Accident and Emergency Departments

Bob Russell Excerpts

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

That contract set in train a process whereby it became easier and easier to access an A and E department, and harder and harder to access a local GP. Since that period we have had, I think, 3 million more people going to A and E every year than was the case at the time of that contract change. That is one of the underlying problems. It will take time, but we shall put that problem right.

[Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)]

I recently spent the whole evening on the night shift of the A and E at Colchester general hospital, and I do not recognise what we have heard from the Labour Front Bench today. As the Secretary of State is keen on alternatives to A and E, may I urge him to work with the Secretary of State for Education and implement first aid training as part of the school curriculum? Within a generation, we would have 1 million qualified first-aiders. That is one way of reducing unnecessary visits to A and E.

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend has campaigned regularly on this subject and there is a lot of merit in what he says. We do need more young people to know the basics of first aid, and that can be extremely important—even life-saving. But we also need to ensure that the NHS is there when we need it, 24/7, and that is why we need to make some important changes to the way in which A and E departments operate, in both the short term and the long term.