Hinchingbrooke Hospital

Fabian Hamilton Excerpts
Thursday 10th November 2011

(13 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Simon Burns Portrait Mr Burns
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The answer is no. I do not want to disappoint my hon. Friend, but the simple answer is that Hinchingbrooke hospital, as the right hon. Member for Leigh will know, has a historical problem that the NHS tried to solve but failed. Given that the previous Government enacted powers to allow a franchise in exceptional circumstances, it is better to use that model to turn around the hospital rather than let it fail altogether. It is not a principle that we are considering extending across the NHS.

Fabian Hamilton Portrait Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East) (Lab)
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The Minister said in reply to an earlier question that there would be no forced redundancies. However, as he explained, Circle will pay off the deficit over a period of time and has an obligation to make profits for its shareholders. Can he explain how it will manage to do that while paying off the deficit?