Meg stands up for Barts in Parliament

Meg asked the Secretary of State to make a statement on the redevelopment of St Bartholomew’s and Royal London hospitals.

Meg said, ‘My colleagues in east London completely agree that we should get good value for money and good provision of services in east London. In that respect, the Government are right to look at this issue, but why has the review taken place now at the twelfth hour?

The local NHS Trust has applied to the Government for a £1.1 billion Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project.

On 9 December 2005, Barts and The London NHS Trust agreed on the programme, which will create Britain’s biggest new hospital at The Royal London in Whitechapel and a Cancer and Cardiac Centre at Barts in the City.

The Government is now reviewing the project to ensure value for money. There are no plans to close Barts.

Meg also spoke about the review of funding in last Tuesday’s adjournment debate.

Meg said, ‘Given that north-west London has five hospitals specialising in heart problems, is it not right that my constituents should also have access to a good heart hospital in the east end?’