HC Deb 18 July 1995 vol 263 cc1437-8
4. Mr. Stephen

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to strengthen the NHS in West Sussex. [33211]

The Minister for Health (Mr. Gerald Malone)

I am pleased to be able to tell my hon. Friend that more than £284 million, including £6 million in growth money, has been allocated to West Sussex this year for investment in health services. They will have nearly £12 million more growth money next year. There is also a five-year capital programme of more than £100 million. That represents a significant demonstration of commitment to the health of my hon. Friend's constituents.

Mr. Stephen

On behalf of all my constituents, I thank my hon. Friend for the massive injection of cash that the Government have put into the local NHS. Will he join me in thanking not only the doctors and nurses, but the administrators, without whose skill and dedication the local NHS would not have been able to treat more patients, and to a higher standard today than at any time in its history?

Mr. Malone

My hon. Friend is right. It is team work of clinicians, administrators and everyone involved in the NHS that delivers high standards of excellent health care, but I must give him a warning. I mentioned growth money in his constituency and in that part of West Sussex. That comes from savings in bureaucracy from getting rid of regions, which the Labour party has pledged to restore. I ask him therefore to point that out to his constituents, and to tell them that, if they want that growth money to flow, they had better have a careful look at Labour party policy.