HC Deb 01 February 2000 vol 343 cc901-3
11. Mr. Harry Cohen (Leyton and Wanstead)

If he will make a statement on the number of acute beds in NHS hospitals. [106248]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Ms Gisela Stuart)

Acute beds have remained broadly stable under this Government at around 108,000. Even so, there is a view that in some places hospital bed reductions may have gone too far or alternative services may not have been put in place. That is why the national beds inquiry was set up. It is now nearing completion and its findings will be published shortly.

Mr. Cohen

Is the Minister aware that local NHS chiefs have said that more beds are needed in my health area, Redbridge and Waltham Forest, and that the Association of Community Health Councils has said that more beds are needed nationally? Under the previous Government, 40,000 NHS beds were cut. In September 1998, the present Government set up the national beds inquiry. Is it not time that it reported, and that the Government responded to it? Is it not the case that we need more beds—not only acute beds, but mental health and intensive care beds? I hope that the Government will not go to sleep on this issue.

Ms Stuart

I can assure my hon. Friend that we have no intention of going to sleep on anything, unlike previous Conservative Governments who, over 30 years, never conducted any systematic research into the use of beds. [Interruption.] We have done so, but the last systematic inquiry into the use of hospitals and beds happened under Enoch Powell.

It is not just a question of beds and the use of beds—we needed to make sure that we considered the use of hospitals as a whole system and that we examined the use of day-care beds for elective surgery, the use of acute beds and the use of beds for critical care. The latest information arrived in December and we are processing and analysing the data. We shall publish the report shortly.

Mrs. Marion Roe (Broxbourne)

Acute beds need nursing staff to care for the people in them. How does the Minister intend to tackle the problem of nurse recruitment, given that the Labour Government's campaign has been less than successful? The United Kingdom Central Council nursing register continues to fall. It shows that 12 per cent. of those on the register are over the age of 55 and that fewer than 20 per cent. are under the age of 30, thus creating an age timebomb. How does the Minister intend to tackle that problem?

Ms Stuart

Unlike the previous Government, we responded to the need for nurses not by cutting nurse training places, but by increasing them. Since the Government came to power, 2,500 extra places for training have been created, 2,500 nurses have returned to the profession and we have also trained extra doctors. That is forward looking. We have not cut services and then tried to blame someone else for that.

Mr. Bill Rammell (Harlow)

Does my hon. Friend agree that nobody with any credibility will listen to the criticisms made by Conservatives Members about acute bed numbers or the number of nurses in the system? Does she agree that the problem of acute beds is the result not only of the 40,000 beds that were cut under the previous Government, but of developing a belief in the health service that increased efficiency would always reduce the number of beds? Therefore, if the inquiry suggests that we have too few acute beds in the system, will the Government act on its findings as a matter of urgency?

Ms Stuart

Of course, techniques change and the use of beds has to be assessed. That is why the national beds inquiry will consider the matter. There has been an increase in elective surgery and something like half of all elective surgery now takes place in day-care units. The important point is that we shall examine the system, modernise the NHS and respond to strategic needs. We will not say that the answer to long-term problems is the private sector and privatising the national health service.

Dr. Liam Fox (Woodspring)

During the past year, how many intensive care beds have been created?

Ms Stuart

I am aware that on a previous occasion I told the House that some 100 critical care beds have been created. I am delighted to say that that figure is not correct.

When comparing March 1999 and 17 January 2000, the true figure is 122 critical care beds. Information on their precise location and other details has been placed in the Library.

Dr. Fox

That was an interesting answer, but to a different question. I did not ask about critical care beds; I asked about intensive care beds. In the last health debate, the Secretary of State said that he had managed to identify eight; in his letter to me of 6 January he said that there were 100; on "Breakfast with Frost" the Prime Minister said that there were 60; and when my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) asked about the number of additional intensive care beds that had been created in each NHS trust in 1999 he was told: Information is not available in the form requested."—[Official Report, 24 January 2000; Vol. 343, c. 103W.] Given that all those answers cannot be correct, which ones were untrue?

Ms Stuart

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has written to the hon. Gentleman to clarify the position. However, if he is really interested in patient care, he will look at the figures published in the latest research, which was verified on 17 January. If he is interested in the truth, he will look at that rather than scoring cheap points that do not benefit any patients at all.

Dr. Fox

Imagine the audacity of the House of Commons in wanting information from a Minister! These Ministers could not ask for water if they were thirsty. Is not the truth that information that the Government do not like is denied, distorted or withheld? Like the Home Secretary's numbers, the Health Secretary's intensive care beds are complete fantasy. Will the Minister guarantee that by this time next year there will be an increase in the number of intensive care beds as well as critical care beds, and that those figures will be published monthly by trusts throughout the country? We could all then know the truth—we certainly cannot take the Government's word for it.

Ms Stuart

The hon. Gentleman has to make up his mind about what kind of backseat driver he wants to be. Does he want to keep saying, "Give us information faster and faster", or does he want reliable information that is analysed properly? Information, such as that produced by the national beds inquiry, is being analysed properly and will then be made available, and other information will be made available more quickly. Surely we should give out appropriate information at the right time and in the right place when it is most useful for management decisions.