GP Services — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Health
George Edward Howarth (Labour, Centre-left): Let me begin by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Halton (Derek Twigg), first on securing the debate—with the agreement of the Backbench Business Committee—and secondly on the typically well-argued way in which he put his case. I agree with every word that he said about the problems, both local and national, that have resulted from the reorganisation and the policies that the Government have pursued since 2010 I want to draw attention to problems in two general practices in my constituency, particularly in respect of the buildings in which they are housed. I should mention that they are used both by my constituents and by those of my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Stephen Twigg). I know that my hon. Friend wanted to be present, but he is having to perform other duties elsewhere in the House The two general practices, which I visited last October, are the Roby medical centre and the Pilch Lane surgery. About five years ago, the primary care trust acquired a site close to four surgeries which it originally planned to move into new purpose-built premises. Unfortunately, the development did not go ahead, for two reasons. First, the proposals were caught up in the abolition of the PCT and its replacement by a clinical commissioning group. Secondly, there were some problems with the lease on the premises where one of the practices is currently housed, as a result of which the PCT could not contemplate proceeding with the move. However, both practices are still keen for it to go ahead, and they have the strong support of the CCG: it hopes to develop the site, which is conveniently placed near the existing surgeries Let me say a little about those two surgeries. The Roby medical centre has about 1,900 patients, and, because of local housing development, is still growing on an almost daily basis. As well as providing the normal GP services that we all expect, it is involved in the teaching of medical students, and is working towards becoming a training practice. It already provides a wide range of services, but would like to provide quite a few more if it had more suitable premises. Obviously, some of the pressure on hospital services would be removed if patients could visit their GPs instead The building itself consists of two converted semi-detached houses. It lacks consulting rooms, and the waiting area is restricted, with the inevitable result that patient confidentiality suffers. Some of the staff are housed in a totally inadequate conservatory which is tacked on to the back of the premises. It is clearly not suitable for the staff, and certainly not suitable for the patients. Because of the size restrictions, it is impossible to conduct two surgery sessions at the same time. There is not enough space to accommodate the patients, or to allow movement from the waiting area to a consulting room. Moreover, very little parking is available The Pilch Lane surgery has 4,700 patients. Like the Roby centre, it is very successful in that regard. However, it does not meet the current NHS dimension criteria. The toilets are inadequate, one treatment room doubles as a consulting room, and access for disabled patients is almost non-existent. The building is, in fact, wholly inadequate for the needs of both the patients and the people who work there. Earlier today I talked to one of the patients, who, by coincidence, had had an appointment at the surgery yesterday evening in connection with a minor problem. She summed up the position by saying that, although the service that she had received from medical and other staff had been exemplary, the building was simply not equipped to provide the sort of service that we should expect in the 21st century In December, I wrote to the Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter), to put all the arguments to him. He will be aware of the problems I have referred to; if he refers back to the correspondence, he will recognise some of the problems I am concerned about. In January I received a response from his ministerial colleague, Earl Howe, which was quite interesting. He basically said that he could not intervene and that there was no action he could take. He concluded with a rather odd use of words; he said that he could not be directly helpful, for which he apologised. The reason he could not be directly helpful is that Ministers have absented themselves from the process and left it to others. I am interested in whether, if Earl Howe could not be directly helpful, the Under-Secretary of State could be indirectly helpful, because this situation cannot be allowed to continue I do not want to detain the House any longer. There is a real problem for patients and for the staff in the two surgeries concerned. That problem has been recognised by the CCG—the chair and excellent chief executive have recognised it. I hope that Ministers will use whatever influence they have, whether direct or indirect, to ensure that this long-standing problem is resolved as quickly as possible.