§ 12. Mrs. Anne CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the provision of long-term residential beds for the elderly in the Cambridge and Huntingdon health authorities. [13315]
§ Mr. BowisCambridge and Huntingdon health authorities, in common with all others, have been consulting on and reviewing local provision for people with continuing health care needs.
§ Mrs. CampbellWhy will beds be lost at Brookfield and Chesterton hospitals in Cambridge, when there is already an estimated 1,350 shortage of nursing home and long-term residential beds? What will people in the Cambridge and Huntingdon health commission areas do if no alternative provision is made before those beds are lost?
§ Mr. BowisPeople will be pleased to know that the local health commission has decided to invest a further 800 £1 million in the area, and that the region is considering further support from the strategic charge levy fund—which will enable exactly that sort of planning.