Sudden Adult Death Syndrome

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Monday 25th March 2013 Westminster Hall

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

May I pay tribute to my constituents Robert and Maggie Underwood, who lost their daughter to SADS? They have managed to raise £18,000 to put defibrillators in 15 of my schools in Redditch.

[Andrew Percy]

I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend’s constituents. I always think that it is a bit easier for us, as MPs, to bang the drum and to get people behind us, but it is fantastic for residents to do so and to raise such an amount of money, so I pay tribute to them as well. A lot of that is going on around the country, but frankly there needs to be more.

Our bid in north Lincolnshire was also to ask schools to filter training down to young people, as part of the deal of their accepting a defibrillator paid for from the grant, so it does not only relate to use on school sites. I hope that if there is a cardiac arrest—not that I hope for one, but if there is—a young person from north Lincolnshire with that training will be there, so that they can put their training into use, although I would prefer them not to have to do so. The Scunthorpe Telegraph, the local newspaper, rang me today to say that it is quite keen to get behind that and might want to run a campaign about it, so I shall wait to hear more. We can try to use the National Citizen Service to filter down that training.

Alexandra Hospital, Redditch

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Westminster Hall

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I thank the Minister for being here to listen and, I hope, to answer some of my questions about the Alexandra hospital. I pay tribute to the staff who work at the Alex. As you mentioned and as you can see, Mr Hollobone, I visited the accident and emergency department at the Alexandra hospital during the past couple of weeks. I had a good experience and was looked after well, and I did not spend too much time there. I want my constituents to receive what I received, and I hope to outline the need for a vibrant hospital in Redditch that serves not only my constituents but those in surrounding areas such as Bromsgrove, Mid Worcestershire, Stratford-on-Avon and Kidderminster.

A quick history of the hospital is vital to understand the context in which I speak, because, sadly, we have been here several times before. I will be brief, but it is important to understand how many times this hospital has been under threat, and how unsettling that is for patients and staff alike. Three attempts have been made during the past 15 years to downgrade the accident and emergency ward and the maternity wards at the Alex. On each occasion, the argument has been made that the downgrades were crucial for sustaining a high-quality, properly staffed service, and that it would better for residents if some services were concentrated in Worcester. At each attempt, the people of Redditch have fought to save their hospital, and once again they have joined together in a cross-party campaign to do so.

[Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate, which affects my constituents as well as hers. She will be aware that a number of years ago, the same fear was in prospect for my constituents when the A and E department at Kidderminster hospital was closed. The outcome was truly tremendous, with an enormous campaign to save the hospital and the election of an MP dedicated to trying to do so. Sadly, he did not succeed, but those events reinforce the point that people feel very strongly about their local services and should be listened to.

[Karen Lumley]

My hon. Friend makes a valid point, which I will return to. I want to be here after the next election, however; I do not want to be replaced by an MP dedicated to looking after the Alexandra hospital.

I pay tribute to Neal Stote, the chairman of the “save the Alex” campaign, Ian Dipple, the editor of the Redditch Standard, and the leaders of my local councils, Bill Hartnett, Roger Hollingworth and Chris Saint, who have all worked tirelessly together with me to save the Alex. The Minister will remember his visit from members of the “save the Alex” campaign before Christmas, when he listened to the justification for retaining services at our hospital. A petition to save the hospital has received more than 50,000 signatures and there was a major rally in Redditch town centre, all of which goes to show that the residents of Redditch are united in trying to secure services at our hospital.

I want to look now at the current and historical financial position of the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. In 2002, the trust posted large deficits, which rose to more than £14 million in 2003-04. The trust came back into surplus, however, and since then it has posted alternate deficits and surpluses, including in each of the past three years. The trust had a cumulative legacy debt of £18.4 million from 2000 to 2007. The Government provided a £12 million emergency loan in December 2012 to deal with the problem, but it is obvious that the situation cannot continue. For too long, the easiest course of action has been to kick the can further down the road without addressing the root causes. The current situation is a ticking time bomb. A £1.9 million deficit has to be met by April of this year. Many operations are being cancelled because of the terrible norovirus in our wards, and times will be tough for the trust.

Part of the problem is that we have an expensive private finance initiative hospital that was built in the wrong place fully to service all of the residents of Worcestershire. The Worcestershire royal hospital opened in March 2002 under a PFI deal that costs the trust £13.6 million a year at the best estimate. Indeed, Patricia Hewitt, the former Health Secretary, described the PFI deal as a disaster in 2006. The deal will, however, run until 2032, by which time it will have cost the taxpayer more than £700 million. The Alexandra hospital is not a PFI hospital; it is owned by the NHS.

I understand that the trust needs to save money, and that certain services in our country must be centralised to provide centres of excellence. I also understand the difficulties of recruiting specialist consultants, and I realise that as a result of an ageing population and changing lifestyles, patients have more complex needs. We must recognise, however, that the trust employs more than 5,600 staff across the county and has approximately 940 beds with 140,000 A and E attendances —of which I was one—and about 500,000 out-patient appointments. The people of Redditch deserve a sustainable future for their health service. They are realistic, but they need to know what is going to happen. One of the reasons for the difficulty I have just mentioned of recruiting specialist consultants, which is a major problem facing the trust, is that the hospital cannot provide the job security that specialist consultants need because it is constantly under threat.

As I have said, this is the third time we have been in this situation, and if we do not find a solution, I have no doubt that in a few years we will be here again. Repeatedly experiencing such circumstances is damaging to the public, staff and patients, and we need a lasting solution. I welcome our Government’s introduction of clinical commissioning groups. I recognise that without them we would be in a very different place and I certainly would not be standing here asking the Minister to look at the future of my hospital. I have been working closely with the local commissioning group for Redditch and Bromsgrove, and would like to place on record its hard work on the future of the Alex, especially its support on the joint services review; it has continually stood up for Redditch in circumstances that have often been difficult.

Last week, I listened to the Prime Minister talking about the terrible situation at Stafford hospital, and especially the roles of Members of Parliament. He said:

“Like others in the community, we love our local hospitals and we always want to stand up for them, but we have to be careful to look at the results in our local hospitals and work out whether we should not sometimes give voice to some of the concerns rather than go along with a culture that says everything is all right all of the time—sometimes it is not.”—[Official Report, 6 February 2013; Vol. 558, c. 286.]

I took that to heart, as I know many of my colleagues did. I know that the NHS must change and we cannot always have everything we want where we want it. I hope I am being realistic about what we can provide for the people of Redditch.

That brings me to some good news about innovative thinking that is going on in our town. Redditch is situated in the north of our county and the majority of my constituents look to Birmingham rather than Worcester. The Minister cannot be expected to know about transport links in our county, but the links between Redditch and Worcester are fairly dreadful. If someone has to go to Worcester by train, they get on a train to Birmingham, get off at the university stop—where the university hospital of Birmingham is—and double back to Worcester. Buses are also a nightmare and often involve two or three changes. I was delighted to meet Dame Julie Moore, the chief executive of the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, before Christmas to talk about the trust providing some services at the Alex. I look forward to meeting her again next week, and to meeting Penny Venables, the chief executive of the Worcestershire trust.

[Peter Luff (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate and on the manner in which she is conducting it. I wish her well in the campaign she is conducting on behalf of her constituents, whom she serves remarkably well. Does she understand that as we look at the options for the future of the hospital services in Worcestershire, particularly for the Alex, we must be certain that no decisions that are taken in relation to the Alex have the unintentional consequence of reducing the critical mass of the health economy in the wider county and, therefore, damaging the service provided to my constituents and to those of my hon. Friends the Members for Worcester (Mr Walker) and for West Worcestershire (Harriett Baldwin)? Any loss of service provision might have serious consequences for the rest of the county. We must take the matter forward together with a single voice, because we all share the conviction that we can achieve a win-win situation for all our constituents.

[Karen Lumley]

Those who know the Worcestershire MPs know that we generally hunt as a pack; we are renowned within different Departments for doing so. I share my hon. Friend’s concerns, but obviously at the end of the day I am the MP for Redditch, my hospital is the one under threat and I must do what is best for my constituents.

There are several questions I want to ask the Minister today. First, who owns the Alexandra hospital? Secondly, if the local commissioning group wants to commission services with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, will his Department help to make that happen? Thirdly, does he agree that this uncertainty has gone on long enough, and will he encourage the Worcestershire acute trust to co-operate with the UHB trust in Birmingham? Fourthly, will he reassure staff and my constituents that he and his Department are working as hard as they can to ensure the best outcome for them?

I have probably said enough now, but I will finish by saying that we are grateful to the Minister for his attention to our hospital in Redditch. We look forward to welcoming him in April to see for himself what a fantastic hospital we have—a hospital that we must not forget belongs to the residents of Redditch. We are realistic about what has to happen, but I want to put on the record today that there are two options on the table, and it is only fair to my constituents that both be looked at in a fair and open way. That is all we are asking for, and I hope that he and his Department will ensure that it happens.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (in the Chair)]

In this debate, we have not only an out-patient but a doctor. I call Dr Daniel Poulter, the Minister.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Poulter]

I would be delighted to visit Kidderminster hospital. It might not be on the same day I visit Redditch, but I will make sure I put it on my list of priorities to visit. I would be delighted to see the excellent work done at Kidderminster hospital and, indeed, at Worcester, at some point in the near future. In addition to the bit of clinical work I still do, I prioritise going out on a Thursday as regularly as I can to see the NHS on the ground and to see what is going on. I would be delighted to visit other local trusts, when I can fit them into the diary, later in the year.

What are the next steps? If agreement is reached on a clinically and financially sustainable solution in the interests of local people, a robust process needs to follow. The Worcestershire joint services review steering committee will meet on 26 February to set out options for consultation. We are then likely to have two options regarding the way forward. One is likely to involve Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust continuing to operate services from the Alexandra hospital. The other is likely to involve exploring the feasibility of the Birmingham foundation trust operating services at Alexandra hospital, if that is in local people’s best interests.

The final proposals will require the support of the NHS in Worcestershire. However, the local NHS has assured me that it will continue to engage with people while proposals are finalised. Of course, I would expect any proposals to meet the four tests for service change that we have clearly outlined—principally, that any changes are clinically led and have strong patient and public engagement. The local NHS expects final proposals to be ready for public consultation later in the summer. However, it is vital, as we have stressed throughout the debate, that we hold those involved firmly to their task and reach a conclusion for the sake of staff and patient certainty and for the benefit of the local NHS.

[Karen Lumley]

One of my questions was: who actually owns the Alexandra hospital?

[Dr Poulter]

As my hon. Friend will know, the local hospital is designated as part of a trust. It is a non-foundation trust, so there is direct regard to the Secretary of State in some matters relating to the trust. I hope that gives her some reassurance. Of course, the NHS is owned by all of us, which is why it was so important when we set out our four tests for reconfiguration that we made sure they were about strong clinical leadership in the best interests of patients, as well as strong patient and public engagement, so that patients and the public can clearly see that any changes to local services are in their best interests and so that they can properly engage in the process. There has been strong local feeling and opinion on this issue, and I am sure it will be listened to carefully when decisions are taken about the future.

In conclusion, I encourage my hon. Friends and local people to participate in the consultation process to ensure their views are fully taken into account. I will maintain a keen interest. I am looking forward to visiting each site in the trust in due course. I am always available to talk through matters if Members have concerns.

National Health Service

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Monday 16th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

I want to highlight some of the issues that people in Worcestershire are facing. Like many parts of the country, we are facing a joint services review of our acute trust.

For those who do not know Worcestershire, it has three hospitals, including a private finance initiative hospital, which is costing 5% of the total health spend in the county. The PFI deal was made under the Labour Government, who have admitted that there is a case for saying that they were poor at negotiating PFI contracts from the outset. In Worcestershire, not only were they poor at negotiating the contract; they also put the hospital in the wrong place. Our PFI hospital is in the south of the county, which is all very well for people who live there, but for the 200,000-plus people who live in the north of the county, it is extremely difficult to get to. For somebody who lives in Redditch, it is far easier to get to a hospital in Birmingham than to one in Worcester.

We are now undertaking yet another review. Once again, people in Redditch see that their hospital and their services, including A and E, maternity and children’s services, are under threat. I say once again because six years ago we were in the same position. I know that spending in our health economy has been increasing, but we in Worcestershire are paying for the overspends of the past few years and need to save money.

I put it on the record that the people of Redditch want to retain their A and E. As their Member of Parliament, I totally agree with them. We are in the early stages of the consultation, but I urge Ministers to look closely at this matter. The Secretary of State has visited the Alexandra hospital and seen for himself what a good hospital it is. Importantly, it was paid for and is owned by the NHS. I will be asking for a cross-party meeting in due course, which I hope my right hon. Friend will agree to, because the people of Redditch are once again working together. Apart from the Labour parliamentary candidate, people have put party politics aside to work together to save our A and E.

I know that many other Members want to speak in this debate. I just wanted to put the marker down that we in Redditch want our A and E and that I intend to fight for it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 26th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

10. What progress he has made on the establishment of local health and wellbeing boards.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Paul Burstow)]

Almost nine out of 10 local authorities have signed up as early implementers to press ahead with the setting up of health and wellbeing boards. Councillors, clinicians and local communities have told us that by working together through those boards, they can and will improve health and care outcomes for local people.

[Karen Lumley]

Does my hon. Friend agree that giving greater public health powers to the health and wellbeing boards will allow more targeted help in our local communities?

[Paul Burstow]

Absolutely. By bringing public health home to local government we will have the opportunity to ensure that many of the underlying causes of ill health can be tackled more effectively, and that is why we are making the reform in this way. By having a health and wellbeing board that brings together all the interested parties we can also ensure a far more integrated approach.

Hospital Services (Worcestershire)

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd March 2011 Westminster Hall

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Mr Hood. I am delighted to secure the debate on hospital care in Worcestershire. To put hospital care in Worcestershire in context, I should explain that we have two acute hospitals and a treatment centre. The acute hospitals are based in Worcester and my constituency of Redditch, and the treatment centre is in Kidderminster. In other parts of the county, we have community hospitals, which play a great role in delivering the highest level of care to our constituents.

The emphasis today is of course on the new cancer care facility, but all areas of the NHS trust are working hard and playing important roles. Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has recently appointed a new chairman, who is determined that the mission of the trust will be to make all care patient-orientated. To do that, the care offered, the facilities available and the attitude of all staff must put patients and their well-being first.

I shall begin by sharing with hon. Members some of the successes within the trust. The national target of ensuring that 80% of patients brought to accident and emergency by ambulance staff are seen within 30 minutes has been surpassed by our trust. The benefits of receiving treatment quickly are self-explanatory. Obviously, the more quickly a person is seen, the less likely they are to deteriorate, and the ambulance staff can get back to doing what they do best.

I spent some time in A and E at the Alexandra hospital and was incredibly impressed by what I saw. The staff do an amazing job, sometimes in very challenging circumstances. Guided by Mr Christopher Hetherington, a consultant in the department, I saw at first hand how staff dealt efficiently with arriving patients. I was struck by their professionalism and commitment to their patients.

Despite the added challenge of the snow and bad weather in December and January in Worcestershire, the trust’s ambulance staff achieved a performance rating of more than 90%—the result of focus and dedication. I look forward to seeing them later this month when I do a night shift with an ambulance crew in Redditch.

Successes have also been shown in the results of patient surveys. The national maternity survey from 2010 showed that mothers in Worcestershire were impressed by the maternity care that they received. Those who completed the survey were pleased with all aspects of care, including care at home after leaving hospital. The trust now ranks in the top fifth for offering mothers choice. Choice should be at the forefront of the reorganisation that our NHS trusts face. If we are to create an NHS that is centred on patient care, offering patients choice about and influence over their treatment is essential.

[Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

I echo my hon. Friend’s comments about Alexandra hospital. It is a hospital that people in her constituency and in my constituency share, and I know that constituents from far and wide respect the services that they receive, the quality of care and the dedication of the employees and the health care professionals. Does she agree that, along with Alexandra hospital and the other acute hospital that we have in our county, the community hospitals, such as the Princess of Wales community hospital in Bromsgrove, complement the health services on which our constituents rely in Worcestershire?

[Karen Lumley]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I totally agree with him. Many of my constituents in Redditch also use the Princess of Wales hospital. I have been there on many occasions and know what a fantastic job the staff do.

Effective hospitals rely on good facilities. Kidderminster hospital has recently acquired a state-of-the-art MRI scanner. It offers patients the best diagnostic procedures available. New services can now be offered, including breast scans and whole-body imaging. Some 9,400 scans a year can be performed with the machine. One-stop-shop access to out-patient clinics cuts waiting times and means that patients are in the clinics for as little time as possible. Developments such as those are lessening the postcode lottery effect in the NHS.

Worcestershire is awaiting a decision about whether a radiotherapy unit will be built at the Alexandra hospital in Redditch or the Worcestershire Royal hospital. I, of course, hope very much that it will be built at the Alexandra hospital in Redditch.

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this extremely important debate, because it allows me to place on the record the thanks of the Malvern community for the opening of the new Malvern hospital by the Princess Royal last week. Does my hon. Friend agree that a key thing with radiotherapy services is the distance that people have to travel every day and that Worcester might be considered a very central location in the county of Worcestershire?

[Karen Lumley]

As you can see, Mr Hood, we have a debate among ourselves about where the cancer centre should be sited. Obviously, we in Redditch and Bromsgrove have the advantage of lots of space to build the cancer unit, and we have already started a local campaign to bring the unit to the Alexandra hospital.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way and grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for West Worcestershire (Harriett Baldwin) for the point that she made. I am sure that my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Karen Lumley) would acknowledge that the Worcestershire Royal hospital already has considerable expertise in cancer treatment. Will she join me in urging our right hon. Friend the Minister to ensure that, wherever such services end up being placed, they are supported, as they are a vital component of a strong and much needed cancer strategy for our county?

[Karen Lumley]

As you can see, Mr Hood, the feeling among us is quite strong. We have all campaigned together to try to secure a unit in Worcestershire and we are all very grateful that we are to get that unit—we just need to know where it will be. But wherever it is built, I am very pleased that, by the end of 2013, 95% of the radiotherapy and chemotherapy patients will be treated in Worcestershire. That is the message that we all want to get across. The ability of my constituents battling cancer to receive their treatment close to home and to know that the treatment is the best available will, I hope, make a real difference. The new facility will match the already excellent care that the trust offers—care that means that it was ranked in the top 20% of trusts in the national cancer patient experience survey.

The news of the radiotherapy unit and other successes is encouraging. However, like many other MPs, I am very concerned about the money that is spent providing locum doctors to cover staff shortages. I hope that the Minister will deal with that today. The number of locum doctors employed has increased dramatically in the past 10 years. Trusts face acute shortages of middle grade doctors. Locum doctors are expensive. They should be used only to fill unforeseen gaps in staffing or when there is a dramatic increase in work load. They should not form part of the regular staffing arrangements as they do now.

We all know that we must make cuts in the public sector. However, I cannot see why my constituents should face reduced public services because money is being spent inefficiently. A cost-effective NHS will offer greater scope in how we care for people in our communities, both in Redditch and nationally.

The problem has been exacerbated by the European working time directive. Reducing—unnecessarily, I believe—the number of hours that doctors can work leads, of course, to a reduction in the number of hours covered by doctors available to hospital management. That is combined with the new strict immigration rules, which have resulted in far fewer doctors being able to emigrate from India and Pakistan and increased the pressure on hospitals as they try to fill an increasing number of vacancies.

The result in Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which has 24 vacancies at the moment, is that money that could otherwise be directed to caring for patients is spent on locum doctors, the agencies that they come from and the bureaucracy involved in short-term employment. If we are to succeed in reducing public spending, we can no longer rely on short-term solutions. I understand that the trust has been actively recruiting doctors from Poland and the Czech Republic. Initiatives such as that must continue. However, the idea being explored whereby non-medical roles are created to support rotas and treatment concerns me. The trust considers that option “undesirable”.

It is not only doctors in hospitals who are anxious about the impending changes. I have met GPs recently—I do so regularly—who have shared with me their concerns about the establishment of the NHS commissioning board. When each GP must be a member of a consortium, their job will have to include commissioning services. The doctors in Redditch whom I meet regularly are equally concerned about the unequal funding for shire counties. I hope that that will be addressed sooner rather than later. There are also concerns about the reorganisation taking away local knowledge of the complexities of our county and its problems. Bromsgrove and Redditch GPs will do their best for their patients—I hope that, when the changes are introduced, they will be fully skilled to do the best job that they can.

In summary, I am delighted that we are finally getting a cancer care unit for Worcestershire—I hope that it will be in Redditch. However, I hope that the Minister will address my concerns about the expensive use of locum doctors and the concerns raised by local GPs. I welcome the coalition Government’s commitment to local health care being delivered by local clinicians in our own localities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 25th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Gentleman is asking about arrangements that we have inherited from his Government; they are from before the election and are nothing to do with the White Paper or the Bill. The contract to which he refers was let by the North East Offender Health Commissioning Unit. This was its procurement decision and it states that a competitive, robust and transparent process was followed. This was not a decision taken or influenced by the Department of Health.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

T7. In support of national obesity fortnight, which is currently running, I wish to raise awareness of this serious condition, which causes numerous deaths and other serious health conditions. Redditch has high levels of obesity compared with the average in England. NHS Worcestershire is doing a fantastic job, but what more can the Government do to ensure that the NHS will not be overly burdened with increasing obesity problems?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Anne Milton)]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue, and I know that her local council is running a number of schemes. As she knows, we have published a White Paper on public health, “Healthy Lives, Healthy People”. In the spring, we will publish a document on reducing obesity, and we will set out how this will be tackled in the new public health systems and in the NHS. It is important to remember that at this time of year a number of people go on diets and try to lose weight and get fit, and I urge them all to carry on, including Members of this House.