Oral Answers to Questions Debate
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Maya Ellis
Main Page: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)Department Debates - View all Maya Ellis's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(1 day, 2 hours ago)
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Karin Smyth
The hon. Gentleman is an assiduous campaigner on behalf of Royal Berkshire hospital and now of Frimley Park hospital. I met with Members of Parliament last week who are involved in the RAAC schemes, which are progressing to plan. We are absolutely on target with progressing that plan, and we look forward to the proposals coming through from the local integrated care board.
Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) (Lab)
My constituents in Ribble Valley have been directly impacted by the delays to the new hospital programme, with the rebuilding of Royal Preston hospital being put back by almost a decade. Just last week, I received the disappointing news that Longridge community hospital, which is much loved and valued by local residents, will be closed for safety upgrades for the next six months. This Government’s impressive 10-year health plan rightly notes that they expect a shift from hospital to community. With that in mind, can the Minister confirm that she expects integrated care boards, such as Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB, to keep community hospitals open? That is opposed to centralising, which not only takes services away from communities but, in our case, transfers them to vastly inferior hospital buildings. Will she join with me and Longridge residents and say that she hopes the essential repairs are completed quickly at the community hospital?
Karin Smyth
I congratulate my hon. Friend on getting a lot of estates questions into that one point. The point is that local people value the local facilities that they have known for a very long time. That is why we are committed to reversing the decline in capital investment under the last Government—Lord Darzi outlined the shocking £40 billion black hole on capital. Part of our move towards neighbourhood health services is exactly about getting services closer to people’s homes, and we look forward to having further conversations with my hon. Friend and her constituents.