Domestic Abuse: General Practitioner Charges

Debate between Baroness Greengross and Lord O'Shaughnessy

Thursday 15th November 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

I can reassure the noble Baroness that we will celebrate that day. I think this Prime Minister has done more than any to clamp down on domestic violence and to support victims. That was shown in the £100 million that was set aside to support victims of domestic violence in a number of innovative ways. I can further reassure her that, as I understand it, the number of beds in refuges has increased over the past few years.

[Baroness Greengross (CB)]

My Lords, it was good to hear the recent government announcement that they would ask the Law Commission to consider whether offences against older victims should be recognised as hate crimes, and of course the charges in this respect are important. The Times has recently shown that crimes against the over-65s increased between 2013 and 2017 by 31%; and violent and sexual crimes against them increased by a similar amount. I agree with Action on Elder Abuse that the figures are symptomatic of a failure to recognise the signs of this kind of abuse. What action are the Government taking as the Law Commission considers hate crime as a potential offence? Can the Minister give an idea of the timescale in which he expects it to come to a conclusion on this matter?

[Lord O’Shaughnessy]

I join the noble Baroness in condemning this type of crime, and it is disturbing that violence against older victims has risen. That is precisely the reason the Government have asked the Law Commission to look at the issue and bring forward suggestions on how to give the authorities greater powers to clamp down on those who perpetrate such crimes.

Health: Electronic Patient Records

Debate between Baroness Greengross and Lord O'Shaughnessy

Thursday 27th April 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

The noble Lord is quite right that the UK Government speak only for the English health system. There is a difference between having a single ICT system—we have been down that road and billions have been wasted—and having systems that can speak to one another and a common code of usage around data security, robustness, sharing patient opt-outs and so on to make sure that there is the ongoing access to information that the noble Lord is talking about, particularly for people who live in border areas who move between the different health systems.

[Baroness Greengross (CB)]

My Lords, while of course patient confidentiality must always be respected, in the recent Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View there was a very concerning item on urgent treatment centres. I find it worrying that personalised care plans for patients in mental health crisis or at the end of life would be available in only 40% of emergency care settings, assuming that the target of the report is met. Are the Government prepared to look at these figures and consider them carefully?

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

The picture that the noble Baroness paints starts from a position of not a great amount of sharing, particularly outside primary healthcare. That is what the Government have been trying to address. The primary route for doing that has been through the global digital exemplars which are enabling data sharing with all the appropriate safeguards in acute trusts and mental health trusts. The intention has been to continue to increase that over time.

Social Care in England: Older People

Debate between Baroness Greengross and Lord O'Shaughnessy

Monday 20th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

The noble Baroness is quite right to point out that Dilnot was an important move. It is also fair to say that several Governments, including 13 years of a Labour Government, failed to make any significant progress on this issue. We now have a Green Paper coming forward that is, of course, looking at a sustainable and fair care system, and that must also include looking at funding.

[Baroness Greengross (CB)]

My Lords, in spite of what the Minister said, we know that many home care companies say that their biggest problem is the recruitment and retention of carers. The Centre for Workforce Intelligence estimates that at least 2 million more will be needed by 2025, both in home care and in care homes, to cope with the growing demand. Can the Minister tell us how that demand is going to be met?

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

There are two distinct issues here: carers and care workers. To attract more care workers into the system we have introduced the national living wage, which will make a difference in pay for about 900,000 people. The noble Baroness is quite right about carers. There are millions of carers in the country, and we will be bringing forward a carers strategy this year, which will address some of the issues she talks about.

Residential Care

Debate between Baroness Greengross and Lord O'Shaughnessy

Monday 6th February 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

The number of workers in the social care sector has increased by about 165,000 over the last five years: there is an increased demand because we have a growing population. I think that we are going to have another opportunity to talk about the impact on nursing degrees tomorrow, so I do not want to spoil the party. As for the impact of the European Union, of course, a significant section of the workforce comes from the European Union but we are increasing the number of nursing training places and there is also now a nursing apprenticeship scheme which is providing 1,000 places for people who want to enter the profession by that route.

[Baroness Greengross (CB)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that people in acute hospitals would not need to be there if there was somewhere they could go very soon after being admitted to hospital, such as rehabilitation centres? Many countries have small, nurse-led rehab centres; many of our smaller hospitals which are being closed down could be used in this way. People could go there as soon as they can out of the acute hospital sector. If we did that, we could solve some of the problems and we would have the right sort of care for a lot of frail people who are at the moment accused of blocking hospitals—they do, but it is not their fault.

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

The noble Baroness raises an incredibly important point. Patients end up in hospitals for a variety of reasons and it is not always the best setting for them. The kind of care she describes is important; it might be rehab centres or cottage hospitals. Indeed, what we are seeing through the sustainability and transformation plans are ideas for intermediate care and step-down care that provide exactly the sorts of things she is talking about.