Unavoidably Small Hospitals

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 6th September 2022 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

May I say what a pleasure it is to speak in this debate? I thank the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Bob Seely) for raising the issue for his constituents in a commendable way and with passion. He has illustrated the necessity of having a good local hospital or small hospital, as the title of the debate suggests. I share his concerns about St Mary’s Hospital in his constituency, which is completely isolated by water. It is of major importance that, for the sake of his constituency, his local hospital is funded correctly, to encourage people to use the services available there and to enhance those services, as the hon. Gentleman has suggested. I was pleased to read about recent plans to innovate and improve the service at St Mary’s; it is great to be back in Westminster Hall, in this parliamentary term, to discuss that.

May I say how pleased I am to see the Minister in her place? She has a real understanding of health issues and I am sure her response will encourage us all, and particularly the hon. Member for Isle of Wight. I am also pleased to see the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Enfield North (Feryal Clark), in her place and look forward to her contribution.

I always give a Northern Ireland perspective: the title of the debate is “Unavoidably Small Hospitals” and I certainly have one of those in my constituency. The importance of that hospital should never be underestimated. Back home in Northern Ireland, most of our major hospitals are in the County Antrim area, near Belfast city, where the majority of the population tends to live. In my rural constituency of Strangford we have two hospitals. The main hospital in Ulster is on the edge of my constituency. It is the biggest hospital and is very important because it provides acute services and can take in almost every emergency that comes its way. The other hospital, Ards Community Hospital, is in Newtownards, where my main office is. It used to be a major hospital, but things have changed in recent times. Hospitals have centralised their services and many services that used to be provided by Ards Community Hospital have moved to the Ulster Hospital.

My three boys—they are now young men, are married and have their own families—were all born at Ards Community Hospital, so I have a fondness for that hospital and for Adair House, as the maternity section was then. The hospital has changed—I understand why—and we now have a hospital that is not able to provide all the services that it once did. I want to put on record, as the hon. Member for Isle of Wight did in respect of his local hospital, my thanks to all the staff at Ards Community Hospital, the Ulster Hospital and elsewhere for their commendable and industrious work, their energy and passion, and their commitment to making lives better. That is something we can never fully understand, but we do understand that the part they play is so very important.

I understand the arguments about isolation, in terms of both where the hospital is situated and where my constituents live. To receive some services, my constituents are referred to the bigger hospital—the Ulster Hospital—where a significantly larger number of services are available, including a cancer centre. That is very important to us in Northern Ireland, where cancer impacts nearly one in every two people, just as it does in the rest of the UK.

For my most rural constituents, in villages such as Portaferry and Cloughey on the Ards peninsula—I live between Greyabbey and Kircubbin, but they live even further down the Ards peninsula—patients seeking medical care must have the reassurance that their nearest hospital can provide them with at least a basic assessment and service, despite the size of the population where they reside. That emphasises the importance of properly funding smaller hospitals such as Ards Community Hospital. Although I understand that our health services are devolved and therefore not the responsibility of the Minister present, the principle of health treatment is the same across the whole of the United Kingdom. Hopefully, I will be encouraged by what the Minister says and can send a copy of the debate to the Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly to ensure that they take these matters on board.

I make a plea for the air ambulance, which I asked a question about in yesterday’s statement on urgent and emergency care. In Strangford, the air ambulance deals with life and death situations every day and is so very important for our rural community. Last year, Air Ambulance Northern Ireland had its busiest year ever.

In respect of per head services, we can never predict how serious any incident may be, but I believe that we underfund smaller and more remote hospitals because of that factor. In my constituency, we have to take into account both the fishing village of Portavogie, which is an economic and industrial centre, and the many remote places across the Ards peninsula from which it is just as critical to get to a hospital in time. There are also issues with the cost of medical services, based on the location of the hospital. That means that smaller and more isolated hospitals in certain areas face higher costs due to the decreased likelihood that a particular service may be utilised.

The community services formula, which was introduced in 2019 and to which the hon. Member for Isle of Wight referred, recognised that some rural and coastal areas tend, on average, to have an older population, which means there are higher needs for community services. In the Ards peninsula, the population of older people is growing. Many people come from other parts of the Province and move out to rural villages where houses are perhaps that wee bit cheaper so they can use the money they have to buy a house. They look on the area as a place where they will be for the rest of their lives, so the numbers of elderly people are increasing in my constituency.

The need for community services was assessed in England, and I encourage the Minister to engage with Health Minister Robin Swann back home on a similar strategy for Northern Ireland, to enable improved district healthcare for communities. I would be indebted to the Minister if she would take that forward. I will do my bit, but maybe the Minister might be able to do the same with the Minister in Northern Ireland. What I love about these debates is that we can all share things from all parts of this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and we can use those things for the betterment of us all. Today’s debate does just that.

In the short time I have left, let me say briefly that in rural areas there tends to be less access to public transport in the evenings, which exacerbates the problems with the use of hospitals. Our own local hospital and other smaller hospitals may not even be open at certain times, and sometimes not until the early morning. It is crucial that that is taken into account in the funding of smaller hospitals.

To conclude, I echo the comments of the hon. Member for Isle of Wight, who introduced the debate, and very much look forward to the contributions of others. We must ensure that small hospitals are properly funded, for the sake of our constituents, friends, families and loved ones, and avoid the clear delays in funding opportunities. The NHS is a wonderful service. We depend on it and it must be protected. We must also give thanks and gratitude to all nurses and healthcare workers in our small hospitals who do their very best to work with what they have available and to ensure that our people—our constituents—are looked after in the healthy way that they deserve.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the Minister for her answers. The hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) and I both asked questions about health being devolved in Northern Ireland and in Scotland, and we are keen to ensure that some of the thoughts and ideas from the debate are shared with the devolved Administrations. Can the Minister confirm that that will happen?

[Maria Caulfield]

Absolutely. We need a collaborative approach because we all face the same challenges, whether in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or England. I have been in contact with Minister Swann over recent months, and I am happy to work with him and the other devolved Administrations on these matters, because we all have a shared interest in ensuring that small hospitals are successful.

I can reassure colleagues that we want to support our smaller hospitals in future so that they are able to do more for their local communities.