NHS (60th Anniversary)

I was interested to note that the hon. Gentleman holds an important leadership position across the Wirral in respect of all the hospitals. No doubt he has had the same conversations as I have had with the people at Clatterbridge, who also serve my constituents. One of their biggest problems relates to tertiary referral. Owing to the Government's target regime, oncology centres are penalised because so many of the targets for which they are forced to try to qualify are so far outside their control, at the tertiary end of the process, that they find themselves struggling with financial penalties that they could do without.