Ministers try to avoid blame for Hospital closure plan

Health Ministers are refusing to defend the plan to replace Hemel Hospital with a Health Hub

Critics of the Hospital closure who write to Ministers are being told that the Government ‘does not manage health … services directly’ and it cannot ‘intervene in individual cases’

Letters from the Health Department for example claim UNELECTED OFFICIALS are responsible for ‘hospital provision’ and ‘healthcare facilities’ locally

The letters claim that Ministers just provide a ‘strategic framework’ and funding

The officials – effectively civil servants – work in regional Integrated Care Boards

The ministerial attempt to evade responsibility is misleading nonsense – Ministers ARE accountable to Parliament for how NHS hospitals are provided, locally and nationally, and answer Commons questions 

But Government’s failure to defend the Hospital closure leaves its few local supporters increasingly isolated