MPS TO TACKLE MINISTER ON UNFAIR HOSPITAL FUNDING

11.15.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 14th Apr 2008

Stepping up the campaign for fair funding for Cornwall's NHS, the county's MPs will meet Health Minister Ben Bradshaw to demand progress on a new funding formula to take the strain off local hospitals and health services.

The present NHS funding formula was first introduced under the Conservatives and links local wages to hospital funding. With some of the lowest wages in the country Cornwall suffers under this system, and local hospitals have been left with much lower funding than the national average. As a result the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust has built up a £57 million debt. The Government have announced a 5-year repayment plan for the outstanding balance, but the MPs say that the Trust will not be free from financial hardship until the national funding formula is fundamentally reformed.

Following pressure from the Liberal Democrat MPs the Government commissioned an enquiry into hospital funding in 2005. However, the results of that research are still pending, and the MPs are concerned that local health services will continue to suffer under the current system for at least another year. They have secured a meeting with the Health Minister and will be upping the pressure for real progress on finding a better way of funding healthcare that does not discriminate against Cornish hospitals.

Commenting, Truro & St Austell MP Matthew Taylor said:

"By tying hospital funding to low local wages Cornwall is much worse off than other areas. The fact of the matter is that until the hospital funding formula is reformed Cornwall's patient care will suffer, staff will continue to be overstretched, and services will remain under threat.

"We have made this case to Ministers in the past and they have accepted the problem, but what we need now is action. The Minister needs to give us his word that a real solution, meaning a fairer funding formula, is on the way."

North Cornwall's MP, Dan Rogerson, added:

"The crisis at RCHT has put other healthcare services in Cornwall at risk.

"Now that the PCT has agreed a plan to balance the books, it's vital that Ministers ensure sufficient funding is available for all Cornwall's patients, including those who use Derriford, Barnstaple and other hospitals.

"Cornwall's NHS needs more than sticking plaster. Only a fair funding settlement will do."