Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, met recently with the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP, to raise his concerns about the unacceptable level of service available to local people at the ClinicentaCarillion owned Surgicentre.
Stephen said “I have been working with local people to try and improve the level of service available at the ClinicentaCarillion owned Surgicentre for over a year now and we have just not seen enough improvement. The NHS staff who work in the facility on a daily basis are doing the very best they can under intolerable pressure, as the facility is just not being managed properly by the owners. Like many local people, I was shocked that the previous government entered into this contract with a building company and placed a whole range of very sensitive surgical procedures into the hands of builders that had no experience of managing such complex treatments.
“When I met the Secretary of State for Health, I told him face to face and in no uncertain terms that this has to stop. ClinicentaCarillion should have their licence suspended and the facility must be handed over to the Lister Hospital to manage. The CareQualityCommission have published their latest reports and are currently engaged in enforcement action against the facility, which they are unable to discuss publicly for legal reasons. However, I made it clear to the Secretary of State for Health that ClinicentaCarillion’s time is up, they have failed local people and they have lost the confidence of local medical professionals.
“It is now only a matter of time and I have every confidence that our local hospital trust, which manages the Lister Hospital, will do a fantastic job of managing this facility. I am proud of our local NHS and I want our local hospital to manage the Surgicentre.”