Special Measures Regime

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Joan Walley

Wednesday 16th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am very happy to do that, and I pay tribute to the leadership of the trust. There is a new chief executive and, as I have said, I have met the chief nurse. It is a very large trust with two big hospital sites. There are some very big challenges to tackle, but they are making important progress, and, like my hon. Friend, I am keen to get them out of special measures as soon as we can.

[Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

Having read the Care Quality Commission annual report and met the CQC, and seen in the report that in Stoke-on-Trent more than 20% of care homes have not been fit for purpose for a period of more than three and four quarters, may I welcome the inspection regime of care homes? Training and enforcement will be important.

May I refer back to the comments made by the hon. Member for Stafford (Jeremy Lefroy) in respect of Mid Staffordshire Trust and Stafford hospital, and to previous meetings we have had with the Secretary of State, his colleague in the House of Lords and the Prime Minister and say that, between now and September, we need to know categorically from the Treasury whether the Government are going to fund in full what the University Hospital of North Staffordshire trust says it will cost to run the new configured hospital services across the whole of north Staffordshire? Only when that happens can the Government say that they have solved the issues relating to Mid Staffordshire.

[Mr Hunt]

I thank the hon. Lady for her support for the new special measures inspection regime for care homes. With respect to the merger of UHNS and Mid Staffs, we will make sure that the funding is available that is necessary for that merger to happen. Money is not the issue. The issue is doing what the TSA asked to be done quickly and in full, and making sure that we have the right leadership across both hospitals on a long-term sustainable basis. I do not think it is about money; it is about taking rapid action to make sure there are stable services and that there is continuity of care.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Joan Walley

Tuesday 14th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

T4. Given that tomorrow Staffordshire county council intends to confirm devastating cuts to services for those with special needs, including the closure of the purpose-built Kidsgrove day centre in my constituency, does the Secretary of State agree that it is time now for the council to wait and at the very least share its detailed needs assessment and future action plan before forcing these cuts through?

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

I am very happy to look into the issue that the hon. Lady raises. Obviously, some very big changes are happening in the Staffordshire health economy, and the purpose of those is to improve services for everyone, so if she gives me the details of her concerns, I will happily look at them.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Joan Walley

Tuesday 19th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We will absolutely do that. We are in the process of a very big consultation to ensure that we get the definitions of the fundamental standards absolutely right, but we also want to try to create a culture that means we do not get to that point in the first place. One of the problems we had with the current system is that the definition of success for a hospital tended to be about meeting waiting time targets and financial balance, rather than caring for patients properly. We want to re-engineer the system through the new inspection regime so that a hospital cannot be good or outstanding unless it is delivering good or outstanding care.

[Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

What happened at Mid Staffordshire must never be allowed to happen again, but given that safe staffing levels will depend on adequate resources, can the Secretary of State give an assurance that there will be a debate in the House in Government time on the successor arrangements for Mid Staffordshire and for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire?

[Mr Hunt]

As the hon. Lady knows, we are going through a process at the moment and the trust special administrator is drawing up detailed plans, so it is premature to say what will happen, but we will of course keep the House well informed and there will be plenty of opportunities for her to question me, or anyone else she wants to question, about any decisions that are eventually made.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Joan Walley

Tuesday 22nd October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I understand my hon. Friend’s concerns and I know that there is a large elderly population in Worthing. I thought it was an excellent hospital with a fantastic atmosphere when I went and did part of a shift there. The winter pressures money went to the third of A and E departments that are struggling the most, so it is probably a compliment to his hospital that it did not receive it. We felt that with limited funds we had to concentrate resources where they were going to have the most impact. I hope that he understands why we had to make that difficult decision.

[Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

This week, the report of the trust special administrator in respect of Stafford hospital is being presented to Monitor. Given that the preferred option is that the University Hospital of North Staffordshire should in some way take over, will the Secretary of State urgently meet all Members of Parliament for the north Staffordshire area to ensure that health care in north Staffordshire, where we already have a deficit of £31 million with an extra £18 million set to come over, will not be destabilised?

[Mr Hunt]

We are acutely aware of those concerns. In any reconfiguration, and particularly in this one, we want to ensure that there is no instability in the local health economy. We have given the trust special administrator a little longer to come up with a plan for Stafford hospital to try to secure local agreement, so I have not had a recommendation yet and I am going to wait and see what he says.