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Department of Health

I agree with my hon. Friend. Many people view it as not only a sick joke but a desperate situation for many community hospitals throughout the country. The Secretary of State continued:"““So we will expect primary care trusts to reconsider such proposals against the principles of the White Paper.””—[Official Report, 30 January 2006; Vol. 442, c. 24.]" That has yet to happen and I understand that some community hospitals have already shut because the first aim of the primary care trust is to balance the books. In Guildford and Waverley, several community hospitals are at risk, including Cranleigh Village hospital in my constituency. That hospital is held in much affection. The staff often live locally and it has been effective because, as many hon. Members know, people do much better and their health outcomes are better if they are looked after close to where they live, in the community, so that their local friends and relatives can visit them. Cranleigh Village hospital is so loved that a hospital trust was set up some years ago to raise money to build a new hospital. A substantial sum of money has been raised, a local benefactor has donated land and detailed planning permission has been granted. The project will go ahead, but only if community beds are provided on site. That is a condition of donating the land. The innovative and groundbreaking project will be put at risk should community beds in the hospital at Cranleigh close. One sometimes wonders whether we still have a national health service. I urge hon. Members to consider how often Ministers, including the Secretary of State, refer to ““the health service””, not ““the national health service””. The beds in Cranleigh are being kept open only by voluntary donations. The community in my constituency remains sceptical about the Government’s motives when such projects are put at risk and community beds close. Many hon. Members have alluded to the complex reasons for deficits. The right hon. Member for Rother Valley spoke about inherited budget deficits, which is a problem in my constituency. We also have an older population and the demands and needs for health care are high. I, like many of my constituents, find it difficult when PCT board papers include statements such as, ““We need to manage demand”” or, ““We need to undertake less activity.”” Surely that means that people are getting less of the health care that they need. There are some serious problems with the funding formula in the south-east, as was mentioned earlier. We must take a much longer-term view because it is estimated that, in 2020, half the adult population in the south-east will be over 50.