Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead) (Con): May I back the calls for a debate on the future of the health service and, in particular, the cuts that will be made? My constituents face a £30 million cut in health care, leading to the closure of all the acute facilities at our hospital, including a brand spanking new stroke unit. My constituents want nothing more than a level playing field, so perhaps the debate could be used to explain why the Prime Minister's constituency, Sedgefield, gets £1,210 per head for health care, but my constituents get £960. That is a shortfall of £250 per head and could have kept some of those departments open. We want a level playing field, not rhetoric from the Leader of the House.
Mr. Hoon: Again, I have relayed to the House on several previous occasions the fact that the deficits in the health service are limited to a relatively small number of organisations. Some 50 per cent. of the deficits were incurred by just over 6 per cent. of health service bodies. I do not wish to minimise the difficulties that some health service organisations have had in managing their budgets, but I hope that the hon. Gentleman will join me in recognising that it is important that budgets are managed so that our constituents can have confidence that the money that they pay in taxes to provide excellent health care is used properly. On the specific issue of how those issues are calculated, he knows full well that the formula for funding depends on an assessment of the degree of deprivation and health problems in particular areas. It is right that those calculations should be made. |
