Clive shares the results of his local health survey with minister

Clive Efford (Eltham, Labour): May I commend my right hon. Friend's decision to move services into the local community? I want to draw his attention to a consultation that I held about my local primary care trust's proposal to open a cottage hospital in Eltham, to which the response rate was more than 10 per cent. More than 1,400 people responded, virtually 100 percent of whom were in favour of having a cottage hospital in the middle of our community, bringing services into the heart of Eltham. I commend the Secretary of State's approach, and I commend my PCT's proposal to him.

Alan Johnson (Secretary of State, Department of Health; Kingston upon Hull West & Hessle, Labour) : I am happy to be commended on that proposal. I believe that the consultation taking place in London about what kind of health service people want is revealing that the majority of people see the sense in the review conducted by NHS London. They see cottage hospitals and polyclinics—I see, today, that the public in London have overwhelmingly said that polyclinics are a good thing—as a sign that we are going in the right direction.