NHS: Longridge Primary Care Trust

Lord Alton of Liverpool
asked Her Majesty's Government:

What representations they have received from general practitioners and local users regarding the effect on the Longridge district of Lancashire of the reconfiguration of the existing primary care trust; and why they declined a request for a meeting by Councillor David Smith, on behalf of objectors to the proposal.[HL7215]

The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)
The Department of Health has received 94 letters from general practitioners and the public and a petition with 3,500 signatures objecting to the inclusion of Longridge in the new East Lancashire Primary Care Trust. The request for a meeting with Councillor David Smith was declined, since there was no scope for reversing a decision that had already been taken following full public consultation.

Lord Alton of Liverpool
asked Her Majesty's Government:

What consideration they have given, in developing proposals for the reconfiguration of the primary care trust in the Longridge district of Lancashire, to the existing partnerships and traditional links with Preston, and to the views of patient and public involvement.[HL7216]

Lord Warner
Strategic health authorities led the public consultation on new primary care trust (PCT) configurations between 14 December 2005 and 22 March 2006. It was clear from the public consultation that there were concerns about the inclusion of Longridge in the new East Lancashire PCT area. The Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority board reached the conclusion that the commissioning of healthcare would be more effective if the administrative boundaries of PCTs were coterminous with those of local authorities and, therefore, that Longridge should be included in East Lancashire PCT for those purposes. However it accepted that management of the Longridge Community Hospital should rest with the new Central Lancashire PCT and that the referral of patients by general practitioners in Longridge to Lancashire Teaching Hospitals should not change. The SHA's proposals on this issue relating to East Lancashire PCT were accepted by the Secretary of State for Health in her announcement to Parliament on 16 May and incorporated in the subsequent Primary Care Trusts (Establishment and Dissolution) (England) Order 2006 made on 24 July.