§ 3.10 p.m.
§ Lord PANNELLMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made a firm decision about the future of St. Nicholas' Hospital, Plumstead, and what is the future provision for hospitals in that area, particularly Thamesmead.
1160§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, as my noble friend will know, the planning and administration of health services in Greenwich and Bexley is the responsibility of the Area Health Authority in the first instance. Their proposals for future provision of hospitals in the area are given in their Consultative Document published in November 1976. This document is still being considered by the various local interests which include the community health council. Under the formal procedures covering such matters, a decision regarding the future of the hospital or any hospital would fall to my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Social Services only in the absence of agreement between the Area Health Authority and the community health council.
§ Lord PANNELLMy Lords, I was afraid I would get that reply. Is the noble Lord aware that it seems that everybody is rolling with the punch and that there has been a considerable outcry about the future of this hospital? Is he further aware that all the plans that are about mean that everybody is being considered except the catchment area with the greatest potential, which is Thamesmead itself? Will the Minister or his Department consider getting rid of the Health Authority in this district, and setting up another one to take a look at this situation de novo and to come up with a solution which keeps St. Nicholas' Hospital, which satisfies a great public need?
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I wonder whether my noble friend is correct in what he says. There are community health councils which were established for the sole purpose of looking after and watching the interests and needs of patients and people in their particular areas. A hospital cannot be closed unless the community health council agrees. As I said a moment ago, if there is dispute between the Area Health Authority and the community health council, then it is a matter for the Secretary of State. But the community health council—and this is the point I want to make—is there to watch the interests of the people in a particular area.
§ Lord BOSTON of FAVERSHAMMy Lords, is it not the case that in this particular area one of the great problems 1161 is communications, particularly transport, and whereas there is another hospital, called the Brook Hospital, that serves the South side of this area? That is reasonably convenient for people in places like Eltham, but the St. Nicholas' Hospital is the only one convenient to the area which is the concern of my noble friend Lord Pannell. Is it not the case that the St. Nicholas' Hospital was envisaged as having a long-term future? Will my noble friend confirm that?
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I can only come back to what I have said: the responsibility for deciding the coverage of medical health services is a matter for the Area Health Authority. This particular Area Health Authority has produced a very comprehensive Consultative Document which is being considered by all sections within that area, and they have something like six months to arrive at a conclusion. It is really for the people on the spot, through the community health council, to find the best possible way of offering an adequate service in the particular area, Thamesmead, to which my noble friend has just referred.
§ Lord PANNELLMy Lords, is the noble Lord aware that I have read all these documents, which seem to be written on a series of completely false assumptions? The public view in the area is that we shall probably finish up with St. Nicholas' Hospital turned into extra office accommodation for the already over-bloated bureaucracy in those parts.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I can only conclude that that is pure conjecture.