NHS Major Incidents

Mark Reckless Excerpts
Wednesday 28th January 2015

(9 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Jeremy Hunt Portrait Mr Hunt
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Exactly. We do not want politics to get in the way of what is right for patients, which is what happened when the right hon. Gentleman was Health Secretary. It will not happen while I am Health Secretary.

Mark Reckless Portrait Mark Reckless (Rochester and Strood) (UKIP)
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Do we have sufficient measures, short of declaring a major incident, to help to relieve hospitals such as Medway, where there has been an ongoing problem of excessive waiting times at A and E?

Jeremy Hunt Portrait Mr Hunt
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Yes, we have other measures in place. At every stage, trusts should do what is right for patients. Sometimes they declare an internal major incident, sometimes it is an external major incident, but what is important is that they take account of the impact on the rest of the local health economy. At Medway hospital, which the hon. Gentleman mentioned, things are getting better. It has been through a difficult period. We have been honest about the problems, we have given it a lot of external support, and I hope that the news will continue to get better.