MOUNT HOSPITAL CLOSURE LOOKS POLITICAL SAYS EASTLEIGH MP HUHNE

5.22.45pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 25th Oct 2006

Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne said that the latest figures on hospital closures across the country raised a serious question about whether The Mount Hospital in Bishopstoke had been closed on health or political grounds.

"These figures suggest that Labour ministers have been deciding on hospital closures for the wrong political reasons rather than on health grounds" said Mr Huhne.

Mr Huhne pointed to the analysis in the Labour-supporting Times newspaper that community hospitals like The Mount were seven times more likely to be closed by the Government if they were in Liberal Democrat or Conservative parliamentary seats than in Labour ones.

There are 70 closed or at-risk hospitals in Liberal Democrat and Conservative constituencies with 11 in Labour areas, according to the Times.

Mr Huhne said: "There are too many times where the closure process is favouring Labour seats and Labour MPs to be explained by coincidence. That undermines the whole process. If you go through consultations with a sneaking suspicion that the Labour seat is going to get the hospital anyway, it destroys your faith in these consultations.

"Nobody would argue that a particular set of buildings should be set in stone for ever. Health needs change, population change, so buildings and services should change. The key is that the decision should be clinically based; what delivers the best care".