Patrick McLoughlin

Darley Unit Raised in Parliament

I took part in the last debate before the House of Commons rose for Christmas. Here in West Derbyshire we are experiencing serious local problems in most areas of Government policy – health, education, transport, the environment and agriculture and life in the countryside. So I drew the attention of the Minister to: the possible closure of both the maternity unit in Darley Dale and the primary school in Stoney Middleton; the Government breaking its promises on resurfacing the concrete section of the A50 at Doveridge, near Ashbourne; the continuing irresponsible quarrying at Longstone Edge near Bakewell and the future for rural post offices, the plight of dairy farmers and the overall rural economy.

I thought you would like to be updated on what I am doing regarding your earlier interest so an extract of my speech is below. The full text can be found at www.parliament.uk or you can call 01332 558125 and I will send you a copy.
“We have heard a lot about the National Health Service over the last few months. The Whitworth hospital in Darley Dale in my constituency has a maternity unit operated by the Chesterfield Royal hospital. It has been a vital source of community care in the area, particularly in the rural parts of my constituency. It provides a very important local community service. At the moment, because of an incident that happened a few months ago, it is closed. Coinciding with that closure is a review by the trust of the whole future of maternity services in north Derbyshire. I personally believe that the current closure will actually lead to a permanent closure, which would be a terrible loss of a very good local service.
“Let me tell the Minister that it is no good for the Government to keep telling us how much extra money they are putting into the health service, when so many people are seeing services in their communities withdrawn. If we lose the maternity unit service at the Whitworth hospital, my constituents will not say, “Isn’t it wonderful that the Government are putting extra money into the health service?”; rather, they will ask, “Where is all this money going, when we see such a reduction in the services that we value so much in our local areas?” I very much hope that the Deputy Leader of the House will be able to reassure us today that the consultation will not lead to a reduction in service. If the Darley Dale maternity unit closes down, that is exactly what will happen.

“A constituent came to see me at my surgery on Friday. She had written to me, saying:
‘I am currently training as a midwife at University of Huddersfield, and due to qualify in March 2007 ... The Government is paying a fortune each year to train many midwives on both the 3 year direct entry course and the18 month conversion course from nurse to midwifery (which I am currently undertaking).
‘ If newly qualified midwives do not get jobs on qualification, then all that money has effectively been wasted. It saddens me to think that all my hard work and effort over the last 4½ years may have been for nothing. I have worked for 4 and a half years to pursue my one passion, a career in midwifery, to be able to provide the standard of quality of care that every woman and her family deserves, in a safe, secure woman centred environment where women can be properly supported by midwives to birth their babies.’
“She is coming to the end of her course, but she is concerned that she will not be able to get a job. It is ridiculous for the Government to spend huge amounts of money on training people if the jobs are not there for them to pursue at the end of the training. We all heard this morning about the case of physiotherapy nurses who, after a long period of training, also face the possibility of being unable to secure a job.
I am very concerned about the future of the Darley Dale maternity unit, which is why I have raised these concerns today. I very much hope that my fears of closure are premature and that it will not happen.”