Maternity Services Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Christopher Chope
Main Page: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)Department Debates - View all Christopher Chope's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(1 day, 20 hours ago)
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Chris Bloore
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and I am sorry to hear about the level of problems that mothers face his constituency. The hon. Member for Chichester started the debate saying that this is about services for women at their most vulnerable, when they are giving birth. It is clear from the experiences of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents and mine that services are not meeting the needs of those women when they need them the most. That is the challenge that we should now take up.
I conclude by saying that, in the past, the reconfiguration of services has been based on a financial envelope and the challenges of staff shortages, and that has dictated many decisions, but now is the time, with the Darzi report and the eloquent speeches we have heard today, to build that service for the future. We should all strive to meet that challenge, even if that means making difficult financial decisions to invest in the long term, so that we can give women and families the support that they deserve.
Sir Christopher Chope (in the Chair)
There are three speakers, and we have five minutes to go.