Accident and Emergency Departments

Andrew Selous Excerpts
Tuesday 10th September 2013

(10 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Jeremy Hunt Portrait Mr Hunt
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I do not have the figure at my fingertips, but I will happily write to the hon. Gentleman.

Andrew Selous Portrait Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)
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I would like to praise very highly the A and E staff at Luton and Dunstable hospital, whose work I have seen at close quarters on a number of recent occasions. If A and E staff had access to GP records, would there not be better diagnosis and would not time be saved? If some of our smaller hospitals are doing that, it raises the question why all of them are not.

Jeremy Hunt Portrait Mr Hunt
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The truth is that many in the NHS had their fingers burnt when the previous Government, with the best of intentions, tried to address the problem, unfortunately with abysmal results and billions of pounds wasted. I do not think that we should let that failure stop us doing what we know can transform services. When we look at the changes that have been made in the banking, airline and retail industries, we see that we need to use the benefits of modern technology in the NHS. It will save thousands of lives.