Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Beith Excerpts

Tuesday 10th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Jane Ellison]

I understand the right hon. Gentleman’s frustration, but the review is very important. NHS England has confirmed that it will not be able to consult quite as early as it had wished, but it should be appreciated that this review is more comprehensive than the last one. For example, NHS England has developed a comprehensive set of commissioning standards which have never existed before. For the first time, the whole patient pathway will be covered, from foetal detection through childhood, into adult services and all the way to palliative care—on which one of my hon. Friends led a debate relatively recently—and bereavement.

It is always frustrating when things do not happen according to schedule, but what really matters is getting this right and being as transparent as possible. The level of engagement with stakeholders has been much more satisfactory than before, and we continue to make progress.

[Sir Alan Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (LD)]

13. If he will bring forward proposals to widen the range of services and treatments available in community hospitals in rural areas.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Norman Lamb)]

Responsibility for the commissioning of local NHS services lies with clinical commissioning groups. Community hospitals have an important role in achieving more integrated care across health and social care services in rural areas by providing better out-of-hospital care, particularly for frail older people and those with long-term conditions.

[Sir Alan Beith]

A new community hospital is to be built in Berwick, which is 50 miles from major hospitals. Will it be free to offer a wider range of services, along the lines envisaged by the NHS chief executive in his recent comments?

[Norman Lamb]

I know that my right hon. Friend has been campaigning for that hospital. I welcomed the comments of the chief executive of NHS England, who has argued for a much more flexible and adaptable NHS, and for ensuring that GPs locally, working with community services, can offer the maximum range of health services to the local community as close to them as possible.

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Jane Ellison)]

That is certainly something that we will look into.

[Sir Alan Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (LD)]

T6. The new specialist emergency hospital is nearly 60 miles from Berwick. Given the serious delays in ambulance attendance in recent cases in Northumbria, how can we be sure that serious cases will get paramedic attendance and delivery to the hospital within the critical hour?

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Norman Lamb)]

My right hon. Friend is right to raise concern. The North East ambulance service has traditionally been a good performer, but any deterioration that has been identified needs to be addressed very speedily. I urge him to monitor this closely, and if he wants to talk about it further with me, I will be happy to do so.