§ 6. Mr. Nigel Waterson (Eastbourne)What assessment he has made of the implications of the Greenwood report for Eastbourne district general hospital. [98931]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Ms Gisela Stuart)Once the recommendations contained in the "Report into Nursing at Eastbourne Hospitals NHS Trust" are implemented, confidence in the national health service will be re-established, high quality services will be provided in a safe environment and the trust should develop as a real centre of excellence for local people.
§ Mr. WatersonCan the Minister confirm that one of the key conclusions of the Greenwood report was that there was a shortage of qualified nurses and a problem with the nursing staffs skills mix at that district general hospital? Is she aware that, as recently as the past week, the Hailsham 2 ward—a 30-bed ward—has been closed, and that the reason given is to ease pressures on nursing staff? When will the Government do something positive about putting in more resources to hire more nurses, especially fully qualified nursing staff, at Eastbourne district general hospital?
§ Ms StuartThe hon. Gentleman raises some very valid issues. As a previous Parliamentary Private Secretary to a Health Minister, he knows that it takes several years to train nurses. There has been a shortage of qualified nurses in that area, which we are addressing. The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to know that, since the Adjournment debate that he initiated, an extra five nurses have been recruited to the surgical ward, which is temporarily closed; but more important, extra funding has been found for an extra 10 nurses in the area. I am sure that he will welcome the extra £900,000 that is to go into the accident and emergency department in that hospital next year.
§ Mr. Norman Baker (Lewes)May I refer the Minister to the early-day motion that I tabled at the end of the previous Session, which drew attention to the fact that the former chief executive, who was heavily criticised in the excellent Greenwood report, was given a pay-off of £76,000? Does she understand how angry my constituents in Seaford, Polegate and elsewhere are that a person who should be seen to have failed abysmally and who brought so much distress on the hospital, should be rewarded with such a pay-off? Does she believe that hospital porters who 461 failed would be given such a pay-off? Is it not time that NHS contracts were rewritten to ensure that failure cannot be rewarded?
§ Ms StuartFailure should never be rewarded. In the case to which the hon. Gentleman refers, the settlement that was reached was the minimum cost settlement that the NHS could legally make. Individual trusts negotiate and, as a result of the incidents in that hospital, the regional director, Barbara Stocking, has written to all the NHS trust boards and required them to examine contracts of employment to ensure that the situation that the hon. Gentleman describes does not occur again.