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Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust

I would never do that. They very rarely are on a process such as this. To continue, George Alberti said:"““Many good ideas are included in the current proposals…we were impressed by the enthusiasm for making tangible improvements…None of the Emergency departments are adequately staffed with consultants. It is recommended by the College of Emergency Medicine that there should be eight to 12 consultants per Emergency department, with the aim of having a consultant presence in the department from 8.00 am to 12 midnight, 7 days per week. None come close to this.””" Similarly, the outer south-east London surgery and critical care group said:"““Some patients require 'critical care' in the Intensive Care Units—either as the result of an accident or emergency…There is considerable evidence to show there is a better chance of survival in a larger unit””." The outer south-east London maternity group said that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommends that the consultant presence on labour wards be increased from 40 to 98 hours a week. The group agreed recently that"““the…standards for 98 hour consultant cover, which will provide safer maternity care, can be achieved if services are reconfigured across the four hospitals””." I admit that clinician support for one or another of the options on the table is not unanimous, but it is strong. Formal consultation on the proposals ended on 13 April. I am informed that about 9,500 responses have been received. They are being collated and will be independently reviewed by Imperial College's Centre for Health Management. I understand that the team in charge of developing the proposals expect to make the consultation results publicly available in June this year, and that the primary care trusts aim to take a final decision at the meeting of their joint committee this summer. To respond to the hon. Gentleman's points about finances, I referred earlier to the fact that Bromley is one of a small number of financially challenged trusts. Most of the financially challenged trusts with which we had to contend some years ago have reached solutions to their problems. Indeed, most of the 17 announced last year have now agreed solutions with their strategic health authorities that will help resolve their problems. The four in south-east London are slightly behind the curve because of the seriousness and complexity of their problems and the connection with reorganisation. However, I understand that NHS London's provider agency continues to work with each trust to develop a range of options for solving indebtedness while maintaining standards of patient care and value for money. I cannot promise the debt write-off requested by the hon. Gentleman, as that would not be fair to other trusts that have been through serious problems and taken difficult decisions to get themselves into financial balance. We have managed to find solutions for trusts in other parts of the country, enabling them to agree long-term recovery plans so that services are not negatively affected and they can get on with planning patient care without constant concern for a long-standing debt hanging over them. I assure the hon. Gentleman that my Department is working closely with the London strategic health authority to identify solutions for the trusts in his area similar to those that we have implemented in other parts of the country.