Kings Langley Villager Article, February 2009

Parliamentary Diary

In my role as Shadow Health Minister, I was asked to wind up a debate on behalf of the Opposition on Emergency Care.

Not a problem for me as it’s a subject that I care very passionately about. In Kings Langley some people look to Hemel as being their nearest A&E, others Watford. But whichever way, there are changes ahead.

The imminent closure of Hemel A&E is destined to put Watford under enormous strain and it is something that I am genuinely concerned about.

My concern is that the Government has based its decisions to close A&E departments around the country on a myth – that is that about 60% of cases seen at an A&E could be dealt with at another, lower cost, facility. Locally they mean a GP-led urgent care centre.

But according to research carried out by the College of Emergency Medicine, “between 5 and 10 per cent of patients attending an Emergency Department…should be treated in primary care” and “another 20 per cent could be treated in primary care”.

If these figures are right – and they come from acknowledged leading experts in the field – a maximum of 30% of A&E patients could be treated in primary care.

This is particularly worrying for us locally as it means that the Government’s figures for the number of people attending Watford A&E will be way off the mark. Quite simply Watford will not be able to cope with the demand.

I and other local MPs are also very concerned about the funding of the Watford Private Finance Initiative (PFI). The whole process of reorganisation has been dependent on a new £300m development due to be built at Watford under a PFI by 2015. Now it appears the credit crunch could jeopardise this and a leaked Department of Health memo is suggesting that there is no alternative ‘Plan B’.

I am calling on the Government to postpone any closures at Hemel until we know for certain whether or not the funding for the new Watford hospital is secure.