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Department of Health

I will not give way, because I am short of time and other hon. Members wish to speak. We have seen a huge improvement, but I wish to take up a couple of issues. My hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Dr. Stoate) mentioned deficits and the way in which some hospitals were managed. My local PCT has a small deficit and it puts it down almost entirely to the increase in accident and emergency admissions in hospitals, especially a huge increase in short-stay admissions as a result. I cannot believe that so many more people are having accidents or other emergencies that require short-stay admissions. There must be a problem with the management of the health care caseload in the area, which must be examined to ensure that funding meets provision more accurately than it does at present. I reinforce the comments made by others about top-slicing. My own local area has a history of underfunding and health problems. On all the indices, such as cancer rates, coronary heart disease, infant mortality and life expectancy, my area performs poorly, which is why it is one of the so-called spearhead PCTs. We were enthusiastic about the extra funding from the Government to address those problems, but the SHA’s top-slicing arrangements mean that all the benefits that could have accrued from that extra money might be lost. I ask the Minister to ensure that the process that will be used to bring overspending trusts back into line does not penalise those PCTs in the most deprived areas. Otherwise, the whole thrust of Government policy will be blunted. There are problems, but they have been created in the context of an expanding health service, which is driven by people’s higher aspirations. We need to deal with the problems, but we should not lose sight of the fundamental truth that the NHS is not in crisis. It is delivering a much better service for many more people than it has done historically.