Decisions on hospital closure must be clinically led and made locally

If passed, a clause in the Health and Social Care Bill will allow Ministers to close successful services that communities want and need without any kind of local scrutiny and democracy.

The Bill receives its third reading in the Commons today (11 March). Clause 119 would increase the powers of Trust Special Administrators, who are brought in to take over NHS organisations deemed to be failing. The Clause would allow them to impose changes on a neighbouring organisation.

Last year, the Appeal Court ruled that the Health Secretary acted illegally when he tried to implement cuts to Accident and Emergency and maternity services in Lewisham to save a neighbouring trust that went into administration.

Matthew Kershaw, the Trust Special Administrator that decided to close Lewisham Hospital’s maternity and accident and emergency departments is now the chief executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust which runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

Ahead of today’s debate, Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, said:

“This is a major issue for people in Brighton and Hove and for anyone who cares about the NHS, or local democracy. Decisions about health service provision must be clinically led and made locally.

“It’s disappointing that the Government is still trying to smuggle through changes in the Care Bill after its legal failure over cuts at Lewisham Hospital. People absolutely have to have a say on changes that threaten the services they rely on. 

“This is a dangerous and undemocratic change which will make it much easier for popular and successful services to be closed.

Notes to editors

Caroline Lucas has tabled an Early Day Motion to raise concerns about this issue

Early day motion 656 CLOSURE OF NHS SERVICES

That this House notes that the Secretary of State for Health has suffered another embarrassing legal defeat after the Court of Appeal judges ruled he had acted illegally in deciding to cut accident and emergency and maternity services at Lewisham Hospital; has concerns about Government amendment 168a to the Care Bill designed to change the rules to give the power to any hospital administrator appointed in England to dismantle hospital services arbitrarily, as long as a neighbouring hospital is deemed to be failing; believes that this attempt to sneak through a fundamental change to the way decisions are made about local hospitals makes a mockery of local scrutiny and democracy; and calls on the Government to accept that it has lost and to stop trying to change the law to enable it to close successful hospital services that the community wants and needs.

 

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