§ 9. Mr. MullinTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to reduce beds in the Sunderland health authority; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. SackvilleI understand that Sunderland health authority's five-year plans propose that acute services in Sunderland should eventually be concentrated on the Sunderland district general hospital site.
§ Mr. MullinIs the Minister aware of a report by Professor Keri Davies recommending that the number of beds in Sunderland be reduced from the present 1,600 to 800 or 900? Is he aware that the health authority members were asked to approve that report without being shown it, that it has not been made available to the community health council and that I, the local Member of Parliament, cannot obtain a copy? What confidence can the people of 141 Sunderland have that the changes in their health service will be properly managed when the health authority behaves in such a way? What assurance can the Minister give them that any changes made will be properly discussed in public?
§ Mr. SackvilleThe hon. Gentleman should know that the actual level of staffed beds is 1,150, so the numbers that he gave for the reduction are inaccurate. He should also know that Sunderland has the lowest waiting times anywhere in the northern region. It is not surprising that, with the growth of day surgery and the new day surgery unit on the district general hospital site, in-patient times will fall, and there will be a lower demand for beds. The hon. Gentleman must realise that if there are two or three hospitals and it is clear from projections of bed demand that at some time in the future we shall be able to treat all the patients better and more effectively in one hospital, it is necessary to take action. If we did not, we should be asking the national health service to spend money on buildings rather than on patients. That is no way to run a health service.