MPs take hospital fight to Minister in Whitehall

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 23rd Feb 2005

Sutton and Cheam MP, Paul Burstow, and Carshalton and Wallington MP, Tom Brake, took their fight for a new hospital at St Helier to the Department of Health today (23rd February). The borough's MPs outlined to the Health Minister, Stephen Ladyman, why they believe that local NHS bosses have made a bad decision opting for the Sutton site.

The MPs told the Minister that they believe the decision to press ahead with the Sutton site was based on a flawed analysis of the consultation and a false premise.

Paul Burstow MP expressed his concern that the economics of the plan did not stack up as building the new hospital at Sutton would, according to the NHS's own figures, lose more patients and the income from those patients than building at St Helier. He also raised concerns about the fact that the financial benefits claimed for co-locating with the Royal Marsden were not published until after the consultation closed.

Tom Brake MP explained to the Minister that the decision was flawed because it had ruled out St Helier on planning grounds without entering into proper discussions with planning officers working for London Mayor, Ken Livingstone.

Stephen Ladyman promised that he would look into the concerns raised in the meeting and would write to both MPs. He also explained that the local NHS would now have to submit a detailed business case for the new hospital.

Commenting after the meeting Paul Burstow said:

"The Minister kept his cards close to his chest. But I think we impressed on him that the selection of the Sutton site is far from cut and dry. The finances, the planning and the logic don't add up.

"I also explained to him the concerns residents have about the capacity of the local road network around the Sutton site. Making the road network fit for purpose will be a major undertaking. There will be the disruption caused by the construction followed by the increased traffic generated by the new hospital."

Tom Brake added:

"The meeting was useful for keeping the issue on the boil. I think we left the Minister in no doubt that this issue won't be going away.

"Paul and I will now take our campaign to the Mayor's office. We both want to press him to make it clear that the St Helier site should not have been ruled out on planning grounds."