From Ben Bradshaw, Exeter MP, column in Express and Echo. Owl wonders how many other local MPs will take credit for a government minister visit to the area!
“I’m pleased that a Government Health Minister agreed to my request in Parliament on Tuesday to meet local patients and NHS staff during a forthcoming visit to Devon to discuss concerns about controversial changes being proposed to services.
Among these is the loss of a significant number of local community hospital beds, including, possibly, the only community beds in Exeter, at Whipton Hospital.
This is just the first tranche of a wide-ranging set of proposals we’re expecting from Devon NHS managers who are grappling with a record financial deficit.
There can be good arguments for changing services, especially the better integration of health and social care and for shifting resources from beds and buildings to provide better support for people in their homes. But with the NHS already suffering its worst financial crisis ever and social care cut to the bone, we will take some convincing that these plans are genuinely about improving services and not just about filling a financial black hole of the Government’s making.
The House of Commons Health Select Committee, on which I sit, has told the Government repeatedly that current funding levels for the NHS and Social Care are not sustainable. We heard from NHS leaders this week that without significant extra resources the NHS will have to introduce widespread rationing, cuts in services and/or extend charging. So far, the Government appears completely oblivious to the seriousness of the situation.”
bhttp://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/ben-bradshaw-on-syria-nhs-funding-and-hard-brexit/story-29801464-detail/story.html
East Devon Watch 