§ 1. Mr. DafisTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy on the future of community hospitals. [5208]
§ The Parliamentary Under—Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Gwilym Jones)I can do no better than refer to the report "Community Hospitals Wales—The Future" which we published on 2 October.
§ Mr. DafisI am grateful to the Minister for his suggestion that the Government attach significant importance to community hospitals. Will he undertake to provide additional funding for Dyfed Powys health authority, with special reference to the needs of mid-Wales as a whole and the Ceredigion and Mid-Wales NHS trust in particular? He should bear it in mind that unless he does, that trust will be placed a terrible position next year; it will have to choose between protecting the quality of the range of services currently available at the district general hospital and protecting the three community hospitals. Would not it be disastrous if the decision to close community hospitals was forced on the trust when we should be emphasising the availability of health services that are close to people in their own community?
§ Mr. JonesAfter yesterday afternoon's experience, I had rather thought that the hon. Gentleman might have changed his focus to concentrate on my concern—trying to ensure adequate sight tests for referees north of the border.
I had the opportunity to discuss this subject with the hon. Gentleman in October, and again in an Adjournment debate. He should know by now that I have made available additional funds in the form of a loan to the Dyfed Powys authority. We confidently expect that those funds will meet the authority's needs. I also remind him of the report to which I referred; it recognises the important role of community hospitals and emphasises that they must have a clear role based on local need. I commend the approach that stresses that, whatever the community hospitals' role should be, it should be locally agreed. The hon. Gentleman is scaremongering about 652 community hospitals; if there are to be changes to the community hospitals in his constituency, they will be as a result of local decisions that I expect to be locally based.
§ Mr. RogersI accept that problems involving hospital facilities and transport exist in mid-Wales and in rural communities throughout Wales, but will the Minister also look at the problems in the coal mining valleys of south Wales? People in the Rhondda face difficult transport problems when attempting to travel to general hospitals, and the area contains some of the highest morbidity rates in the United Kingdom. When will the Minister make money available for the second Rhondda hospital?
§ Mr. JonesI think that the hon. Gentleman and I share common ground in wanting to ensure the best locally provided provision of health care, particularly in the Rhondda—we have discussed the subject before. Such issues have to be taken forward carefully as the new hospital at Ynys y Plwm is commissioned, in light of what could, or might, be provided at the Rhondda NHS trust.