Stafford Hospital

Gavin Williamson Excerpts

Thursday 4th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity for a debate on Stafford hospital.

On 31 July, the administrators of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust will present their proposals for the future of health services at Stafford and Cannock hospitals. They, as well as Monitor, to which they report, and the Government, have a tremendous opportunity to show the way forward for the NHS as a whole, which celebrates 65 years this week. This trust special administration is the first under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and is a chance to show how emergency, acute and maternity services can continue to be provided affordably, locally, safely and to the highest standards. We are also talking about the administration of a trust that has been the subject of intense scrutiny since the revelation of appalling standards of care in some parts of Stafford hospital in the period to 2009. Since then the improvement has been marked, as the Care Quality Commission has evidenced, although there is no complacency about that on our part.

When tens of thousands of people marched through Stafford on 20 April this year to a rally that I had the honour to address, along with the Bishop of Stafford, we were showing just how much we value the services provided at Stafford and Cannock. We were also expressing our concerns about the future—a future that the contingency planning team’s report, which came out earlier this year, said was unlikely to include the provision of most acute, emergency and maternity services in Stafford, even though our maternity services have some of the best outcomes in the country. When the trust special administrators produce their report, I hope they will provide us with complete access to the data on which they worked, as well as the assumptions made—something that did not happen with the contingency planning team.

We were also making it clear that we cannot see how other, neighbouring hospital trusts, which are already under so much pressure, could cope with substantial numbers of additional patients who would have to come for treatment, travelling considerable distances on routes that are not well served by public transport.

[Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that if we do not keep a strong core of services in Stafford and at Cannock, the consequence for other trusts could be a deterioration in the care they can give patients, which would be highly detrimental for patient care right across Staffordshire?

[Jeremy Lefroy]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. Many people, including those with more experience of these matters than I have, have said the same.

The coincidence of the publication of the Francis report—which was commissioned by my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), whom I am glad to see in his place—and Monitor’s contingency planning team report into the future of services at Stafford and Cannock was, I have to say, unfortunate. Both organisations were running to independent timetables, but the coincidence gave rise to the incorrect impression that the proposed downgrading of services at Stafford was somehow the direct consequence of the failures in care until 2009. Let us be absolutely clear: it is not. In fact, the financial problems of the trust are long standing. It should never have been granted foundation trust status by Monitor back in 2008.

However, the impression that exposing poor care somehow resulted in threats to services had a double effect. First, blame was completely unjustifiably put on those who spoke out. Secondly, the impression was given that if people speak out in future anywhere else, local services might be at risk. The result is that Stafford has experienced ups and downs in the last few months. They include the wonderful coming together of a community of all ages and a group supporting the services at the hospital working across the political divide. Sadly, however, we have also seen cases of threatening behaviour against Julie Bailey and members of Cure the NHS, who courageously brought the serious problems at Stafford to light. I will not mince my words: it has been heartbreaking to hear people—good people, with the welfare of the community at heart—on opposite sides of an argument that should never have happened.

At the same time, hundreds of people in the community have put in a huge amount of time and effort to support Stafford hospital. I want to mention some by name. They include Sue Hawkins, Cheryl Porter, Karen Howell, Brian Henderson, Diana Smith, James Cantrill, Chris Thomas, James Nixon, Councillors Mike Heenan, Rowan Draper and Ann Edgeller, and Ken Lownds—who has put in a huge amount of expert work—together with my hon. Friends the Members for Stone (Mr Cash), for Cannock Chase (Mr Burley) and for South Staffordshire (Gavin Williamson).

But I wish to focus on the future, and I am going to concentrate on Stafford hospital although Cannock, too, is vital. Stafford is one of the many small district general hospitals up and down the country that play a vital part in our emergency and acute infrastructure. The number of acute beds has fallen substantially in the past 20 years, including in Staffordshire. The new PFI-funded hospital that opened recently in Stoke has 250 fewer beds than its predecessor, although it is none the less a wonderful hospital. We all welcome the fact that the length of hospital stays has fallen sharply, to an average of less than four days, but a report from the Royal College of Physicians published last year pointed out that there is little room for further reduction. Indeed, as the population begins to age, the average length of stay might start to creep up again.

The only way to manage acute beds, even at the current capacity, is to ensure that people do not have to be admitted in the first place. I am sure that we all want to see that happen, but it will depend on expanded community provision and the better integration of health and social care. That will happen, but it is not happening yet. Even when it does, my firm belief is that although it might halt the increase in demand for acute services, it will not reduce it at this time of a rising and ageing population. The Government are listening to experts who say that we need substantially increased rail capacity by 2035, so I am sure that they will also listen to the experts who say that we cannot cut any further the local and regional capacity for emergency, acute and maternity care. I say to Monitor and to the Government that Stafford is ready to be a national leader in such integration, with patients and the provision of the highest quality of care put first. However, that demands time and co-operation.

The first element of co-operation involves a larger acute trust. In the case of Stafford, the obvious partner is the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke. Working with UHNS as one team will bring advantages to both hospitals and both communities. For Stafford, the chance to become part of a university hospital will be an exciting prospect. We already welcome third, fourth and fifth-year medical students from Keele university medical school, and they report that they value the experience of working in a busy district general hospital. For the clinical staff at Stafford and at Stoke, the chance to work as a much bigger team across two sites would bring greater opportunities for them to develop their skills and experience. Frankly, for Stafford, it would also ensure that there was much less chance of a return to the complacent culture of the past that the Francis report identified as a major problem in parts of the hospital. For Stoke, which is already under considerable pressure as a result of the reduction in beds and has had to reopen up to 100 old ones, coming together with Stafford would offer welcome additional capacity. It would also create a larger catchment area, which would make some specialties that are currently marginal at Stoke much more viable.

But this would not be easy, as UHNS also has a substantial deficit and a PFI cost that is frankly unsustainable. I urge the Government to do everything within their power to cut the cost of UHNS’s PFI so that the 750,000 and more people who would rely on a combined major acute trust—whether in Stoke, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Leek Stafford, Cannock or further afield—can continue to have access to services delivered as locally as possible.