§ 4. Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to visit St. George's hospital, Tooting to discuss future funding; and if he will make a statement. [407]
§ Mr. DobsonMy ministerial colleagues and I will be visiting a large number of hospitals over the coming months. This may well include St. George's. We want to learn at first hand how all the hospitals have been badly affected by the policies of the previous Government, and to make sure that their experience informs the changes that we intend to make.
§ Mr. CoxI congratulate my right hon. Friend and his team on their appointments, and I note his reply to my question. When he comes to St. George's, he will learn a great deal. Some of our wards are closed, and earlier this month more than 30 members of staff were made redundant because there is no money to pay them or to keep the wards open. That is what my right hon. Friend inherits in one of London's major hospitals.
I am sure that the general public realise that we intend to rebuild the health service. Now we must show the loyal people who have worked in it through difficult years that we in turn are wholly committed to them—the members of staff at the hospital will welcome that.
§ Mr. DobsonI agree entirely with my hon. Friend. In the brief period that I have been Secretary of State I have found much enthusiasm among the hard-working people in the health service, who have kept it going during the past 18 years, for the election of the Labour Government and a willingness to recognise that the problems are so enormous that they cannot be put right overnight. The inheritance that my hon. Friend has described at St. George's applies to virtually every hospital and every health authority.