Mr. Nicholas Soames (Mid-Sussex) (Con): Is the right hon. Lady aware that when the Princess Royal hospital in my constituency merged with the Brighton and Sussex NHS Trust, it did so with a substantial debt? The trust has not recovered from that debt, and because of a number of changes that have been made and a difficult financial situation, it finds itself in some difficulty. Will the right hon. Lady consider the position and when trusts merge ensure that careful attention is given to whether debts should be written down to enable a new trust to start with a clean sheet of paper?

Ms Hewitt: I am not aware of the specific situation of the two trusts before and since the merger to which the hon. Gentleman refers. Given the substantial increase in NHS investment that has taken place in every part of England, it is important that all NHS trusts live within their means. I will look at the specific situation of the hon. Gentleman's trust and write to him about that. I would not generally favour a writing off of historic debts before or after a merger, for the simple reason that that would have to be carried by other parts of the NHS where services might well suffer as a result.