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Health
Boundaries
Hazel Blears MP
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Department of Health
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2NS
MODERNISING THE NHS: SHIFTING THE BALANCE OF POWER IN AVON,
GLOUCESTERSHIRE AND WILTSHIRE
Following my earlier letter to you of 9th July and your reply
to me of 13th August, I have now read your consultation document
and discussed it widely. Please take this letter as my formal
response to your consultation. I will copy this letter to the
South West NHS Regional Office in Bristol so that they, too,
can take it as a formal response to the consultation.
If your preferred option of a Strategic Health Authority for
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire goes ahead, then I am in
no doubt that patient care will deteriorate for my constituents.
On page 15 you argue that your option "will bring significant
benefits to patients" because, amongst other things "primary
care trusts will be working with local authorities, voluntary
groups and others to offer people more co-ordinated and effective
packages of care, regardless of organisational boundaries."
The fact is, Government Ministers have devised arbitrary criteria
for the establishment of the proposed strategic health authorities
(page 13) which quite simply ignore existing clinical flows
and historic relationships. Perversely, you have asserted (on
page 14) that alternative options, which took account of existing
arrangements, "would not in combination have created coherent
health and social care communities", when patently this
is indeed the case.
Incoherently, you argue that the option which most nearly reflects
existing practice, "did not fit the above criteria as well
as preferred options in particular with respect to established
patterns of clinical networks, care partnerships and collaborations,
and demographic characteristics". This assertion simply
ignores the truth of the situation.
Ministers should be aware that your proposed option will be
extremely divisive. In my 18 years as Member of Parliament for
Salisbury I have never known such a united coalition against
such a proposal. Differences of Party politics have paled into
insignificance beside the professional and clinical judgement
and the political and community expertise which is outraged
by your proposal.
Should you go ahead, you should be aware that your proposal
is opposed by:
- Most of the Wiltshire Health Authority
- The Board of Salisbury Health Care
- NHS Trust
- Most individual consultant clinicians and other medical
staff
- The South Wiltshire Primary Care Trust
- Most local General Practitioners
- The Community Health Council
- Wiltshire County Council
- The Member of Parliament
All those of us who have been opposed to your proposal on grounds
of practicality could well understand why Wiltshire County Council,
as a major partner in the provision of social services, might
be reluctant to depart from your criteria of not crossing local
government boundaries. However, at the recent Annual General
Meeting of Salisbury Health Care NHS Trust I think we were all
surprised and delighted to hear the Leader of Wiltshire County
Council say publicly that he too opposed your option and preferred
an option which more nearly reflected existing arrangements.
I hope very much indeed that you will think again.
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