Health Services (Gloucestershire)

Because of the curtailment of business earlier, this debate has been rather longer than the normal half hour, and all hon. Members present have taken advantage of the opportunity. The hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. Robertson) has mentioned that the consultation document ““The Future of Healthcare in Gloucestershire—Proposals for Developing Sustainable NHS Services””—I downloaded my copy earlier today—states that part of the core remit of those involved in developing and supporting health services locally is to promote good health. It is important to have that written down. As Public Health Minister, I would say that for too long, and too often, health improvement and promoting good health have been the poor relations in terms of providing treatment in our NHS services. In my 12 months in this post, I have begun increasingly to realise that we could do more not only to prevent people from having the conditions that mean that they go into hospital in the first place, but—now that technology and drugs are better than ever before for a person who has had, for example, a heart attack or cancer—to make the step change in helping that individual to look after themselves, having had possibly the best treatment in the world, and to keep themselves fitter and healthier for longer.