Peter
Viggers’ statement:
I am mortified by the decision of the junior Health Minister,
Lord Warner, to ignore pleas that future health provision
in our area be referred to an independent panel.
All the facts demand an independent review,
The development plans for QA Hospital are now 17 months
late and still not agreed.
The Primary Care Trust has a financial crisis.
The Ambulance Trust has failed to meet its targets and is
now subject to a fundamental review.
Haslar Hospital remains a wanted and needed local facility.
This has been confirmed by the Hampshire County Council Committee
asked to scrutinise healthcare; by Gosport Borough Council;
and most emphatically by local opinion. A huge public meeting
in January agreed unanimously to demand the retention of
Haslar.
Two other aspects are important.
First, the decision making process. The issue was referred
to the Minister (then John Hutton) in January. After pressure,
the Minister agreed to meet me and a delegation from Gosport
on 22 March. He cancelled on 21 March.
After further pressure the Minister offered other dates
for a meeting but in every case they were then changed or
cancelled.
When the Election
was announced the Minister said he could only deal with ‘urgent’ matters.
After the Election, Lord Warner (a Labour life peer) was
appointed as Minister. After further pressure his office
eventually agreed to a meeting. There were yet more changes
of date and timing and eventually a date was fixed for 21
July. It took him about a month to announce his decision.
So it took the Minister six months to come to the wrong conclusion.
Secondly, the Minister has taken no account of the wider
health issues and Defence Medical Services. Haslar is a military
hospital and the cradle of defence medicine. It remains an
essential part of the line of battle of our Armed Forces.
Yet in his letter the Health Minister makes it clear that
this is no concern of his:
“The consultation
and the decision were not about the wider provision of
health care across south Hampshire
and the needs of military personnel and so your questions
on these issues are outside the scope of the consultation
and the decision.
I am appalled. This is a rotten decision badly taken. What
had the Minister to hide from an independent inquiry.
This is an issue of profound local concern and we will all
need to think about the way ahead.
Specifically,
the Haslar Task Force will meet to consider what we can
now do to safeguard local health care. We are
convinced that Queen Alexandra Hospital – with fewer
beds and less operating theatres than are currently available
in our area – will not be able to cope with future
hospital demands.
We would like to thank all the doctors, nurses and other
staff engaged in medical provision locally. We will do all
we can to ensure that they have the opportunity to provide
the best possible service in the future. |
