NHS Reorganisation

I shall address the hon. Lady’s remarks directly in a moment, if she will have a little patience. My hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Mr. Blizzard) put a powerful case for one of the two options in his local consultation, saying that it was the healthy option, the people’s PCT. I am sure that what he said was heard clearly by those local health professionals managing the consultation. I am happy to give him an assurance that there is no template. My hon. Friend’s near neighbour, the right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer), did himself no favours by quoting answers to named day questions. Frankly, it was shameful of him not to recognise the advances that have been made in his local NHS. It is not worse than 30 years ago, and it is an insult to the performance of NHS staff in his area to pretend that waiting lists and death rates have not come down thanks to the new funding that we have put in, which I might add he voted against—I think—not on one occasion but on four occasions over the past three years. The hon. Member for West Suffolk (Mr. Spring) added that he was frustrated with the way that funding was not geared to areas of need, but that is exactly what the new funding formula has done. He knows full well that £73 million extra is going to his PCT over the next few years. He has the opportunity over the next few years to distinguish himself by having a conversation with the right hon. Member for Charnwood (Mr. Dorrell), who is chairing the policy review on health.