Oral Answers to Questions

Colleen Fletcher Excerpts

Tuesday 9th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I know that West Hampshire CCG is providing extra space and capacity to take on more trainees, and across the country we plan to have 5,000 more doctors working in general practice by the end of this Parliament. This will be the biggest increase in GPs in the history of the NHS. It builds on the extra 1,700 GPs we have working in the NHS since 2010. It does take too long to get to see a GP. We are committed to sorting that out, and the record investment in the NHS five year forward view will make that possible.

[Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East) (Lab)]

Wyken medical centre in my constituency is due to close in March. This will leave more than 2,000 of my constituents needing to find a new GP, at a time when it is practically impossible to get a prompt GP appointment, never mind register at a new GP surgery. Can the Secretary of State therefore assure me that he will co-ordinate with NHS England to ensure that it manages the situation appropriately and does all it can to assist each of my constituents affected, particularly the vulnerable and elderly, to get access to a new GP as soon as possible?

[Mr Hunt]

I am happy to do that. The hon. Lady is right to make those points. It is to care for the vulnerable people with long-term conditions that we need to see the biggest support given to GPs, because strengthening their ability to look after people proactively will mean that those people are kept out of hospital and kept healthier, and costs are kept down for the NHS.

NHS Bursary

Colleen Fletcher Excerpts

Monday 11th January 2016 Westminster Hall

[Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East) (Lab)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak. I congratulate the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully) on securing this vital debate on the e-petition relating to the retention of the NHS bursary. I praise those who created the e-petition and the more than 150,000 people who have so far chosen to sign it.

I have no experience of nursing, and I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Lewes (Maria Caulfield) and my hon. Friend the Member for Heywood and Middleton (Liz McInnes) for their experience. I have never had any interest in nursing, but when my husband was very ill last year I, like many others, gained experience of the nursing profession and how nurses go about their important work. I have nothing but admiration for nurses. However, because I do not have direct experience, I thought it pertinent to seek the views and opinions of some of the exceptional nurses who form the backbone of our NHS and who have first-hand experience of the physical, emotional, mental and financial challenge of successfully completing a rigorous healthcare course.

I asked nurses about the funding arrangements for NHS students and the consequences of the Government’s decision to scrap bursaries and charge tuition fees, thereby passing on the full cost of training to the students themselves for the first time. Without exception, these dedicated and essential frontline NHS professionals extolled the immeasurable importance of retaining and improving the existing bursary system and condemned, without equivocation, the Government’s decision to scrap it. They each wholeheartedly espoused the long-established reciprocity of the existing funding arrangements, which—albeit weighted in favour of the NHS and its patients—sees student nurses undertake a gruelling 2,300 hours of unpaid work across the NHS for the benefit of us all. In exchange, they are not charged fees for their training and receive a bursary. The arrangement recognises, whether by luck or design, the nature of the nursing course. It is longer than other university courses, with shorter holidays and a demanding work placement, all of which severely limits the opportunities to take on additional work to pay towards studies, to which many hon. Members have alluded.

The nurses to whom I spoke impressed on me how much of an incentive the current funding model is to those applying for a place on a nursing course and how its withdrawal, to be replaced with the huge levels of debt from a loan and tuition fee system, is likely to deter would-be applicants from entering the course in future. They said that that would be particularly true for mature students, who may have young families, caring responsibilities for elderly parents and a mortgage to pay, or those for whom healthcare is a second degree. Moreover, many of those whom I contacted raised concerns that the Government had already actively and wilfully undermined the incentives of a career in nursing, even before they announced the proposed funding changes.

One in particular, Steven, who is extremely proud of being a nurse and recognises the rewarding nature of the job and the positive impact that it can have on people’s lives, said that he was none the less aware that the incentives for entering the nursing profession had been significantly diminished in recent years and would be lessened still further by the Government’s proposals, which would burden newly qualified nurses with debt of at least £51,600 and an average pay cut of £900 a year due to debt repayments. Steven told me:

“Nursing currently offers very little incentive even if students make it through the three years of training. The well documented staff shortages and increased work load, especially in the winter, coupled with five years of pay freezes, below inflation pay rises, and increased pension contributions does not inspire students to commit to three years of gruelling physical work and financial hardship.”

Given the staffing shortages in the NHS, the Government should seek to improve the terms and conditions of employment for nurses, to reward their invaluable work in extremely difficult circumstances and to incentivise more people to enter the profession, rather than exacerbating the workforce crisis as they have done in recent years and as the proposed funding changes will do in future.

I hope that the Government will listen carefully to extraordinary and dedicated nurses such as Steven and, in doing so, recognise the strength of support among health professionals and the wider public for a reversal of the proposals and for the retention and improvement of the NHS bursary. If the Government are not minded to reverse their proposals, at the very least they should pause them before rushing through such damaging changes and take the opportunity to commit to a proper consultation on the full proposals, not simply have a procedural consultation on their implementation.

At this juncture it seems apt to conclude by again quoting Steven, who told me:

“The bursary allows anyone with a caring and kind nature to achieve their dream of being a nurse; it ensures a constant stream of nurses from all backgrounds which leads to a rich and diverse workforce equipped with the skills to deliver care to our rich and diverse society.”

The scrapping of the bursary will not only jeopardise that workforce diversity, but is likely to have a negative impact on overall nurse recruitment. Ministers would do well to take heed of his stark warning.

Health and Social Care

Colleen Fletcher Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East) (Lab)]

Thank you for calling me, Mr Deputy Speaker, and allowing me the opportunity to make my maiden speech. It is with a great sense of pride and humility that I rise to speak for the first time in this House.

Let me first congratulate all other hon. Members who have made their maiden speeches during today’s debate. As is customary on these occasions, I would like to take the opportunity to pay tribute to my predecessors and to talk a little about the constituency that they represented so well for so long.

I start by paying particular tribute to my friend of many years and my immediate predecessor, Bob Ainsworth, who I know will long retain in equal measure the House’s admiration and the respect and gratitude of his constituents. Bob was an assiduous Member of Parliament who discharged his duties with a blend of integrity, talent, diligence and generosity. I owe Bob a huge debt of gratitude for his help, support and kindness over the past few years, but more importantly for his enduring friendship. He has been a powerful voice for the people of Coventry North East, and I hope to follow in his footsteps and continue his good work.

Bob held positions in several Departments during his time in this place, including the Whips Office, the Home Office and, latterly, the Ministry of Defence, where he was appointed Secretary of State in 2009. I know I speak for many hon. Members when I wish Bob a long and happy retirement. I am sure Bob’s absence from this place will give him the opportunity to refocus his considerable energies on different challenges, the principal of which, knowing Bob as I do, will be the pursuit of a much improved golf handicap.

The first to represent this constituency from 1974 to 1987 was George Park, whom I remember well, as my mother was his election agent. After him, John Hughes held the seat for five years from 1987 until 1992. I remember John for using his considerable tenacity for the benefit of his constituents. Coventry North East was fortunate indeed to have had such worthy and esteemed Members of Parliament. I am proud to follow in their footsteps as the fourth Member of Parliament to represent the constituency, and I am extremely honoured to have the privilege of being the first woman to do so, and in being the first female MP in Coventry since 1979.

Like Bob, I too was born and bred in the constituency that I represent. It is where I raised my family and where I continue to live. I know the place; I know the people; I care deeply about what happens there. That passion for, and connection with, my home town is what led me to represent my area in this House.

Coventry North East is a predominantly urban constituency, but it contains and is bordered by some beautiful natural environments. It has a wide demographic mix and is genuinely multicultural. We are fortunate to have people from many different ethnicities, faiths and cultures living side by side, with a real sense of tolerance and integration running through the community.

The constituency includes University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust and the Ricoh Arena, home to Wasps Rugby, Coventry City football club, an exhibition centre, hotel and casino. A once derelict site, it has been brought back into economic use as an extremely impressive leisure venue, creating much-needed employment in the area. But it is the people who make the constituency so remarkable. Coventry people are compassionate, honest, loyal and straight-talking. I am proud to call myself one of them, and I hope to do them proud as their Member of Parliament.

Coventry North East is not without its problems. Poverty and deprivation are entrenched in some communities. This means that, according to recent data, men in the more deprived areas of my constituency are likely to die 11 years earlier than men in the wealthiest parts of the city, just three miles away, while women are likely to die eight years earlier than their counterparts in the wealthiest areas. These health inequalities are reinforced by high unemployment and deprivation and the poor quality of housing in parts of Coventry North East. While past Government initiatives such as the new deal for communities and a range of investments have helped, the level of intervention needs to be a lot greater if it is to produce real and lasting change. If not, gains in employment and reductions in deprivation will ebb away when tough times return.

It is sometimes too easy to talk about these issues and reduce the problems that real people face to brute facts and statistics, which overlook the real turmoil and heartache that these problems cause. I will not do that. I believe that the real life stories of ordinary people can tell us more about poverty and how to solve it than any report that is drawn up by civil servants miles away from the problems that they analyse.

I take this opportunity to say a few words about my parents. They lived in and loved Coventry. They taught me what the Labour party stands for and what it was there to do. My mother passed away at 64 and my father at 69. They were my total inspiration. They believed in equality of opportunity, in the power of ordinary working people to challenge inequality and injustice, and above all they believed that this country needed a Labour Government—and they were right. What residents need is a Government who will make a significant investment in health, housing and skills. Unfortunately, cuts to welfare and to local government, a lack of sufficient investment in health services and a lack of investment in housing are likely to result in a situation in which little if nothing changes for the vast majority of my constituents.

I thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to make my maiden speech during this debate. I also thank my constituents for sending me from Coventry to represent their interests, and I thank the House for its indulgence in listening to me today.