Urgent and Emergency Care Review

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Pat McFadden

Tuesday 12th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

No one has campaigned more assiduously than my hon. Friend for his local hospital, despite the incredible tragedies and difficulties that it has been through and the pressures that has created for the people of Stafford. He is absolutely right: if we are going to solve the problem, we must consider the system holistically and consider how different A and E departments can specialise services. We need much more of a hub-and-spoke system, rather than one where every A and E has to offer exactly the same menu of services. If we do that, we will save more lives and that has to be the right thing to do.

[Mr Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East) (Lab)]

Following Monitor’s report yesterday on the closure of walk-in centres, is it not the case that at the heart of the Government’s NHS reforms is a massive shift in power from the consumers—the patients—to the producers of services? When the Government’s slogan is, in effect, “All power to the producers”, it is not surprising that services have been reorganised in a way that does not benefit patients. May I suggest that instead of sticking up for the BMA, the Secretary of State starts to stick up for patients?

[Mr Hunt]

After what happened at Mid Staffs, we will not take any lessons on sticking up for patients—none whatsoever. We are taking the power out of the hands of the managers in PCTs and SHAs and putting it into the hands of doctors on the front line who are seeing patients every day. That is the best thing we can possibly do.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Pat McFadden

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Quite a lot of the money will help ambulance services indirectly because it will be intended to reduce the number of blue light calls by, for example, providing primary care alternatives to A and E by better integrating health and social care economies, but the long-term change that we announced last week, which I think will make a real difference to ambulance trusts, involves IT. In this day and age it is crazy that an ambulance can answer a 999 call and go to someone’s home not knowing that they are a diabetic who has mild dementia and who had some falls last year. That information could be incredibly helpful to paramedics and we want to make sure that, with patients’ consent, they have it at their fingertips.

[Mr Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East) (Lab)]

The A and E at the Wolverhampton New Cross hospital is already under great pressure and earlier this year had its busiest day in history, but what really concerns local people are the possible implications of the closure of the A and E at Mid Staffs and the transfer of the work to New Cross. Can the Secretary of State confirm that if that goes ahead, New Cross hospital will have the resources in terms of capital and staff to make it work, because the alternative will be a second-class service for patients in both Wolverhampton and Staffordshire?

[Mr Hunt]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for the interest and support that he shows for his local hospital. Of course, Mid Staffs has an extremely troubled history and it would be a derogation of my duties if I did not try to sort out the problems there once and for all, but we will not make any changes that have knock-on effects on neighbouring trusts without proper assessment and making sure that provisions are in place so that they can cope with any additional pressures. The final decision about what is going to be done has not been made, but I reassure the right hon. Gentleman on that point.

A and E Departments

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Pat McFadden

Tuesday 21st May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I do agree, but what hospitals say is that the issue is not the number of beds, but the people in them who are not being properly discharged into the social care system. I was at King’s College hospital last week, where I was told that the hospital had probably two wards full of people who could be discharged into the social care system but had not been. Breaking down those barriers—something that I am afraid the last Government did not get round to doing in 13 years—will be an important priority.

[Mr Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East) (Lab)]

The A and E department at Wolverhampton’s New Cross hospital recently saw a record 365 patients in one day. Those pressures will increase with the downgrading of Mid Staffordshire hospital. Does the Secretary of State agree that it will be deeply unfair to patients in both Wolverhampton and Staffordshire if the added burden on Wolverhampton’s New Cross A and E department is not met with increased resources from him, in terms of size and staff, to cope with the increased pressures?

[Mr Hunt]

We have not had the final recommendation from the special administrator appointed by Monitor for what will happen at Mid Staffordshire hospital, but we will make absolutely sure that any changes made improve patient safety and care.