Gordon Brown defends Birmingham hospitals in exclusive interview with the Mail
Dec 5 2009 by Andy Richards, Birmingham Mail
THE Prime Minister dismissed an independent report which this week criticised standards at University Hospitals Birmingham, the trust which runs Birmingham’s Selly Oak and Queen Elizabeth hospitals.
Speaking exclusively to the Birmingham Mail, he said patients should instead place more faith in official inspections by the Care Quality Commission, the new health regulator. It gave the Trust a rating of “good” for 2008-9.
The Prime Minister said: “The figures that are available to them, and the information they have, are at a wider, broader level than any individual service.
“Nobody is ever complacent about healthcare, particularly when what happens in one hospital affects hundreds of individuals and families, and safety is our first priority.
“I think we have shown our determination when we discovered there were hospital diseases like MRSA and C difficile, we have worked very hard to reduce the incidents, and they are now down 50 per cent.”
The Mail this week invited readers to question Defence Minister Bill Rammell about the war in Afghanistan, and the number of queries demonstrated how strongly people feel about the conflict.
Mr Brown highlighted his announcement this week that Afghan forces will begin to take over responsibility for their nation’s security in 2011, but he would not be drawn on speculation that this was the date British troops would start to come home.
He said: “We are building up our troop numbers to 9,500, and then in total we have got about 10,000.
“Our job is to train the Afghan police and the Afghan army and the Afghan security services so that they can take over security control for their country themselves.
“Some districts may be able to be handed back over to Afghan control in 2010. By 2011 we will have a build-up of Afghan soldiers.
“Their army by the end of 2010 will be about 134,000. So as they grow in number beyond about 134,000, the balance of Afghan-to-coalition forces will change.”
Asked if Britain would start pulling out in 2011, he said: “I am not giving any further indications than that, because we’ve got to look at what’s happening on the ground.”
And Mr Brown said his Government had acted to protect post offices, by giving them new sources of business and income.
It followed the closure of dozens of post offices in Birmingham and the West Midlands over the past two years, despite vehement local opposition.
He said: “What we have announced this week is how post offices can take on bigger services. So post offices can have bank accounts, children’s accounts, business accounts.
“We are making it a lot easier for people to use post offices for banking services, and I hope that will give post offices additional opportunities to serve the community.”
