NHS Shared Business Services

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Monday 27th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I do not have the information about Bury North patients immediately to hand, but I am happy to write to my hon. Friend to tell him whether we think any of his constituents have been affected.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

I raised my concerns about the contracting out of the patient record service to SBS back in 2011, and I was told by the Secretary of State’s predecessor that this was about saving money. Will he tell us how much money has been saved, given all the problems, and how many of the 708,000 patients affected are in the south-west?

[Mr Hunt]

The south-west was one of the regions affected, as I mentioned in my statement. I am happy to write to the right hon. Gentleman to tell him exactly how many patients I think were affected in the south-west. I gently say to him that the use of the private sector was championed when his Government were in office and when he was a Health Minister. I know that this is not very fashionable in his party at the moment, but on this side of the House, we think that if we want the NHS to be the safest and best in the world, we should be open—

[Mr Bradshaw]

How much have you saved?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The right hon. Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) is shouting noisily from a sedentary position. I cannot imagine that that is an offence that I would have committed when I sat on the Opposition Benches. I just do not think it would have happened. I do not know what has happened to standards.

[Mr Bradshaw]

The Secretary of State is not answering the question.

[Mr Speaker]

Objection to the manner and content of a ministerial response is not a novel phenomenon in the House of Commons.