District Hospitals

Michelle Scrogham, the Labour MP for Barrow and Furness, asked the Government what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of district hospitals in providing services that meet the needs of local communities. In response, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Andrew Gwynne, acknowledged that Lord Darzi's report had concluded that the health service is in a critical condition across the country. He stated that district hospitals have a vital role to play in meeting the needs of their communities, and that the Government will support them to reduce waiting times, improve urgent care, and play their part in building a neighbourhood health service. Ms Scrogham followed up by raising concerns about the temporary downgrading of critical care services at Furness General Hospital in her constituency. She urged the Minister to look into this decision by the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust and do everything to enable the reopening of this service as soon as possible. Mr Gwynne responded by acknowledging Ms Scrogham's advocacy for her constituents. He explained that the decision to temporarily downgrade the critical care service was made by the critical care network, the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, and the NHS trust. He stated that the decision will be kept under review and that patients impacted will receive the appropriate support. The Minister also recognized that more must be done to improve the sustainability of the NHS, particularly in rural and coastal areas. Gregory Stafford, the Conservative MP for Farnham and Bordon, then raised concerns about the running down of services at Chase Community Hospital in his constituency. He explained that this is based on a promise of a new health hub being built, which has the support of the local community and authorities. However, Mr Stafford expressed frustration with the inertia of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) in either building the new hub or refurbishing the existing hospital. The Minister responded by acknowledging the case put forward by Mr Stafford and stated that the Government wants to see a shift of health services from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. However, he attributed many of the problems faced by the NHS to the legacy of 14 years of "running down our health services" under the previous Conservative government.