(13 years, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)
1. What steps he is taking to work with clinicians and patient groups in the design of the cancer drugs fund.
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley)
We are committed to ensuring that the cancer drugs fund, which is to be introduced in April next year, will enable NHS patients to have greater access to new cancer drugs. We will soon consult the public and clinicians on our plans for this. From 1 October this year, as an interim measure, regional panels led by expert clinicians will respond to requests to fund cancer drugs that have not been funded locally.
Neil Carmichael
I am delighted with the answer from the Secretary of State. Some people are concerned about the possibility of a postcode lottery. Has the Department thought about that, and what actions does it plan to avoid the fund being subject to that?
Mr Lansley
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Many people are concerned about their experience of a postcode lottery and access to new cancer drugs. Indeed, there is not just a postcode lottery but an international lottery, with patients in this country not getting access through the NHS to new cancer drugs while patients in other countries do get access to those drugs in the same clinical circumstances. That is why we will not only establish the cancer drugs fund next year, but, this year, we have found £50 million by making savings on management and marketing costs to enable new cancer drugs to be made available, at a regional level across England, where they are not funded locally.
Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab)
Has the Secretary of State had any discussions with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence about the fund, and is it cash-limited?
Mr Lansley
Yes, I did have discussions with NICE. The interim measure this year is indeed cash-limited—£50 million is available between October and the end of March.
Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)
Will the Secretary of State consider seriously the situation with regard to Avastin—a drug that particularly relates to bowel cancer? I have a constituent who is dying of that complaint, and their primary care trust has refused treatment under current NICE guidance. NICE is currently reviewing the situation. I would be grateful if the Secretary of State will say that he will support positive findings.
Mr Lansley
My colleagues and I are very well aware of the issues relating to Avastin, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her question. In terms of the interim measure that starts on 1 October, patients should go through all the normal procedures of seeking treatment through their hospital with the consent of their PCT. However, if that fails, a regional panel of expert clinicians will be able to look at their circumstances, with a special fund to enable patients to have access to cancer drugs which previously they would not have received.
Diana R. Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)
Of course we support efforts to ensure that those with rarer cancers get access to the drugs that they need, but there are serious concerns about the cancer drugs fund. Professor Alan Maynard says that
“this will run a coach and horses through the work done by NICE”.
The Lancet has called the fund a product of political opportunism and intellectual incoherence leading to the potential for a postcode lottery between strategic health authorities. Where does this leave NICE—an organisation that the Secretary of State said that he wants to strengthen?
Mr Lansley
It in no way undermines the role of NICE, which continues to play a very important role in giving advice to the NHS on the relative clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of drugs. However, there are many circumstances at the moment whereby patients are not getting access to medicines. NICE, through its thresholds, is setting limitations on access to new cancer medicines. The hon. Lady should know, because the research was commissioned under her Government, that we need to look at international variations in drug use across health economies. Her Government did not publish that information; we have published it. It demonstrates that in this country we have relatively poor access to new cancer medicines, often before the point at which NICE has undertaken a full cost-effectiveness appraisal. We are going to ensure that patients in this country do not lose out as a consequence of those delays.
David Tredinnick (Bosworth) (Con)
When considering the drugs fund, will the Secretary of State bear it in mind that many patients who have had chemotherapy find relief from using herbal medicine and acupuncture? When will he come forward with proposals to interface with next year’s European directive so that herbal and acupuncture practitioners can conform to the law?
Mr Speaker
I know that the Secretary of State’s response will relate to the cancer drugs fund.
Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)
2. What account he took of arrangements for the provision of mental health services in developing his proposals for GP commissioning.
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Paul Burstow)
GPs play a crucial role in co-ordinating patient care and committing NHS resources through daily clinical decisions. Our new model of commissioning builds on the regular contact that GPs have with patients and their understanding of patients’ wider health care needs. Our proposals will create an effective dialogue across all health and social care, with professionals putting in place the conditions for a more integrated and personalised approach to both physical and mental health.
Emma Reynolds
I thank the Minister for his answer. According to a recent survey by the leading mental health charity Rethink, 58% of GPs questioned said that they did not feel they had the level of expertise required to commission mental health services. Given that, what specific measures will the Government take to ensure that GPs have the skills and expertise needed to commission those highly specialised services?
Mr Burstow
I do not accept that that is the case, and from the consultation and engagement that the Department and I have already had with GPs and others, it is quite clear that there is huge enthusiasm for the reforms that we propose in the White Paper and a real desire both to see patients put at the heart of the NHS and for GPs to have real control over commissioning again, to ensure that services really meet patients’ needs. When it comes to specialist commissioning, we have said in the White Paper that there will be opportunities for charities, other providers and local authorities to access support to harness those skills.
Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough) (Con)
Parnwell, in the east of Peterborough, which has specific health needs, faces the loss of its current single general practitioner upon his retirement at the end of October. Can the Minister confirm that there is no necessity to remove single practitioner GP facilities, and that they can be incorporated into the new GP commissioning system as we go forward?
Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
It is of great concern that medical charities such as Rethink tell us that most GPs that they have surveyed feel that they lack the expertise needed to commission mental health services, and also that campaigning groups such as the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign feel that GPs have too little knowledge of muscle wasting conditions to commission services for their patients. Given Government plans to hand commissioning over to GPs, to abolish primary care trusts and, according to the White Paper, to reduce the role of the Department of Health in training, can the Minister say more to the House about how the considerable shortfall in expertise in commissioning services will be tackled over the next year or two?
Mr Burstow
It is perhaps worth noting that the Select Committee on Health, when there was a Labour majority on it before the election, back in March, identified significant weaknesses in PCT commissioning. In particular, it identified the lack of clinical input. Our White Paper puts that clinical input back into commissioning. When one considers that one in four of all consultations involve mental health problems and that 90% of all mental health care is delivered in primary care settings, one sees that putting the GP right at the centre is critical to better outcomes.
Dr John Pugh (Southport) (LD)
On the subject of consultation, what consultations have taken place with the mental health charities, either prior or subsequent to the proposals?
Mr Burstow
In July, I and the Secretary of State had a successful and long engagement with all the mental health charities, and we are continuing to have a dialogue with them.
Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)
3. What estimate he has made of the number of redundancies which would result from the abolition of strategic health authorities and primary care trusts?
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley)
Our White Paper set out proposals for greater devolution to clinical leadership in the NHS and an enhanced role for local authorities in setting health strategies and improving public health. That means that we will abolish primary care trusts and strategic health authorities. General practice-led consortiums will make decisions about their requirements for management support, as will the new NHS commissioning board and local authorities. However, the requirement to cut management costs and protect the front line will mean reduced numbers of administrative posts. The extent of that will depend on local plans, and we will publish an impact assessment in due course.
Mr Cunningham
The coalition agreement stated that PCTs would be a strong voice for the public. How will the Government achieve that if they are going to abolish them?
Mr Lansley
We set out clearly in the White Paper how we will increase accountability to the public, including by establishing Health Watch. Before the election, the hon. Gentleman’s party’s Government demolished the patient representative voice in community health councils and patients’ forums and created nothing effective in its place. Health Watch will be an effective voice for patients, and democratic accountability through local authorities will be far stronger because Health Watch will enable NHS services, public health services and social care to be joined together through co-ordination in a local authority’s health and well-being partnership.
Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)
On the question of redundancies, the hon. Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham) and I represent adjacent constituencies covered by the same NHS trust, in which there is currently a review of urgent care provision at the hospital of St Cross in my constituency. Candidates for the Labour leadership recently visited the area, and one spoke to the Rugby Advertiser about his concern that the review was an example of the
“economic masochism being unveiled across the country by the Tories who continue to show no compassion for the vulnerable.”
Does the Secretary of State share my outrage at the choice of language by the likely Leader of the Opposition, and will he confirm that since this Government have committed themselves to real-terms increases in NHS funding, any reforms considered for Rugby will have nothing to do with the amount of funding for the local NHS?
Mr Lansley
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. We visited St Cross hospital together, so he knows the importance that we both attach to the service that is provided there for his constituents locally, but that happens in the context of the resources that we provide to enable the NHS to do its job. The Government have made an historic commitment to increase resources for the NHS in real terms each year, notwithstanding the appalling financial circumstances that we inherited from the Labour party.
The policy of the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham) is to cut the NHS budget. Under those circumstances and under the policies of the Labour party, the number of redundancies in the NHS would proliferate.
Andy Burnham (Leigh) (Lab)
The right hon. Gentleman is planning the biggest reorganisation in the history of the NHS, and yet he is unable to give basic information on it, such as how many people may lose their jobs, to my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham). Tens of thousands of people who work for primary care trusts and strategic health authorities are at risk of losing their jobs, so it is no wonder that after a just a few short weeks in his job, the Secretary of State has brought morale in the NHS to rock bottom.
In his letter to the NHS, the NHS chief executive says that £1.7 billion should be set aside to pay for the Secretary of State’s reorganisation. Others have said that the cost of his reform could be up to £3 billion. At a time when the NHS needs every penny to maintain standards of patient care, it is scandalous for money to be diverted in that way. He may be ignoring the human cost, but can he tell the House today his latest estimate from the Department of how much his ideological reorganisation will cost?
Mr Lansley
I do wish the right hon. Gentleman would at least remember what he was responsible for before the election. He said that the NHS in this financial year should set aside 2%—£1.7 billion—for the cost of reorganisation. I have not changed that figure by one penny. However, I have taken his policies, which led to a proliferation in management costs—an 80% increase in the cost of management consultants in the NHS in two years and a doubling of management costs in PCTs and SHAs in eight years—and reversed them. We are cutting management costs in the NHS this year by more than £220 million and by up to £1 billion over four years. I make no apology for that, because if we are to protect front-line services and improve health outcomes, that is exactly what we need to do.
Mr Speaker
Order. The remainder of this exchange—on both sides— needs to be shorter.
Andy Burnham
Let us first get some facts straight. I asked PCTs to set aside money to invest in patient care, changing patient pathways and better services. I did not say that a Labour Government would cut the NHS budget; I said that we would maintain it in real terms, not increase it, as the Secretary of State proposes. The effect of his increase will mean severe cuts to councils, which need to provide care support to older people to get people out of hospital.
However, the Secretary of State would not today tell us what his proposals would cost. Is it not the case that the plans were not in the Conservative or Liberal Democrat manifestos, and that there is no democratic mandate for the break-up of the NHS? Given that there is now a chorus of protest at his plans, will he step back, listen to patients and staff and consult on those reforms before taking them forward further?
Mr Lansley
I and my colleagues are engaging right across the country with patients, the public, local authorities, PCTs and general practitioners, and we are meeting enthusiasm for our proposals. Why? Because we are focusing on delivering improving outcomes for patients, and doing so in the context of an historic commitment by this coalition Government to increase resources for the NHS in real terms each year. The right hon. Gentleman’s policy would be to cut the NHS budget.
Andy Burnham
The Secretary of State thinks he can behave any way he likes with the NHS, the most beloved institution in this country, but we will not let him—we will give him a fight every inch of the way. The latest example of his high-handed and arrogant behaviour came on the eve of a bank holiday weekend, when he casually let slip that NHS Direct would be scrapped. NHS Direct is a valued service that receives 27,000 calls every day and saves millions of pounds for the NHS, and that has more than 3,000 staff working for it. Will he today apologise for making that statement in such an outrageous manner? Will he listen to the 14,000 people who signed a petition to save NHS Direct, and going forward, stop acting in such a cavalier manner with our NHS?
Mr Speaker
Order. A question should be a question—it should not really be three questions.
Mr Lansley
Once again, the right hon. Gentleman should remember what he did before the election. A press release from his Department on 18 December 2009, when he was Secretary of State, said that he would establish a new 111 national number for non-emergency health care, and that this could become the single number to access non-emergency care services, including NHS Direct. I did not announce anything: I simply said that we were going to get on with that—he never did.
Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)
4. What plans he has for the future of the national capitation formula.
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Simon Burns)
Revenue allocations post 2010-11 will be set following the spending review. From 2013-14, the NHS Commissioning Board will allocate the majority of NHS resources to GP consortiums on the basis of seeking to secure equivalent access to NHS services relative to the burden of disease and disability. Public health resources will be separately allocated to reflect relative population health need and to seek to reduce health inequalities.
Mr Bone
Under the Labour Government, Northamptonshire was the worst funded primary care trust in the country. That was because the Government never met the national capitation formula in full, denying Wellingborough a hospital, for instance. Will the Minister’s new proposals be fairer and encourage my constituents in the belief that they will get a better deal?
Mr Burns
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question, because he is right—under the Labour Government, Northamptonshire Teaching PCT was underfunded and is currently receiving 1.4% below its target allocation. That is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I are seeking, under the vision outlined in the White Paper, to free the NHS from day-to-day political interference so that the allocation of resources will be the responsibility of the NHS Commissioning Board which can seek to address the problems highlighted by my hon. Friend.
Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)
5. What recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Assembly Government on the effects of proposed changes to health services in England on patients living in Wales who use those services.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Anne Milton)
Since the election, there have been informal, but no formal, discussions between my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and the Welsh Assembly Government. However, I understand that a meeting is planned for later this year. Clearly, there have been discussions between officials about the impact of the White Paper and the changes.
Mr Hanson
May I respectfully suggest that someone in the Government gets on and talks to the Welsh Assembly Government? A third of my constituents, who live in Wales, use the Countess of Chester hospital in England, and they use hospitals in Manchester, including the Christie and the Clatterbridge for cancer services, as well as the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt hospital in Shropshire for orthopaedic services. They are as appalled as I am by the changes being proposed by the Conservatives to destroy the NHS. Get on and talk to someone please.
Anne Milton
May I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question and assure him that officials have got on with it and do it constantly? It is important that we ensure that any changes are synchronised across the two areas, and I know that he will continue to raise cross-border issues. I can reassure him that we have already got on with it and he need not remind us to do so.
David T. C. Davies (Monmouth) (Con)
Given that patients in Wales, served by the Welsh Assembly, have to wait far longer for routine operations and ambulance responses, is it not the case that the only problem that the Department will face is that the people of Wales will be galvanised by the excellent policies of this Government into suggesting that the Welsh Assembly Government ditch their failed health policies and copy those of the coalition Government?
Anne Milton
I thank my hon. Friend for that wonderful advertisement for the changes that we are bringing in. I agree with him and I am sure that the people of Wales will see the changes that we are bringing in and contact the right hon. Member for Delyn (Mr Hanson) to urge him to ensure that the changes are also introduced in Wales.
Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)
Fourteen thousand people from Wales are registered with GPs in England, and 19,000 people from England are registered with GPs in Wales. Will the Under-Secretary ensure that the changes that she brings in do not lead to any dangers to the services provided for both sets of people travelling across the border, and that adequate financial recompense is made as well?
Anne Milton
It is extremely important that people receive similar and safe passage and continuity of care across the borders, and we will continue to have conversations, both at ministerial level and between officials, to ensure that any hitches that arise are smoothed out as soon as possible.
Caroline Flint (Don Valley) (Lab)
7. How many GPs in Doncaster have expressed an interest in establishing GP consortiums.
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Simon Burns)
The Yorkshire and Humber strategic health authority has informed me that two existing practice-based commissioning consortiums are currently working on behalf of all Doncaster’s 45 GP practices. GPs in Doncaster are enthusiastic about the agenda and, in partnership with Doncaster primary care trust, have established a transition team meeting to oversee the process.
Caroline Flint
Yes, there is something called the “Doncaster commissioning consortium” in Doncaster, which provides clinical leadership to Doncaster PCT when it comes to commissioning. From what I understand from the Government’s proposals, as a result of these changes the Doncaster commissioning consortium, made up of the majority of GPs, will have to employ people, either from the PCT or other sectors, to do the budget and management of commissioning. Is this restructuring not just a rebranding to make the Government look as if they are being innovative in health care when in fact they are pouring money down the drain and conducting a restructuring that we just do not need?
Mr Burns
May I recommend that the right hon. Lady, who from her past ministerial career is familiar with health issues, study not only the White Paper that we have published, but the documents, particularly on commissioning, that flowed from that, because I am afraid that her interpretation of the situation is wrong? This is a great change from the PCT system, because it will basically ensure that commissioning will no longer be remote but be carried out by GPs at the forefront of dealing with patients’ needs and care, who know best how to ensure that patients get the finest and best health care possible.
Dr Daniel Poulter (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) (Con)
8. What plans he has to assist GP commissioning in rural areas.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Anne Milton)
Our proposals in the White Paper will enable general practices to structure commissioning to reflect the character of the area they serve. Practices in rural areas, such as Cumbria and Cambridgeshire for instance, are exploring commissioning models. To support GP consortiums, we will create a statutory NHS commissioning board.
Dr Poulter
The Minister will be aware that many women make the choice to have a home birth and delivery, but unfortunately, in many rural areas, maternity services have historically been under-resourced. What steps does the Minister envisage better to support home delivery in rural areas, and to support GPs in their commissioning of these services in the future?
Anne Milton
I congratulate my hon. Friend on taking up the chairmanship of the all-party group on maternity. I know that his work with it will be very valuable, particularly in the light of his previous experience in the health service. Contrary to what Labour Members believe, this is an important opportunity to put general practices—in all their shapes and forms within all the professions—at the very heart of shaping services. As he said, home births and choice in maternity services are crucial for women.
Ann Coffey (Stockport) (Lab)
I have concerns about the effect of the Secretary of State’s proposals for GP commissioning on services in rural areas and urban areas such as mine. Greater Manchester PCT provided strategic leadership in the recent reconfiguration of children’s services, which was very contentious. Can the Minister clarify how that strategic leadership will be provided in the future reconfiguration of cancer, maternity and ambulance services in Greater Manchester, as GP commissioning will be focused on local health needs and national commissioning on national specialities?
Anne Milton
The hon. Lady made the point that urban and rural areas have very different needs. What is vital are the people on the front line, making decisions and offering the leadership and vision to shape those services. I do not think that she will find many people lining up to save PCTs, whose commissioning has not always been as successful as she would like to believe.
Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)
I should like to suggest to the Minister that it might help GPs who are commissioning in rural areas if the formula for capitation were to include the information that their patients live in sparsely populated areas, as well as information about their age, especially in constituencies such as mine and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter).
Anne Milton
My hon. Friend is right to raise the issue of the distances covered in rural areas. I believe that only ambulance trusts currently have the opportunity to reflect that. This is why it is so important that local commissioners will shape the services for their patients. It is they, not the pen-pushers in the PCT, who know best what is right for their patients.
Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)
9. What steps his Department is taking to inform young people about diabetes prevention.
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Paul Burstow)
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question, and for his tireless campaigning to raise awareness of diabetes. We know that being physically active and maintaining a healthy weight can reduce an individual’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Our approach is to support families and young people to eat healthily and be physically active.
Keith Vaz
I thank the Minister for his comments. I declare an interest as one who has type 2 diabetes. As he knows, we spend £1 million an hour treating diabetes-related illnesses, and more and more people are now being diagnosed at a much younger age. What steps are the Government taking to alert parents and young people to the perils of diabetes?
Mr Burstow
The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to draw our attention to the rising rate of diabetes in our country. When it comes to diabetes in children, we have to bear in mind that the diagnosis for type 1 diabetes—which affects about 23,000 children in this country—is a genetically predisposed condition that cannot easily be prevented. We need to do more about type 2 diabetes, however, by tackling the obesity problems in this country. We need to deliver physical and healthy eating programmes through schools and other partners, and those things are much better done in the context of the local authorities, which will now have a new responsibility for public health that the last Government never gave them.
Mr Adrian Sanders (Torbay) (LD)
Information and education are also important for people with the condition of diabetes, to help them to get the maximum benefit from their prescribed course of treatment. May I urge the Minister to make an assessment of the improvements to health that education and information can contribute?
Mr Burstow
My hon. Friend makes a good point about the value of information in empowering patients, and about the value of education. That is why we want to do more with NHS information prescriptions, which is an important tool, and to ensure that the care planning process that delivers tailored care plans also includes structured education. There is no doubt that providing education really does make a difference to the outcomes for people with diabetes.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister for his response to the question. I also wish to declare an interest as a type 2 diabetic. The junk food culture of the moment is a serious problem, so what steps is the Minister taking to address that in his effort to reduce the number of people being diagnosed as diabetic over the next year?
Mr Burstow
The best way of responding to the hon. Gentleman’s very appropriate question is to say that we are taking a four-pronged approach to diabetes. First, we need to tackle the causes of the condition through a renewed impetus on public health. We shall announce more of our plans in our White Paper later this autumn. Secondly, we need earlier identification and diagnosis so that we can help people to manage their condition at an earlier stage so that it does not progress. Thirdly, we need effective management and self-directed care. Finally, we need world-class research so that we can better understand the condition and deliver better treatments.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
10. What steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of resources allocated to hospital accident and emergency departments.
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Simon Burns)
It is the responsibility of local NHS commissioners to plan and arrange adequate A and E health services according to the needs of their local populations. Attendances at hospital A and E departments are reimbursed through mandatory national tariffs.
Mr Sheerman
Is the Minister aware that my constituents in Huddersfield are very pleased with the improvements to their A and E services over recent years? They put that down to fewer people going to A and E because they have NHS Direct to take the pressure off A and E, and to the guarantee of being seen within four hours, and having the right to complain pretty vigorously—as we do in Huddersfield—if that does not happen. Are not the measures that the Government are introducing simply going to make A and E impossible again?
Mr Burns
May I reassure the hon. Gentleman’s constituents that they will be just as pleased with the responses that they receive from a 111 line, where professional advice and help will be given to people who need to contact it about their health needs? May I also reassure his constituents on the question of four-hour targets? The target that was introduced caused distortions; it was a political target. We are relying on clinical decisions and activity to ensure that people are seen as quickly and relevantly as possible.
Mr Stephen Dorrell (Charnwood) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend agree that in addition to the proper funding of A and E departments, it is also important to take steps to manage the demand on those departments? In particular in urban areas, that means that commissioners should accept the responsibility to look for improvements in the delivery of primary care so that patients have more easy access to less urgent care in the primary care context, thus reducing the demand on A and E departments.
Mr Burns
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is, of course, not only a question of correctly identifying those people who should use A and E; the other assistance given through the health service is also important. We need a first-class and relevant out-of-hours service as well.
Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)
11. What recent assessment his Department has made of the clinical effectiveness of facet joint injections; and if he will make a statement.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Anne Milton)
Recommendations on facet joint injections were made by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in its 2009 clinical guidelines on low back pain. NICE did not find sufficient research evidence that strongly supported the effectiveness of facet joint injections and recommended that more research should be done. I understand that the National Institute for Health Research is looking at whether it will commission further research.
Hugh Bayley
Access to these injections is restricted in North Yorkshire and York PCT, although it is widely available on the NHS in other areas. The consultant in charge of York’s pain clinic believes that the PCT is not following the most recent NICE guidelines. What are the Government doing to reduce this kind of postcode lottery? Will the Minister contact the PCT and arrange for it to meet me and the consultant to discuss how these guidelines ought to be applied in North Yorkshire and York?
Anne Milton
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks and point out that it is precisely because of the situation that he describes that we are bringing in some of our reforms. It is important that decisions about treatment and care are made by clinicians—GPs and a large number of other people, including some voluntary and charitable organisations—and that they are clinically led, evidence-based and also include patient choice.
Mr Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (LD)
12. What recent discussions he has had on the effectiveness of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s procedures to review the cost-effectiveness of drugs; and if he will make a statement.
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Simon Burns)
Ministers discuss NICE’s work from time to time as part of routine business. We attach great importance to the work NICE does in giving advice to commissioners and clinicians on the relative clinical and cost-effectiveness of treatments. The right hon. Gentleman will know that we also propose reforms that will better reflect the value of new drugs in the relevant prices paid by the NHS.
Mr Kennedy
In thanking the Minister for that helpful reply, I note that my question rather overlaps with the pertinent question just asked by the hon. Member for York Central (Hugh Bayley). Can the Minister give us any indication of where the Government, at this stage of their Administration, are on the proposed cancer drugs fund, particularly with reference to the drugs used for kidney cancer treatment, which NICE is still evaluating? Can these drugs be issued under the interim cancer drugs fund, not least given the terrible delays some patients face with the local PCTs, when by the time things are resolved it is sometimes, sadly, too late?
Mr Burns
May I reassure the right hon. Gentleman that we will shortly consult on the cancer drugs fund. On the question of Afinitor, in which I know he has a particular interest, I appreciate that there has been some concern expressed by families and patients about the issuing of the interim guidance. I would like to emphasise that the guidance is only interim, that the appraisal is ongoing and that we await the final guidance from NICE. I hope that he will be reassured that, since the publication of the draft guidance, the manufacturer of Afinitor has proposed a revised patient access scheme for the drug, which is now being considered as part of the NICE appraisal. In the light of that, we will have to await the announcement of the final decision.
Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)
13. What recent representations he has received on the proposed one-year cancer survival measure.
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Paul Burstow)
I have received many helpful representations on the proposed one-year survival measure, including his own when I met him along with a number of leading cancer charities in July. We have launched a full public consultation to shape the first ever outcomes framework for the NHS, and I urge all interested parties to contribute. The consultation document has put forward a range of possible outcome measures, including a one-year cancer survival rate that could be included in the framework. A full response to the consultation will be provided when it closes on 11 October.
Mr Baron
The one-year cancer survival measure is welcome, because it will encourage earlier diagnosis. As the Minister will know, however, under-treatment of the elderly in the NHS remains a pressing problem, which was highlighted in a recent report on cancer inequalities by the all-party parliamentary group on cancer. Can he assure us that the over-75s will not be excluded from the one-year or the five-year cancer survival measures once they are constructed?
Mr Burstow
The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. It is essential for us to ensure that the NHS delivers treatments that are both based on evidence and age-appropriate, which means ensuring that older people receive treatments that will enable them to survive cancers. His representations will need to be taken fully into account as we consider the results of the consultation on the outcomes framework.
Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)
Has the Minister seen today’s report from Cancer Research UK? It suggests that many primary care trusts and hospitals focus on drug therapy, and that radiotherapy—particularly targeted and image-guided radiotherapy—is often not given enough priority. Can the Minister assure us that, when considering cancer drugs expenditure, he will give equal priority to radiotherapy treatment?
Mr Burstow
The hon. Gentleman’s question is also relevant to surgery, but Cancer Research UK was right to produce this snapshot of the lamentable record of the last Government on access to radiotherapy. Spending on the NHS has now reached European levels, but we have not seen an equivalent achievement in terms of outcomes. That is why the present Government have been consulting on outcomes, and why we have asked Mike Richards, clinical director for cancer services, to examine these very issues in his review of the cancer reform strategy.
Gordon Birtwistle (Burnley) (LD)
14. What steps his Department takes to ensure that local NHS trusts observe its guidelines on reconfigurations involving transfer of facilities from one hospital to another.
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley)
Commissioners should ensure that current and future reconfigurations demonstrate evidence of compliance with the four criteria that I announced in May. That should be a rigorous process, involving GPs and other local clinicians, local authorities, patients and the public, as set out in guidance. For current schemes, the local assessment should be concluded by 31 October this year.
Gordon Birtwistle
Is my right hon. Friend aware that East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is breaching his guidelines by transferring a children’s ward from Burnley to Blackburn without the approval of local GPs and the local council or the support of the local population? Will he please intervene?
Mr Lansley
My hon. Friend and I have had a conversation in Burnley about emergency and children’s services at Burnley hospital. I was not aware of the position that he has just described, but I will ensure that any reconfigurations that have taken place in the past and are still being reviewed, or that are currently being proposed or acted on, comply with the criteria that I set out in May, and I will write to him.
Anna Soubry (Broxtowe) (Con)
15. What mechanisms are in place to assess the effectiveness of assertive outreach teams in providing support for people with severe mental illness; and if he will make a statement.
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Paul Burstow)
The Department of Health has issued guidance on the key components of an effective assertive outreach team. It is for each local trust to put in place robust quality assurance arrangements to ensure that it delivers the high-quality and effective service that the public expect. That is further underpinned by the work of the Care Quality Commission.
Anna Soubry
I am grateful to the Minister for his response. One of my constituents, William Barnard, who was profoundly mentally ill, went on to kill his grandfather as a result of the poor system that was operating in relation to his care. What progress has been made in ensuring that other teams do not suffer from the same failings in their systems?
Mr Burstow
The hon. Lady and I debated this issue in the Chamber back in July. One of the most concerning aspects of the case of William Barnard was a singular failure to listen to the concerns expressed by family members and carers on the part of those who could have taken the necessary action to improve matters. I continue to take a close interest in the investigations being undertaken by the local NHS. We want to ensure that when lessons can be learned nationally, they are reflected in the Government’s forthcoming mental health policies.
Miss Anne Begg (Aberdeen South) (Lab)
Have the Minister or others in his Department had any discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions, because in the coming months a large number of people with mental health problems will be called in for interview to be reassessed from incapacity benefit on to employment and support allowance? This is already causing a great deal of anxiety among my constituents because Aberdeen is one of the trial areas. I wonder whether any of the mental health professionals have been informed and are ready for the influx that might result from that change in policy.
Mr Burstow
There are several parts to that question. First, we have already made commitments to invest in talking therapies, which are improving hugely the quality of lives of many people with mental health conditions. Secondly, I and departmental officials have had meetings with colleagues in the DWP, and I will have further meetings shortly, particularly to discuss the DWP input into a cross-Government mental health strategy.
Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire) (Con)
16. What recent representations he has received on requirements for doctors to record the primary cause of death on a death certificate.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Anne Milton)
I am not aware of any such representations. Doctors are required under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 to complete the medical certificate of cause of death “to the best” of their “knowledge and belief”. They receive information on this as part of their medical training. The Office for National Statistics produces reference material from time to time, including a video and training pack to assist doctors in completing the medical certificate on cause of death.
Andrea Leadsom
I thank the Minister for that answer. We have in my constituency of South Northamptonshire the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Association headquarters. That is a neuro-degenerative disease with some similarities to motor neurone disease, although the big difference is that I doubt that many Members will have heard of it before now. Many people suffer from it, however, yet it is often not recorded on the death certificate. It is always fatal, giving a life expectancy of about two years. Might the Minister be prepared to review the situation and give some consideration to requiring doctors to put the primary cause of death on the death certificate so that we can properly assess the magnitude of this awful degenerative disease?
Anne Milton
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. As a result of inquiries from the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Association and others, the ONS is carrying out a special exercise to attempt to identify the true number of deaths involving PSP. However, it is extremely difficult to diagnose. I should just point out that medical examiners, when appointed, will be confirming the cause of death in all cases not investigated by the coroner. I think that that will make a difference to the information recorded on death certificates.
Caroline Flint (Don Valley) (Lab)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley)
My responsibility is to lead the national health service in delivering improved heath outcomes in England, to lead a public health service that improves the health of the nation and reduces health inequalities, and to lead the reform of adult social care that supports and protects vulnerable people.
Caroline Flint
In recent years more research and evidence has demonstrated that the trans fats present in our food are a major heath hazard. That is how the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has described them, and the World Health Organisation has described them as toxic, but many people do not even know they are in our foods because they are not listed on the front of our food packaging. Is the Secretary of State prepared to consider banning trans fats in our food, as is happening in other countries around the world, or at the very least consider making sure they are labelled on the products we buy so that we can make an informed choice?
Mr Lansley
The right hon. Lady will know that we have made progress in this country in reducing the amount of trans fats in foods. My personal view is that we should seek to eliminate them, rather than have them in foods and have them labelled. It is important that we have front-of-pack food labelling that identifies the extent to which there are saturated fats, and I am looking forward to making greater progress in getting a more consistent front-of-pack food labelling than we have achieved in the past.
Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)
T2. GPs and GP practice managers in my constituency are keen to get on with GP commissioning because they see that that can lead to better outcomes for local people but, unsurprisingly, they have a number of detailed questions as to how GP commissioning will work. Who will best answer those questions, and when will that happen?
Mr Lansley
My ministerial colleagues, and many other leadership colleagues across the NHS, are engaged in meeting staff and potential commissioners, and existing commissioners and patients and public across the country. I had a meeting of that kind in Hampshire just last week, which illustrated precisely the point my hon. Friend makes: people came from general practices across Hampshire, and they fully endorse the principle of this change and they just want to get on with it. They did not want to wait for the full transition, and they now wanted to go through some of the detailed questions. We issued a consultation document following the White Paper, which was focused on general practice commissioning. I urge my hon. Friend’s constituents and others to respond to that before 11 October, which will enable us then to proceed to set out the full details of how general practice-led commissioning will work.
Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)
The Secretary of State had a difficult summer, with his plans to scrap free milk for the under-fives being attacked across the spectrum and eventually vetoed by the Prime Minister, but he met the new chair of Unilever, Amanda Sourry, on 21 July. On the following day, Ms Sourry wrote him a letter, some of which is blanked out. She wrote that
“with a clear signal from you, I would be happy to engage with retailers and manufacturers to find resolution on front-of-pack labelling”.
The Department has tried to black out that sentence, perhaps because it shows an unhealthy closeness between the Secretary of State and Unilever. Does the Secretary of State have an opinion on how food should be labelled, and, if so, will he tell the House what it is? Will he tell the House what other areas of food policy he plans to subcontract out to multinational food giants?
Mr Lansley
I hardly know where to begin due to the absurdity of some of the assertions in that question. How does the hon. Lady imagine that we are going to make progress on front-of-pack food labelling, on which her Government never made sufficient progress—there is no consistency on front-of-pack food labelling? This Government and this Parliament have no unilateral power to mandate what front-of-pack food labelling should look like and we have to achieve consensus in Europe and consensus in this country. We must do that with the manufacturers, the retailers, the charities and the health experts. That is precisely why our public health commission, when we were in opposition, brought together all those people around a table for the first time. I intend to create a realistic and effective partnership to deliver improving public health in this country, where her Government failed.
Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)
T5. Kettering general is a wonderful hospital but recently its paperwork has got out of control. Some 30 occasional chaplaincy visitors from the local Catholic Church, many of whom are retired, have recently had to complete Criminal Records Bureau checks, employer references and an intrusive personal health questionnaire. Does the Minister agree that if we are to create the big society that the Prime Minister would like us to create, such bureaucracy must be minimised?
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Simon Burns)
I have considerable sympathy with the problems that my hon. Friend’s constituents had. Although they are necessary, I would like to think that vital checks could happen through a process that is easy to manage for those who have to go through them. My view is that hospitals must ensure that checks on volunteers are proportionate and do not discourage good and well-meaning people from becoming involved in local care. I hope that my hon. Friend is reassured by the fact that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced on 15 June that the CRB regime would be scaled back to common-sense levels. The Government will announce the terms of reference of the review shortly.
Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)
T3. Some 1,800 patients in the Belgrave area of my constituency have been left without their local surgery because it has closed. Will the Minister assure me that despite the scrapping of the primary care trust, the new Belgrave health centre will be built? If he cannot tell me now, it would be very helpful if he could write to me.
Mr Lansley
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, but in the absence of notice of that question, I fear that I shall have to tell him that I shall certainly look into that and write to him.
Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
T6. The Minister of State wrote to me on 25 August to say that all future service changes must be led by clinicians and patients. How can it be that, although all the clinicians and patients oppose the downgrading and possible closure of the Ryedale ward of Malton hospital, that can proceed? Will he please use his good offices to block any such change?
Mr Burns
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend and would like to tell her that I have been informed by NHS Yorkshire and the Humber that NHS North Yorkshire and York has proposed incrementally to alter the balance between resources in the community and the in-patient areas by slowly reducing the number of beds open for admission and slowly transferring staff into the community. We understand that that forms part of the PCT’s ongoing strategic plan for Malton. However, given my hon. Friend’s concerns, I would be more than happy to meet her to discuss the issue further.
Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) (Lab)
T4. When the Government say that the NHS budget will be ring-fenced, people might assume that whatever cash a hospital gets in this financial year will be matched next financial year. So could the Health Secretary explain why the King’s Mill hospital in my constituency has been told to expect its budget to treat patients next year to fall by 8.2% or £14.9 million?
Mr Lansley
The answer to the hon. Lady’s question is probably because that is what the Labour Government’s spending intentions implied. All over the country primary care trusts are telling their hospitals that they can expect a zero increase in tariff and a reduction in activity, and hence a reduction in budget. I am making it clear that we are intending an historic commitment by this coalition Government to increase the resources for the NHS in real terms. That does not mean an increase in real terms for every part of the NHS all the time. It does mean, however, that resources will be realised through efficiency savings and that increase to enable us to improve the service we provide through the NHS and to meet rising demand.
Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)
T8. Is any flexibility available to allow the interim cancer drug fund to review earlier and more speedily adverse National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence decisions—because in certain cases, as we know with Avastin for late-stage bowel cancer, a few months, or even a few weeks, can make a big difference to patients.
Mr Lansley
My hon. Friend will be aware that we have proceeded as rapidly as we possibly can in finding savings this year, so that from 1 October the regional panels of expert clinicians can look at individual cases. It is not a matter of their reviewing NICE decisions; it is a matter of their looking at individual cases that cannot be funded under existing guidance or local decisions, but being able to apply clinical criteria to individual cases using an additional fund.
Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)
T7. Wolverhampton is the 28th most deprived local authority area in the country, resulting in major health inequalities. Can the Secretary of State reassure me that in future funding allocations, levels of deprivation will be taken into account?
Mr Lansley
Yes and more than that. I could make it clear that in the future, we will be moving—not for next year necessarily, but in years beyond, as we will make clear in the public health White Paper—to an explicit allocation of public health resources taking account of relative health outcomes and health inequalities, and those funds will be used to deliver improving public health. At the moment the formula to the NHS may take account of relative deprivation as measured by, for example, access to income support, but the money does not get spent on reducing those health inequalities and on an effective public health strategy. That is why we shall be very clear about separate, ring-fenced, public health resources used, together with local authorities, to deliver an effective public health strategy locally.
Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)
Leighton Buzzard is one of the larger towns in the country not to have a community hospital. What reassurance can my hon. Friend give me that the wishes of local GPs will be respected in deciding what services the proposed community hospital will have?
Mr Burns
I think I am in the fortunate position of being able to give my hon. Friend considerable reassurance. NHS Bedfordshire has the full support of local GPs, and they continue to develop a business case for the primary health care facility in Leighton Buzzard. They will go to full public consultation on the proposals. The centre is planned to open in 2012 and would be funded by NHS Bedfordshire.
John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab)
Some 36,000 of my constituents, who voted by ballot, and every single GP in both local authorities, all believe that Bassetlaw accident and emergency department should remain a full 24-hour service. Can the Secretary of State conceive of any reason why that might not be the case during this Parliament?
Mr Lansley
The hon. Gentleman will be reassured to recognise that one of the commitments of the coalition Government in our programme was to stop the forced closure of accident and emergency departments. I am sure he will take comfort from the commitment of this Government, and from our commitment to increasing resources for the NHS in real terms each year, to enable the services that his constituents and others’ require to continue to be provided and improved.
Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) (LD)
Information in a parliamentary answer given on 19 July showed that the cost to the NHS of emergency admissions in cases of anaphylaxis has risen by 45% in four years. Will the Minister look at how allergy support services could be enhanced in primary care to reverse the rising trend in emergency cases and in doing so save money and, crucially, lives?
Mr Lansley
Yes I will gladly do that. I have had the privilege and pleasure of visiting the specialist allergy service at my local hospital, Addenbrooke’s, one of a small number across the country. I think it was the House of Lords Select Committee that produced an excellent report on allergy services, and I hope that this is one of those areas where clinical relationships between GPs and hospital specialists will enable both community and specialist services to be improved to meet this need.
Mr Kevin Barron (Rother Valley) (Lab)
Given that 50% of health inequalities are created by tobacco use, will the Secretary of State give us an assurance that the targeted smoking cessation programmes in the national health service will survive?
Mr Lansley
We are going to improve the effectiveness of our public health services. As the right hon. Gentleman will know from past debates, I entirely recognise the extreme importance of reducing tobacco use. After the introduction of legislation on smoking in public places, there was a reduction in prevalence, but at the moment there is no continuing further reduction, especially among manual workers and young people; we need to achieve that reduction, and we will continue to look at measures to do that. We will say more about the issue in our public health White Paper.
Mr Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)
Many of my constituents, and indeed many practitioners, have grave concerns about the pending closure of Winchester ambulance station. Will the Minister assure the House that no changes to static ambulance bases will take place until local consortiums, when they are formed, are happy that a suitable alternative is in place?
Mr Burns
I am extremely pleased to be able to give my hon. Friend some reassurance. South Central strategic health authority has informed me that the service to the people of Winchester will not be affected, as there will be static provision for Winchester; ambulances will be deployed via a control centre in Otterbourne, 2 miles from Winchester. Those changes are set to take place in December, and the existing station will not be closed until there is new provision.
Mr David Lammy (Tottenham) (Lab)
A decision has been taken in the past few days, without any consultation at all, to transfer the out-of-hours service for 950,000 north Londoners from the GP-run co-operative to a private provider. Will the Secretary of State intervene to ensure that local people and GPs make that determination?
Mr Lansley
I am aware of the matter. The right hon. Gentleman will be perfectly well aware of my view: we want to involve general practitioners much more in commissioning out-of-hours services. I will undertake to look at what is proposed by the primary care trusts in north London and see whether it is consistent with the development that we are looking for in the White Paper.
Mrs Helen Grant (Maidstone and The Weald) (Con)
If local GPs fail to support reconfiguration plans en masse—if, say, 97% fail to do so—what would be the Secretary of State’s response?
Mr Lansley
As I said in response to a previous question, one of the four criteria that I set out on 21 May was that reconfigurations must have the support of local general practitioners as the future commissioners of services. To that extent, a reconfiguration that did not have the support of local general practices would not be able to meet that test.
Ian Paisley (North Antrim) (DUP)
What discussions, if any, has the Secretary of State had with the Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland about making Avastin and other specialist cancer drugs available on the same terms and conditions under which they are available to people who suffer from cancer here on the mainland? Will those drugs be made available in Northern Ireland under the same terms and conditions?
Mr Lansley
I have had very helpful and productive conversations with the Health Minister in Northern Ireland, but I have to say that they did not include that particular subject. Of course, decisions on the availability of medicines in Northern Ireland are a devolved matter, but I should be perfectly happy to take account of those issues when we next talk.
Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes) (Con)
One year on from the implementation of the European working time directive, there is evidence that patient care is suffering. Handovers have been inadequate in some cases, and junior doctors’ training time has been reduced. Will my right hon. Friend reassure me that he will take action to allow some acute specialities to opt out of the European working time directive?
Mr Lansley
Yes. I am very clear that, together with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, we need to take the European working time directive back to the European Union. We need to discuss it again. We need to go to the European Union with the intention of maintaining the opt-out and of giving ourselves, not least in the health context, the flexibility that we lack, so that junior doctors, in particular, have the capacity to undertake the training that they need. It is not that we want to go back to the past, when there were excessive hours—100-hour weeks and so on—but we want junior doctors to be confident that they will get the training that they require in the period allocated for training.