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Dr Sarah Wollaston, community hospitals,

Backbench Business Committee debate on community hospitals

7 September 2012

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The Backbench Business Committee held a debate in the Commons Chamber on Thursday 6 September 2012 on community hospitals. Dr Sarah Wollaston applied to the Backbench Business Committee to request this debate.

The motion to be debated was:

That this House recognises and supports the contribution of community hospitals to the care of patients within the National Health Service; requests the Secretary of State for Health to commission a comprehensive database of community hospitals, their ownership and current roles; and believes that the assets of community hospitals should remain for the benefit of their community while allowing them greater freedom to explore different ownership models.

Watch the debate and read a transcript

Watch the debate on Parliament TV and read the views expressed by MPs in Commons Hansard.

Backbench Business Committee

The Backbench Business Committee meets every week to consider requests for debates from any backbench Members of Parliament on any subject. This includes subjects suggested by constituents where there is no e-petition, or where there is a traditional paper petition.

When considering petitions, the Committee will follow its usual procedure of hearing a sponsoring Member or Members of Parliament making the case for a debate.

The Committee will only be able to schedule a debate on a petition if several Members of Parliament tell the committee that they will take part in the debate. The Committee then has to decide how to allocate the very limited Parliamentary time it has at its disposal; demand always outstrips supply. The Committee's meetings are always conducted in public and can be watched on Parliament TV.

Further Information