§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has received the letter from the hon. Member for Newham, North-West about the loss of her baby by a constituent of the hon. Member; whether he will cause an investigation to be made to show to what extent this was due to lack of facilities in Newham in general and the hospital in question; and whether he will give an assurance that no impending expenditure cuts will adversely affect the hospital services generally and the maternity services, in particular, in the London borough of Newham.
§ Dr. OwenI have received the letter and I have asked the health authorities to consider it in detail and to make a report.
I regret that I can give no assurance that any service will remain entirely unaffected by economic constraints, but my hon. Friend may be assured that we shall continue to give high priority to improving hospital services in Newham.