Tag: Jeremy Hunt

Norman Lamb On The Francis Report Into Stafford Hospital

17:16 Tuesday 19th November 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[J]EREMY SALLIS: Hospitals in England are being ordered to publish details online every month on how many staff are on each ward. The move, to take effect next year, follows the abuse scandal at Stafford Hospital, where hundreds of patients died from neglect. In addition, the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the Commons that senior medical staff face being struck off for poor treatment, even in cases of near misses. Well I asked our political reporter Matt Cole to explain the terrible incidents at Stafford Hospital that led to today’s announcement.
(TAPE)
MATT COLE: Indeed, there were some serious serious failings that led to the deaths of many many people between 2005 and 2008 at Stafford Hospital. Robert Francis QC was brought in. He did a number of reports. This second one though wasn’t so much specifically just about Stafford Hospital. It therefore expanded a little into thinking about the wider issues of care. Now there were some 290 recommendations made when that report was published earlier in the year. Today Jeremy Hunt the Secretary of State for Health said that he accepted, in principle at least, all 290, in fact 281 actually fully accepted, and 9 not, but the substance behind them was accepted. He just said in the Commons today that things had gone so badly wrong at Stafford Hospital they didn’t want them to happen again.
Continue reading “Norman Lamb On The Francis Report Into Stafford Hospital”

The London Stansted Cambridge Corridor Bid And The Reality of Rail

08:20 Tuesday 11th June 2013
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: A new group launches today, aimed at improving links between Cambridge, London and Stansted Airport. It’s called the London Stansted Cambridge Corridor Consortium, or for short LSCCC. Business leaders and MPs are meeting in London today for the official launch. Steven King is the Deputy Director of the LSCCC. He says better transport links are one of their main aims. (TAPE)
STEVEN KING: One of our first dividends already is the railway line. It’s ridiculous that it takes so long to get from Cambridge to Liverpool Street, and also it’s absolutely ridiculous that there’s only one train an hour between Cambridge and Stansted Airport. So we’ve already extracted from the Mayor of London about £27 miilion to upgrade that line. (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: But of course transport doesn’t just mean trains. The group is also looking to improve how Stansted serves the area, meaning possibly introducing more long-haul flight. Jeanette Walker is from the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. She says that would be a big help for many hi-tech companies in the city and beyond. (TAPE)
JEANETTE WALKER: They may be based in Cambridge, but it’s likely that their customers, their investors, perhaps the scientific advisers and collaboraters, will be located overseas. And that’s why having quick and easy access to international airports is crucial. (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well listening to all that is George Freeman, MP for Mid-Norfolk. He recently called for Cambridge to receive a £1 billion Government investment now, to ensure its continued growth. George, morning.
GEORGE FREEMAN: Morning.
PAUL STAINTON: Why so much money for Cambridge? Continue reading “The London Stansted Cambridge Corridor Bid And The Reality of Rail”

Peterborough NHS Monitor Report – MP Meets Minister

17:07 Friday 7th June 2013
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Peterborough and Stamford NHS Foundation Trust has been told it’s financially unsustainable in its current form. A report from Monitor says the Trust will continue to operate at a deficit of at least £38 million each year for the next five years. It’s also been suggested they would not be able to pay its staff or buy any more medical supplies if the Department of Health does not intervene. Well let’s put this in some context. Here’s our reporter Alex Harris. Alex, tell us what’s been going on.
ALEX HARRIS: Well the new Peterborough Hospital opened three years ago, and was built with Private Finance Initiative money, in a deal signed off by Labour back in 2007. It was a decision given the go ahead by the East of England Strategic Health Authority and Trust bosses, but that decision turned out to be costly. The Trust found itself battling a multi-million pound debt, as it still is, with the failure to shift the old site of the hospital, which remains unsold. Now the Trust has received a number of Government bail-outs, which the taxpayers are paying to keep the Trust afloat. These are to the tune of £2 million a month for the next 30 years or so. Well clinicians and MPs have maintained throughout however that patients care has not suffered, but finances are a different matter, and a report that we will be seeing today compiled by Price Waterhouse Cooper says that while the Hospital is deemed clinically sound, it is financially unstable in its current form. It’s deficit has reduced, and at the end of the 2012 financial year it stood at £45 million. It’s come down to £37 million, but that deficit will continue. And for the next five years, the report says it will rack up a deficit of at least £38 million every year. But perhaps most worryingly is the long term prognosis of the Trust’s finances. The report says that without future bailouts, without more Government intervention, the Trust will not be able to pay staff salaries, and will not be able to pay for medicines.
CHRIS MANN: Alex Harris with that background report. Well let’s find out more about this. Stewart Jackson is the Conservative MP for Peterborough. Hello Stewart.
STEWART JACKSON: Good afternoon Chris.
CHRIS MANN: Talk to you in just a moment or two, but first of all, Dr Peter Reading is the Interim Chief Executive of Peterborough and Stamford NHS Trust. Hello Peter.
PETER READING: Good afternoon Chris.
CHRIS MANN: Truly frightening numbers. A massive deficit. What’s the future? Continue reading “Peterborough NHS Monitor Report – MP Meets Minister”

Government Damaging The NHS

10:17 Thursday 27th September 2012
Mid Morning Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

RONNIE BARBOUR: Looking for your experiences and thoughts about the NHS this morning, six months on from the Health and Social Care Bill, paving the way for the biggest changes since it was formed in 1948. Cambridgeshire has led the way in giving GPs and private companies a bigger role in our treatment. On line, Martin Booth works at Addenbrookes Hospital, and is a member of Unison. Martin welcome to the programme.
MARTIN BOOTH: Good morning.
RONNIE BARBOUR: Changes are inevitable in all walks of life, but this is quite a massive one. Is your union going to endorse it, embrace it? Continue reading “Government Damaging The NHS”

Andrew Lansley On Moving On

07:08 Friday 7th September 2012
The Bigger Breakfast
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Let’s talk politics. When we started our all-new Bigger Breakfast on Monday, he was the Health Secretary. By the end of the week, Cambridgeshire MP and one of the big beasts of government, Andrew Lansley, had been removed from his job. It became the big news of the week, with some saying he should have gone a long time ago, others saying he should have stayed to see his controversial health reforms through. So it was a reflective Andrew Lansley I caught up with yesterday, in his first full-length BBC Local Radio interview. (TAPE) Andrew, first of all it’s my first chance to talk to you since the Government reshuffle. Are you still disappointed, or were you ever disappointed to be taken out of Health? Continue reading “Andrew Lansley On Moving On”

Cambs Carnage in Coalition Shuffle

07:41 Wednesday 5th September 2012
Cambridgeshire’s Bigger Breakfast
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: David Cameron didn’t show a lot of love to our Cambridgeshire MPs yesterday. Andrew Lansley demoted to Leader of the House, Jonathan Djanogly of Huntingdon lost his job as Justice Minister. And earlier, former MP and GP Dr Richard Taylor told us he was flabbergasted by Mr Lansley’s demotion, and doubted Jeremy Hunt’s credentials to take on the health portfolio. (TAPE)
DR RICHARD TAYLOR: I think Cameron wants to get rid of him, because he knows he has made himself very unpopular. But, to give him his credit, he has worked incredibly hard, and studied the NHS for years and years, because he was the Shadow Heath Secretary. Now the worry about Hunt is that he comes in, what is his background? We know very very little about him. What does he know about health? (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well despite being a critic of Mr Lansley’s changes. Dr Taylor wanted the South Cambridgeshire MP to stay on in the role. He also said the changes raised more questions than answers. (TAPE)
DR RICHARD TAYLOR: Is it a sign that David Cameron is genuinely thinking of watering down the proposals somewhat? Is it for Jeremy Hunt a reward for the Olympics? Or is it a punishment for Murdoch for giving him what is an absolutely impossible job? (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well if all that wasn’t enough, MP for South East Cambridgeshire, Jim Paice, was also sacked as Farming Minister. Bob Lawrence is the County Chairman of the NFU. There’s a lot of love for Jim in them there fields, isn’t there? Continue reading “Cambs Carnage in Coalition Shuffle”