§ 2.45 p.m.
§ Lord EnnalsMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what cuts in staff and services are proposed for Guy's Hospital by the Lewisham Health Authority and whether the Secretary of State for Social Services will intervene.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Baroness Trumpington)My Lords, I understand that the Lewisham and North Southwark Health Authority is taking steps to correct overspending on some of its services. We expect the authority to deliver its services within the resources allocated to it by the regional health authority, but the means of doing so is a matter for management locally.
§ Lord EnnalsMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for the statement that she has made. However, does she accept that the proposal is that there should be a reduction of 346 posts at Guy's Hospital, including both doctors and nurses? Also, with fewer acute beds and longer waiting lists, does the noble Baroness believe that this is a good way of running the Health Service? Does she not accept that Guy's Hospital is one of the country's centres of excellence, and ought not the Secretary of State intervene in some way to prevent a hospital such as this being further cut back?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, of course I recognise that Guy's is a centre of excellence. It is not our policy to interfere with regional health authorities; but in relation to the staff savings, the DHA plans to save the 346 posts in Guy's acute unit in 1985–86. The vast majority of savings in regard to these posts will come from cost improvements in support services. Many posts should be saved by a freeze on recruitment and from voluntary redundancies, but compulsory redundancies cannot be ruled out.
§ Lord EnnalsMy Lords, will the noble Baroness agree with this? If she simply freezes posts, if that includes doctors, nurses and professions supplementary to medicine, the inevitable consequence will be that there will be a further cut-back over and above the cut of 100 beds that took place last year in the number of beds available in Guy's Hospital. Is that not an appalling situation.
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, the Lewisham and North Southwark Health Authority is, as the noble Lord will be aware, considering rescinding its policy of making no compulsory redundancies. The measures it will have to take to recoup unplanned overspending in the past two financial years will involve staff savings which cannot be guaranteed to be met entirely by voluntary redundancies.