NHS Services (Access)

Andy Sawford Excerpts

Wednesday 15th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Andy Sawford (Corby) (Lab/Co-op)]

In the time available, I want to make the case for fair funding for health services in my constituency. My right hon. Friend the Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham) set out powerfully the charge sheet against this Government: a costly reorganisation that nobody wanted; a push to privatisation that nobody wanted, except perhaps some of the Tory donors; and fragmentation where we need integration—nowhere more so than in health and social care, because of the massive cuts to care budgets.

In my constituency there are brilliant health care workers struggling to deliver the best possible care for patients against the backdrop of all this disruption and undermining of the NHS. I was elected on a promise to fight for our local hospital services. A project called “Healthier Together” proposed reducing the number of beds at Kettering general hospital by 500, taking away proper maternity and children’s provision and downgrading accident and emergency services. The Prime Minister claimed that the threat was not real, but when the evidence came into the public domain—the hon. Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) stood up to his own Whips and raised it on the Floor of the House—the proposals were ditched.

Some 6,000 people had signed my petition. We continued that cross-party working locally, with councillors from all parties, and the hon. Member for Kettering and I worked with commissioners in the hospital on a plan for major investment. A bid will soon be submitted. We met the partners last week and are seeking a meeting with the Minister soon. Our plan is to really develop the innovative integrated urgent and emergency care approach being pioneered in north Northamptonshire so that more people can be treated more quickly and effectively, whether in primary, urgent or emergency care.

I have to tell the Minister that although there is a real will and a proven ability to innovate and do the best they can with resources, our local health services are severely hampered by a lack of resources. The midwives I met this week told me that they are being asked to work harder for longer and with increasingly stretched resources. That is a pattern across the NHS work force. Ambulance workers trying to improve response times are working longer shifts with increasingly outdated equipment. I was out in a paramedic vehicle with East Midlands ambulance service workers over the summer—a car that had done 300,000 miles without a working phone. That is what our health care workers are struggling with.

Our community health services are struggling. Older people are suffering from the withdrawal of podiatry services. Mental health services have been slashed, with people waiting and waiting for the therapy and treatment they need. Mental health nurses in my area are being made redundant and vital voluntary organisations that have been supported by public funding, such as Safe Haven in Corby, have been severely cut. Children are being sent to the other end of the country because care is not available for them locally, despite their being particularly vulnerable. Doctors’ surgeries are struggling— some more than others, but particularly in our small towns and rural areas. When I met residents in Stanwick the other day, they told me of their concern that, with plans to continue the growth of their village, the doctor’s services simply will not be able to cope.

I recently surveyed hundreds of my constituents about local health services. They told me that they support our cross-party campaign but are deeply worried about access to out-of-hours services, the difficulties of finding a GP surgery appointment and the increased privatisation of services. Specifically, they wanted me to put on record their concerns about the transatlantic trade and investment partnership and the impact that it could have on our national health services.

All these issues are being addressed in a context where we have the worst-funded health service in the country. A report published in September by the National Audit Office bears this out. It is called “Funding healthcare: Making allocations to local areas”. The NAO says that Corby is the worst-funded area of England for health care, receiving £186 less per person per year than the allocation that the NHS says it needs. Each year, the Department of Health and NHS England make these allocations to local commissioning groups, aggregating funding for local primary care, hospital, community and mental health services. The NAO’s analysis suggests that in Corby we are 12.8% below the target that is needed to meet local health needs. That compares with £508 per person above target in the highest-funded area in west London. The head of the NAO, speaking about the report, said:

“Funding allocations have reflected, among other factors, a desire not to upset local health economies by taking funding away or even increasing it by less than inflation. This has significantly slowed progress towards a fair distribution where funding fully reflects needs across the country. The Department and NHS England need to consider carefully whether this approach is fast-moving enough to sustain hard-pressed local areas in the next few years.”

It is totally wrong that health services in Corby are being starved of funds. How can it be right that people in Chelsea or in Kensington are allocated £694 per person extra per year for health funding? Corby’s health care service is doing a good job of managing with these limited funds. The new urgent care centre, for example, is a beacon, but other services are having to be cut back. The NAO found that the unfair distribution is taking place because many decisions are based on individual civil service judgments instead of evidence. The report’s detail and recommendations really stand up to the charge that the Government’s policy is not based on evidence.

The NAO found that the problem is exacerbated because proper account is not taken of population growth. My area has the highest birth rate in England; it is one of the fastest-growing towns in the country. This creates a real double whammy for our local services. It is a basic question of fairness that Corby should be funded according to needs. Therefore, in the coming months, I will be asking local people to join my campaign for fair health funding. Together, we will demand that the Government listen and end the injustice of filling the coffers of health commissioners in wealthy areas of the country at the expense of my constituents in Corby.