Vince Cable

Vincent Cable MP has strongly condemned the way in which the local NHS Primary Care Trust has been pressurised into throwing open its local services - notably the Teddington Memorial Hospital, as well as St John's Hospital - to competitive tender.

This opens the way to the privatisation, by American and other private companies, of a range of services currently provided at Teddington to a high level of local satisfaction.

Vincent Cable said: "I wrote to Alan Johnson in July saying that there was no demand in the local area for a 'polyclinic' since Teddington memorial Hospital already provided a popular and good service for community nursing, physiotherapy and as a hub for local GPs. His Minister assured me that the matter would be determined locally.

"But we are now told that the local NHS has no discretion in the matter. National bureaucrats are forcing local NHS officials to go out to tender which could potentially affect a wide range of primary care services currently provided by GPs and Teddington memorial Hospital. We have already seen the farming out of St John's Hospital services for the elderly mental ill to a private provider. In that case the new provider is local and seems perfectly competent but I think there would be outrage if a range of local services were farmed out to some aggressive American (or British) health care provider looking for short term profit. Yet this initiative is being pushed ahead without local consultation and apparently disregarding the assurances of the Secretary of State."