CAMERON DECLARES WAR ON THE NORTH EAST BY AXING NEW HOSPITAL

Local MP, Pat Glass, was in the chamber of the House of Commons today when the Lib-Con coalition government announced that it is cancelling the new North Tees and Hartlepool hospital because it is "no longer affordable."

 

Pat rose in the chamber to defend the hospital, which would serve patients from North West Durham, in a heated and emotional exchange with Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

 

Following the announcement Pat said:

 

“In the run up to the General Election, David Cameron said that he would specifically target the North East for spending cuts and he wasn’t kidding.

 

Yet again, the North East has proved an easy target for the Tories, this time backed up by their friends in the Liberal Democrat Party.”

 

“The North Tees and Hartlepool Hospital was going to be a regional centre of excellence. We have seen tremendous progress in addressing health inequalities in our area over the last 13 years and the new hospital, with the latest technologies and facilities, would have helped close the gap even further.

 

The coalition claims that it will protect frontline services; but cancelling the North Tees and Hartlepool hospital, it doesn't get much more frontline than this. The hospital was not an example of a Labour Government spending spree nor a recent government spending decision, as the coalition claim. The hospital has been planned for the last five years.

 

The decision will hold the local NHS back from improving services and constitutes a devastating blow for the people of North West Durham and the North East as a whole. “

“I believe we need a wide ranging campaign to put pressure on the new Government to change this decision and I will be working alongside other North East MPs to do this.”

 

"This decision raises important questions for Liberal Democrats in North West Durham to answer.  Will they stand up and oppose their national party's lack of judgment in this area?"