§ 5. Mr. OttawayTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of elective surgery is now carried out on a day-case basis. [22855]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Tom Sackville)Half of all elective surgery is done on a day-care basis.
§ Mr. OttawayIn the light of that excellent answer, will my hon. Friend pay tribute to Croydon's Mayday healthcare trust? More than half its non-urgent surgery is carried out on a day-care basis, and it has just opened a brand-new paediatric day-case unit. Does my hon. Friend realise that, if he had listened to the Opposition last week, all that would have been put in jeopardy? Is it not the Conservative party that is looking forward, and the Labour party that is looking backward?
§ Mr. SackvilleI can confirm that 90 per cent. of cataract operations carried out at the Mayday hospital, 73 per cent. of arthroscopies and 54 per cent. of laparoscopies are performed on a day-case basis. That is good news for patients in my hon. Friend's constituency, and I am glad that he has endorsed and paid tribute to what has been a central policy in my Department.
§ Mrs. MahonWhen the Minister gives figures showing an increase in day-case surgery, does he take into account the extra work load for nurses? Does he not feel just a little ashamed of the fact that those who have made that increase possible are now balloting on whether to take industrial action?
Is it not time that the Minister stopped insulting nurses, and started to pay them a proper rate for the job? At present, nurses are scrabbling about with trusts which do not care, and which are not—as the Minister claimed—offering them a 3 per cent. pay increase: they are offering 1 per cent., or 3 per cent. if extra elements are taken into account. That involves altering nurses' working conditions.
§ Mr. SackvilleNurses do a wonderful job in day-case units, and it is right and fitting for their pay to reflect that.