The Labour Party candidate for the Devizes constituency, Chris Watts, has voiced his dismay and concern at the clause Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has grafted onto the Care Bill which gives him authority to close or downgrade a hospital without consultation.
Opposition to this clause – Clause 119 – is now focused on the House of Lords. The Care Bill has completed all its stages in the House of Commons, and goes back to the Lords who will consider the amendments voted through by MPs. It should receive Royal Assent before the summer.
“This bill flies in the face of the coalition principle of localism and I am extremely concerned that the Conservatives have voted for changes which will mean that the central government can now close our hospital or change its services.”
“This is reflected by the patients and NHS staff in our community who care deeply about local NHS provision and worry that this bill could mean our local facilities would be changed without appropriate local consultation.”
“The NHS is the Labour Party’s greatest achievement. We created it in the harshest of times, we saved it in 1997 and we are committed to saving it again after the next general election.”
“Unlike the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, I will not give up on the NHS founding principles just because we are in the midst of hard times. With the passing of such a bill coupled with billions of pounds of NHS provision being farmed out to the private sector, I am convinced more than ever that we have just over a year to save the NHS.”
Even if a hospital is performing well, Clause 119 allows it to be closed or downgraded – cutting, for example, its A&E department – to achieve the level of NHS service central government sees fit for a whole region.
Mr Hunt took these powers after the courts ruled his attempt to downgrade Lewisham hospital was illegal. The government hopes that they will now be able to avoid costly and time consuming judicial reviews, public consultations and public demonstrations.