LED Lighting: Health Effects
Debate between Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town and Baroness Merron(4 days, 4 hours ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
If there are particular things the noble Lord thinks the Government are not doing, I would be very pleased to receive details. I am glad that he did not refer specifically to LED lighting. As I have said, there is no evidence that it is directly harmful in normal use in the general population. However, through the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment, we are developing an evidence-based review programme on artificial light and health, just as he asks, and gathering evidence and identifying gaps. We are also supporting research and working internationally. I would be very pleased to give further details if the noble Lord would like.
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)
I will revert to the question of headlights that people know I have been campaigning on. With LED lights, there are questions both about the luminance—that is, the strength —and about it being a blue light rather than the softer yellow of halogen lights. Would my noble friend agree to put the expertise at the Department of Health together with that at the Department for Transport, which is doing good research on this, so we can make sure these two lots of expertise tie up together?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
The policy for lighting is shared across a number of departments—not just the Department for Health and Social Care but the Department for Transport, as my noble friend says, as well as the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, and a number of arm’s-length bodies. We do all indeed co-ordinate and, as I mentioned earlier, work internationally, particularly with the UN Economic Commission for Europe, because we need to ensure that we update international vehicle lighting to meet the point that my noble friend is concerned about.
Fracture Liaison Services
Debate between Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town and Baroness Merron(2 weeks, 5 days ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
We are extending services. The noble Baroness’s observation on the implication of not dealing with this issue is quite right, which is why I talked about the whole pathway of fracture prevention. For example, on prevention, we have invested £2.6 million in 20 new, state-of-the-art DEXA scanners across the country. That builds on the first wave of investment, with £1.9 million invested in 13 of them last year, which massively increases capacity. I share noble Lords’ wish to see us do as much as we can, which is why we are taking a whole approach to this matter in terms of prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)
My Lords, my noble friend the Minister knows that we simply will not reach the target without a push from government: leaving it to local services simply will not do it. When my noble friend has finished with Second Reading of the Health Bill today, I will table an amendment to make sure that there is a plan to reach the implementation day. I hope she will then engage with us, at the point of the amendment, so that we really can make progress on this issue.
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I am grateful to my noble friend for allowing me to complete Second Reading today—I look forward to doing so—but I do not share her feeling that we will not be providing services. As I have said, the commitment is there. I should say that the department is working with NHS England to ensure that secondary fracture prevention remains a priority. We are doing this in several ways, including by ensuring that guidance is regularly reviewed and that we can improve data. I will be very pleased to share further details in due course.
Fracture Liaison Services
Debate between Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town and Baroness Merron(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
I am sure noble Lords would welcome that, and I have heard that call in here, but the noble Lord will know that that is not something we do with every single policy; rather, we take the steps to actually make them happen. The commitment and progress are there, and that will continue.
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)
My Lords, unfortunately, at the moment, progress has almost flatlined—I think it will take 38 years to get to the 2030 target. My noble friend said to me on 9 June that the Government have not set milestones. If there are not such milestones as those just referred to, how is the department monitoring this, and will it speed up to reach its own target?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
As I have said, delivery will be through ICBs. Of the new clusters, we know that only two do not have fracture liaison services. As my noble friend is very aware, ICBs are held to account through NHS England. Of course, when we make a change through the NHS Bill, that will come within the department. There are many ways we drive progress, including cutting waiting times, opening new community diagnostic centres, investing in DEXA scanners and upping the game on osteoporosis screening, as well as on medication and research. In all these ways, we are contributing to the development of the service that I know my noble friend seeks.
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Debate between Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town and Baroness Merron(4 months, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
The noble Baroness is quite right. This is one of the many reasons that I am enthusiastic, as we move towards the single patient record. We will absolutely ensure that carers and parents—however families are formed, because of course they are formed in different ways—are part of our consideration. The noble Baroness is absolutely right about that.
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)
As my noble friend said, this is important before people become pregnant. Many people who become pregnant are of course young women, but so much of the advertising by the alcohol industry is aimed at exactly those youngsters. Although I take the point from the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, about not involving the industry in the solutions, I do think that the Government should talk about advertising that is not aimed at young women, because they are exactly the ones who might become pregnant.
Baroness Merron (Lab)
On the matter of advertising, particularly when we think about other areas as well, we work on the basis that we are not banning alcohol use: I absolutely know that my noble friend is not asking for that. I am sure that would not be popular in your Lordships’ House, so it is probably good that I put it on record. However, what matters is that we are all equipped to make the right health decisions and are actively supported, not just through information. Industry has a role to play in promoting responsible drinking, which is important in pregnancy and in general terms as well. It is one of the health risks that we need to tackle. As we move to create the healthiest generation ever, our work on alcohol as well as tobacco and obesity is absolutely key.
NHS: Single-sex Provision for Staff and Patients
Debate between Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town and Baroness Merron(1 year, 9 months ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
I know that everybody in your Lordships’ House will take the view that the NHS is there both as an employer—as all employers are; this is not specific to the NHS—and in its service to patients. It is there to treat all with the right dignity and respect. We have a legislative framework to which reference can always be made. We will see what further guidance is needed—and that may be to all employers, not just the NHS. Again, I cannot emphasise enough the need for careful consideration and the involvement of all staff, on what has to be a trust-wide basis, because everybody is different in terms of their estate and what their challenges may be. It is not as simple as numbers: it is about fairness and dignity for all.
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)
NHS England wrote to me to confirm that any patient can choose the sex of a chaperone. Will the new guidance define what is meant by “sex” in that case?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
There is, of course, already a definition in legislation of what that means. I know my noble friend will understand that I cannot predict what the guidance will be, but I will certainly pick up the point she has made.
Palliative and End-of-life Care: Funding
Debate between Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town and Baroness Merron(2 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
As the noble Lord will be aware, statutory guidance and service specifications are provided to support commissioners in ICBs to meet their duty. As I am sure the noble Lord is also aware, NHS England has developed a palliative and end-of-life care dashboard that brings all the relevant local data together and helps commissioners to understand the situation so that they can provide for their local populations. This is part of ongoing work for this new Government to see how we meet requirements to provide dignity, compassion and service at the end of life and just prior to the end of life.
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)
My Lords, although I pay enormous tribute to the hospice movement, there will be some people for whom end-of-life care means assisted dying. We will have the Second Reading of the Bill in November. I hope that my noble friend will be able to give strong government time, if not government support, to enable that Bill to make good progress.
Baroness Merron (Lab)
The Prime Minister has already reiterated his commitment to allow time for a Private Member’s Bill and a free vote. I recognise that this is an extremely sensitive issue with deeply held views on the various sides of the debate. Our commitment is to ensure that any debate on assisted dying in Parliament will take place in a broader context of access to high-quality palliative and end-of-life care and that we will have robust safeguards to protect vulnerable groups, if the will of Parliament is that the law should change.