NHS Backlogs
(Heywood and Middleton)
(Con)
1. What progress he has made on tackling the NHS backlogs in
elective care caused by the covid-19 outbreak.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
First, may I associate myself with your remarks, Mr Speaker,
about the Falklands war as we remember those who lost their lives
and their loved ones?
We are making good progress on tackling the covid-19 backlog,
having already halved the number of patients with the longest
waits and delivered more than a million tests and checks at our
new community diagnostic centres. Our elective recovery plan
commits an additional £8 billion to deliver approximately 30%
more elective activity than before the pandemic, and we have
ambitions to go further to transform services, improve patient
care and ensure value for money.
The cost of living is foremost on everybody’s minds now, so what
assurances can my right hon. Friend give me that my constituents
in Heywood and Middleton—a part of the world he knows very
well—will get bang for their buck from the extra money they are
paying into the NHS and that the money will go on testing and
treatment, not management and miscellany?
I am pleased to give that assurance to my hon. Friend. We are
ensuring that every penny is spent on the elective recovery and
makes the greatest possible contribution to tackling those
covid-19 backlogs. We are investing £8 billion more over the next
three years, and that will increase elective activity. I am also
pleased to say that in his region, we have already opened some
four new community diagnostic centres; just those four have done
60,000 more checks and tests for his constituents.
(Lewisham, Deptford)
(Lab)
Following the covid-19 outbreak and the roll-out of vaccines,
thousands of immunocompromised people are still shielding, so can
the Secretary of State update the House on where we are on
delivering Evusheld, which would allow them to have the freedom
that we all enjoy?
It is an important question, and the hon. Lady will know that
specific guidance is already set out for those who are
immunocompromised. As she will also know, Evusheld has
conditional marketing authorisation from the independent
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. With the
MHRA and others, further tests are going on via the UK Health
Sciences Authority, because it is essential to ensure that
Evusheld works well and satisfies clinicians when it comes to
omicron.
(Chipping Barnet)
(Con)
To tackle the covid backlog, it is essential that we expand the
capacity of the NHS, and that means more people, so what is the
Secretary of State doing to ensure that we recruit the skilled
professionals we need for the NHS?
My right hon. Friend is absolutely correct, and that is why that
is one of our biggest priorities. As well as asking the NHS to
come up for the first time with a 15-year, long-term workforce
strategy, we are also recruiting at a record rate, with more
doctors and nurses working for the NHS than ever before.
(Battersea) (Lab)
Demand for eye care services is at an all-time high, with more
than 632,000 people waiting on the NHS waiting lists for
ophthalmology treatments. Delays to diagnosis and treatment could
lead to a loss of sight, as well as stress and anxiety for
patients. Given the stark figures, it is vital that we invest in
eye health, such as through the national eye care recovery and
transformation programme, which, worryingly, is due to end this
year. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is essential that
funding for this programme is retained so that he can bring down
waiting lists and ensure good-quality eye care?
The hon. Lady is right to talk about the importance of eye care
services. That is why we are putting record investment into
dealing with those covid backlogs. As she rightly points out,
many of those are in eye care and ophthalmic facilities and
surgeries. That record investment is going in, and we will keep
it under review to make sure it is leading to the outcome that we
all want to see.
Mr Speaker
We now come to shadow Minister, .
(Denton and Reddish)
(Lab)
More than 2 million people are affected by the backlog in cancer
care. Smoking is the leading cause of cancer, and we know that a
key component of tackling the backlog is prevention. Given that,
can the Secretary of State assure the House that no current or
former tobacco lobbyist working in or with No. 10 will have any
influence on the Government’s tobacco control plan, prevention
strategy or planned response to the Khan review?
As the hon. Gentleman will know, all decisions are rightly made
by Ministers. I agree about the importance of tackling smoking.
The Government are committed to a smoke-free 2030, which is
exactly why I commissioned the independent Khan review. I welcome
its findings and we are carefully considering them.
NHS Dental Care Services
(Weston-super-Mare) (Con)
2. What steps he is taking to improve the availability of and
access to routine NHS dental care services in (a)
Weston-super-Mare constituency and (b) England.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
The best way to improve access to NHS dental services nationally
is through our reforms of the NHS dental contract, which will aim
to pay dentists more fairly for their work. Specifically on
Weston-super-Mare, a number of measures are taking place in
Somerset to open up dental access there, including a nurse-led
dental helpline to open up the available appointments.
I thank the Minister for her answer. Even before the pandemic,
the NHS commissioned enough dentistry to cover only about half
the population of England. Covid has massively increased backlogs
and inequalities in Weston-super-Mare and many other parts of the
country. Dentistry is now the No. 1 problem raised with
Healthwatch, and four in five people say that they cannot find
timely care. I agree with her that reforming the NHS dental
contract is absolutely essential and urge her to redouble her
efforts to fix it as fast as possible.
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the nub of the problem is
the dental contract. Negotiations have started and the details
are with the British Dental Association as we speak. We expect to
make an announcement before the summer recess.
Dame (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
Like the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (), I have a number of
constituents who have had real problems reaching dentists before
and since covid, but there have been some particularly
distressing cases since covid. There has never been the right
package to pay dentists to do the work, which is driving them out
of the business, but the inefficiencies of having to go through
the central NHS systems for an emergency appointment are costing
the taxpayer dear. When will we see proper certainty around the
measures that the Minister just described, so that dentists know
that it is worth their while sticking with NHS patients?
As I said, the contract is the nub of the problem; it is
currently a perverse disincentive for dentists to take on NHS
work. We are serious about reforming it, we are in discussions
with the BDA, and we will make the announcements before the
summer recess.
(Barrow and Furness) (Con)
I thank my hon. Friend for her work on pushing that contract
reform through, because it is key to shifting the dial. In areas
such as mine, where people are waiting to get on to waiting lists
for dentists, there is a huge dearth of dentists to provide
treatment. Can she speak about the recruitment challenge that we
will have to meet when the reform comes through?
My hon. Friend is right that the issue is not just about the
contract, although that is a key aspect of trying to get more
dentists to take on NHS work. We are working on a number of
incentives to increase recruitment, including working with Health
Education England on centres for dental development to train more
dentists in those hard-to-reach areas, which tend to be coastal
and rural areas.
We are also looking at how we can reform the overseas dentist
policy. We are working with the General Dental Council on that
and may be bringing legislation forward towards the end of the
year to improve that, too.
(Weaver Vale) (Lab)
Kathryn Townsend got in touch with me about her son Max, who has
severe complex sensory issues and learning difficulties. He
waited up to two years for an appointment. In that time, several
rotten teeth have had to be removed. Conservative Governments
have had 12 years now to get things right. When will the Minister
get an urgent grip of the situation?
The hon. Gentleman says that we have had 12 years, but he may
recognise that, during the pandemic—two of the years that he
talks about—routine dental appointments were not available
because of the type of aspiration procedures that they involve.
Only urgent appointments were available. We are now enabling 95%
of the usual activity to take place, and that will soon be 100%.
That means that there is still quite a backlog to get through,
but we are in a better place than we were this time last year.
(Burton) (Con)
Like colleagues, I have many constituents struggling to access an
NHS dentist. I recently met with Uttoxeter Dental Practice, which
has significant concerns about the UDA—units of dental
activity—system, as it is not working for dentists or patients. I
understand that a review has been promised for many years. Can my
hon. Friend update me on when it might take place?
My hon. Friend is right: there is a perverse disincentive in the
current contract in that under the UDA dentists are not paid in
relation to the level of activity or work they have to do for an
appointment. That is the nub of the problem and we are in
discussions with the British Dental Association right now; it is
reviewing our proposals and we hope to have news very soon.
(St Helens South and Whiston)
(Lab)
People with dementia deserve to be treated with dignity and
respect. There are ways to enable those living with dementia to
lead the lives they want. This is what the all-party group on
dementia inquiry is currently investigating. Will the Secretary
of State commit to attending the all-party group’s inquiry—
Mr Speaker
Order. Sorry, but that is not relevant to the question, which is
about dentistry.
Ms Rimmer
I have Question 5 on dementia.
Mr Speaker
I cannot jump questions; this question is about dentistry so I
now call the shadow Minister, .
(Enfield North) (Lab)
Members across the House have been calling on the Minister to fix
the crisis in NHS dentistry, but she seems intent on burying her
head in the sand. The Government have no plan, with the Minister
running scared from even talking to dentists at a conference last
week. Patients are suffering as a result, with a third of adults
and half of all children not having access to an NHS dentist. In
Wakefield alone, a child under 11 is admitted to hospital every
day for tooth decay. Does the Minister agree that the people of
Wakefield should bear this in mind next Thursday?
I am sure the people of Wakefield are as frustrated as I am that
the Labour dental contract, put in place in 2006, is the nub of
the problem. If the hon. Lady were to meet with dentists, she
would hear loud and clear that the dental contract is causing the
problem. [Interruption.] She might not have listened to my
previous answers because she is not listening now, but we will be
announcing changes before the summer recess.
(St Albans) (LD)
At the start of this year the Government announced £50 million to
create some new dentistry appointments, but that money resulted
in exactly zero new appointments in my constituency. I wrote to
every single dental practice in my constituency and they said
that was because the funding offer was too limited in scope and
time and they were given only a week to reply.
On 25 April, I wrote to the Minister asking how many appointments
had been created from this money across England and where that
money had gone. I have not received an answer. Will we get one
today?
I am very disappointed: that £50 million of funding was for
dentistry to access and be able to afford more appointments, and
if local commissioners in an area did not bid for that money or
ask dentists to take that money on, that is extremely
disappointing—those in other parts of the country certainly did.
We are putting £3 billion a year into dentistry. Local MPs have a
role to play in this: if there was a problem, I would have
expected the hon. Lady to have come and seen me before now to
lobby for more funding for her local area.
Nurse Recruitment
(Blyth Valley) (Con)
3. What progress he has made on recruiting 50,000 nurses.
The Minister for Health ()
This Government committed to growing the NHS workforce, including
our pledge of 50,000 more nurses by 2024, and we are
delivering on that, as we are delivering across Government, with
almost 31,000 more nurses so far as of March 2022—the latest data
point we have.
I commend the Government on their target to train 50,000 new
nurses. I know first-hand how hard the nursing staff work in the
NHS as I worked as a mental health support worker for almost 30
years. With that in mind, I welcome the new school of nursing to
be built at the Cramlington A&E Hospital. Will my hon. Friend
do me the honour of visiting Cramlington to see for himself the
construction of this amazing new facility?
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his work supporting the NHS
and healthcare in this country both prior to and subsequent to
his election to this House. I would be delighted to visit
Cramlington with him—indeed, on the same visit perhaps I could
visit his local health facilities to see modular construction in
action. I should also say that his ever-efficient office has
already invited me.
(Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
More nurses across the country, and particularly in Harrow, would
make a real difference in helping those who suffer from diabetes.
Given that this is Diabetes Week and that diabetes has a
disproportionate impact on those from a south Asian
background—particularly, for example, among my Gujarati
constituents—when will the Minister put extra resources into
tackling this terrible health condition?
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his important question.
As he highlights, we are investing more in more nurses, but there
is also a large piece of work to do on health education and
improving access to those services for people with diabetes. I
urge him to look forward with eager anticipation to the health
disparities White Paper.
(Stoke-on-Trent North)
(Con)
Mr Speaker, you will be aware that I am proud to support the “no
time to wait” cross-party campaign to ensure that we have a
mental health nurse in every GP surgery across the country. I am
delighted to see the hon. Member for York Central (), who supports the
campaign, in her place.
I was delighted to read that the Secretary of State has said that
we will recruit 2,000 mental health nurses into GP practices. Can
I have more detail on how that will work? Can we look at Norfolk,
which is using primary care networks, and third sector
organisations such as Mind to help with that recruitment?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for drawing attention to this
important issue as well as for highlighting what is going on in
Norfolk and the opportunities to learn from that. The Government
have put record funding into mental health, and I understand that
my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is due to meet him
and supporters of the campaign soon.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Tooting) (Lab)
Working a shift in A&E just two days ago, I could not have
felt prouder of the teams of nurses who form the foundation of
our NHS. As the Minister is so gushing about the Government’s
track record, will he explain why specialist food banks are being
opened up in hospitals? Will he explain why, in a report by the
Royal College of Nursing, 83% said that staffing levels on their
last shift were not sufficient to meet patients’ needs safely and
effectively? These lifesavers need a Government who are on their
side. Only Labour will deliver for the NHS workforce and ensure
that nurses and patients get what they rightly deserve.
I think that I detected the hint of a question in there. On a
serious point, I pay tribute to the hon. Lady, as I often do on
such occasions, notwithstanding the challenges that she throws at
us, for the work that she does in the NHS and the work that she
did before she was elected to the House. Through her, I also pay
tribute to NHS workers up and down the country for their work.
The Government have put in place record support for our NHS,
including nurses, which is about supporting those already on the
frontline in the profession—that is absolutely right—and about
growing that workforce to ensure that the work that needs to be
done is spread among more people. That is exactly what we have
done. We have record numbers in our NHS workforce, and we are
well on target to meet our manifesto commitment on more nurses.
Primary Care Staff Recruitment
(Stourbridge) (Con)
4. What progress he has made on recruiting 26,000 primary care
staff.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
The Government’s commitment to deliver 50 million more general
practice appointments is critical for improving access to primary
care across the country. Our workforce are crucial for that, and
we are well on track to deliver 26,000 more full-time primary
care staff by March 2024, with more than 18,000 primary care
staff already recruited since 2019.
I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. Does he agree that
when it comes to accessing primary care services, the Government
have given GPs the support and guidance that they need and that
GPs must now make every effort to see our constituents face to
face, which is what they expect? What more can be done to support
GP practices to make their processes more efficient for patient
access to test results and blood tests and for booking
appointments?
I agree with my hon. Friend and am incredibly grateful, as she
is, for the huge contribution of GPs during the pandemic in
helping to deliver the largest vaccination programme that the NHS
has ever seen. Because of the pandemic, we also provided record
support to GPs that helped to cut bureaucracy, helped them to
share their workload and helped clinicians to give even more
support to patients.
We are starting to see the results of that, with face-to-face
appointments going up—we would like to see them go up much
further. We would also like to see increases in appointments,
including for access to blood tests. My hon. Friend might know
that yesterday we published our new data strategy, which sets out
how, using the NHS app, we will give more people access to their
health results.
(Westminster North) (Lab)
The United States company Operose Health runs 70 GP surgeries
across the country, including the Randolph Surgery in my
constituency. Yesterday’s “Panorama” broadcast indicated serious
concerns about its quality of service, staffing levels and
patient safety. Since then, constituents of mine have approached
me to reflect their concerns about the service. What steps is the
Secretary of State taking now, urgently, to establish what has
gone wrong? Will he meet MPs with those surgeries to discuss our
concerns?
First, I will ensure the hon. Lady gets the meeting she requests.
She will know that NHS GP services all have to meet the same
requirements, the same regulations and the same standards across
the country. Where patients are not getting that care and those
standards are not being met, we expect local commissioners to
take action.
Dementia Care: Social Care Workforce
(St Helens South and Whiston)
(Lab)
5. What steps he is taking to help ensure that training for the
social care workforce meets the needs of people living with
dementia.
The Minister for Care and Mental Health ()
It is crucial that the health and social care workforce have the
necessary skills to provide high- quality care for those living
with dementia. As announced in the White Paper, we will invest
£500 million in training, and we will work with social care staff
to co-produce a knowledge and skills framework to include the
dementia training standards framework. Later this year, we will
set out our plans on dementia for England for the next 10 years,
which will include plans for dementia training.
Ms Rimmer
People with dementia deserve to be treated with dignity and
respect. There are ways to enable people living with dementia to
live the lives they want to lead and that is what the inquiry by
the all-party parliamentary group on dementia is investigating
right now. Will the Secretary of State commit to attending the
APPG’s inquiry report launch in September to hear how that can be
achieved? Most importantly, will he commit to taking on board its
recommendations? Families of people with dementia feel they are
neglected and not getting the attention they need. I urge him to
attend the launch of the report.
I completely agree with the hon. Lady that we, of course, must
treat all those living with dementia—and all those caring for
people with dementia, which is a lot of people in the
country—with respect and do everything we can to support them.
That is why we will, as I say, be setting out our plans for
dementia in England for the next 10 years and why the Secretary
of State mentioned dementia in a speech very recently. I will
personally commit to attending the APPG. I am very happy to work
with her on this issue to understand what more we could be doing
and what more we can do to inform the 10-year plan for dementia
in England.
Dame (Gosport) (Con)
I am really grateful to my hon. Friend for her commitment to
train social care staff in dementia. Timely and accurate
diagnosis is really important to ensuring that people living with
dementia get on the right care and support pathway. A lot of my
constituents are still struggling to get the face-to-face
appointments that are so crucial in that. What is she doing to
ensure that GPs in my local area are equipped to recruit, train
and be resourced to get early diagnosis in place for people?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We had been meeting our
dementia diagnosis target consistently at the national level from
July 2016 until the end of March 2020, when, obviously, we all
know what happened. The diagnosis rate dropped below our target
for the first time in almost four years, and reflects the impact
the pandemic had on memory assessment services and GP referrals
into those services. In the last financial year, we allocated £17
million to specifically address dementia waiting lists and
increase the number of diagnoses. That was spent in a range of
ways, including on investing in workforce to increase capacity in
memory assessment services and on improving access to pre and
post-diagnostic support and carer support.
(Bristol South) (Lab)
Quality care for our loved ones depends on a well-trained and
motivated care force. I think we can all agree on that, and I
commend the work of the all-party group. I hear the words of the
Minister, but we have had a lot of warm words about a dementia
strategy and the promise of a clear date. Can she be more
specific about a date for publication, and can she be clearer
about the workforce plan, including training for staff, given the
Government’s rejection of all workforce amendments to the Health
and Social Care Levy Act 2021? We cannot give confidence to
people suffering with dementia and their carers without a much
clearer plan that is in place very quickly.
I assure the hon. Lady that there is a lot of work happening on
workforce across the whole of our health and social care
services, whether in mental or physical health. Health Education
England is working on the matter now and will publish a framework
shortly. The workforce strategy set out in our White Paper is
just the beginning. We will work closely with adult social care
leaders and staff, and the people who draw on that care and
support, to implement it now, and to take forward and build on
those policies now and in the future. There is a lot of work, and
we are serious about it; the hon. Lady can look forward to seeing
a lot of documents before the end of the year.
NHS Integrated Care Systems
(West Lancashire) (Lab)
6. What assessment he has made of the effect of integrated care
systems on cross-boundary NHS trusts.
The Minister for Health ()
NHS trusts have an integral role in the local health and care
system. We expect appropriate engagement between integrated care
boards, integrated care providers and the respective NHS
providers in an area. An NHS trust is a formal partner of an ICB
if it provides any services in the ICB area and has the function
of participating in the nomination of members to the board.
Regulations give details as to how to determine which trusts that
provide services in an ICB area should participate in the
nomination process.
Notwithstanding the Minister’s comments, Cheshire and Merseyside
integrated care system has recently made the decision to stop my
West Lancashire constituents accessing routine dermatology at St
Helens Hospital, which is the only nearby provider. Due to
geography, my constituents are in the Lancashire ICS, and are
therefore not represented in Cheshire-Mersey—in place or local
authorities.
My question, which I have asked several times, is: what is the
Department doing to ensure that there is a mechanism for my
constituents in Lancashire ICS to be represented in
Cheshire-Merseyside’s decision-making process, which directly
affects the care they are given? I have raised this point about
cross-border difficulties so many times that I must question
whether we any longer have a national health service, or whether
we have a series of protected ICS kingdoms.
The hon. Lady and I speak regularly about different aspects of
her local health system, and I am happy to do so again on this
matter. I do not know the exact details behind the specific
example, but I do not think it relates directly to how ICSs are
configured in statute and guidance. I would be happy to meet her
to understand the local factors that may have contributed to the
situation.
Nursing in Care Homes
(Redcar) (Con)
7. What steps he is taking to increase the quality of nursing in
care homes.
The Minister for Care and Mental Health ()
Nurses play a pivotal role in social care and work hard to
deliver high-quality care. Increased funding announced on 11 May
for nursing in care homes will support tens of thousands of care
home residents with nursing needs, including those with learning
and physical disabilities, with a 11% increase in 2022-2023 and
an estimated £87 million backdated for 2021-22. Our £500 million
workforce reforms will provide a new fund to help nurses to meet
their continued professional development objectives.
We have just had Carers Week, in which we recognised the
significant contribution of care home staff, domiciliary care
workers and unpaid carers. However, I have spoken to care
providers in Redcar and Cleveland, so I know that we need to do
more to support them, particularly with the recruitment and
retention of skilled care workers. Will the Minister come to
Teesside to meet me and care providers, and discuss what can be
done to support them in their efforts?
My hon. Friend rightly says that our health and social care
workforce are our greatest asset; we cannot thank them enough for
their extraordinary commitment, working day and night to put
people’s care and safety at the centre of everything they do. We
accept that there is more to be done to support our adult social
care workforce and encourage more people into the sector. Our
“People at the Heart of Care” White Paper, backed by our £500
million investment, will develop and support the workforce over
the next three years, and help to address long-term structural
barriers to recruitment and retention. I would be happy to visit
care providers in Teesside with my hon. Friend.
(Huddersfield)
(Lab/Co-op)
I beg the departmental team to look carefully at something that
is close to my heart: AF or atrial fibrillation. In care homes
and every nursing setting, we need people to detect the early
signs of atrial fibrillation. If it is not detected, it often
leads to strokes, which are one of the most expensive things for
the NHS to cope with. We do not have enough AF awareness or
testing. Can we get a campaign going on the issue?
I am certainly happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to understand
more about the issue. At the heart of it, I think, is prevention;
we are trying to understand how we can prevent some of what
causes greater illnesses later on for those who are in a care
home or are receiving social care in their own home. That is
certainly a big part of the strategy for our social care reforms.
Health and Social Care: Leadership and Management
(Shrewsbury and Atcham)
(Con)
8. What steps he is taking to raise the quality of leadership and
management across the health and social care sectors.
(Telford) (Con)
16. What steps he is taking to raise the quality of leadership
and management across the health and social care sectors.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
In health and care, strong leadership can make the difference
between life and death. I have been clear that we can accept only
the highest possible standards and that in some cases poor
leadership has been tolerated for too long. That is why I have
accepted in full the recommendations of General Sir Gordon
Messenger’s independent review and will set out a delivery plan
to begin what I think will be the biggest shake-up in health and
social care leadership in a generation.
Bearing in mind that the NHS will receive approximately £180
billion of taxpayers’ money this year, improving leadership and
management in the NHS is extremely important, and nowhere more so
than in the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. Despite
the trust obtaining £312 million from the Treasury to improve
accident and emergency services, a lack of coherent leadership
has resulted in no decision being taken as to how the money will
be spent. With rising costs in the construction industry, that is
of great concern to us. Will the Secretary of State intervene
with our local hospital trust to make sure that the money is
spent as expeditiously and quickly as possible?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the importance of
leadership. I am pleased to tell him that my Department has just
received the strategic outline case for his local A&E’s
Future Fit programme, which is currently being reviewed. As he
undoubtedly knows, the business case process is led by the trust
and is already supported by some early funding; I understand that
the trust aims to present the full business case by 2023, with
construction starting in the same year and to be completed by
2028. The Minister for Health will shortly visit Shropshire and
will meet my hon. Friend and other colleagues.
Orthopaedic surgery at the Princess Royal Hospital has still not
restarted since the pandemic. That is causing huge suffering for
those who have been waiting for surgery, in some cases for
several years. A hip replacement is transformative to quality of
life and reduces other care needs, but orthopaedic surgeons
continue to be paid despite not operating, and no alternative is
being offered to patients—they are not even being given an
expected operation date. Will implementing the Messenger review
require NHS leadership to be more accountable to the public so
that decisions such as refusing to restart much-needed surgery
can be challenged?
Mr Speaker
This is a strange grouping, but it is a very important question,
so do answer it, please.
I thank my hon. Friend for her tireless campaigning on the issue,
which she brought up recently in the Health and Social Care
Committee. I am pleased to tell her that elective orthopaedic
surgery at the Princess Royal Hospital will resume from 20 June.
My hon. Friend is right about the importance of the Messenger
review. There were many examples of excellent leadership in it,
but sadly there were also examples of poor leadership, including
bullying and blame cultures. That is why it is essential that we
have this huge reform.
(Washington and Sunderland
West) (Lab)
As hard as all hospital leaders and managers work, sometimes
something goes wrong on their watch. What follows is one such
example.
On Friday, I met Joanna, a lovely mum of two young children, who
was diagnosed with secondary cancer three months ago. Since then,
she has been passed from pillar to post and has received no
treatment at all. Unfortunately, she is now receiving palliative
care. What Joanna wants more than anything is to stop what
happened to her happening to anyone else. Will the Secretary of
State personally look into Joanna’s case to make sure that she
finally gets the treatment she urgently needs, and that no one
else is failed by the system as Joanna has been?
Yes, of course I can give the hon. Lady that commitment. I am
very sorry to hear about Joanna; I think of her, her loved ones
and her two children. I will absolutely look personally into the
case. I hope that the hon. Lady agrees that where we see poor
outcomes, it is important to make sure that we have the best
possible leadership in place.
(Walsall South) (Lab)
I have already raised the issue of the governance at Walsall
Manor Hospital. I welcome the Messenger-Pollard review—the
Secretary of State will know that there is also a report called
“The snowy white peaks of the NHS”, which says roughly the same
thing—but I have been fobbed off because the leadership at
Walsall and Wolverhampton remains the same. Could he look into
why Walsall Manor should not have its own chief executive?
These are important issues, and I have discussed this with the
right hon. Lady. I will take another look at the management of
Walsall Manor.
(Wrexham) (Con)
Last week, a BBC Wales documentary reported on the shocking state
of Wrexham Maelor Hospital and the NHS in north Wales, which is
led by the Welsh Labour Government and was in special measures
before covid. The average wait for referred treatment in England
is 13 weeks, but in Wales it is 24 weeks. In the words of
Nuffield Trust, the
“treatment…may as well not be there”.
Wrexham deserves better, so does the Minister agree that the
Welsh Labour Government need to vastly improve the NHS in north
Wales before more lives are lost?
I do of course agree with my hon. Friend. There are huge
challenges for the NHS here in England, but as she has
highlighted, the challenges are much greater in Wales because of
how the Labour Government there neglected the NHS, way before the
pandemic as well as during it. When it comes to leadership,
although the Messenger review was commissioned for England, I
think they would do well to learn some lessons from it.
(Hammersmith) (Lab)
Operose Health is one of the biggest employers in the primary
care sector. When it bought up 70 surgeries across England,
including in Hammersmith and Fulham, the Government were warned
that this would put patient care at risk in pursuit of profit.
That is what Operose’s US parent company, Centene, is notorious
for. Now that the Secretary of State has evidence of Operose
employing half the average number of GPs per patient, and of not
reading clinical correspondence for six months, what is he going
to do about it?
The hon. Gentleman might know that in 2007 the then Labour
Government changed the law to allow takeovers such as that to
happen. He might want to reflect on that. In terms of local
management, there are consistent high standards that need to be
met locally, and local commissioners should be made aware of what
he has just said.
Medicinal Cannabis
(Lichfield) (Con)
9. If he will take steps to help ensure access to medicinal
cannabis for NHS patients.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
On 1 November 2018 this Government changed the law to allow the
prescription of cannabis-based products for medicinal use by a
specialist when clinically appropriate. Licensed cannabis-based
medicines such as Sativex and Epidiolex are routinely available
on the NHS.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that answer, particularly as
she mentioned 2018, because it was of course her boss, the
Secretary of State for Health, who was the pioneer in all this
when he was Home Secretary. But there is a “but” coming, and it
is that young children are not getting this vital medicine on the
NHS. Some are having to pay £2,000 a month, and in the last three
years only three prescriptions have been issued on the NHS. How
can we improve the situation?
My hon. Friend has been campaigning on this issue for a long
time, particularly on the tragic case of his constituent, Vicky
Clarke. I have met the all-party parliamentary group on medical
cannabis under prescription and we have had debates on the issue
in this place and in Westminster Hall. The key is to get those
products licensed, and we have been in discussion with the
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on how to do
this. It is about gathering the evidence base. I am pleased to
say that NHS England and the National Institute for Health and
Care Research have recently announced two clinical randomised
controlled trials to try to build that evidence base to get more
of these products licensed.
Mr Speaker
We now come to the Scottish National party spokesperson, .
(Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
(SNP)
The lack of evidence on the quality, safety and efficiency of
cannabis-based products for medical use is the main barrier to
their being prescribed by NHS clinicians, which is why the SNP
continues to support the development of clinical trials. Without
proper funding, the UK Government are holding back potential
successful health outcomes, so what steps are they taking to
increase the priority of medicinal cannabis in research funding?
I met the responsible Scottish Minister in April to discuss this
issue. There is not a lack of funding. The National Institute for
Health and Care Research has funding available but we are not
seeing bids, so this is a plea to the clinicians, researchers and
groups for those to come forward. The NHRA is also happy to meet
any groups considering undertaking clinical research to ensure
that it is the type of research that will provide the evidence
they need to licence these products.
Maternity Services
(South Shields) (Lab)
10. What recent assessment he has made of the availability of
maternity services.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
NHS England is making £127 million of investment in maternity
systems in the next year to go specifically towards the
workforce. This is on top of the £95 million already promised for
the recruitment of 1,200 midwives and 100 more consultant
obstetricians.
Mrs Lewell-Buck
South Tyneside District Hospital’s maternity unit was award
winning. In 2019, despite widespread opposition, it changed to a
midwife-led birthing centre. It has since been closed, since
January. Recently, a whistleblower explained that midwives and
expectant mums are being kept in the dark about the future of the
unit, staffing levels and bed capacity across the trust. These
changes are a direct result of this Government’s forced cuts, so
what is the Minister going to do to make sure that babies can be
born in south Tyneside?
I have just been very clear that we are investing about £200
million in that workforce. In the hon. Lady’s area, there were
staffing pressures during the omicron variant, with high levels
of staff sickness, which meant that South Tyneside District
Hospital had to make that difficult decision. My understanding is
that those staffing numbers are much better, particularly for
sickness absence. If she is struggling to find out from the trust
when it hopes to reopen the unit, I am very happy to meet her and
members of the trust.
Topical Questions
(North East Fife)
(LD)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental
responsibilities.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
Today, we remember the 72 people who lost their lives and their
loved ones affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy five years ago.
In the Department of Health and Social Care, we are getting on
with the job. We are focused on tackling the covid backlogs. Our
new community diagnostic centres are springing up in towns and
cities across the country, with 90 of the 160 planned already
open and 1 million more tests, checks and scans already
delivered. Last week, I set out our plans to modernise health and
social care leadership, accepting all the recommendations of the
leadership review by General Sir Gordon Messenger and Dame Linda
Pollard. Just yesterday, I launched our new data strategy, called
“Data saves lives”, to close the digital divide between health
and care.
Last month, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation
published an interim statement on the autumn booster programme,
in which—once again—unpaid carers have not been included. It is
vital that they have equal access to vaccines to paid carers to
keep their loved ones safe, as they continue to do right now.
Will the Secretary of State advise me when we might receive a
final statement from the JCVI on the autumn booster programme?
I thank the hon. Lady for raising the importance of getting
vaccinations right. She will know that we rely on the independent
advice of our clinicians—the committee known as the JCVI—and I
think it is right that it is independent. Ultimately, it decides
on its advice, and it is for Ministers whether to accept it.
However, she has made an important point about unpaid carers, and
I will ask the JCVI to see if that can be properly considered in
the autumn booster review.
Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)
T6. 2002 I heard what the Under-Secretary of State for
Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewes
(), had to say about
dentistry earlier, and I recognise the work she is doing to
improve the situation. However, in northern Lincolnshire, like
many other areas, we have very severe gaps in provision. Could
the Minister outline what is being done to ensure that newly
qualified dentists actually work in the NHS for a considerable
time and that new practices are established in the areas where
the need is greatest?
I am happy to respond to my hon. Friend. He is right that we of
course want to ensure that everyone has timely access to NHS
dentistry and that the profession is an appealing career choice.
Health Education England has a dental education and reform
programme, which will help retain new dentists in the NHS by
placing training in areas of greatest need, and offer more
flexibility and more career pathways. I can also tell him that,
in Lincolnshire, commissioners are already looking at ways to
support NHS dentistry through support such as the golden hello
incentives.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
(Ilford North) (Lab)
I associate myself with the Secretary of State’s remarks as we
remember the anniversary of the Grenfell Tower tragedy and
support the families in their ongoing quest for justice. I also
associate Opposition Members with your remarks, Mr Speaker, on
the 40th anniversary of the end of the Falklands war.
Last night’s shocking BBC “Panorama” investigation into Operose
Health revealed the extent of the crisis in GP surgeries, with
patient referrals and test results left unread for up to six
months, and with patients being seen by less qualified staff
standing in for GPs without supervision. This is exactly what
happens when private profit is placed above patient health and
safety. Why is the Secretary of State asleep at the wheel instead
of launching an investigation into this scandal?
As I said earlier, the hon. Gentleman should reflect on the rule
changes made by a previous Labour Government that allowed the
management of many GP practices to change hands. When such
serious allegations are made, it is right that local
commissioners investigate them properly and independently. When
it comes to GP access and capacity, I hope he will welcome that
we are making a record investment, with over £0.5 billion of
support during the pandemic, and recruiting GPs at a record rate.
The British people are sick and tired of hearing Conservative
Ministers, after 12 years in government, passing the buck to
everyone else and failing to take responsibility.
Let us look at another scandal that has happened on the Secretary
of State’s watch. It has now been weeks since he was warned about
the negligence, the cover-up and the bribing of whistleblowers to
stay silent about the scandals at the North East Ambulance
Service. Since then, he has done precisely nothing to investigate
the scandal. When will he address patient safety, get a grip and
stop passing the buck? Or is this another case of the Government
being, in the words of the Culture Secretary, found “wanting and
inadequate”?
I told Members last week that I will review whether we can have
an independent review of the North East Ambulance Service, and
the NHS has agreed to an independent review. The hon. Gentleman
stands up week after week and tries to claim he is on the side of
patients and NHS workers, but we know he is actually on the side
of those who are on strike—that is where his loyalties lie. Will
he reflect on how many nurses will not be able to get to work and
how many appointments will be unattended because of the transport
strike? I know he wants to be the second coming of , but he is no more than a pound
shop .
(Scunthorpe) (Con)
T8. Many in the Scunthorpe area will remember David
Hopkins, whom we sadly lost to glioblastoma. Alongside earlier
diagnosis, we need improved access to the £40 million the
Government have committed to brain tumour research. Will my right
hon. Friend look carefully at the findings of the ongoing
investigation by the all-party parliamentary group on brain
tumours and do all he can to speed up access to this research
funding?
My sincere condolences to the family of David Hopkins. Cancer
diagnosis and treatment is an absolute priority, which is why we
are putting £2.3 billion into campaigns and new initiatives to
encourage people with suspected cancer to come forward. I am
pleased that the referral rate is currently 120% of the
pre-pandemic level. I will, of course, read the APPG’s report. I
visited the largest neurology hospital in the UK last month with
my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (), and I am determined to ensure that our investment
in this vital area of research goes straight to the frontline.
Mr Speaker
I call the SNP spokesperson, .
(Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
(SNP)
The Government have noted that Sir Robert Francis will give
evidence on his work on the infected blood inquiry on 11 and 12
July, and said that they will act after hearing his evidence.
What discussions has the Secretary of State had with Cabinet
colleagues on the potential impact on victims’ mental health of
the lengthy waiting times for compensation in relation to
contaminated blood?
The hon. Gentleman raises a very important issue. The House is
well aware of the Government’s work to bring justice to those who
have been affected by contaminated blood, and we will continue to
take that seriously.
(Thornbury and Yate) (Con)
A new hospital at Thornbury would provide greater primary care
and outpatient services, more GP appointments and a proactive
frailty hub to support the elderly to stay in their own home
longer. Our bid was submitted against the sustainability and
transformation plan wave 4 capital pot, and I thank the Minister
for all his work and effort in speaking to me, South
Gloucestershire Council and our clinical commissioning group
about this bid. Will he update the House on the timescales for
its outcome?
The Minister for Health ()
I am grateful to my hon. Friend; he rightly alludes to the fact
that he is a strong champion of his constituents and has met me
on a number of occasions to argue the merits of the Thornberry
health centre. As he will be aware, we now have a multi-year
capital settlement for our NHS, which will allow us the
opportunity, through local systems, to consider the most
appropriate projects for investment.
Mr Speaker
Like Chorley.
(Warwick and Leamington)
(Lab)
T2. Planned to process 300,000 tests a day, the Rosalind
Franklin laboratory is handling just 30,000 a day. I understand
that some scientists working there are being paid for five days
but working just one day a week. Given that the lab cost £1.1
billion, almost twice the original budget, what does this say
about the Minister’s oversight of the programme?
I am afraid that it was not clear to me which tests the hon.
Gentleman was talking about; all I heard was “300,000 tests”. So
if he cares to write to me, I will respond properly to his
question.
Mr Speaker
I call the Chair of the Select Committee, .
(South West Surrey) (Con)
Has the Secretary of State read the study in the British Journal
of General Practice that says that people who see the same GP
over many years are 30% less likely to go to hospital, 30% less
likely to need out-of-hours care and 25% less likely to die? If
he has, will he consider changing the GP contract to restore
individual patient lists and reverse the change of two decades
ago so that everyone has their own family doctor?
I have not read that review, but now that my right hon. Friend
has mentioned it I will certainly take a look at it. He raises an
important point about access to GPs. He is right to say that many
people would want to see the same GP again and again—that would
be their preference. One can see how that may lead to better
clinical outcomes, but I hope he will respect the fact that
others do not mind if they do not see the same GP and just want
rapid access. It is important that we get the right balance.
Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)
T3. Despite the Secretary of State’s assertion that we have had
record investment in our GP practices, the reality remains that
many of my constituents cannot get an appointment to see their
GPs for days, if not weeks. That is putting their health at
serious risk and forcing them to go to accident and emergency
because there is nowhere else to go. In Bradford, we need a new
hospital, and I will continue to campaign for that, but our
imminent need is for an urgent treatment centre. Will he meet me
to discuss that option seriously and provide the funding to our
local NHS trust?
The hon. Gentleman is right to talk about the importance of
timely access to GPs, whether in Bradford or across the country.
There are, of course, challenges across the country, which is one
reason why we put in place an action plan, including some £500
million of extra funding, during the pandemic. On his plea for an
urgent treatment centre, I will make sure that the Health
Minister will meet him.
(North West Norfolk) (Con)
Before the jubilee weekend, I was pleased to welcome the Minister
to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to see the cracking
RAAC—reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete—which the Department
understands needs to be replaced. So will he take the opportunity
to build a new QEH, fit for the future? When will the patients
and staff at QEH know that they are on the list? They are
impatient for a decision.
It was a great pleasure to visit my hon. Friend before the
jubilee weekend and to meet the staff who do such an amazing job
at his local hospital. As ever, his puts his case clearly and
firmly for a new hospital to replace the QE in King’s Lynn, and
we hope to be able to announce the longlist of those expressions
of interest in due course.
Mr Speaker
Including Chorley, I hope.
(Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
(Alba)
T4. In response to yesterday’s urgent question on GDP, the
Minister cited a drop in covid test uptake to explain the drop in
GDP. Coronavirus test device approvals have been moving at
glacial speed, with UK companies having to spend significant
money preparing to mitigate this. Monkeypox also indicates
unexplained changes in viral behaviours, and we know that covid
is once again on the rise, so domestic diagnostics should be a
vital component of effective prevention and strategic planning.
Will the Secretary of State or a Minister meet me to discuss how
best we harness these resources?
As I have said before, no country got every decision right during
the pandemic, but one thing we did get right was our response in
terms of diagnostics, vaccinations and antivirals. That
combination allowed us to become the first country in Europe to
open up and therefore also to boost our economy. I will make sure
that the hon. Gentleman gets the meeting he has asked for.
(Stoke-on-Trent South)
(Con)
As the Secretary of State knows from our previous discussions, we
have serious concerns about West Midlands ambulance service and
the significant delays we have experienced in north
Staffordshire. The way to address the problems is by NHS partners
working together, and Staffordshire fire service has said that it
wants to do more to help the ambulance service. Will my right
hon. Friend agree to do as much as he can to improve ambulance
services in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire?
My hon. Friend makes a very good point and some good suggestions.
West Midlands ambulance service is my local ambulance service
too, and I recently met its chief executive officer and
chairwoman. As he knows, the NHS has published and is executing a
10-point plan for emergency service recovery, but I shall
certainly take what he says into account.
Richard Burgon (Leeds East) (Lab)
T5. Increasingly, hospitals have food banks to help NHS staff
to cope with the cost of living crisis. Is it any wonder that the
number of nurses leaving the NHS is at its highest for years?
After a decade of pay cuts, will not yet another below-inflation
pay award mean that even more nurses leave, which will have a
hugely detrimental impact on patient care?
I am pleased to say that we have more nurses working for the NHS
than at any point in its history, and last year we recruited an
additional 10,900.
(Christchurch) (Con)
Does my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State accept that some
people have died as a direct result of having had covid-19
vaccines?
I accept that the vaccine has not worked in the intended way for
every single person. I am afraid that this is a risk with any
vaccine that has ever been approved in any major country. It is
right, however, that when something goes wrong with a
vaccination, it is looked at appropriately, and I am happy to
discuss this further with my hon. Friend.
(North Ayrshire and Arran)
(SNP)
T7. On Friday, the cross-party Public Accounts Committee
described the UK Government’s procurement of £4 billion of
unusable PPE during the pandemic, which is now to be burned, as
the result of a “haphazard purchasing strategy”. Who does the
Secretary of State believe should be held responsible for this
unacceptable squandering of taxpayers’ money through awarding
multiple deals to friends and associates of Ministers or senior
Tories, and the deadly mismanagement of the supply of PPE?
I hold the covid virus responsible.
(Don Valley) (Con)
I thank the Secretary of State for his recent visit to Doncaster
Royal Infirmary. I apologise for the fact that the lights went
out while he was there—it was not planned, but it did bolster my
campaign for a new hospital. Will he meet me again during Men’s
Health Week, to discuss a men’s health strategy, which many
Members across the House believe would help an awful lot of men?
Yes, that is a very important issue and I will be happy to meet
my hon. Friend.
(Bedford) (Lab)
When I wrote to the Minister recently about my concerns about NHS
dentistry waiting times, I was advised that my constituent was
not restricted by geography, which implied that he should travel
for an appointment, but the whole of the east of England has been
identified by the Association of Dental Groups as a dental
desert. The Minister is well aware of this problem, the severe
workforce shortages and the broken dentistry contracts. When will
the Government stop blaming the dental practices, get on with the
job and get the workforce this country needs?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
This Government are not blaming dentists for the pressures they
are facing. If anyone is to blame, it is the Labour Government
for their 2006 contract. We are amending that contract, and will
make an announcement before the summer recess.
(Bristol East) (Lab)
Suicide prevention organisations such as the Campaign Against
Living Miserably and Papyrus are, sadly, needed more than ever,
yet in the current economic climate, because they tend to rely on
charitable donations, they are struggling to provide the services
to meet demand. What will the Government do to make sure they
survive and provide the life-saving services that are so badly
needed?
The Minister for Care and Mental Health ()
Of course every suicide is a tragedy. We must do all we can to
help to prevent suicide. In the last financial year, we provided
£5.4 million to 113 voluntary, community and social enterprise
organisations; we also provided £510,000 for the Samaritans
helpline for people experiencing distress. That is in addition to
more than £10 million we provided to voluntary and charitable
mental health organisations in 2020-21.
(Strangford) (DUP)
As IVF treatment is incredibly time sensitive, will the Secretary
of State consider increasing the funding available to allow
couples to make use of private facilities on the NHS, to help
families have the children that they so much want?
I cannot comment on health in Northern Ireland specifically as it
is a devolved matter. IVF will be a significant factor in the
women’s health strategy, because we recognise the disparities
that exist across the country in how couples currently access
IVF.
(Leeds Central) (Lab)
The site for the new Leeds children’s hospital and the adult
hospital building, the Leeds General Infirmary, will be cleared
by the end of this month. The trust is raring to go to build
these wonderful new facilities. Can the Secretary of State tell
me when the final go-ahead for the construction will be given?
The right hon. Gentleman will know that I have visited the site
and spoken to local members of the trust. It is a project that we
support, and we are in the final stages of the final approvals.
(Inverclyde) (SNP)
As was pointed out by the hon. Member for Lichfield (), this Government
promised medical cannabis on the NHS 1,183 days ago. Since then,
a child with epilepsy will have experienced, at a modest
estimate, 35,490 seizures. We have free NHS prescriptions, which
proves that the medicine exists and is approved for use in the
United Kingdom. How much longer must those children suffer?
As I have said, I met the Scottish Minister on this. Scotland is
facing exactly the same problem. Where medicinal cannabis is
licensed, 9,631 prescriptions have been issued in primary care
and 58,000 in secondary care, thanks to my right hon. Friend the
Secretary of State who changed the law at the time.
