Responding to the Health Secretary’s Statement on
Coronavirus, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary has called for
emergency legislation to give all workers the right to statutory
sick pay.
used his statement in
the House to say that Labour will work constructively with the
government to protect public health.
Labour has also called for:
· Extra
resources for the NHS and social care
· A
guarantee that anyone in receipt of benefits who needs to
self-isolate will not face financial sanctions for being unable
to physically attend appointments
Speaking in the House of Commons, , Labour’s Shadow
Health Secretary, said:
I’m grateful for advance sight of his statement and the
Action Plan.
Can I also put on record thanks for the briefing the Leader
of the Opposition and myself received yesterday from officials,
the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Scientific
Adviser.
The government’s strategy to contain, then delay, research
and then mitigate has our endorsement.
Can I ask for some specific clarifications from the
Secretary of State.
On containment and self-isolation,
the Prime Minister said today workers who self-isolate are
considered to be on the sick leave. Can he confirm that those who
need to self-isolate will not need to visit a GP to receive a
sick note?
2 million workers on low pay or insecure contracts in the
gig economy don’t even qualify for statutory sick pay.
Equally what action will be taken to reduce requirements of
those in receipt of benefits to physically attend appointments if
they need to self-isolate. Can he guarantee no financial
sanctions will be imposed?
No one should be faced to make a choice between their
health or hardship.
He is considering emergency legislation – will he bring
forward legislation to remove these barriers to self-isolation so
all workers get the sick pay they deserve? This is in the
interests of public health, bring forward that legislation and we
will help him get it on the statute books.
On the NHS and social care more broadly both through this
phase and the mitigation phase, we know that last
week 80% of critical care beds were occupied.
We know we are short of 100,000 staff and staff have a need
to be protected as well.
Even if we take at face value the government’s insistence
that it has provided enough NHS resource to deliver the
commitments of the Long Term Plan (I disagree but that debate is
for another time).
We surely all accept the Covid 19 outbreak will lead to
increased demand on trusts
Every sample that is couriered for testing will have a cost
that soon builds;
Trusts will be forced to turn to taking on more agency
staff;
And if retired staff are encouraged to return to practice,
the wage bill will increase.
Can he also explain how retired staff returning will be
protected and what oversight will put in place to ensure they are
delivering safe care if the revalidation process is to be
suspended for retired returnees?
As we move into the mitigation phase the government
recognises that “non-urgent care maybe delayed” – I assume that
means the cancellation of elective surgery which will see waiting
lists grow, which again will impact Trust finances.
Will the government provide an emergency
funding increase for the NHS resource budget to support the
NHS through this next challenging period?
Directors of Public Health still don’t know their public
health allocation for the next financial year starting next
month.
It means they could be cutting nurse workloads, at a time
when those very nurses may be needed to deal with Covid 19
cases
What is his advice to social
care providers and will extra resources be made
available?
On emergency powers briefed, will he sit down
with us and other opposition parties to discuss the content of
that legislation?
Finally on global efforts to contain the virus.
Disease knows no borders – we can’t build a wall or iron
curtain round these islands.
Why then are we walking away from the EU Early
Warning and Response System which plays a vital role
in pandemic preparations?
Secondly we will not contain the virus internationally, nor
we will be able to fully protect ourselves if the outbreaks goes
uncontrolled in countries with weaker health
systems.
What assistance are we offering the World Health
Organisation with the international response to Covid 19?
Mr Speaker, this is a serious time, our constituents will
be concerned I don’t doubt that many will be frightened.
We will raise our concerns responsibly but we also offer to
work constructively with government because, Mr Speaker, the
public health interest and the safety of our constituents must be
always come first.
