Business of the House

Baroness Hayman of Ullock Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Dr Coffey]

My hon. Friend is right to bring that up. I am sure that it has been a devastating blow to the local economy in Belper, and I hope that administrators will be able to help keep at least some of the jobs. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills will be here shortly to give another statement; I will make sure that he is aware of her request.

[Sue Hayman (Workington) (Lab)]

Two of my constituents, Mr Matthews and Mrs Southward, have been in touch with me about the care of their family members during recent stays in hospital. Breakdowns in communication between staff seem to have contributed to very poor standards of patient care, leaving the patients and their families very distressed. May we have a debate on how we can ensure that we have the best standards of care in our hospitals?

[Dr Coffey]

The hon. Lady is right to speak on behalf of patients—ultimately we have to be patients’ champions in our constituencies. There are no Health questions for some time, so this would be a subject for the Backbench Business Committee to consider for a topical debate. I put on the record my thanks to the Care Quality Commission, which has been leading the way with inspections. It has been trying to highlight such issues and to make hospital boards come together to ensure that the patient always comes first.