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Health Services (Rochdale)

Of course I will look into that, but I emphasise that, given the shift in the way that mental health services are developing, we are also reaching out to more people. Mental health services are now working much more closely with local authorities to ensure the kind of social care that is so necessary for people with mental health problems. The hon. Gentleman mentioned a second review—the ““Making it Better”” review of in-patient maternity, children’s and neo-natal services in Greater Manchester, east Cheshire and High Peak. That was another major review and consultation, which covered some 13 PCTs. The consultation process received more than 50,000 responses, representing the views of about 240,000 individuals. That is a very good indication of the interest that local people took in the development of their services. On 8 December, the joint committee of PCTs decided that four hospitals—Hope hospital in Salford, Trafford general hospital, Fairfield general hospital in Bury and Rochdale infirmary—would no longer provide in-patient maternity and paediatric services. Hon. Members will know that the decisions on ““Healthy Futures”” and ““Making it Better”” were supported by the two relevant joint overview and scrutiny committees. However, the overview and scrutiny committees of Salford city council and Bury metropolitan borough council both referred the ““Making it Better”” decision to the Secretary of State for Health. Rochdale metropolitan borough council’s overview and scrutiny committee referred the decisions on both ““Making it Better”” and ““Healthy Futures”” to the Secretary of State. I was pleased to tell the hon. Gentleman and other hon. Members during oral questions, so that they had notice, that the Department was asking the independent reconfiguration panel to undertake a review of the issues surrounding the reconfiguration of in-patient services for women, babies, children and young people in Greater Manchester. I was glad to hear the positive suggestion of my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, North that it would be good to take a joint approach to giving evidence to the independent review panel about the issues that affect both sites. He also made the important point that it is vital to get the support of clinicians when changes are being made and to consult them closely. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has asked the IRP to review the decisions related to the ““Healthy Futures”” decision in light of the referral from the Rochdale overview and scrutiny committee. We are now working with the IRP to establish the terms of reference for the two reviews and a timetable for their completion. I hope that hon. Members understand that the IRP’s involvement in reviewing the ““Making it Better”” and ““Healthy Futures”” decisions makes it inappropriate for me to comment in detail on the concerns that have been raised today. I can, however, make some more general points about health inequalities that the hon. Gentleman talked about and deprivation in those areas. We are trying—this is particularly important in addressing health inequalities—to ensure that services are accessible. That is why the NHS walk-in centre in Rochdale and the primary care centres that I mentioned are extremely important. The hon. Gentleman talked about journey times. The north-west has a top-performing ambulance service, which has provided very good and efficient services. Indeed, it made the point in the consultation that it could provide them with the new reconfiguration. It is important that that is considered in the review.