Government ‘must admit hospital closures’

The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to reveal the extent of the danger of hospital closures.

Steve Webb, shadow health secretary for the Liberal Democrats, said that patients and NHS staff working in trust areas with the worst deficits “deserve to know what is going on”.

He stated: “The health secretary has said that the huge increase in deficits this year will not affect patient care. Yet the acting chief executive does not rule out the closure of whole hospitals and refuses to name which ones are most at risk.”

“The government must not arrogantly hide the true impact of deficits on frontline services. Local people shouldn’t be the last to find out if their hospital is to close,” he added.

Last week, health secretary Patricia Hewitt revealed NHS budget deficits of 512 million pounds – less than some analysts had expected but a doubling of the previous year’s figures.

Ms Hewitt said the deficit would be balanced out during the start of 2007. In April she remarked that the NHS was enjoying its “best year ever” because patient waiting lists were at an all-time low. Her claim was rejected by nursing leaders.

The health secretary explained that the deficits had to be seen in context, using the analogy of someone earning 20,000 pounds per annum ending up with a 200 pound overdraft at the end of the year.

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