Covid-19: Isolation Support
(Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab)
What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the
adequacy of isolation support for people who have tested positive
for covid-19.
(Bradford East) (Lab)
What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the
adequacy of isolation support for people who have tested positive
for covid-19.
(Bolton South East) (Lab)
What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the
adequacy of isolation support for people who have tested positive
for covid-19.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
The Government have put together a range of measures to support
people through the current crisis. These include Test and Trace
support payments for those on low incomes, support for renters,
help with utilities, the £500 million local authority hardship
grant, the £170 million covid winter grant scheme and a £7.4
billion package of additional welfare support in 2021. The
Government keep all elements of their covid response under
review, as is right, to support people.
[V]
I thank the Minister for providing that information, but the lack
of financial support to those self-isolating has resulted in an
extremely low adherence rate. Seventy per cent. of those who
apply for financial support are rejected. Will the Government
consider increasing funding to cash-strapped local authorities to
ensure that people have the financial means to self-isolate to
control the spread of the virus?
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. We are continuing to work
across Departments and with local authorities to monitor the
effectiveness of the self-isolation support provided to people
who have tested positive, their close contacts and their
families. She is right that we continually look at this to ensure
that we have the correct information. Currently, with NHS Test
and Trace, we are carrying out surveys of reported compliance
with self-isolation for people who have tested positive. The
results are not published yet, but we have a clear set of
parameters and the funding has been allocated to councils to
assist with discretionary grants. Those are local decisions, and
I have often heard it said that decisions should be local, but I
ask her to wait until my right hon. Friend the Chancellor reports
during the Budget next week on what additional support we will be
giving.
[V]
Last November, I wrote to the Health Secretary to raise a number
of serious concerns that have been raised with me by many of my
constituents who are unable to claim their self-isolation support
payment because of failings with the privately run Test and Trace
system. Three months later, I have still not had a response. We
all know how keen the Health Secretary is to avoid scrutiny of
the contracts that his Department have issued, but he cannot bury
his head in the sand and pretend that these problems do not
exist. Can I get an assurance from the Minister that I will get a
response and that the problems that I have raised will be
addressed?
The Health Secretary has assured me that he has seen the hon.
Gentleman’s letter. It is important that people understand that
they need to self-isolate and they are given the right
assistance. This is why the discretionary payments have been made
to councils, so that we can make those decisions locally to
support people.
Mr Speaker
Let us head up to Bolton, to . [Interruption.] No, we cannot, so we will go first
to shadow Minister .
(Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)
The Government’s road map yesterday said:
“While self-isolation is critically important to halting the
spread of the disease, it is never easy for those affected.”
We agree with that. We have been making that point for months,
along with most of the expert advisers in the Government, which
is why creating a scheme that only one in eight people qualify
for was never going to work. Will the Minister tell us why,
despite yesterday’s announcement, it is still the case that only
one in eight people who test positive will actually qualify for a
self-isolation payment?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. It is important that
we have targeted support and that we support the people who need
assistance, so that they can self-isolate. It is, exactly as I
outlined in my first answer, what we have been doing, and as my
right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said yesterday, we will
continue to look after people through the pandemic. Our
undertaking is to make sure that we protect people, whether they
are self-isolating or unable to work for other reasons, such as
shielding, throughout the duration of the pandemic. The hon.
Gentleman will be hearing much more about that from the
Chancellor next week during the Budget.
Mr Speaker
Let us try again.
[V]
Thank you, Mr Speaker. My constituent, a shop worker, has a
daughter who was sent home from school to isolate. She will not
get paid, will not get sick pay and is worried about losing her
job. She needs money to put food on the table for her family.
Will the Minister tell the Chancellor that we cannot keep the
infection rate down if people are not given adequate financial
support?
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. I would also like to
point out that, in her area, 93% of cases are being tracked and
people are being spoken to, which highlights the great work that
is being done on the ground locally in that area. We are
providing support, and I would urge her constituent to reach out
to the council, because it is important that we give people the
support they need in order to isolate. As I say, she will be
hearing more on that subject from the Chancellor during the
Budget next week.
Public Health England
(Blackpool
North and Cleveleys) (Con)
What plans he has to reform the public health improvement
functions of Public Health England.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
We are currently considering the best future arrangements for
Public Health England’s important health improvement functions.
We have been engaging with key stakeholders throughout the
process and will be setting out further details of our approach
in due course. We are excited about creating the national
institute for health protection to ensure additional capacity so
that we have future capability and a laser-like focus on areas of
health inequality.
[V]
I very much welcome the plans to reform Public Health England’s
health protection functions, and I note with interest the
Secretary of State’s new powers of direction in some public
areas, such as obesity. Blackpool has some of the most severe
public health challenges in the country. Further discussions
about the health promotion functions of Public Health England
were promised when the NIHP was announced, so can the Minister
say now how other areas of public health promotion that are not
referred to in the White Paper will be addressed?
I thank my hon. Friend for his question, and I recognise the
challenges that Blackpool faces. I read with interest the
Blackpool town prospectus, which highlights the public health
challenges, and I am looking forward to talking to the clinical
commissioning group lead about them later this week. We remain
convinced that place-based approaches will have the best results,
where we can target interventions in the right way when they are
needed. I think my hon. Friend is alluding to other areas such as
work, housing and so on. Discussions are going on with other
Departments, but those specific initiatives are for those
Departments themselves. As the details of the national institute
for health protection are outlined, these things will become
clearer. I know my hon. Friend cares deeply about his
constituents and their health, and I look forward to working with
him and others in the future.
Mental Health Legislation
(Henley)
(Con)
What steps his Department is taking to reform mental health
legislation.
The Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental
Health (
)
On 13 January, we published a White Paper on reforming the Mental
Health Act 1983, setting out proposals to make the Act work
better for people. We have launched a 14-week consultation,
during which we are inviting views from the public,
professionals, service users and carers to ensure that we get
this once-in-a-generation opportunity right.
[V]
I am delighted that my hon. Friend is taking steps to bring
mental health laws into the 21st century, not least because they
are 40 years old. Can I take this opportunity to pay tribute to
Sir Simon Wessely, who produced his independent review into the
Mental Health Act in 2018? Can my hon. Friend confirm that the
Government will be accepting many of his recommendations?
Ms Dorries
I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend, and I would also like
to pay tribute to Sir Simon and his co-chairs for their
comprehensive work. The Secretary of State said in the House last
year that
“the Wessely review is one of the finest pieces of work on the
treatment of mental ill health that has been done anywhere in the
world.”—[Official Report, 23 June 2020; Vol. 677, c. 1164.]
I know that the review was welcomed by hon. and right hon.
Members across the House. We are taking forward the vast majority
of Sir Simon’s 154 recommendations, either directly or by
advancing the principles put forward by the review. The White
Paper document contains the Government’s response to each of the
recommendations.
(Tooting) (Lab)
The overhaul of the Mental Health Act has been long awaited. It
is people who have to be at the heart of the legislation, and
that includes staff. The promises that the Secretary of State has
made rely on a workforce: our fantastic frontline mental health
staff, of which there are simply too few at present. I asked him
last month to outline when we would get the workforce settlement
and what reassurance he could give on filling the training
places. We are still waiting for an answer. Would the Minister
like to answer now?
Ms Dorries
Work is under way; Health Education England is looking at
proposals, particularly for the training of mental health
workers. I wish to highlight one area where we can see that
happening rapidly: in the mental health support teams that are
going into schools. People are coming out of universities with
their degree and going through a year’s training so that we can
get them into schools faster to work with children and young
people. The hon. Lady is right; the mental health workforce is at
the heart of these reforms. I assure her that we have seen an
increase in the number of people applying to be mental health
nurses—and nurses across the healthcare estate—and that will have
a knock-on effect on the number of people we have working on the
wards with people who have severe mental illness.
Covid-19 Vaccination Programme
(North West Durham) (Con)
What progress has been made on the covid-19 vaccination
programme.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
I am delighted that on 14 February we hit our target of
vaccinating 15 million people across the UK and now more than
17.7 million people—one in three adults in the country—have been
vaccinated. The NHS is delivering more than 250 vaccinations
every minute, on average, and we are vaccinating at a greater
weekly rate than anywhere else in Europe.
Mr Holden
The Government’s vaccine programme, procurement and roll-out has
been described as “world-beating”. Those are not my words, but
those of the Public Accounts Committee, which has Scottish
National party, Labour and Lib Dem Members on it. Will the
Secretary of State just clarify the link between the vaccine
programme and the road map, because it is the return to
normality, as far as is possible, that we want to see as soon as
possible?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to make this link, because not
only are the vaccines important to keep each individual safe—we
saw wonderful data yesterday about how effective they are at
reducing hospitalisations and deaths—but the vaccination
programme is crucial to the road map out of this pandemic. It is
only because of the success of the vaccine programme that we are
able to set out the road map in this way. The vaccine is good for
the individual, but it is also good for all of us, because by
taking a vaccine people are helping to protect themselves and
helping all of us to get out of this pandemic situation.
(Central
Ayrshire) (SNP) [V]
The provision of insufficient doses for care home staff to be
vaccinated at the same time as elderly residents may have
contributed to the fact that only two thirds have been immunised.
As well as the convenience, the solidarity of being vaccinated
with colleagues has helped to encourage uptake of 94% in
Scotland. Will the Secretary of State ensure that staff can get
vaccinated when second doses are delivered to care homes?
Yes, when the vaccination programme goes to a care home, vaccines
are offered both to residents and to staff, of course. We want to
support the ability of more and more people to access the
vaccine, and that includes care home staff. People who work in a
care home can now go on to the national vaccination site and book
themselves an appointment. Alternatively, when we go to give the
second dose to residents, any staff who have not yet taken up the
opportunity of a vaccine will have the offer of getting going on
the programme. I hope that care home staff and NHS staff across
the board will listen to the words of the chief medical officer,
who said that it is the “professional responsibility” of people
who work in care settings to get vaccinated. It is the right
thing to do.
Dr Whitford
More vaccine-resistant strains, such as the South African
variant, could risk undermining the UK’s vaccine programme. As
they could come via any country, does the Secretary of State not
agree that all travellers should undergo strict quarantine?
Yes, I do. All those who arrive in this country as passengers
need to undergo quarantine, and we have both the hotel quarantine
and home quarantine; all need to be tested; and all the positive
test results are sent for sequencing so that we can spot any new
variants. This is a critical part of our national defences. The
good news is that we can see from the data that the number of new
variants in the country is falling and is much lower than it was
last month. We obviously keep a very close eye on that, because
making sure that we do not have a new variant that cannot be
beaten by the vaccine is a critical part of the road map, as set
out by the Prime Minister yesterday.
(Leicester West) (Lab)
The Prime Minister promised that all staff in elderly care homes
would be vaccinated by the end of January. Will the Secretary of
State confirm that more than 30% of those staff in England have
not been vaccinated, and that the proportion rises to almost half
of all staff in elderly care homes in London? Will he urgently
set out precisely how the Government will increase uptake and
tackle lies and misinformation about the vaccine among this vital
group of workers, as we have been urging the Minister for Care to
do since before Christmas?
Yes. We are absolutely all on the same side on this issue. To be
totally clear for the hon. Lady, and all those listening, the
Prime Minister set out that we would offer the vaccine to all
residents of care homes by the end of January and to all staff by
15 February, and we achieved that. The challenge is uptake.
Rather than having a political ding-dong about it, what we all
need to do is get out the positive messages about the vaccination
programme. I am delighted that the Minister for Care and the
Minister for Covid Vaccine Deployment have both been working
incredibly hard on this issue, and we published an uptake plan
last weekend. I am sure the hon. Lady will want to join the
efforts to try to encourage everybody to get the jab.
Covid-19: Dental Services
John Mc Nally (Falkirk) (SNP)
What steps his Department is taking to support dental services
during the covid-19 pandemic.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
We are committed to supporting all NHS dental services through
the pandemic. NHS practices receive full funding for the first
three quarters of the year, minus agreed deductions in England,
and NHS dental contractors will continue to be supported while
they meet reduced activity targets. NHS England and Public Health
England continue to communicate regular updates, enabling
practitioners to prioritise urgent care and reduce waiting times
in what are challenging circumstances.
John Mc Nally [V]
The British Dental Association has raised concerns that punitive
financial penalties for not meeting the Government’s unrealistic
activity targets are pushing NHS dentists in England to
prioritise quick check-ups rather than catching up on the backlog
of more time-consuming symptomatic cases. Will the Minister
consider a more realistic approach to service recovery and commit
to reforming the dental contract in England so as to promote
preventive dental care in future?
As anybody will know, I have been heavily engaged with the dental
profession over recent months, because I agree that a preventive
approach to dentistry is certainly one that we need to be moving
towards. The activity target is expected to increase availability
for patients, who are the important part of the equation. It is
important that we support the profession but enable patients to
have access and reduce waiting times and backlogs. The target is
based on careful modelling—on data—and takes into account
guidance on infection prevention and control and social
distancing measures. We recognise that there may be exceptional
circumstances, which is why there are exceptions to the target
level. NHS commissioners have the discretion to deal with
exceptions and support dental practices. I have a meeting with
everyone again on Thursday.
Health Infrastructure Plan: District Hospitals
(Rugby)
(Con)
What steps he is taking to ensure that improvement work on
district hospitals is taken forward under the health
infrastructure plan.
The Minister for Health ()
Alongside our investment in 40 new hospitals, our health
infrastructure plan more broadly will deliver a long-term rolling
programme of investment in health infrastructure, including our
vital district hospitals—I know that my hon. Friend’s
constituents are well served by the Hospital of St Cross.
Hospitals have benefited from more than £600 million of critical
infrastructure risk funding, including for district hospitals,
and will shortly receive their capital allocations for the
forthcoming financial year.
[V]
I am grateful to the Minister for his reply. As he says, it is
entirely right to be investing in the new hospitals—the 40 new
hospitals for our NHS. He referred to our brilliant local
district hospital, St Cross. The past year has reminded us of the
importance of a well-resourced local health service. How can we
ensure that existing district hospitals doing great work, such as
St Cross, continue to receive the investment they need?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question. May I join him
in paying tribute to his local Hospital of St. Cross and the team
who have done an amazing job in very challenging circumstances
over the past year? I know that he is a strong champion of it and
of his local NHS—I think I can recall him volunteering at the
Locke House vaccine centre recently in support of his NHS. Of
that critical infrastructure funding to which I referred, £2.2
million was allocated to his trust and local hospital. As I
mentioned in my initial answer, we will be making further capital
allocations shortly, which will benefit district hospitals,
including his own.
Long Covid
(Stroud) (Con)
What steps his Department is taking to support people suffering
from long covid.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
The Government are working hard to set up patient-focused,
evidence-based and effective support for people with long covid.
In October, NHS England and NHS Improvement announced a five-part
package of measures, including the establishment of 69
multi-disciplinary assessment services. Last week, almost £20
million of research funding was committed to helping identify the
causes of long covid and the effective therapies to treat people
who suffer from some of the chronic symptoms.
My constituent Emma Samms, the actress, has pulled together a
reunion of the cast of “Dynasty” to add some glamour to fundraise
for research into long covid. In Gloucestershire, we are also
setting up a clinic. We clearly need to learn an awful lot more
about the symptoms. Will my hon. Friend join me in praising those
initiatives and continue to reassure us that we will provide full
support to GPs, hospitals and patients for this awful disease?
I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I am delighted to join
her in congratulating Emma, who I know is using her experience of
having had covid to launch such an innovative fundraising idea. I
already have a Dallas-style hairdo, because I have not been to
the hairdressers for some months. I just need some shoulder pads.
I thank her and all volunteers and fundraisers for their
marvellous job in coming up with some really great ideas to
support research.
Care Homes: Family Visits
(Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)
What steps he is taking to help enable face-to-face family visits
to care homes.
(Hornsey and
Wood Green) (Lab)
What steps he is taking to help enable face-to-face family visits
to care homes.
The Minister for Care ()
Throughout the pandemic, we have had to strike a balance between
protecting people from this cruel virus and social contact.
Nowhere has this been harder than in care homes. That is why I am
so pleased that, from 8 March, we will be enabling care homes to
open up carefully to more visiting. Our guidance will set out how
residents can have a named person for repeat visits, with testing
and PPE so that those visits can be indoors. We look forward to
enabling more visiting as soon as it is safe to do so.
[V]
I welcome the new guidance on care home visits, but I am
concerned about this phrase:
“With the agreement of the care home.”
Does the Minister share my concern that that may allow some care
homes to disagree with the guidance, therefore decide that the
risk is too high and prevent the physical contact that residents
in care homes are so desperate to have with their loved ones?
The hon. Member makes an important point. We have been clear that
we want to see care homes enabling visiting. We recognise that
care homes are having to strike a balance between giving
residents access to visitors and making sure that those residents
are safe. Our guidance will provide further support to care homes
on how they can make sure that those visits happen.
Care homes for older folk and disabled people are a basic human
right. Given that care home residents—either in the care homes
themselves or perhaps in hospital—account for a third of all
deaths from covid, should the Government not be trying just a bit
harder to provide the staffing that is often required for those
extra visits? When will the Government lay out their plan to
address social care, which is so clearly lacking and has been
promised for about 10 years now?
The hon. Member is right to say that visiting at the moment
involves extra staffing—for instance, staff to supervise visits
and to support the testing that we will be bringing in with the
new visiting guidance. We have already provided funding to the
social care sector that can be used to support the cost of
visiting, and there is additional funding for extra workforce
costs.
Covid-19 Vaccine Supply
(Dudley
South) (Con)
What steps he is taking to ensure an adequate supply of covid-19
vaccines.
(Bridgend) (Con)
What steps he is taking to ensure an adequate supply of covid-19
vaccines.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
The Government have secured early access to 457 million vaccine
doses through agreements with eight separate vaccine developers.
I assure the House that the Government are in constant contact
with the vaccine manufacturers, and remain confident that we are
on track to offer a vaccine to all priority cohorts by mid-April.
[V]
People like my constituent, Ken, in Dudley South have seen the
European Commission threatening to ban vaccine exports to the UK,
and are worried about whether they will be able to get their
second dose. What assurances can my hon. Friend give to Ken and
others like him that they will be able to get a second dose of
the same vaccine within the specified time schedule?
The vaccine taskforce—I pay tribute to Kate Bingham and Clive
Dix, and to the brilliant civil servants who do the heavy
lifting—has conducted a supply chain risk assessment and
continues to monitor requirements across the supply chain, from
supplier through to patient. We are in constant contact with the
suppliers. The NHS is already reserving second doses. Last week,
we began informing the frontline—primary care networks and
others—of the second dose schedule. I can reassure my hon.
Friend’s constituents that if they have had a Pfizer first dose,
they will get a Pfizer second dose within the 12 weeks; and if
they have had an Oxford first dose, they will get an Oxford
second dose within the 12 weeks.
Dr Wallis [V]
Will my hon. Friend confirm that Wales has been provided with
enough supplies of vaccines to hit the targets set by the UK
Government, particularly the 31 July target? Does he agree that,
had we joined the EU’s vaccine procurement programme,
immunisations in Wales would be much further behind right now?
We are working very closely with the Welsh Government and the
other devolved Administrations to ensure that vaccines are
allocated as per the Barnett formula. The Secretary of State has
quite rightly reassured all the devolved Administrations that
they will receive the vaccines to be able to deliver on the
targets that we have set. It is great to see that over 860,000
people have received their first dose in Wales. The pace of our
vaccination programme means that we have administered more
vaccines than any other European country.
Adult Social Care Funding
(Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
What steps his Department is taking to increase funding for adult
social care.
The Minister for Care ()
During the pandemic, the Government have provided over £1.1
billion for infection control, £149 million for rapid testing
costs and £120 million to boost the workforce in adult social
care, and that is in addition to £4.6 billion to local
authorities. For 2021-22, we are meeting our commitment to an
annual uplift of £1 billion for social care and will provide
councils with access to an additional £1 billion.
[V]
Does my hon. Friend agree that the best long-term funding
solution for adult social care is a German-style social care
premium?
I agree that we need a sustainably funded social care system. I
know that my hon. Friend is very well informed of the options. We
are committed to taking forward social care reform, and will be
publishing proposals later this year.
(Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Con)
What progress his Department has made on improving the health
service capital estate.
(Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)
What progress his Department has made on improving the health
service capital estate.
The Minister for Health ()
A total of £600 million has been allocated to tackle almost 1,800
urgent maintenance projects across 178 trusts, all due for
completion by March 2012, while £450 million has been invested to
upgrade A&E facilities, with funding awarded to over 120
trusts, and improve over 190 urgent treatment sites this winter.
In addition, of course, the Prime Minister has confirmed that 40
new hospitals will be built by 2030, with an additional eight
further schemes to be identified. Six of these are already under
construction. With your permission, Mr Speaker, may I group this
question with Question 21?
[V]
NHS staff at Royal Stoke University Hospital in my constituency
have been using the old Stoke Royal Infirmary site, which stopped
delivering clinical services in 2012, for car parking. However,
with the demolition of buildings on the site in readiness for the
creation of many new houses, hospital staff really need the
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust’s proposed plans
for a multi-storey car park to come to fruition. Will the
Minister ensure that the necessary investment is forthcoming for
additional staff car parking facilities at Royal Stoke University
Hospital to support our wonderful NHS staff and unlock this vital
regeneration project for the people of Stoke-on-Trent?
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend, who is a strong champion
and a strong voice for Stoke and for her local hospital. The
Government are committed to increasing hospital car parking
capacity and supporting trusts to invest in their car parks. We
will continue working with NHS England, as well as trusts such as
her own, to understand the specific requirements. I understand
that an emergency funding application by the Royal Stoke in this
respect has been received and is currently being considered.
However, I am always happy to discuss with her the specifics of
the case she raises.
Harrogate District Hospital, which is an excellent hospital, will
be reducing its carbon footprint by a quarter and making energy
cost savings thanks to a £40 million Government grant, but the
healthcare estate is much more than hospitals: it is also
doctors’ surgeries, specialised units and so on. What steps is my
hon. Friend taking to ensure that the whole estate, whether large
or small, is included in the decarbonisation investment
programme?
How could I have failed to remember to group my hon. Friend’s
question? I apologise to him. He is right to pay tribute to his
local hospital in Harrogate. Zero carbon and environmental
sustainability are key design criteria in our 40 hospitals
programme, but it is also right, as he says, for that to flow
throughout the NHS estate. The NHS’s net zero report provides a
detailed plan for decarbonising the whole NHS estate and
services. In that context, there is already a range of action
under way, including the £50 million NHS energy efficiency fund,
which, as a small example, is upgrading lighting across all NHS
buildings, big and small, to improve environmental
sustainability.
Covid-19: Health and Social Care Workforce
Karl MᶜCartney (Lincoln) (Con)
What steps his Department is taking to support the health and
social care workforce during the covid-19 outbreak.
The Minister for Care ()
Our health and social care workers have been simply extraordinary
during the pandemic, caring for people in the most challenging
circumstances. We have done our utmost to support them every step
of the way and we will continue to do so. We are recruiting extra
staff and we are on track to have 50,000 more nurses in the NHS.
We are funding things that help when working long hours, we are
funding social care providers to provide full pay for staff who
are isolating, and we have put in place a package of mental
support for health and social care staff.
Karl MᶜCartney [V]
I thank the Minister for that detailed answer. Ensuring that we
take care of our NHS is critical, as I know here in Lincoln.
Therefore, we must be at the forefront of fighting all aspects of
this disease. At what stage did the Secretary of State and his
officials become aware that vitamin D helped to fight covid
symptoms for certain sections of our society, for how long was
this information suppressed or ignored, what steps have
subsequently been taken to take appropriate action, and what
other drugs have also not been fully utilised so far, such as
hydroxychloroquine?
I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I can tell him that the
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published a
guideline on vitamin D for covid in December. Its expert panel
supported current Government advice to take vitamin D supplements
through the autumn and winter. However, there is insufficient
evidence that taking vitamin D mitigates effects of covid-19. I
can also say that hydroxychloroquine is not recommended or
authorised for the treatment of covid outside of trials.
Covid-19: Cancer Care and Treatment
(Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)
What recent assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19
outbreak on cancer care and treatment.
(Birkenhead) (Lab)
What recent assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19
outbreak on cancer care and treatment.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
The tremendous efforts of our NHS cancer workforce are helping to
ensure that those who need treatment can continue to access it
without delay. The NHS has been clear, as have Ministers, since
the beginning of the pandemic that continuation of urgent cancer
care must be a priority. The NHS has established covid-secure
cancer hubs, consolidated surgery, centralised triage to
prioritise patients based on clinical need, and utilised the
independent sector for capacity.
Staff at North Middlesex University Hospital have done an
incredible job under difficult circumstances, delivering cancer
care and treatment, but despite that the Government have
acknowledged that more than 30,000 people are missing a diagnosis
of cancer compared with 2019. With the cancer recovery plan due
to expire at the end of March, can the Minister please set out
her commitments to beat the backlog after March? How will a
renewed cancer recovery plan help meet the ambitions for cancer
care set out in the NHS long-term plan?
I am concerned, like the hon. Gentleman, about those who have not
come forward and those who are not currently accessing treatment.
I reassure him that once people do come forward, there is a
speedy path to treatment. The numbers of those who are entering
treatment, both on two weeks and on 31 days, is ahead of what it
was at this time last year, and we are seeing enormous efforts
from the cancer workforce. I am meeting this afternoon with the
all-party parliamentary groups on radiotherapy and on cancer, and
we will be discussing the recovery plan, which he is right goes
to March. However, every single trust has been given a target to
produce a plan for ongoing assessment of how it is addressing the
backlog going forward.
[V]
Macmillan Cancer Support estimates that more than 40,000 people
are missing a cancer diagnosis across England, including around
60 people in my constituency of Birkenhead. Behind each statistic
is a family member and loved one whose prognosis and survival
chances are being severely affected by the disruption caused by
the pandemic. Can the Minister tell me what additional funding
will be made available to ensure that missed cancer diagnoses are
caught as soon as possible?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. The latest official
data for December, as I say, suggests that two-week wait GP
urgent referrals were 7% higher than for the same month last
year, 62-day GP urgent referrals were 6.7% higher, and urgent
referrals for cancer were 151% higher than in April, showing the
month we were most impacted. As I say, we are straining every
sinew to make sure that cancer services not only recover but go
on and are better to deliver more care for patients.
(Nottingham
North) (Lab/Co-op)
Going into this pandemic, staff shortages were already causing
increased waiting times for cancer treatment. Despite being
short-handed, our wonderful NHS cancer staff have done a heroic
job maintaining services while fighting this virus, but given the
size of the backlog, cancer services will need to go above and
beyond pre-pandemic levels for a significant period of
time—straining every sinew, as the Minister says. They need extra
resources to be able to do so. Next week’s Budget must contain
these resources. Has the Minister asked for them?
Cancer has been prioritised with funding throughout the pandemic.
It is, as I say, a key priority. Not only have we invested in
radiotherapy equipment to the tune of some £325 million but there
is a £160 million initiative to provide covid-friendly cancer
treatments that are safer for people. We still have the same
objective in the long-term plan to diagnose more cancers early,
and appropriate funding, such as the billion pounds targeted at
the NHS to drive down cancer backlogs and to ensure that people
can access care, is part of that strategy.
Covid-19 Vaccination: Vulnerable Groups
(Hackney North and Stoke Newington) (Lab)
What estimate he has made of the level of covid-19 vaccination
among (a) black and (b) white people in the most vulnerable
groups.
The Minister for Covid Vaccine Deployment ()
Overall, we are encouraged by the vaccine uptake in the most
vulnerable groups, with more than 17.7 million people in the UK
having now received their first vaccination. To date, black
people, who account for around 3% of the population, make up 1.7%
of those vaccinated, while white people, who account for 86% of
the population, make up 82% of all those vaccinated in England.
We appreciate that there is still work to do, and our vaccine
uptake plan addresses that.
Ms Abbott [V]
Will the Minister speak to Public Health England and ensure that
local directors of public health make this information and other
information in relation to specific cohorts available at a
borough level to local MPs? He will be aware that the danger is
that we could be hitting our vaccination targets overall, but
certain groups are left behind. Many local MPs want to have some
transparency about what is happening locally.
I am grateful for the right hon. Lady’s question. She and I
visited the Hatzola first responders, who did an incredible job
that Saturday night of vaccinating 364 people from not only the
Haredi Hasidic Jewish community but the Muslim community as well.
Our uptake plan has four key enablers: working in partnership
with local government and directors of public health; removing
barriers to access—in other words, access being available at the
time and place that people need it; data and information, which
we share with directors of public health, and we want to share it
in more granular ways; and, of course, engagement, engagement,
engagement.
Liver Disease Treatment Pathways
(Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)
What plans he has to improve liver disease treatment pathways.
The Minister for Care ()
The NHS is working to improve care for patients with all types of
liver disease. Development and improvement of clinical care is
supported via NHS England’s hepatobiliary clinical reference
group. This clinical reference group has started work on the
development of liver networks in England to enable quicker access
to specialised liver services, as well as providing clinical
advice on disease prevention and referral practice.
[V]
Liver disease has become one of the major causes of premature
mortality in the UK, and covid has highlighted the susceptibility
of people with liver disease to more serious cases of the virus.
With that in mind, what plans does the Minister have to include
improvements to liver care in the NHS recovery plan?
Last autumn’s spending review included £1 billion of funding to
address backlogs, tackle long waiting lists and support up to 1
million extra checks, scans and additional operations in the NHS.
As the NHS recovers, for liver care, as for other areas of
treatment, we will look to not only recover backlogs but continue
to improve the care provided and help people to live healthier
lives to prevent illness in the first place.
Topical Questions
(Blaydon) (Lab)
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
Yesterday, the Government published the road map that will put us
cautiously but, we hope, irreversibly on the path towards
reclaiming our freedoms once more. We are able to take these
steps because of the resolve of people across the UK and the
extraordinary success in vaccinating more than 17.7 million
people—one in every three adults across the UK—and I would like
to pay tribute to everyone who has played their part.
[V]
This coming Sunday is Rare Disease Day 2021. One in 17 people in
the UK will be affected by a rare disease, and today people with
PKU—phenylketonuria—are awaiting the outcome of a NICE appraisal
of Kuvan, but 12 years waiting for Kuvan or other treatments is
too long. Does the Secretary of State agree that our rare disease
community deserves access to early diagnosis and treatment, and
what will he do to make sure that this happens?
The hon. Lady is a long-standing and passionate campaigner for
Kuvan, and I pay tribute to the work that she has done. The NICE
methods review looks at the question she raises. It is important
that we have a clinically-led process for approval of medicines,
and I know she agrees with that. The question is ensuring that
the details live up to that principle. The methods review will
make sure that we take advantage of advances in medical
technology, which will, I hope, allow us to bring drugs and
treatments to patients of rare diseases who need them more
quickly than in the past.
(South West Surrey) (Con) [V]
Can I add my support to the previous question about the urgent
need to sort out the issue of Kuvan, because I too have
constituents suffering very badly from the long wait that they
have had?
I wanted to talk to the Secretary of State about support for NHS
frontline staff, who have done such a magnificent job this year
but worry that, even now, we are not training enough doctors and
nurses for the long-term needs of the NHS, and that is the
crucial way that we will reduce the pressure on them. So could I
ask him: will he be publishing a workforce plan this year, will
that have independent projections as to the number of doctors and
nurses the NHS will need in every specialty over the next couple
of decades and will he commit to funding the number of training
places that we need to make sure that we meet those needs of the
future?
The good news is that, thanks in part to the work that my right
hon. Friend did when he was in my shoes, we now have a record
number of doctors in the NHS and he will have been as pleased as
I was to see the record number of applicants to nursing places as
well, because we need both more doctors and more nurses. I am
delighted that, during the pandemic, we have increased numbers
very substantially. On nurses, we are on track to meet our
manifesto commitment to 50,000 more nurses, and we have seen a
significant increase—just under 10,000—in the number of doctors
too, so there is significant progress. Of course there is more to
be done, and of course we will need to set out the route to that,
as he suggests. The time is not quite right now, because right
now there are still very urgent needs and pressures, thanks to
the pandemic—I am sure that he and the Select Committee
understand that—but this is undoubtedly a question that we will
return to.
(Leicester South) (Lab/Co-op)
Everybody knows—apart from the Secretary of State, it seems, from
this morning’s media—that there were PPE shortages. The National
Audit Office reported on it, we saw nurses resorting to bin bags
and curtains for makeshift PPE, hundreds of NHS staff died, and
his response was to pay a pest control firm £59 million for 25
million masks that could not be used, to pay a hedge fund based
in Mauritius £252 million, again for facemasks that were
inadequate and to pay a jeweller in Florida £70 million for gowns
that could not be used. So will he take this opportunity to
apologise, and will he commit to recovering every penny piece of
taxpayers’ money from those companies that provided us with duff
PPE?
Well, I am going to start by congratulating the hon.
Gentleman—the right hon. Gentleman—on his appointment to the
Privy Council. I appreciate the work that he has done in support
of the Government and in support of the nation during this
pandemic. Although occasionally he turns to rhetoric and narrow
questions that he knows there are perfectly adequate answers to,
he has generally during this pandemic, in the face of
temptation—I mean this very genuinely—done the right thing and
supported the right messages to people where they need to be made
across party lines. So I congratulate him and thank him for that.
On the specifics of the question the right hon. Gentleman raised,
of course, where a contract is not delivered against, we do not
intend to pay taxpayers’ money, but of course, also, we wanted to
make sure that we got as much PPE as we could into the country.
While of course there were individual instances that we all know
about and that highlight how important it was to buy PPE, there
was, as the National Audit Office has confirmed, no national
level shortage, and that was because of the incredible work of my
team and the amount of effort they put into securing the PPE and
doing the right thing.
I dare say the Secretary of State has just finished off my
political career with that fulsome praise but, on the substance
of the point, I think he confirmed that he will—[Interruption.]
When did it start? [Laughter.] I think he was saying in that
answer that he will not be trying to recover money that he has
paid out for duff PPE, but can I ask him about a different issue,
which again comes down to public scrutiny and accountability? In
London, a week or a week and a half ago, GP services with 375,000
patients were taken over by the US health insurance corporation
Centene. There was no patient consultation; there was no public
scrutiny. This is arguably a stealth privatisation, with huge
implications for patient care. Will he step in, halt the
transfer, ensure it is fully scrutinised and prevent takeovers
like this happening in the future?
On the right hon. Gentleman’s first point, such a reasonable and
sensible man is, of course, always welcome on these Benches, and
I might ask, since his wife is taking the Labour party to court:
why doesn’t the whole Ashworth family come and join us on this
side?
On the substantive point the right hon. Gentleman raises, of
course what matters for patients is the quality of patient care.
We have seen again and again, especially throughout the pandemic,
that what matters to people is the quality of care. That is what
we should look out for, and that is, I know, what doctors, nurses
and other staff, in primary care and right across the board, are
working so hard to deliver on.
(Keighley) (Con)
My right hon. Friend will be aware that the Airedale hospital in
my constituency is now over 50 years old and 83% of the building
is constructed from aerated concrete, which is known for its
structural deficiencies. It is great news that this Conservative
Government will commit to funding eight new hospitals in addition
to the 40, but may I make an urgent plea to my right hon. Friend
that the Airedale hospital, given its high-risk profile, is
considered as one of the final eight?
I think my hon. Friend has just made his heartfelt plea and it
has certainly landed with me, but I am not surprised because he
has made this case to me on behalf of his constituents over and
over again and he is quite right to. We are in the process of
considering which hospitals will be in the eight additional, on
top of the 40 that we committed to in our manifesto. I am
grateful for his representations and we will certainly consider
Airedale and its full needs for the local community.
(Rhondda) (Lab) [V]
I wonder whether the Health Secretary would agree with me that
coronavirus has not only changed many of the ways that we have to
do our lives, but it is fundamentally going to have to change the
whole structure of the NHS re. That means we are going to have to
recruit more pathologists in this country for ourselves; we are
going to have to have far more intensive care unit capacity; we
are going to have to have UK manufacture not only of PPE but of
vaccines if we are to be able to be self-reliant; we are going to
have to have much better long-term rehabilitation for people with
brain injuries; and we are going to have a complete review of our
care homes, aren’t we?
We will need to draw many lessons from the pandemic. For
instance, my brilliant team who have done all this procurement of
PPE have also built an onshore PPE manufacturing capability. With
regard to almost all items of PPE, 70% of it is now made onshore
in the UK, up from about 2% before the pandemic—likewise for
vaccines, where we did not have large-scale vaccine manufacture
and we now do, and for a host of other areas, including some of
those that the hon. Gentleman mentioned.
(Beaconsfield) (Con) [V]
With regard to the recent court ruling on the issuing of PPE
contracts, will my right hon. Friend confirm that, as a result of
the action taken by Health Department officials, NHS trusts did
receive vital PPE, despite there being a global shortage?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The court ruling in question
found that we were on average 17 days late with the paperwork,
but it did not find against any of the individual contracts. My
team worked so hard to deliver the PPE that was needed and so, as
the National Audit Office has confirmed and as my hon. Friend set
out, there was never a point at which there was a national
shortage. There were, of course, localised challenges and we were
in the situation of a huge increase in global demand, but I think
that we should all thank the civil servants who did such a good
job.
(St Albans) (LD) [V]
The Prime Minister’s first test for easing restrictions is that
the vaccine deployment continues successfully, yet GPs and
pharmacists have been telling me for weeks and weeks and weeks in
St Albans that they cannot get the vaccine supply that they
desperately need. They could be vaccinating 14,000 people a week,
but they are only getting the supplies for 1,000. Why is that and
when will it be fixed?
As we have repeatedly explained, supply is the rate-limiting
factor. The hon. Member will no doubt have seen that there have
been international discussions on the rate of supply, and
countries around the world are finding supply the rate-limiting
factor. Thankfully, thanks to the decisions that this Government
took early, we have some of the best access to the supply of
vaccine in the world. That is why we have one of the best vaccine
delivery programmes in the world.
(Epsom and Ewell) (Con) [V]
I congratulate my right hon. Friend again on the progress of the
vaccination process. He should be proud of what he has achieved.
The documents published yesterday about the road map did not
appear to contain any assessment of the infection risk in
individual settings, which could have demonstrated that there had
been carefully informed decisions about the reasons for each
individual restriction. Has that work been carried out? If so,
will my right hon. Friend commit to publishing those assessments
immediately?
Of course we assess this, but it is challenging to get to a
statistical answer to the question that my right hon. Friend
raises. When we have taken action to restrict access to areas
where there is evidence of significant transmission, such as the
hospitality industry, that confounds the statistical analysis
because people cannot go into that environment and therefore the
passing on of infection there reduces. This is a matter of
evidence and judgment. It is a significant challenge, but the
road map is based on our best assessment of the situation, which
is based on clinical advice, including the focus on the fact that
we know that outdoors is safer than indoors. Hence the early
steps, after schools, are focused on opening things up outdoors.
(Glasgow North West) (SNP) [V]
Opening up by date and not data, as described by the Prime
Minister yesterday, will allow prevalence in the general
population to continue, unfortunately increasing the number of
people affected by long covid. What discussions has the Secretary
of State had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to
ensure that proper financial support is available for those
afflicted by long covid, including a continued £20 a week uplift
of universal credit?
Of course long covid is an incredibly serious condition for some
and is part of our considerations and deliberations, but I want
to correct something the hon. Member said. The road map sets out
indicative dates before which we will not move, but we will be
guided by the data, hence the five-week gaps between each step to
make sure we have four weeks to see the impact of the step and
one week of advance notice for the go/no-go decision. That is
based on clinical advice, which I know is shared across the UK.
(North Norfolk) (Con) [V]
I am delighted that many carers are in priority group 6 given the
enormous and vital role they are playing during the pandemic.
Recently, I led an initiative to help my local county council
identify carers—and unpaid carers—around Norfolk as many are not
on official registers. Will my right hon. Friend tell me how he
is working with Norfolk County Council and all local authorities
to ensure that those difficult-to-find carers are not missed in
the call to be vaccinated?
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s work in making sure that all
carers, who are properly in priority group 6, get the opportunity
to be vaccinated, including those who may be unregistered with
the system, but nevertheless are carers. It is very important and
I pay tribute to the work of Norfolk County Council. I know that
my hon. Friend the Care Minister will be happy to meet my hon.
Friend and the county council to discuss what further can be
done.
Mr Speaker
Let us head to for our final
question. I am sorry about this, but we have taken a long time to
get to this stage.
(Ealing
Central and Acton) (Lab) [V]
It is pleasing that anti-vax propagandising has been clamped down
on, but long predating covid, on a daily basis, women seeking to
access abortion clinics have faced anti-choicers. At the moment
they are on a 40-day running Lent protest. Will the Secretary of
State work with Ministers across Government to ensure that no
woman ever feels harassed or intimidated when obtaining medical
care that she is legally entitled to?
I am very happy to take up that proposal. Nobody should be
harassed when accessing any medical treatment. There are agreed
rules around abortion and people should be able to access
abortion properly, according to those rules.
