Primary Care Trusts

I entirely agree and perhaps when PCTs amalgamate, the best management will take over the helm of the one at the top. That could be grounds for great improvement in the service that people receive. The health community talked to us about the disruption and so on, but there may be positive changes in our communities 18 months on. At this stage, we are trying to second-guess that. On decision making, the Government appointed an independent, expert panel to advise on which proposals submitted by SHAs should be accepted. The Health Service Journal reported on 25 May that in some cases the recommendations of the panel were not accepted. Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA recommended that the 12 existing PCTs should be reduced to three, which was backed by the panel. In response to a campaign by local MPs, however, seven PCTs have been retained. I do not know whether to say ““congratulations”” and whether that is the right way of planning health care and health care systems in this country. If it is a matter of those with the loudest voice prevailing—hon. Members on both sides will fundamentally disagree with me here—I instinctively feel that that is a difficult area. Similarly, in County Durham and Tees Valley the panel supported the SHA’s recommendations that its 10 PCTs be reduced to two. In response to pressure from local MPs, I understand that six PCTs were retained, not two. Again, I am not sure that that is how we should deal with reconfiguration of our health care service.