uke:Good ole socialized medicine
This is why you do not want it... and why the democrates are crazy
Mr. Bradley : Is the Minister aware of the chronic shortage of hospital beds in Manchester? General practitioners find it increasingly difficult to get their patients into hospital. A local GP in Withington had to ring 999 to get my constituent, who had a suspected heart attack, into hospital, having failed to find a bed at Manchester royal infirmary, Wythenshawe hospital and Withington hospital. In the light of that appalling situation, will the Minister reject proposals to close Withington as a district general hospital with a loss of another 300 beds in Manchester, and undertake a complete review of the real hospital needs of the people of Withington and Manchester?
Mr. McCartney : The Minister's reply is one of the most complacent I have heard about closures. There are 97,000 people on waiting lists in the north-west, hundreds of beds in Manchester have been taken out of the system, children have been refused access to intensive care units, patients are being bussed as far away as Blackpool, and some patients have died before treatment could be given. When will the Minister make a commitment to meet the Members of Parliament for Greater Manchester about the crisis in health care in the area?
Ms Morris : Is the Minister aware that the West Midlands regional health authority has just announced plans to close 1,500 beds in the city of Birmingham? Given the massive increase in accident and emergency admissions over the past few months, and the effect of that in terms of patients having to lie for up to 21 hours on trolleys in corridors and the constant and regular cancellation of elective surgery, does the Minister agree that further bed closures will exacerbate the situation? What action will the Minister take to stop the planned bed closures going ahead?
Waiting Lists
7. Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the change in the number of NHS patients waiting (a) over one year and (b) over two years since March 1991 ; and if she will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The number of patients waiting over one year for hospital treatment has fallen by 58 per cent. since March 1991-- from 169,761 to 71,022. There were more than 51,000 patients waiting over two years in March 1991 ; two-year "waiters" have now all but been eliminated.
Mrs. Bottomley : Doctors and nurses are, indeed, doing a magnificent job in reducing waiting times. Before the reforms, the average waiting time was about nine months ; now, it is about five months, and there will be further improvements. Doctors and nurses should note what the Government have already achieved. Doctors' pay has increased by 34 per cent., while nurses' pay has increased by 52 per cent. That contrasts sharply with Labour's record.
Mr. Blunkett : Is it a fact that the number of people on waiting lists has risen by a third since the Government took office, while the number of beds available has dropped by a third, that the number of people waiting for more than a year rose by 25 per cent. in the first half of this financial year and that those waiting for the first crucial out-patient appointment to see a consultant are not counted at all?
Is the right hon. Lady aware that in the Mersey region, about which the fact is paraded that no one waits for more than a year, the Royal Liverpool hospital had just sent out a notice, saying that the waiting list for out- patient appointments for the spinal clinic now exceeds 18 months? Are not there lies, damned lies and Department of Health statistics?
This is why you do not want it... and why the democrates are crazy
Mr. Bradley : Is the Minister aware of the chronic shortage of hospital beds in Manchester? General practitioners find it increasingly difficult to get their patients into hospital. A local GP in Withington had to ring 999 to get my constituent, who had a suspected heart attack, into hospital, having failed to find a bed at Manchester royal infirmary, Wythenshawe hospital and Withington hospital. In the light of that appalling situation, will the Minister reject proposals to close Withington as a district general hospital with a loss of another 300 beds in Manchester, and undertake a complete review of the real hospital needs of the people of Withington and Manchester?
Mr. McCartney : The Minister's reply is one of the most complacent I have heard about closures. There are 97,000 people on waiting lists in the north-west, hundreds of beds in Manchester have been taken out of the system, children have been refused access to intensive care units, patients are being bussed as far away as Blackpool, and some patients have died before treatment could be given. When will the Minister make a commitment to meet the Members of Parliament for Greater Manchester about the crisis in health care in the area?
Ms Morris : Is the Minister aware that the West Midlands regional health authority has just announced plans to close 1,500 beds in the city of Birmingham? Given the massive increase in accident and emergency admissions over the past few months, and the effect of that in terms of patients having to lie for up to 21 hours on trolleys in corridors and the constant and regular cancellation of elective surgery, does the Minister agree that further bed closures will exacerbate the situation? What action will the Minister take to stop the planned bed closures going ahead?
Waiting Lists
7. Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the change in the number of NHS patients waiting (a) over one year and (b) over two years since March 1991 ; and if she will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The number of patients waiting over one year for hospital treatment has fallen by 58 per cent. since March 1991-- from 169,761 to 71,022. There were more than 51,000 patients waiting over two years in March 1991 ; two-year "waiters" have now all but been eliminated.
Mrs. Bottomley : Doctors and nurses are, indeed, doing a magnificent job in reducing waiting times. Before the reforms, the average waiting time was about nine months ; now, it is about five months, and there will be further improvements. Doctors and nurses should note what the Government have already achieved. Doctors' pay has increased by 34 per cent., while nurses' pay has increased by 52 per cent. That contrasts sharply with Labour's record.
Mr. Blunkett : Is it a fact that the number of people on waiting lists has risen by a third since the Government took office, while the number of beds available has dropped by a third, that the number of people waiting for more than a year rose by 25 per cent. in the first half of this financial year and that those waiting for the first crucial out-patient appointment to see a consultant are not counted at all?
Is the right hon. Lady aware that in the Mersey region, about which the fact is paraded that no one waits for more than a year, the Royal Liverpool hospital had just sent out a notice, saying that the waiting list for out- patient appointments for the spinal clinic now exceeds 18 months? Are not there lies, damned lies and Department of Health statistics?
