Charles Walker calls for hospital chief executives to take responsibility for the cleanliness of their hospitals and routinely visit the wards to see the situation for themselves.

DEBATE INTERVENTIONS

Mr. Charles Walker (Broxbourne) (Con): Does my hon. Friend think that hospital chief executives spend enough time on the wards? Any chief executive worth his salt would be appalled at the conditions that she found and would not allow them. Perhaps the wrong type of people are at the top of our hospitals. Such things would not happen in the private sector.

Mrs. Dorries: My hon. Friend is right. Many chief executives rarely go on to the wards, although the chief executive of my local hospital does. However, when I visited the hospital recently nurses told me that it was an unusual occurrence in other hospitals where they had worked, if it even happened at all.

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Mr. Walker: Are we not in danger of over-complicating the issue? If Tesco had a store that was routinely filthy, it would fire the manager and hire a new manager who could ensure that the store was clean. Surely if a hospital trust is routinely filthy, we should fire the chief executive and hire one who can ensure that the hospital is clean and safe for the patients under his or her duty of care.

Dr. Murrison: My hon. Friend makes a very good point, which demonstrates the importance we attach to this issue. His remark underscores how important it is for us. It is a pity that Government Members do not think it at all important, as evidenced by the fact that only one of their Back Benchers managed to turn up to make a contribution.

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