Orders of the Day — National Health Service

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 2 November 1978.

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Photo of Nicholas Winterton Nicholas Winterton , Macclesfield 12:00, 2 November 1978

I congratulate the hon. Member for Basildon (Mr. Moonman) on his constructive contribution, and I extend my congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Chertsey and Walton (Mr. Pattie). Both Members have done a great deal for the mental health services. I am sure that their positive contributions to the debate will help the National Health Service. I am sure, too, that the Minister will heed what has been said and take whatever action he can within the Government's guidelines. But, having said that, and having welcomed also the positive contribution by my right hon. Friend the Member for Wanstead and Woodford (Mr. Jenkin), I am sure that the Government will not expect me to welcome the contents of the Gracious Speech.

In short, I would describe the Gracious Speech as a non-event. It is a Speech to tide us over to the General Election, designed to appear superficially popular with the electorate, but, in the end, it contains very little.

However, it would be wrong of me not to welcome the compensation that is to be made available to those who have suffered from vaccine damage. I have made many representations to successive Governments on this matter on behalf of people in my constituency, and I know that the proposed measure will be warmly welcomed on both sides of the House.

I want to talk about the National Health Service but in doing so I do not want to cover ground already adequately dealt with in the debate. I take up a point, however, raised by the hon. Member for Basildon—that the shortage of resources is only part of the problem of the NHS. We have also been told, rightly, that the problems of the Service will not be solved by removing one of the tiers of authority. I know that many hon. Members on the Opposition Benches feel unhappy about what was done by the last Conservative Government in reorganising the NHS, but there is no point in stirring over that matter again. The reorganisation took place, and we have to make the best of the NHS, making further touches on the tiller to make this mammoth Service more effective and more sensitive to those who have to use it.

Primarily I want to talk about people. For example, I want to talk about a Mrs. Wilson, a constituent of mine who, before her sad death, lived in Prestbury. Then there is that splendid and indomitable lady, Pat Seed, in the north-west, who is leading a fantastic campaign to raise money voluntarily for a cancer screening machine. Mrs. Wilson died of cancer. She took up this campaign in my constituency. I met her and was unaware that she was suffering from a terminal illness. Indeed, she died but a few weeks after I last met her in my efforts to help her in an event to raise money for a cancer screening machine which enables doctors to diagnose cancer at a much earlier stage than they can do so now, so that people, instead of dying in great pain can live and overcome this terrible disease for which medicine has not yet found a cure.

I am pleased that the hon. Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Molloy) is here because, when my right hon. Friend was speaking, he interjected "What about the private sector? Do you want everyone to pay?" That indicated, of course, that the State could provide all the services that the people require. But here I have indicated, in the area of cancer, that it is the voluntary contribution of many wonderful people which perhaps will ultimately give the Health Service the machinery and facilities in order to help with the cure for cancer.