that it brings. They realise that the alarms and the irresponsible scares conjured up by the Labour party have no basis.

The hon. Gentleman referred to popular support. I can only point out to him that the Conservative party held the Ayr constituency and won the Aberdeen, South constituency and the Kincardine and Deesside constituency, where the two trust status hospitals exist.

Mr. Galbraith

Does the Secretary of State agree that opted-out hospitals have no statutory obligation to undertake national health service work and that there is no limit on the extent of their private practices? What will the right hon. Gentleman do to restrict the amount of private practice undertaken in those hospitals? How will he do that and so prevent the extensive development of a two-tier system?

Mr. Lang

The relationship between a trust hospital and its health board is negotiated between them and included in their contract. The hon. Gentleman knows that the vast majority of the medical care carried out by trust hospitals will be for the NHS.

15. Dr. Strang

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with Lothian health board about hospital provision; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Allan Stewart

Discussions about the provision of hospital services in Lothian normally take place with the NHS management executive which reports to Ministers.

Dr. Strang

Does the Minister accept that there is now an overwhelming consensus in Lothian behind the plan to construct a new hospital at Little France, in the south-east area of Edinburgh, to replace the Edinburgh royal infirmary? Does he further accept that if that new hospital is to be a centre of international excellence in medical teaching, research and practice—not just an accident and emergency service—and a major trauma centre, and if it is to give value for money in Lothian, it must be a large hospital? When will the Government give approval in principle to the project?

Mr. Stewart

Lothian health board is reviewing its acute services strategy, which includes the provision of a new teaching hospital in Edinburgh. Once the strategic decisions are taken on the scale and distribution of acute services, other important related issues can be decided.

On the question of the time scale, I was advised earlier today that decisions will be reached in the summer. I rather churlishly pointed out that perhaps the summer had arrived and I was advised that the time scale for decision making will be late summer. My noble and learned Friend the Minister of State will keep the hon. Gentleman fully in touch with developments.

Mr. Darling

How will any decision by the present royal infirmary to opt out of the health service affect the new royal infirmary? The Minister must be aware that administrators in the royal infirmary are trying to drum up interest in opting out. Would that affect the new royal infirmary? Many people would be very angry if public money were used to build one of the most prestigious hospitals in the world, only to discover that it was being handed over to a private enterprise.

Mr. Stewart

The hon. Gentleman is fighting the battles of the past.

Mr. Galloway

We won those battles.

Mr. Stewart

Does the hon. Member for Glasgow, Garscadden (Mr. Dewar) agree with the hon. Member for Glasgow, Hillhead (Mr. Galloway)? Labour Members are fighting the battles of the past.

In considering any applications, my right hon. Friend will take all relevant factors into account.