Adam Dance

Thank you, Mr Stuart. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Marie Goldman) for securing this debate. Despite the hard work of staff, the performance of my NHS trust, from maternity services to stroke care, has been at the forefront of people’s minds because of underperformance. Since the merger, Yeovil hospital has been the poor relation. Thankfully, we managed to get our maternity unit in Yeovil safely reopened after a CQC report found serious failings and the trust closed the unit. We got Government oversight, as Baroness Amos reviewed our trust’s maternity services during the closure, and she concluded that “from the evidence we collected during our visits and the concerns expressed by staff, we remain concerned about patient safety at Yeovil District Hospital.” I am hearing that concern too, so I really want to hear from the Minister about the particular steps being taken now to improve oversight and support patient safety and staff in rural maternity units. Another priority issue for people in Yeovil is stroke services. After targets were not met, the NHS in Somerset closed Yeovil’s hyper-acute stroke unit as part of a service restructure. Patients will now have to travel to hospitals in Taunton or Dorchester. Local campaigners and I kept being told that there was a strong evidence base to suggest that a restructure would improve the service, but when we made a freedom of information request we found data suggesting that, in 2024, if stroke patients from Yeovil had been taken to Taunton, only 13% would have made it within the target call-to-needle time of 180 minutes, while only 30% would have made it to hospital in Dorchester in time. We have been working with the NHS in Somerset to get things such as pre-hospital video triage, to help to cut waiting times, and a refurbished acute stroke unit at Yeovil hospital, but we are still really concerned about travel times and outcomes. That is why we need Government oversight—specifically, a review of stroke services in rural areas, focusing on the evidence and the consultation process around service provision, health outcomes for patients and travel times. We need a proper national picture of how rural areas are being impacted by service restructures and mergers, because what works for Bristol or London will not always work for south Somerset and other rural areas. Sadly, I have heard really concerning reports of bullying and poor work culture across our entire NHS trust. That is why I believe the Government urgently need to improve oversight of working cultures and tackle bullying in NHS trusts. That should start with training for leadership teams across NHS trusts on bullying. Where there is poor performance, working culture is often a key factor. There is real scope for improved oversight of NHS trusts such as ours in Somerset. Ultimately, however, without Government support and funding, we will not be able to improve our NHS services.