National Health Service Funding

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Richard Drax

Tuesday 22nd November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the calm and dignified way he is dealing with this debate, as compared with the Opposition. May I put in a plug for local community hospitals, not just in my constituency but right across the country, and how vital their retention is for good quality care in the future?

[Mr Hunt]

I thank my hon. Friend, who himself personifies calm and dignity. Community hospitals are indeed extremely important. Their role may change, but they will none the less continue to be a vital part of provision in most of our constituencies.

NHS Funding

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Richard Drax

Monday 31st October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Well, that was the tone of the hon. Lady’s question, and setting her face against all changes may not be the right thing for her constituents.

[Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that patients get better in a cosy environment in community hospitals, and can he give me an assurance that he will love and maintain them for as long as he is in post?

[Mr Hunt]

I am sure that no one could do a better job of loving and maintaining community hospitals than my hon. Friend. Community hospitals have an important role to play. I have three excellent ones in my constituency. At best, they represent the change we need to see in the NHS, which is personalised care closer to home, but that does also mean that they sometimes need to change the way they deliver services within a building even if the NHS logo remains firmly on the outside of that building.

Junior Doctors: Industrial Action

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Richard Drax

Monday 5th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

That is absolutely right. What my hon. Friend is alluding to is the fact that, in the new contract, we are reducing the maximum hours that any doctor can be asked to work in any one week from 91 hours to 72 hours. There are all sorts of other safeguards that benefit safety. He is right. This should not be happening, and I urge the BMA to reconsider.

[Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)]

May I offer my support to my right hon. Friend. I have never heard him vilify the doctors, as he was accused of doing. That language was not appropriate in this debate. Is he aware—I have heard this from one chief executive—that hospitals have been told not to speak to the junior doctors to try to resolve the dispute within the hospitals and the foundation trusts themselves? If there has been such an instruction, does he agree that it will not help solve the dispute for the future?

[Mr Hunt]

I am very surprised to hear that. If my hon. Friend wants to pass me the details, I will happily look into it. On the ground, the management of hospitals are working very closely with not just junior doctors, but BMA representatives to try to do everything they can to keep patients safe if these strikes go ahead.