The Times today highlights what many people have suspected for some time now, that hospital closures and cuts are disproportionately affecting non Labour seats as opposed to Labour seats. This leads me to ask, is that why Norfolk PCT (Primary Care Trust) is making so many cuts in the County ?
Of course, the PCT is separate from government, but with nine PCT funded establishments facing severe cuts, and with four of those nine in Lib Dem held North Norfolk and only one in any of the three Labour seats in Norfolk, it might appear to some people, perhaps with good reason, that these cuts have been chosen with some political motivation.
The other angle is that the PCT faces severe spending problems because of an unreasonable settlement from government. But again, that begs the question, is Norfolk getting a poor deal from the Labour government because most local MP's are opposition MP's ?
2 comments:
The Times article you quote comments "The Times has learnt that seven times as many community hospitals have closed or are under threat in constituencies held by opposition MPs. There are 62 closed or at-risk hospitals in Conservative constituencies and 8 in Liberal Democrats seats, with 11 in Labour areas"
Could that not actually reflect the political makeup of all constituencies with community hospitals in them, which tend to be in rural market towns and similar? Would certainly be interesting to see what proportions of community hospitals are under threat by party.
I think there may be an element of this. I wonder though if the Labour Party's urban mentality also means that they do not see the value of small rural hospitals serving areas outside of the big conurbations.
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