MP Michael Fallon asks what it will take before we get a new hospital
Another hospital scandal, another blistering report. But this time it’s
very close to home: it’s our three hospitals – the Kent & Sussex,
Pembury, and Maidstone Hospital.
The health secretary blamed everybody – the chairman, the senior
management, the directors, even the doctors. The chief executive was
disgracefully paid off, yet as I pointed out in the Commons nobody was
actually sacked.
But let’s get some things straight. Over the last ten years the labour
government has poured money into the NHS. Health has had much bigger
increases every year than schools or the police.
Yet the Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust was always struggling
to meet government targets. The report makes clear how senior managers
struggled to clear a historic deficit, cutting back on nursing cover,
but hiring more managers to deal with some new Whitehall target.
Second, the Trust itself was always being re-organised. In ten years
as MP I’ve lost count of the number of different Trusts I’ve had to
deal with – eight or nine now, including new strategic health
authorities and ambulance trusts.
Chief executives came and went; new directors were appointed; fresh management posts with grand titles were created.
Underneath all this, nurses and doctors struggled to cope with the
people who really matter – the patients. On the frontline – the wards
– they were short-staffed. Cleaning got skipped because patients were
being changed over so quickly.
Third, who was in charge of cleaning? There were dozens of managers but
nobody was really in charge. According to the report, the director of
infection control didn’t know he was the director of infection control.
It wasn’t like this in the old days. My mother nursed at the Kent &
Sussex during the war. Back then, nurses had to clean as well as nurse,
and the ward sister made sure her ward was spotless.
Nurses are more highly trained now. But the point is that there was
responsibility: the nurses for their beds; the ward sister for her
ward; the matron for the ward sisters. Now it’s just meddling managers
with confusing titles.
Fourth, where is our new hospital? It’s been promised by this
government for ten years. With the other local MPs I’ve had meetings
with at least four health ministers to press for the new Pembury
Hospital.
Despite the crumbling Pembury and the ageing Kent & Sussex, there’s
still no final decision on a modern replacement. A ten year delay due
to a combination of an incompetent Trust and ministers constantly
moving the goalposts.
But don’t take my word for it. If you want to understand what’s wrong
with the way our NHS is organised, read the report: it’s at
www.healthcarecommission.org.uk
