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Labour pledges moratorium on STP hospital closure plans

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has outlined Labour’s plans to halt the proposed closure of A&Es in England should his party come into power after the snap election in June.

To do this, he vowed to have a moratorium on what he called the Conservative’s “chaotic” STP programme, which has received mixed responses since its inception.

It follows NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens stating that hospital bed closures would only be supported in STPs if they meet the requirements of a test into whether taking the beds away would jeopardise patient care outcomes.

The pledge comes a week after Labour said it would axe the 1% NHS pay cap and reverse cuts to students bursaries to entice more people into the health sector and allow the NHS to be more successful in retaining workers.

“Labour will put the best interests of patients at the heart of our NHS so today I’m announcing we will halt planned closures to hospitals and other services,” the shadow health secretary. “We will have a moratorium on the STPs.”

Recently, the Centre for Health and the Public Interest revealed that performance in North West London A&E departments has suffered considerably following the closure of two emergency departments in the area, sparking concern about the effect that 24 potential closures across STPs in England could have on national performance and patient safety.

The Public Accounts Committee also stated that further clarity is needed to establish how ambulance services will be incorporated into STPs.

Ashworth also described the current situation of hospitals in the UK as a “disgrace,” as he said the party had listened to hundreds of patients and campaigners who had reported threats of hospital closures, A&E services being moved miles up the road and children’s wards being shut down – issues that had caused “widespread concern and confusion” up and down the UK.

“The public deserves better,” he stated. “My first job as secretary of state will be to review every single STP proposal looking at what’s in the interest of quality of patient care.”

The Labour MP also announced that the opposition would set up a new body called NHS Excellence that would be tasked with leading the review into STPs.

“And patients and local communities will be involved at every stage,” he concluded. “Local people should be at the heart of decisions about how care is provided.”

But health secretary Jeremy Hunt slammed the policy as a “nonsensical Jeremy Corbyn idea,” saying that STPs were supported by doctors and nurses in the NHS, and were underpinned by an extra £10bn for the NHS.

The Liberal Democrats health spokesman Norman Lamb also argued that though the ambition of STPs to integrate health and social care in the community was correct, it was based on a “fantasy” that there was investment available to deliver its vision.

“The real question is: which party is prepared to take the tough action to increase investment? Only the Liberal Democrats will make the case for increasing tax to guarantee the future of the NHS,” Lamb argued.
 
However, Ashworth’s idea was backed by some, including union GMB, who represent the interest of many people employed in the NHS.

Rehana Azam, GMB national secretary for Public Services, said: “STP is a drastic reorganisation that is seeing our health service cut to the bone – opening it up to privatisation under the sinister guise of efficiency savings.

“Our NHS is heading for disaster and we need proper funding to avert it - not more top-down reorganisation,” she said. “Stopping the government's cruel public sector pay pinch would be a good place to start."

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