Hospital Mortality Rates

Tom Blenkinsop Excerpts

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

That open relationship between hon. Members and their local NHS trusts is extremely important and useful. We all have to recognise that sometimes we have to speak up publicly when there are problems at our local NHS trust, because we have to represent our constituents, and that is part of the change due to this process. In the end, the most important thing is to give people confidence that, when there are problems, we are a Government who are committed to sorting them out.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

Page 22 of the Keogh report clearly states:

“Contrary to the pre-visit data, when the review teams visited the hospitals, they found frequent examples of inadequate numbers of nursing staff in some ward areas. The reported data did not provide a true picture of the numbers of staff actually working on the wards.”

It goes on to say that that

“was compounded by an over-reliance on unregistered staff and temporary staff”.

Given that the Government have sacked more than 1,000 people in front-line nursing roles in seven of the trusts involved, what conclusion does the Secretary of State draw from that paragraph?

[Mr Hunt]

It is funny how Labour Members like to accuse Government Members of making party political points, but then misrepresent the reality that there are 8,000 more clinical staff throughout the NHS than when their Government were in power.