Newark Hospital

Debate between Karl McCartney and Patrick Mercer

Monday 7th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Patrick Mercer]

As my hon. Friend knows, I live right on the edge of my constituency and almost inside his, and my family and I unquestionably depend on Newark hospital—and, of course, on the East Midlands ambulance service—just as much as those in many parts of the Sherwood constituency.

[Karl MᶜCartney (Lincoln) (Con)]

Might it help the Minister if my hon. Friend told him where the nearest major road and rail routes to Newark are, and where the nearest A and E unit is?

[Patrick Mercer]

The answer to that question is, of course, Lincoln, but it is by no means true that all the serious cases in Newark go there. I shall say more about that shortly.

Let me continue my brief history. Last autumn, Monitor delivered a devastating report on the private finance initiative and on Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which includes King’s Mill and Newark hospitals, drawing attention to serious financial problems. It pointed out that Newark hospital was underutilised by 55% at times, that it was closed for admissions after 6 pm, and that many members of the board had resigned as a result. There is no doubt that good has come of that, but on top of all those difficulties, East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust has decided to close Newark ambulance station. I shall say more about that shortly as well.

Where does the problem lie at the moment? First, let me nail a couple of misapprehensions. I am sure that the Minister will not be surprised by my raising them. First, in certain malicious quarters in the town, rumours—more than rumours—have been stoked that the hospital will close. I do not believe that it will close; I see no reason for that to happen. Indeed, Chris Mellor, the new acting chief executive of Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has made it clear that if the hospital does close, it will be a liability for the next 28 years no matter what, because there can be no withdrawal from the PFI in which Newark hospital is engaged with King’s Mill. Secondly, we still hear forlorn and ill-informed voices talking about the reopening of an A and E unit. No one who understands the problem could think for a minute that Newark will have an A and E unit. That really is not the issue at hand, and, given that the subject will no doubt arise during our continuing conversations, I want to reassure the Minister that, in my opinion at least, it will not happen.

Since the new team has taken over—and I appreciate that it is only a temporary team—some refreshing views have been expressed following the hammer blows of last autumn’s Monitor report. For instance, Eric Morton, who is running the administration of the hospital, albeit temporarily, has responded to a request from me and others for Newark’s minor injuries unit to receive further resources, so that it can at least provide level 2 critical care and become a sort of MIU-plus or A and E-minus—the terms are confusing—and we can be seen as comparable with smaller towns and, indeed, towns of similar size, such as Worksop and Grantham. I have suggested that if a clinical case can be made, there is no reason why such a system should not be introduced at Newark—why, in other words, our services should not be improved.

The GPs with whom I have had some interesting friction over the last couple of weeks—constructive friction, I hope; I say that with the greatest respect to those GPs—have a rather different view. They think that the system would be extremely difficult to implement. I do not know; I cannot judge. I am not a doctor, a clinician or a medical man of any sort. I should greatly appreciate it if the Minister gave me his unequivocal but detached view on exactly how realistic the proposal is, bearing in mind all that I have said about the increasing size of the town, the fact that there seem to be no plans to increase the size of the hospital in line with that, and the fact that it sits on major routes, both rail and road, which are always susceptible to the mass casualties which we see frequently during the year.