"T6. The new specialist emergency hospital is nearly 60 miles from Berwick. Given the serious delays in ambulance attendance in recent cases in Northumbria, how can we be sure that serious cases will get paramedic attendance and delivery to the hospital within the critical hour?..." Lord Beith - View Speech
"Does my right hon. Friend recognise that whatever challenge there may be to the evidence relating to Leeds, there has been no challenge to the evidence of the successful outcomes in Newcastle? Can he assure me that clinical evidence will predominate in his final decision?..." Lord Beith - View Speech
"Given that the maternity unit at Berwick infirmary has been suspended since the beginning of August for safety reasons, with births being referred to a hospital 50 miles away, will the Minister take into account the urgent need to provide the necessary clinical support for community hospitals in remote areas …..." Lord Beith - View Speech
"I am very glad to have this opportunity to raise the important issue of the lack of maternity services in Berwick, and I hope that it will prove helpful that the Minister replying to the debate is a specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology.
"My right hon. Friend quoted some of the evidence that the Justice Committee is receiving, including very interesting evidence from the right hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw). It would help the Committee if it had an understanding of whether this instance is a special and particular case or whether …..." Lord Beith - View Speech
"The Justice Committee is currently inquiring into the workings of the Freedom of Information Act. It must identify where the proper boundary lines should fall to protect the ability of civil servants to advise Ministers, but that must be set in the context of legislation that the Government have committed …..." Lord Beith - View Speech
"7. What mechanisms he plans to introduce for public access to financial information about general practices under his Department’s proposals for GP commissioning...." Lord Beith - View Speech
"I welcome the Minister’s reply. As GP practices have always been treated as private partnerships and are not open to financial scrutiny or freedom of information requests, it is important that £80 billion of public spending is, in the way he describes, subject to scrutiny, including by this House...." Lord Beith - View Speech