Hospital Trusts (Hansard, 19 October 1992)

§ 5. Mr. Gareth Wardell
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what formal mechanism he will use to monitor hospital trusts in Wales.

§ Mr. Gwilym Jones
As well as monitoring activity and performance by district health authorities and OP fund holders, Welsh Office monitoring of NHS trusts will be centred around the business plans which all new trusts are required to produce each year. That will be in addition to the accountability to the public. New trusts are expected to hold an annual general meeting, produce an annual report and publish audited accounts.

§ Mr. Wardell
As someone who is extremely dissatisfied with the lack of proper monitoring of hospital trusts that the Minister has just announced, may I ask what he will do to ensure that early-warning signs are in place if those trusts get into financial difficulty? When they do, will he pick up the tab if they are in debt?

§ Mr. Jones
Officials in the Welsh Office are already considering how best to monitor the business plans. I envisage that to be an ongoing process so that it can work as helpfully as possible.

§ Mr. Conway
Is my hon. Friend aware of the large number of patients from mid and north Wales who use the excellent facilities supplied at the ear, nose and throat hospital in Shrewsbury? Will he ensure that, when monitoring the position, he also keeps a weather eye on what is happening on the other side of the border? If the suggested plans are carried out to move that hospital to the east, it would not only inconvenience a great number of my constituents in Shrewsbury, but greatly inconvenience patients from mid and north Wales who use the hospital's excellent facilities.

§ Mr. Jones
Yes, I am aware of the position. My hon. Friend is right to raise that important matter, which I trust will be fully taken into consideration.

§ Mr. Morgan
The Government's favourite theme song at the moment is, "I'm in the mood for U-turns"—do U-turns also apply to the formation of national health service trusts? I should like to know that before the Government continue with the disastrous policy in Wales where, so far, there is fortunately only one trust hospital. The Government now insist on creating a split between the purchaser and the provider, while the electricity industry is confusing the role of purchaser and provider. Does the Secretary of State agree that the Government's hallmark has been first, meddling, then bungling, and finally—I hope that this will be confirmed later today—backtracking?

§ Mr. Jones
The hon. Gentleman must curb his impatience to hear about the further progress that I hope we shall make. Meanwhile, I assure him that all the representations received will be fully considered in the evaluation of NHS trust applications. No trust applications will be approved unless my right hon. Friend and I are convinced that they will mean an improvement for patients.