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[shapps]

Health bosses running our E&N Herts NHS Trust are continuing to plough on with their deeply unpopular plans to close all the major services at the QE2 and move them to the Lister.

This comes despite the fact that we are only months away from a General Election which could result in a change of government. I believe that they are attempting to rush through the process in the belief that they can reach the point of no return before a potential change in government and policy on closing A&E's and Maternity Units. 

I have therefore invited the Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley MP, to visit Welwyn Hatfield on 9th October and the NHS Trust has agreed to meet with him. Our agenda will include assessing where the new build work is up to at the Lister in Stevenage and ensuring that the NHS bosses here understand that we believe they are making a dangerous mistake by removing vital local hospital services from the QE2.

Commenting Grant Shapps said, "It seems like there is a determination on behalf of Ministers to ensure that the closure programme at the QE2 is a fait accomplis before people have the chance to change this rotten government.  By spending millions of pounds building maternity units, car parks and new facilities at the Lister in Stevenage, they are clearly attempting to reach the point of no return, which will allow them to justify closing these services at the QE2 even if there's a change of government. I am bringing the Shadow Secretary of State for Health to Welwyn Hatfield to help me explain to QE2 bosses that this isn't what people in Welwyn Hatfield want to see happen."

I've attached NHS Trust's latest Press Release celebrating planning approval to expand the Lister in Stevenage at the expense of the QE2 in WGC. When will these people realise that they're here to work for the public and most become accountable.

[disgruntled]

Whilst I disagree with the move to Lister, on the grounds of accessibility and their ability absorb the increase in usage, maintaining the usage of the QE2 in its current form is not sustainable.
Built as the first NHS hospital it is no longer fit for purpose as anyone who has the misfortune to use it will witness.

Instead of grandstanding on the back of peoples fears why not say you will fund the urgently required new hospital in Hatfield that was clearly identified as needed to service the needs of the community in the report commissioned by the Secretary of State in 2004. 

That actually would make a direct impact on peoples lives in the community you serve.

Everything else is, well, bull.

[shapps]

Gordon Brown has left this country with twice the deficit to GDP as when Dennis Healey went cap in hand to the International Monetary Fund in the late 70's.  Back then the deficit was 7% of GDP.  According to the government's own figures in the next couple of years the deficit will be 14% of GDP and the country's AAA credit rating is at serious risk.

So no, we will not be pledging to build a new super-hospital at Hatfield only to then renege on the pledge after the election is out of the way - just as Labour did last time round when they feared losing this seat.  And I can't even tell you that we will be in a position to reverse everything this government has done to wreck health care locally. They are in the process of spending hundreds of millions of pounds at the Lister which would create a huge white elephant if we simply tried to reverse what they've done.

However, I do still believe that we must fight for our local services and that rather than blowing the budget on building health care up where it's not wanted, some of that money should be spent at the QE2 which, as you rightly say, is urgently in need of investment.

The reason that I'm bringing Andrew Lansley here is to meet with those health bosses, give them a clear indication of how much we disapprove of their de-localising our much needed local services and to find out how far the plans have progressed.

Calling for a super-hospital sounds great but it would have to be paid for and they've left this country broke.  I refuse to follow this government's approach of making healthcare promises which are then broken and won't be making pledges that can't be delivered afterwards.

None of which will prevent me from fighting for our local NHS services.

[disgruntled]

Gordon Brown has left this country with twice the deficit to GDP as when Dennis Healey went cap in hand to the International Monetary Fund in the late 70's.  Back then the deficit was 7% of GDP.  According to the government's own figures in the next couple of years the deficit will be 14% of GDP and the country's AAA credit rating is at serious risk.

So no, we will not be pledging to build a new super-hospital at Hatfield only to then renege on the pledge after the election is out of the way - just as Labour did last time round when they feared losing this seat.  And I can't even tell you that we will be in a position to reverse everything this government has done to wreck health care locally. They are in the process of spending hundreds of millions of pounds at the Lister which would create a huge white elephant if we simply tried to reverse what they've done.

However, I do still believe that we must fight for our local services and that rather than blowing the budget on building health care up where it's not wanted, some of that money should be spent at the QE2 which, as you rightly say, is urgently in need of investment.

The reason that I'm bringing Andrew Lansley here is to meet with those health bosses, give them a clear indication of how much we disapprove of their de-localising our much needed local services and to find out how far the plans have progressed.

Calling for a super-hospital sounds great but it would have to be paid for and they've left this country broke.  I refuse to follow this government's approach of making healthcare promises which are then broken and won't be making pledges that can't be delivered afterwards.

None of which will prevent me from fighting for our local NHS services.

Lets forget about what the other lot have done.

When you come to power next May you will have a budget to allocate to need.
Ask yourself Grant, will you place the desire to buy Trident, to continue to fight an unwinnable war in Afghanistan, to not radically review the cost of government over the needs of health and education of the population?

Build the hospital, without it a very large minority of people in your constituency will suffer as a consequence.

[shapps]

When you come to power next May you will have a budget to allocate to need.
Ask yourself Grant, will you place the desire to buy Trident, to continue to fight an unwinnable war in Afghanistan, to not radically review the cost of government over the needs of health and education of the population?

Build the hospital, without it a very large minority of people in your constituency will suffer as a consequence.

We've said we'll protect the health budget, but I'm being straight with you when I say that there isn't a spare £1/2bn lying around to build a new super-hospital.

[MikeHobday]

First, the lies - the suggestion in Grant's headline to this thread that the QEII will be closed.

And then the truth -

We've said we'll protect the health budget, but I'm being straight with you when I say that there isn't a spare £1/2bn lying around to build a new super-hospital.

that a Conservative Government would make no difference.

We're all angry that the Primary Care Trust declined to proceed with the new hospital at Hatfield, and that key facilities are moving from the QEII to Stevenage. That's why all political parties joined together in a joint campaign to fight against its plans.

But, since then:
- Grant and local Conservatives have opposed the new GP health centre at Ascots Lane
- they scare mongered that local GP surgeries would close
- Grant is now writing headlines suggesting that the QEII will close
- and Andrew Lansley MP is coming here but won't promise any changes
 
Proof, if any were needed, that the Conservatives have nothing to offer on the NHS.

[jonmorris]

- Grant is now writing headlines suggesting that the QEII will close

Is that a lie then? If so, then that's surely good news for us all - and that's confirmation that the QEII is definitely NOT closing?

[Time Lady]

I agree completely with  Disgruntled's  comments, especially when the Government can produce money for the Olympic Games.

That seems more vital than a well overdue needed Hospital !!


Time Lady

[Hatfield Girl]

I don't think it matters who get's in really.  The bottom line is that this counrty is broke.  I don't trust Labour, they've made too many promises and not carried them out.  Conservatives, well we'll just have to wait and see.  I'd rather that people didn't make promises they won't keep so I think Grant's comments are reasonable. 
 
Yes we have the games and it costs money.  We got the games when this was a different country.  I remember hearing the cheers from the department next door to mine when they heard the anouncement over the radio that we'd won.  There was a real buzz in the air and a sense of excitment.  The next day was the London bombings and I spent some of that day and the next few days working in the Police Casualty Bureau putting reports of missing people on a database used to try to identify the victims.  This country changed on that day. 
 
Everything now is bad news.  Crime isn't tackled because there isn't enough money, manufacturing has all but vanished, transport is rubbish, our Armed Forces don't have the equipment they need, unemployment growing, people losing their homes.  The list goes on and on.  Add to that a global credit crunch and the world is a pretty depressing place.  We need the games to get that buzz back.  We need 15 year old divers and Scottish cyclists.
 
As for the NHS and our Hospital, yes the QE11 needs a lot of work.  We shouldn't have corridors used as waiting rooms with posters on the walls telling you how to wear a head scarf after Chemotherapy, or great long wards which give no privacy.  It does have some good points too but like everywhere else, it has too much work, too few staff and not enough money to provide for the needs of its users.  In an ideal world, it probably is better to have bigger central locations for certain treatments.  More equipment and staff in one place has to be good.  However, it will only work if you can get to that place.
 
Grant, perhaps you could show the Health Minister the QE11 at 4.30pm and arrange for him to meet with the PCT at the Lister at 5pm?
 
 
 
 

[finely tuned]

The money for a super hospital will most likely never be found in the next 5 probably more years.
However lets not write the QE2 off as a lost cause just yet. Admittedly the wards are old and tired but they could be tarted up to look as good as they possibly could be. It could definately look and feel better there than it currently does.

Having to travel to Lister for the major services that the QE2 is going to lose is not a reasonable solution for the overwhelming majority of Welwyn Hatfield, and the only reasonable answer to this is to keep them here.

Maybe there could be some money for small extensions to be built onto the QE2, helping to relocate our major services into newer modern areas which in turn frees up space within the main hospital. This space could then be rejigged to be more user friendly. Doing this would not cost anywhere near the amount a super hospital would, and it could be completed within a much shorter timeframe.

ft

[disgruntled]

I think the point is being missed here.

When the current opposition come to "power" next May, they have an opportunity to start with a blank piece of paper and work up their budgets from scratch. Those budgets should be based upon the mandate given to them by the majority (we presume) that will vote for them.

Even a blind man can see that we are wasting a colossal amount of money attempting to punch above our weight in military terms, and that we have bureaucracy that is fat beyond belief in the form of government at all levels.

It will be a complete failure if the the Conservative Party come to power and proceed to mimic the methods by which the New Labour Project came to power and operated under once in. It should be clear also to them that the voters of this country are telling them this. Look at the Norwich by-election. Fewer voters bothered to turn out and vote for them than did in 2004. They won, and handsomely, because the current party of deception are so manifestly abject in administering the affairs of this country and its population.

So the challenge to people like Grant, who desire power, is how are you going to spend the say, £550b of tax revenues that you take from the wealth creators of this country (that's you and me folks).

We are saying that you MUST prioritise Health and Education. That does not mean bull like "we will maintain the current spend", or "we will match commitments made" and general ya-boo comments form either side.

Its says that you MUST administer a first class health and education system that reflects the level of income we give you. Everything else is secondary but in declining order of importance, with the bottom of the pile being the cost of Government.

So, Grant, whats the budget for Health & Education 2010 /2011 and does it match the instruction you are given?

If not, don't bother to stand, unless you are comfortable of course to stand there and mislead us with false promises and financial smoke and mirrors

[Mighty Hatfield]

I thoroughly agree with disgruntled. I dont see how "more of the same" is really going to appease the electorate, once the hyperbole has settled (assuming of course that the conservatives win the next general election), I dont think the conservatives really care to be honest, out in the wildnerness of opposition for so long, winning at ALL costs is the objective.
 
---------
Costwise - How many nuclear submarines and their cargo's of death and destruction would it take to build a new hospital?
 
I appreciate the argument for a nuclear deterrent, but I think a hospital is far more important.
 
 

[MikeHobday]

- Grant is now writing headlines suggesting that the QEII will close

Is that a lie then? If so, then that's surely good news for us all - and that's confirmation that the QEII is definitely NOT closing?

Based on the press release that Grant links to below, the QEII will keep:
- an outpatient unit;
- ante/post natal care;
- a 24 hour /7 day urgent care centre;
- diagnostic facilities (e.g. x-rays and blood tests);
- a rapid assessment unit;
- intermediate care beds for those who no longer need to be on an acute hospital ward, but need further care before they go home; and
- a range of therapy services.
Plus we've already got the new GP health centre where local residents can see a GP without appointment any time between 8 am and 8 pm seven days a week (and remembering that Grant Shapps MP opposed this).

The changes are still not good news for local residents (and that's why I joined the cross-party campaign against the Primary Care Trust), but there’s no way that this can be described as closure. I can only assume that the Conservatives want to present a bad picture as even worse than it is. I think that's appalling.

Mike

[finely tuned]

The way things are going the QE2 will almost be shut down Mike.

3 major facilities i can think of within minutes of reading your post that are going to Lister which we desperately need to keep in Welwyn Hatfield are,

Maternity/Delivery Ward
Childrens A+E
Main A+E

ft

[disgruntled]

- Grant is now writing headlines suggesting that the QEII will close

Is that a lie then? If so, then that's surely good news for us all - and that's confirmation that the QEII is definitely NOT closing?

Based on the press release that Grant links to below, the QEII will keep:
- an outpatient unit;
- ante/post natal care;
- a 24 hour /7 day urgent care centre;
- diagnostic facilities (e.g. x-rays and blood tests);
- a rapid assessment unit;
- intermediate care beds for those who no longer need to be on an acute hospital ward, but need further care before they go home; and
- a range of therapy services.
Plus we've already got the new GP health centre where local residents can see a GP without appointment any time between 8 am and 8 pm seven days a week (and remembering that Grant Shapps MP opposed this).

The changes are still not good news for local residents (and that's why I joined the cross-party campaign against the Primary Care Trust), but there’s no way that this can be described as closure. I can only assume that the Conservatives want to present a bad picture as even worse than it is. I think that's appalling.

Mike

Mike

Yes. But your lot have also manifestly failed in delivering the standard of facilities, and as a direct result actual health care, we demand you provide with the money we give you.

Don't hide behind the local PCT either. That's a system your lot set up to administer local health. In the process you have wasted 100s of millions (across the UK) paying career bureaucrats like Ann Walker to maladminister the local health provision.

Sort it out, or get out.