Cameron firm on hospital closure threat
Tuesday, 21 Aug 2007 19:59
David Cameron: Leadership of party under more scrutiny
Embattled Conservative party leader David Cameron has insisted he was right to say 29 district general hospitals in the UK were braced for closure.
Yesterday's claim from the Tories as they launched a flagship drive to lead the debate on the health service seems to have backfired after many hospitals and NHS trusts denied they were facing cuts.
Conservative MP Henry Bellingham has also apologised to his local hospital, named on the party's list, after it emerged it was not under threat.
The Norfolk West MP admitted that King's Lynn-based Queen Elizabeth hospital had mistakenly been placed on the list.
"Obviously a mistake has been made, and as a local MP I wasn't consulted on this and I apologise unreservedly to the staff of the hospital," he told the BBC.
"I do think there's a lesson for all opposition parties – all parties actually, and the government: if they are issuing a statement that affects an organisation, be it a hospital, the police, some school, they should always consult the chief executive or the headmaster or whoever it is."
Mr Cameron has also acknowledged the error, but Mr Bellingham claimed that it was not necessary for his party leader to apologise over the mistake.
Yesterday the Tory leader, fresh from his return from holiday, promised Labour and Gordon Brown a "bare-knuckle" fight over the NHS.
As he toured Sandwell general hospital in the Midlands today Mr Cameron defended his claims: "What we have done is include a list of hospitals, all of which are under some form of threat. We stand by what we say in our document, and we could have included many other hospitals.
"People cannot understand that cutting A&E and maternity units is progress. People, who pay their money to the NHS, want to see their services saved not cut."
Public health minister Dawn Primarolo dismissed suggestions that hospitals and departments could be closed due to financial deficits rather than clinical need.
"This is absolutely not true," she said". What the Conservatives are trying to do is to create scare stories because David Cameron is trying to be all things to all people."