Earl Howe, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health, has supplied a fragment more information to the Countess of Mar about the proposed closure of the ME/CFS in-patient unit at Queen's Hospital, Romford.
In an answer signed off today, the Minister supplied this to the Countess:
Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 May 2011 (WA 371), how treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis patients will be protected in the event of closure of a National Health Service Hospital providing healthcare facilities to patients with CFS/ME from all parts of the United Kingdom; and who is responsible for safeguarding the treatment. HL9621
EARL HOWE
It is the responsibility of individual primary care trusts to commission appropriate services to meet the needs of patients with chronic fatigue cyndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis.
Compare this with the original Q and A and with an earlier reply given in the Commons by Minister for Care Services Paul Burstow.
Astonishing;the government runs the country but health is nothing to do with its members. Pass the buck, as usual.
It doesn’t seem to have occurred to the numbskull above that primary care trusts are being abolished; how can they commission services when they don’t exist. The process is already happening in this neck of the woods – how can I talk to people who are not there?