Hospital cuts 'hijacked by Labour'

Hazel Blears.
13 April 2012

Ministers have been accused of arranging secret meetings to save hospitals in Labour's key marginal seats in the run up to the next general election.

Leaked emails revealed that Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt ordered a meeting of senior party figures to identify 'heat maps' showing where Labour could lose votes if hospitals were closed.

The private talks, which involved Labour chairman Hazel Blears, ministerial advisers and Downing Street officials took place on July 3 at the Department of Health.

Opposition MPs said that the swingeing cuts had already hit Conservative and Liberal Democrat constituencies, while nearby Labour MPs appeared to be escaping them.

Significantly, Miss Blears is the chairman of the Labour party and has no ministerial responsibility.

Suggestions that the meeting was politically motivated were further fuelled when it emerged that she specifically asked for a Labour party representative to attend.

The NHS is currently suffering a massive cash crisis after wracking up a £512million deficit in the last financial year.

The organisation's new chief executive has already made clear that up to 60 key services may be cut in the run up to the next general election. Meanwhile, chronic cash shortages mean that up to 16 NHS Trusts - which look after 27 hospitals - are facing the threat of closures.

The prospect will infuriate local people who have seen record levels of their taxes ploughed into public services and raise fears that lives may be put at risk as patients are forced to travel further for treatment.

Claims that patients are being penalised for living in constituencies run by opposition parties will cause dismay.

The Tories last night said that in areas such as Hertfordshire, Conservative seats such as Hemel Hempstead and Welwyn had already sufferedcut backs.

Meanwhile, only two seats in the area - Stevenage and Watford - which are narrowly held by Labour MPs were seeing services expand.

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "I can see what is happening and it is making me really angry. This meeting sounds deeply inappropriate. There is a secret political debate going on to try to minimise damage to the Labour party."

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats called on Parliament's sleaze watchdog to investigate the meeting and said Miss Blears should resign if hospital closures were discussed in the context of Labour marginals.

Any attempt by ministers to influence decisions about which areas are hit by cuts would breach the impartiality of the civil service.

The row came as it emerged that an accident and emergency department in the key marginal constituency Rochdale is to be axed in favour of an "urgent care centre" dealing with less serious casualties.

The closure is the first in a major wave of 'reconfigurations' announced by NHS chief executive David Nicholson.

Rochdale Labour Party has been hoping to oust Liberal Democrat MP Paul Rowen at the next election. He snatched the seat from Labour in 2005 with a majority of only 442 votes.

Mr Rowen said: "Key decisions have been made that will seriously affect residents' lives in areas like Rochdale. I will be asking the Parliamentary Commissioner to investigate any secret meetings and to see whether there has been any political interference from the Labour Government."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Steve Webb added: "The NHS should not be used as a political plaything. We have long suspected this was going on, but I am shocked to see that ministers are being so blatant about it."

Downing Street yesterday denied the changes were politically motivated and insisted they were what was best for local people.

Tony Blair's official spokesman said: "The restructuring is based on an analysis of what services are needed at a local level."

Health minister Rosie Winterton added: "Hazel Blears, as chairman of the party, within Cabinet, will want to know about what is happening in terms of the politics of some of this, will want to know what is happening.

"It isn't about Hazel Blears having any influence over the decisions that are taken. That would be quite wrong and that doesn't happen."

Meanwhile, Labour's NHS woes deepened when hundreds of NHS workers announced two 24-hour strikes over privatisation.

Workers at NHS Logistics, who deliver goods ranging from bedpans to food to hospitals and GP surgeries across England, will walk out at 10pm next Thursday in protest that the service has been sold to a private company.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in