Crispin Blunt

Conservative Party | Reigate

Crispin Blunt Demands Meeting With Health Secretary To Discuss Future Of Crawley Hospital

Crispin Blunt, Member of Parliament for Reigate, today wrote to Patricia Hewitt MP, Secretary of State for Health, to ask what plans she had to take action on Crawley Hospital. This followed the submission of a petition from Laura Moffat MP.

The full text is as below:

The Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP
Secretary of State
Department of Health
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London  SW1A 2NS

1st February 2006

Dear Patricia,

I understand that Laura Moffat MP has presented to you a petition from constituents of Crawley which asks for Accident and Emergency Services to be restored to Crawley Hospital.

As you will be aware from my letter of 22nd December 2005 I am profoundly concerned at political interference in the management of hospital services for my constituents and I am alarmed at what seems to me another request from a Labour MP for healthcare allocation decisions to be taken in the interest of the Labour party and at the cost of the quality of care being offered to my constituents and for that matter hers and the wider health economy.

I request a meeting with you at your earliest possible convenience to discuss the impact of your acceding to Laura Moffat’s petition.  The last time she made a similar request to a Secretary of State it was immediately acted on and none of the other MPs’ whose constituents were affected were consulted.  It is as a direct consequence of this that the Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has the largest deficit in the country. 

As you are aware this was also the situation over your decision to overturn the recommendation for the proposed Sutton Hospital and I appreciate your apology about the lack of consultation and the offer of a meeting to discuss this.  Since I am currently, with others representing those adversely affected by your decision, examining the prospect of legal action I would wish to wait until a decision has been reached on this before accepting your offer of a meeting over Sutton Hospital.  However I urgently request the opportunity to balance the presentation made by Laura Moffatt yesterday over the provision of emergency services and the health economy in the southern half of my constituency.

Given that Laura Moffatt’s meeting is public knowledge I am releasing this request to the media, together with my account compiled a year ago after the Freedom of Information act came into force of the consequences of the last time she had her request for action accepted by a Secretary of State with no reference to her neighbouring colleagues in Parliament.

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Please find attached a link to the brief on the re-organisation of healthcare in Surrey and Government interference in the re-organisation process which I published in February 2005.

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