Letter from Parliament

Firstly, can I say I’m shattered; I’ve just got in from the Council Meeting after finishing my Adjournment Debate on Rochdale Infirmary in Parliament.  I’m back on the train at 7am on Thursday to continue my job in London.  This is the last few months that I will serve as a Councillor, this is after 23 years – I’m standing down in May. 

I got to the Council’s Budget Meeting at 8.15pm and was delighted to see that the good news about Rochdale Infirmary had reached the Council.  I rang Council Leader Alan Taylor as soon as I found out that the Secretary of State for Health had announced that she will review the decision on closing our A and E in Rochdale, not long after announcing that she will do the same with Child Care and Maternity.  This is a bit lazy – but here is my speech from the debate:

Rochdale’s Health Service – Westminster Hall Debate 21 February 20, 2007

Speech by Paul Rowen Member of Parliament for Rochdale

Can I thank the house and the Speaker for the opportunity to initiate this short adjournment debate on Health Services in Rochdale?

Heath, Health Services and Well being affect all of us.  We are all users of Health Services and all of us from whatever political parties are proud of and committed to the NHS.

I want to begin my remarks by paying tribute to the many Health professionals who work in the acute, primary and tertiary health services in Rochdale. Be they GP, consultant, nurse, dentist, optician or health visitor they do a fantastic job in difficult circumstances and I pay tribute to all of them.

My purpose in seeking this adjournment debate was to highlight some of the concerns that I and residents of Rochdale have about the governments’ health agenda as it affects the constituents I represent. I want to comment about acute, primary and mental health services though time constraints mean I will concentrate on issues of concern rather than some of the positive developments which I readily concede.

Ten years ago the then Leader of the Opposition Tony Blair declared “there were less than 2 days to save the NHS”. Ask anyone today what that means and most in Rochdale would see it as a sick joke. Our Health service is in decline.

Despite being the 25th most deprived borough in the country with the ward (Central and Falinge) in which Rochdale Infirmary is based having one of the worst morbidity rates in the country (average life span 68 years)  we are faced  with the loss of A&E, Children’s and maternity services amongst others. These changes are the result of the Healthy Futures and Making it Better consultations taking place in the North West and North East Sector of Greater Manchester.

I want to thank the Secretary of State who a couple of weeks ago agreed  that the Making it Better consultation should be referred to the Independent Review Panel following requests received from the O&S committees of Rochdale, Bury and Salford. I welcome also the reassurance from the Minister to the Hon Member for Blackley that all previous promises and commitments were on the table. Such openness is to be welcomed.

The Minister is I’m sure aware that the Healthy Futures Consultation is currently the subject of an application for judicial review from the Fitton Family. I pay tribute to their courage following the loss of one of their boys. 

I appreciate that the Minister will not want to comment on the details of these consultations given the review and pending judicial review. However I want to use this opportunity to place on public record as well as making the Minister aware of some of the Rochdale concerns concerning these consultations.

I also want to place on record that the people of Rochdale are not opposed to change. We accept that change and change for the better is inevitable. However what we want is a fair review of the options with Rochdale being given a fair opportunity to put forward its concerns.

In a brief for today’s opposition debate on acute services reconfiguration the NHS Confederation says: “Primary Health Care Trusts have the duty to consult on substantive changes and reconfiguration of services and should present genuine options and not a predetermined programme for reconfiguration in order to be fully accountable to the local community.”

That did not happen in the case of the Making it better Consultation when the only option presented for the Rochdale Infirmary was an urgent care centre. Retaining A&E at the Infirmary was rejected and it is for that reason that I believe that our application for judicial review has a genuine chance of being accepted. There was no genuine option presented for the Rochdale Infirmary.

Whilst the Healthy Futures Consultation did agreed to consider the option of retaining maternity and paediatrics  services at Rochdale  and Fairfield Hospital in Bury when it came to the final decision making process it produced totally spurious figures for the cost of the various schemes. When they claim that an extra 1000 births per year at Rochdale Infirmary will cost £43.5million and totally rebuilding maternity and creating a children’s service at North Manchester costing nothing we are know that Health bosses are putting forward figures to support their predetermined agenda. I am determined not to allow them to let that happen.

I would like to thank the Friends of Rochdale Hospital  ably led by Father Arthur Nearey with Councillor Ashley Dearnley Leader of the Conservative group and others of all or nor party affiliation. My only regret is that the local Labour Party has failed since the GE to participate in our campaign. I’ve no doubt that at the appropriate time the electors of Rochdale will bear this in mind.

When the Independent Panel is constituted I will be asking that they look at the letter from the consultants of both Rochdale and Bury should work together in a shared unit based on both sites. I believe this model which has the support of clinicians on both sites deals with the clinical governance issues, provides a balanced service geographically and is far cheaper than a service newly created at North Manchester. I hope that the IP Review Panel will give this serious consideration and that both Rochdale and Bury will work together to make this a reality.

I want to say a few words about the Pennine Acute Hospital Trust which is responsible for the Rochdale Infirmary. It is the largest non teaching Trust in the country and was established 4 years ago. Its management has been heavily criticised by both Consultants, the Unions and by Professor Alberti in his report published last year. It is heavily in debt and the Chair and Chief Executive have left under a cloud. Four years ago I criticised the need for a 4 hospital trust. It is too unwieldy as subsequent events have demonstrated. I hope that the Minister will consider looking at splitting the Trust into 2 Rochdale/Bury and Oldham/North Manchester.

The Rochdale PCT is a 3 star Trust and in the top 10% of PCTs in the country. The merger of the Rochdale and Heywood and Middleton PCTs into one unified Trust is a welcome move which builds on the trusts strengths.

It is said by the government that changes in PCT services will negate the need for the continued provision of many acute services based in Hospitals. I support this. However the reality on the ground is less than government rhetoric.

The LIFT scheme to provide 10 combined centres throughout the borough of Rochdale is years behind schedule. Only 1 of the 10 centres has yet to get planning permission – 2 years late and I am aware from talking to GPs that there is a real resistance to leaving purpose built GP centres which they own for PFI buildings with increased costs. Of 69 GPs in Rochdale I am aware that so far only one practice has agreed to move.

I want an assurance from the Minister that ACUTE services at Rochdale Infirmary will not be discontinued until replacement Primary Care facilities in Rochdale are in place. If the Minister cannot give us this assurance she should not be surprised if we regard the PMs pledge on the NHS as hollow rhetoric.

Of more concern is the development of ICATS. Privately run treatment and diagnostic centres. Concern has been expressed elsewhere today to the PM about the effect of these centres on locally provided publicly run NHS facilities. Can the Minister tell us where the centre for Rochdale will be sited and what analysis of the effect on existing NHS services she has done?

The Minister is aware of my concern from our meetings on the provision of dental services in Rochdale. She has admitted that between 1997 and 2005 NHS dental registrations in Rochdale fell from 57% to 35%. The new contracts change the way in which patients are counted but that does not negate the fact that the number of people entitled to an NHS dentist has continued to decline. In an area with Rochdale’s index of deprivation that is not acceptable.

I acknowledge that the PCT has opened an additional centre at Castlemere and commissioned an additional 2 dentists. However this is a drop in the ocean compared to the number of dentists who have gone into the private sector following the new contract. I would welcome an open debate with the Minister on what we can do to restore an NHS DENTAL SERVICE to Rochdale. At the moment the reality is an emergency only service for the majority of Rochdale residents.

Finally I want to comment briefly about the provision of Mental Health Services in Rochdale. These are the responsibility of the Pennine Care Trust. Despite additional investment in capital refurbishment at the Birch Hill Site I am concerned that the deficit the trust currently has will result in further cuts in community services. We need a commitment to more investment not less in community mental health services.

The NHS is acknowledged as the only living creation of the 1945 Labour government. It was the product of a report written by Beveridge; a Liberal MP. This New Labour Government needs to demonstrate that words are backed by action and that they are committed to a free and full NHS delivered locally in the area of need.

I look forward to the Ministers response.