HC Deb 16 November 1992 vol 214 cc9-10
8. Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on future hospital provision in the area of South Glamorgan health authority.

Mr. David Hunt

This is a matter at the present time for the health authority.

Mr. Morgan

We in the Cardiff area are concerned about the delay in knowing exactly how many hospitals are to remain open and how many will be closed. As I have received letters from consultants at one of our leading hospitals, Llandough, saying that junior hospital doctors do not have any work to do, the Secretary of State will naturally, I hope, share my concern that the Under-Secretary of State, who is responsible for health matters in Wales, should think of giving up complacency for Lent. There is one big difference between the Under-Secretary and me as the two Ministers responsible for health matters in Wales. If I roll up my right trouser leg, it is to show people—

Madam Speaker

Order. I should appreciate it if the hon. Gentleman remained within the terms of his question.

Mr. Morgan

The point about the future of health provision and hospitals is that they have to be run by people who have a genuine interest in their proceedings and who do not make provision for appointing their own secretaries to the board of the health authority.

Mr. Hunt

The hon. Gentleman is not one of the Ministers responsible for the health service in Wales and he never will be. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary and I have seen in South Glamorgan an increase in expenditure from £57 million in 1978–79 to £218 million this year. As a result, health care in South Glamorgan has improved considerably. The hon. Gentleman mentioned Llandough hospital. It received one of only 36 chartermarks awarded in the United Kingdom; that award is based on the highest standards of service and the high standards offered by the hospital. The hon. Gentleman should rethink what he says before he spouts his script without reference to what is happening on the ground in South Glamorgan.

Mr. Sweeney

How many more people are being treated in Welsh hospitals than were treated in 1979? Is that not the real test of the success of the health service?

Mr. Hunt

We have seen enormous increases in resources, from £57.8 million to £218.3 million. Over the past year alone, the in-patient list in South Glamorgan has come down 12 per cent., and the number of people waiting over a year for in-patient treatment is down 34 per cent. My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the achievements of South Glamorgan. I pay tribute to all those who work in the health service in South Glamorgan, and I ask them not to pay attention to the hon. Member for Cardiff, West (Mr. Morgan) and instead to pay attention to the achievements of the Government and the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Mr. Sweeney).

Mr. Michael

If everything is so marvellous, why have wards at Llandough been closed when there are patients waiting for operations? As the question is about future provision, why is it that, since 1987, we have not had a proper plan for the future of hospitals in South Glamorgan, the plan produced then was unsatisfactory and was only partially approved and the planning of health services in South Glamorgan is in such a shambles?

Mr. Hunt

It is not in a shambles. The health authority asked in 1989 whether it might review its strategic plan and that is the review which is taking place. That is why the answer to the original question was that this is a matter for the health authority to determine.