Dundee SNP

Dundee Council’s Social Work and Health Convenor Jim Barrie has cautiously welcomed an Independent Inspectors’ report into Ninewells Hospital published today.

Jim Barrie said: “I’m pleased to note that there are good points in the report and that areas where improvement is needed are already being attended to in an Action Plan set up by NHS Tayside.

“In general, it was a thorough inspection and Ninewells has passed it with flying colours although no-one would wish to be complacent.

“The inspection was carried out at the start of the C-Diff outbreak and while the hospital has been commended for its practice of reviewing all cases of C-Diff to ensure the appropriate use of anti-biotics, the C-Diff outbreak was not the main focus of this inspection. The report concentrated instead on the overall performance of the hospital.”

The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate’s report has highlighted a range of good practice at Ninewells, including high numbers of staff undertaking the Cleanliness Champions Programme and the availability of specific funding for minor repairs.

However, the report also called for a number of improvements including using doors on patient bed bays, a review of risk assessment for additional cleaning during maintenance work and consideration of the need for a reduction in bed numbers. NHS Tayside has put in place an action plan to address the issues raised.

Eight elderly patients tested positive for C-Diff during the outbreak in Ninewells with five of them dying between September and October last year and these deaths at Ninewells are likely to be examined during the Public Inquiry into the Vale of Leven outbreak of 2008, which begins on 1st February.

Commenting on news that a Labour MSP is to bring forward a private member’s bill about the PFI car parking deal at Ninewells, which was introduced 10 years ago during a Labour administration at Holyrood’s term of office, Joe Fitzpatrick MSP said: “Labour have some hard neck bringing forward this private member’s bill given that it was on Labour’s watch that the PFI car park charges were introduced!

The SNP Government have scrapped car parking at all the car parks that we can do so, except for the three including Ninewells which Labour had tied in to long-term PFI contracts.

“The company has no intention of negotiating an early end to the contract which has 20 years to run. So it is up to Labour to say where they would make cuts in the budget to buy-out this private company. Would they cut front-line services in hospitals?

“The SNP has always opposed PFI because it forces the taxpayers to pay through the nose, many times the value and continues to tax the public for private profit long afterwards. Labour are now wanting the taxpayers to bail out their errors of judgement.”

 Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick has expressed outrage over the decision by car park operator Vinci Park to increase charges at Ninewells by 10 p per visit.

Joe FitzPatrick said “This is not the action of a socially responsibly company. Parking charges are a tax on  ill-health and the timing of this increase is particularly insensitive.”

 “With the Scottish government removing car park charges across Scotland and ongoing negotiations with NHS Tayside to seek to alleviate the cost of parking at Ninewells to staff and patients, I would have thought a socially-responsible company would have held off from introducing any increases.

“I have today written to Vinci Park demanding they withdraw this threatened increase and enter into meaningful discussions with NHS Tayside to reduce this burden on staff, patients and visitors to Ninewells.”

Commenting on the news that Vinci Park to to increase car parkign charges, the Public Health Minister Shona Robison said:

“I am extremely disappointed by the price rise being imposed by the PFI contractors at Ninewells.

“This Government has already made it clear that we expect NHS Boards to work with PFI contractors to reduce or limit charges imposed at Scotland’s three privately-run hospital car parks until these deals
expire.

“In the meantime, NHS Tayside are exploring options for terminating or varying the terms of the contract and will be reporting to the Government by the end of November, when we will consider what further
action can be taken.”

The announcement by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon abolishing car parking charges at all of Scotland’s hospitals, except the three tied in to long-term PFI contracts negotiated by the previous Labour-Lib Dem Executive, has been broadly welcomed.

The SNP Government has said it will urge the Health Boards with PFI car parking arrangements to take action to reduce or limit their charges.

Joe FitzPatrick Dundee West MSP will this week table a question to the Health Secretary to ask the Scottish Government what action can be taken to reduce the burden on patients, their families and staff caused by the car parking charges at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, as well as the other hospitals with PFI contracts in place.

Joe FitzPatrick said: “These long-term PFI contracts – 30 years in the case of Vinci Park who run Ninewells – were signed in 2001 and supported by previous Labour Health Ministers. Andy Kerr, the Minister for Health and Community Care re-iterated the principle in several debates in 2004 and 2006 and in answers to many MSPs and the BMA, among other organisations, who called for car parking fees to be scrapped.

The Scottish Executive’s guidance on the subject to local health boards on 2004 was that they could enter into any arrangements to provide car parking as long as the charges were not excessive. The guidance revolved around the issue of ‘determining the need for charges and identifying the issues to be considered in setting car park charges.’”

Commenting on the situation, Dundee West SNP Candidate Councillor Jim Barrie said: “The undoubtedly lucrative nature of the PFI contracts, which may involve income of up to £2.3m per year from Ninewells as opposed to the revenue which the NHS Tayside Board receives, at 6% or £50,000 whichever is greater, has been often commented upon. Yet Labour politicians at no time, until now, have called for the contracts to be ended, or ‘re-negotiated’ at public expense of £50 million.

Now Labour politicians are jumping on the bandwagon calling for the SNP Government to attempt to buy out the contracts of the three PFI contracts including Ninewells which the previous Labour administration created. This is complete ‘hypocrisy and opportunism’ and comes as a complete surprise as the MP for Dundee West has not previously condemned the arrangements of the previous seven years under Labour/Lib Dem administrations when visitors and staff at the car park had to pay.”