National Health Service: Nursing Staff
Earl Howe Excerpts(9 years, 10 months ago)
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Baroness Kennedy of Cradley
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why there has been a reduction in the number of senior nurses in the National Health Service since 2010.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe) (Con)
My Lords, local NHS organisations are best placed to determine the skill mix of their workforce and must have the freedom to deploy staff in ways appropriate for their locality. Some organisations have reviewed their nursing staff structures to ensure that they are delivering quality of care for patients. This has resulted in a decrease of some senior posts. However, there has been an overall increase in nursing numbers, with over 3,300 more nurses, midwives and health visitors since 2010.
Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Lab)
I thank the Minister for that reply, but since 2010 there has been a decrease of 4,000 senior nursing posts—modern matrons, ward sisters and specialist nurses, which we all recognise, as indeed do the Government, as being universally critical to patient care. Are the Government not worried about the fact that, on the one hand, trusts are saving money by decreasing these senior nursing posts yet, on the other hand, they are spending money by increasing the pay of executive directors by 6%? What are they going to do about reversing this worrying trend, and how are they going to tackle this dangerous loss of experience and skill in our NHS?
Earl Howe
My Lords, the figure that I have is in fact a decrease of just over 3,000 nurses in senior positions at bands 7 and 8, but that is more than made up for by the increase of over 7,500 nurses at bands 5 and 6 on the front line. On the noble Baroness’s second point, the figures that I saw emanating from the Royal College of Nursing should be looked at with some caution; the RCN has included exit packages for executive directors but not for nurses. In fact, the latest independent evidence shows that for the third year running there was no increase in median executive board pay. It is important to compare like with like there, and the figure of 6.1% as a rise for executive directors is not one that we recognise.
Baroness Cumberlege (Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that one of the most encouraging aspects of the nursing profession is the number of senior nurses who have gone on to be chief executives and board members in the NHS, bringing all the skills of nursing to the leadership of hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups?
Earl Howe
I agree with my noble friend. To ensure that nurses have the leadership skills, styles and behaviours that our healthcare system needs, the NHS Leadership Academy has launched the largest and most comprehensive approach to leadership development ever undertaken. More than £46 million has been invested in core programmes that will map to foundation-level, mid-level and executive-level leadership development, with two programmes specifically for nurses and midwives that started in March last year.
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)
My Lords, given the answer that the Minister has just given to his noble friend, surely it is ironic that throughout the NHS the number of senior posts is actually being squeezed. Would he not agree that that runs counter to what Francis said post-Mid Staffordshire about the need for highly effective quality supervisory nurses? Is the reason why this is happening not that the NHS cannot afford to increase its nurse staffing levels with the amount of money that it has been given by the Government? Something has gone, and unfortunately it is these crucial posts that seem to be having to give way.
Earl Howe
My Lords, I do not agree with that because nursing numbers are now at a record high, which cannot indicate that hospitals are being starved of resources for their nurses. I do not see it as ironic that some senior posts have been reduced, bearing in mind the effect of Robert Francis’s report which has caused hospitals to increase the number of nurses on the wards. By and large, nurses at grades 7, 8 and 9 are in managerial positions and not in front-line posts.
Baroness Manzoor (LD)
My Lords, can the Minister say if an impact assessment has been undertaken on losing senior nurses from the NHS and the impact it has on service standards? The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, has already made the connection with the Francis report. Can the Minister also say whether an exit strategy has been undertaken to see why senior nurses are leaving?
Earl Howe
My general answer to my noble friend is that it is not for the Government to decide how many nurses hospitals should employ. We have not done an impact assessment. That is a matter for local hospitals to judge. They are in the best position to do that, based on the needs of their patients and local communities. What the Government should do, and are doing, is to ensure that staffing levels are available for public scrutiny and comparison on a patient safety website. That work is currently in train. It will now be much more evident to patients and the public what their local hospital is doing in terms of safe staffing ratios.
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)
My Lords, before seven-day working comes in, are the Government ensuring that senior nurses are also taking part in the seven-day rota to ensure that their expertise is available both in hospitals and in the community to support other nurses at more junior grades?
Earl Howe
My Lords, the work going on on seven-day working certainly includes the nursing workforce. However, I repeat that it is not for the Government to mandate what each and every hospital should be doing in terms of deploying their senior nursing staff. It is a judgment for the board of that hospital.
Lord Warner (Lab)
My Lords, the Minister is very proud of the increase in the number of nurses on the front line. Can he confirm that all these nurses are actually in hospitals? What is the comparable figure for nurses working in the community? I believe the Government’s policy is supposed to be to have more care in the community.
Earl Howe
The noble Lord is right. The Government recognise the very important contribution that community nurses make in providing high-quality care to people within community settings. I think we have seen a reaction, as I have said, to the Francis report. Lots of hospitals say that they are going to employ more nurses on the wards. We now need to ensure that staffing levels are safe across the NHS and the community, and the Chief Nursing Officer has set up a working group which is looking specifically at what we can do to increase the number of community nurses, which we certainly need to do.
Baroness Masham of Ilton (CB)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that specialist nurses are not being replaced when they retire and that there is great concern about this as they do such valuable work for many specialties?
Earl Howe
I acknowledge the valuable role played by specialist nurses in a number of disciplines but, once again, it is up to employers to exercise their responsibility to manage turnover, retention, recruitment and skill mix to ensure that they have sufficient workforce supply to meet the levels of staffing that the hospital or organisation needs. Here again, patient safety is paramount.
Health: Rheumatoid Arthritis
Earl Howe Excerpts(9 years, 10 months ago)
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Baroness Brinton
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that general practitioners are trained to recognise potential rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, and refer such patients immediately to rheumatologists.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe) (Con)
My Lords, the Government’s mandate to Health Education England includes a commitment that it will ensure that general practitioner training produces GPs with the required competencies to practice in the NHS. The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council. The current GP curriculum requires trainees to successfully complete training on care of people with musculoskeletal problems, which includes rheumatoid arthritis.
Baroness Brinton (LD)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his helpful Answer. However, the reality is that too many GPs do not recognise the symptoms. A new report published today by the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society shows that a shocking 25% of patients have to stop work within the first year of diagnosis, and with the delays their clinical outcomes are poorer and it costs the NHS much more. What will the Government do to raise awareness of symptoms, particularly among GPs?
Earl Howe
My Lords, I pay tribute to the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, which is organising Rheumatoid Arthritis Awareness Week this week, between 16 and 22 June. I am aware that Public Health England has run early diagnosis campaigns, which up to now have focused largely on cancer. However, I understand that a broader focus on earlier diagnosis is currently being considered. What might be done to tackle other conditions or symptoms has yet to be decided, but I will keep the noble Baroness informed of developments.
Lord Turnberg (Lab)
My Lords, one of the problems is that there are still far too many single-handed general practices, which have great difficulty providing a full range of services. Are the Government doing anything to try to bring them into bigger groupings?
Earl Howe
My Lords, we are encouraging single-handed practices not to disband but to federate themselves—if that is a good word—with other practices in the area, and certainly to seek the support of their clinical commissioning group. That would ensure that the range of professional training available is utilised and that there is peer support where appropriate. Therefore, while many single-handed practices do a very fine job, there is scope for them to collaborate with their colleagues in the local area.
Baroness Howarth of Breckland (CB)
My Lords, I am sure that the noble Earl will tell me that it is the responsibility of either NHS England or the local health commissions, but is he not alarmed by the number of GP practices being suggested for closure at the moment, and by the long waiting times that patients have to endure in many areas? In some country areas you cannot see your GP for four weeks. Should the Government not have at least some concerns on that?
Earl Howe
My Lords, we are concerned by reports of patients having difficulty accessing their GPs. That is why a whole range of work is currently going on in NHS England to look at the issue, to see how general practices can be helped and to enable them to see more patients. However, more generally, we in the Government have amended the GP contract to free up GPs’ working time. We have abolished well over a third of the QOF indicators precisely to do that. The Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund—£50 million-worth of funding—enables GPs to open up different ways of working; for example, consulting patients on Skype and working hours other than nine to five.
Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Con)
My Lords, although it is very important for GPs and even patients to be aware of early symptoms, does the Minister acknowledge that the real answer as to how to deal with this condition will be in research? Can he tell us whether the Government are supporting such research?
Earl Howe
I am grateful to my noble friend. Expenditure on musculoskeletal disease research by the National Institute for Health Research has increased from £15.5 million in 2009-10 to £23.1 million in 2012-13. The NIHR is investing over £21 million over five years in three biomedical research units in musculoskeletal disease. They are all carrying out vital research on rheumatoid arthritis. The NIHR is currently investing £2 million in a programme of research on treatment intensities and targets in rheumatoid arthritis therapy.
Baroness Wheeler (Lab)
My Lords, can the Minister tell the House what impact the very worrying reported shortage in take-up of family doctor training places is likely to have on the ability of GPs to support patients with potential rheumatoid arthritis symptoms? A recent survey by Pulse found that only 7% of the funding for medical schools goes into teaching general practice. Does this not augur badly for the future of primary care?
Earl Howe
My Lords, we of course recognise the very hard work that GPs do. Despite a decrease in headcount, there has in fact been a 1.2% increase in full-time GPs since 2012 and the number of practice nurses and practice staff has also grown. However, we also recognise that the workforce needs to grow to meet rising demand. That is why our mandate to Health Education England requires it to ensure that 50% of trainee doctors enter GP training programmes by 2016. Generally, we will work with NHS England to consider how to improve recruitment, retention and return to practice in primary and community care.
Lord Warner (Lab)
My Lords, is not the current model of general practice in this country bust? Is it not time that the Government started to think about setting out the requirements that all GPs who offer services to NHS patients ought to make available? If that means them working in bigger practices then so be it, because that is in the interest of patients.
Earl Howe
My Lords, the noble Lord is right that there is scope to examine different ways of working in primary care. I would have to think about whether I would go quite as far as he has, but the point of principle he makes is a very sound one. That is why the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund is encouraging GPs to think out of the box in the way they make themselves accessible to patients.
People with Learning Disabilities
Earl Howe Excerpts(9 years, 11 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe) (Con)
My Lords, I begin by expressing my gratitude to the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, for her huge contribution in the fields of learning disability and mental health, her tireless efforts in championing the rights of individuals and families, and for the very real difference the breadth of her work has made to the life chances of so many people.
It is nearly a year since the noble Baroness convened a debate on action to address the health inequalities identified by the government-commissioned Confidential Inquiry into Premature Deaths of People with Learning Disabilities, and I welcome the opportunity to bring those issues to the fore again. Since the government response was published in July last year, we have published our call to action, setting the aspiration to make the UK among the best nation states in Europe at reducing premature and avoidable deaths.
In April, working with partners and stakeholders, we published Living Well for Longer: National Support for Local Action to Reduce Premature Avoidable Mortality, which recognised the need for a targeted approach for people with learning disability. This national partnership, and the focus and momentum it has engendered, creates a vital opportunity to make a difference in our collective fight to reduce avoidable mortality. At the same time, by creating both the evidence base and a system-wide work programme, the confidential inquiry and the Government’s response have provided a powerful tool to turn that opportunity into action.
We have the policy framework in place and have reflected health inequalities across the NHS, public health and adult social care outcomes frameworks. There are specific measures on preventing people with learning disabilities dying prematurely and greater focus on empowering people to have greater choice and control. The mandate to NHS England for 2014-15 allows us to hold the system to account and gives us the basis for measuring progress. Reducing differences in life expectancy and health expectancy are key measures across the system.
NHS England is committed to establishing a learning disability mortality review function by March 2015, as set out in its business plan, Putting Patients First. A project group is overseeing this development, with representation from Mencap, PHE and the Department of Health. I am delighted that the noble Baroness has also been invited to lend her expertise.
The Government’s response to the confidential inquiry included a commitment from NHS England to an assessment of costs and benefits by March 2014. NHS England, together with the inquiry team and other partners, undertook a robust assessment, and resources have been allocated through the priority-setting processes. This is now a commitment in its business plan and strategic objectives, and we all wish to see this work proceeded with rapidly. As regards funding, I am sure that NHS England, in establishing the review function and beyond, will be giving full consideration to funding issues through its business planning and resource allocation processes.
The noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, highlighted the issue of data linkage. Work is under way with NHS England, the Health and Social Care Information Centre and Public Health England to provide standardised mortality data for people with learning disabilities to underpin the NHS outcomes framework and the mortality review function. However, I hope she will appreciate that in taking that work forward, we must also take account of wider cross-system discussions about the collection and sharing of patient data, which will inevitably have implications for this work. Nevertheless we are working closely with partners and will certainly act to secure the prioritisation of this work through all appropriate mechanisms.
The noble Baronesses, Lady Hollins and Lady Andrews, both emphasised the importance of integrated care for those with learning disabilities and getting the whole system engaged. NHS England is looking at ways to establish care co-ordination and risk stratification for people with learning disabilities as normal practice. We will underline the importance of prioritising this with NHS England.
Following the passing of the Children and Families Act, new arrangements will be introduced from September 2014 for joint assessment, planning and commissioning of health, social care and education services for children and young people with special educational needs up to 25 years old. A single education, health and care plan will set out meaningful objectives which will make a difference to the life of the young person, including supporting their transition to adulthood and independent living. The right reverend Prelate stressed the importance of advocacy for people with learning disability. He is right. Several actions arising from the Winterbourne View programme are intended to improve the quality and availability of good advocacy, working with a range of key stakeholders.
As the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, emphasised, as did the right reverend Prelate, we need a system for identifying those with learning disabilities. The GP register of people with a learning disability from this year onwards is an all-age register, so will include children and young people with a learning disability. GPs are incentivised to construct this register as part of the quality and outcomes framework.
I can tell the noble Lords, Lord Wigley and Lord Hunt, that the NHS standard contract for 2014-15 now includes a requirement for providers to undertake an annual audit of reasonable adjustments. There is already a system within all NHS foundation trusts to provide board-approved risk assessments to Monitor about six specific areas of good-quality care for people with learning disabilities. On the back of this already-established standard, Professor Sir Mike Richards has agreed that four additional questions will be trialled in the inspection of acute hospitals, concerning numbers of people with learning disabilities in hospital, reasonable adjustments, specialist learning disability nurses and care audits. In addition, Professor Steve Field is exploring the data that can be used for intelligent monitoring purposes, in preparation for inspection of primary care providers and how they meet the needs of people with learning disabilities in a primary care setting.
The CQC will, from the autumn, be inspecting services around its preparedness and plans for children and young people with learning disabilities transitioning into adult services. To answer a point raised by the noble Baronesses, Lady Andrews and Lady Warwick, that better transition planning also feeds into the new enhanced services for learning disability annual health checks, which are starting from the age of 14 from this year onwards. They include a requirement for health action plans, and I can tell both noble Baronesses that NHS England is looking at the variation in uptake and the quality of health checks, with the aim of improving both.
I return to the issue of patient identification. In the last year, Public Health England has been involved with the Health and Social Care Information Centre in the development of information standards to improve the identification of people with learning disabilities in healthcare records. Public Health England’s Learning Disabilities Observatory maintains a national register of examples of reasonable adjustments made by hospital and other health service providers to help ensure that people with learning disabilities can benefit as much from available care as other people.
On health checks, as my noble friend Lord Ribeiro mentioned, Public Health England has produced leaflets specifically designed with and for people with learning difficulties, which explain the invitation and screening process for cancer and cervical screening programmes. It also has guidance for professionals on access to screening, and on informed consent and best interests decision-making. NHS England is also looking very carefully at that. In recognition of the very poor uptake of flu immunisation by people with learning disability, this year’s annual flu immunisation letter asks GP practices to prioritise vaccine uptake in people with learning disabilities.
Education and training in this field is vital. My noble friend Lord Ribeiro stressed the importance of compassion and good clinical practice. The noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, referred rightly to a need for cultural change, as did the noble Lord, Lord Rix. Health Education England’s mandate includes an objective to improve the skills and capability of the workforce to respond to the needs of people with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges. The Department of Health has commissioned a consortium, led by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, to develop Disability Matters, an e-learning portal for those who work with children, young people and adults with a disability. The Care Quality Commission is raising awareness among its inspectors.
On the issue of the Mental Capacity Act, raised by the noble Lord, Lord Patel of Bradford, the Government’s response to the House of Lords report on the Mental Capacity Act was published this week. It sets out a system-wide programme of action to address low levels of awareness of the Act among professionals. Health Education England is reviewing all education and training programmes to determine compliance with the principles of the Act. It will also look at including MCA compliance in the standard contract with education providers.
The noble Lord, Lord Rix, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Hollins and Lady Andrews, expressed disappointment that the department had not published a one-year-on report. We undertook to keep the Learning Disability Programme Board informed of progress. At a conference organised by the department on 28 March, the confidential inquiry team was able to share information and best practice on national, regional and local work to address the recommendations. That was followed by a meeting with members of the Learning Disability Programme Board in April.
We now need to step up the pace and make a concerted national effort to see more equitable access and outcomes for people with learning disabilities. A report setting out progress to date will be presented to the Learning Disability Programme Board in July, a year on from the Government’s response to the confidential inquiry. That will be published online.
The noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, asked whether we would embed the learning from the confidential inquiry into other policies. Most certainly yes: we have already committed to link the learning recommendations from the inquiry to other policies and programmes—for example, the Winterbourne View programme, the Mental Capacity Act and, indeed, end of life care.
The noble Baroness, Lady Warwick, expressed her concern over what she saw as the Government’s lack of action. I hope I have demonstrated that there has been extensive action, but of course there is more to do. I believe that collaboration nationally and locally on this challenging issue will give us the best chance of delivering equitable health outcomes across our nation. I would say to the noble Lords, Lord Adebowale and Lord Hunt, that the Government, as steward of the health and care system, are taking responsibility for delivering their commitments in response to the confidential inquiry’s recommendations. In doing so, we are ensuring that all key delivery partners across the health and care system play their rightful part as well.
Health: Transition to Adult Health Services
Earl Howe Excerpts(9 years, 11 months ago)
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Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure the continuity of standards of care for teenagers with long-term health conditions who transfer to adult NHS services, as recommended in the Care Quality Commission report From the Pond into the Sea.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe) (Con)
My Lords, our 2013 pledge to improve health outcomes for children and young people included the ambition to co-ordinate care around the individual young person with complex needs to deliver the best experience of transition to adult services. The partners to the pledge—including NHS England and Health Education England—are working to deliver this. Our mandate to NHS England calls for improvements in the way that care supports smooth transitions between children’s and adult services.
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Earl. He will know that this is a worrying report and that it would appear that young people with long-term health conditions often fall through the net when they transfer to adult services. He said that the mandate to NHS England requires it to do something about this, but can we be confident that NHS England actually will take note of what Ministers ask for? I would just refer him to the inability of NHS England to implement the Winterbourne recommendations and its failure to fund mental health services in accordance with parity of esteem. Does the mandate amount to anything at all? Too often Ministers have come to this House and said that something would be done, but nothing has actually happened.
Earl Howe
I think that I can reassure the noble Lord on this point. NHS England is currently developing service specifications across the range of commissioning models: specialised commissioning, CCG secondary and primary care commissioning, adolescent mental health and special educational needs, and learning disability. Those will translate examples of best practice and published outcomes into specifications for commissioning to hold providers to account for the delivery of robust transition services with measurable quality standards attached to them.
Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)
My Lords, there is a particular problem with young people who have not only physical problems but very considerable mental health problems. Is a priority being given to help that group of children?
Earl Howe
The noble and learned Baroness is quite right, and as she well knows, this has been a long-standing issue. Our document, Closing the Gap: Priorities for Essential Change in Mental Health, which we published recently, identifies the transition from child and adolescent mental health services into adult services as a priority for action. We are supporting the work of NHS England to develop the service specification which I have just referred to. CCGs and local authorities will be able to use that specification to build excellent person-centred services that take into account the developmental needs of the young person, as well as the need for age-appropriate services.
Baroness Pitkeathley (Lab)
My Lords, problems arising at the transition stage are often reported by the parents of these young people because they are their carers. Does the Minister agree that standards of care must include support for those much-needed parent carers?
Earl Howe
I fully agree. I think that much of this will succeed only if services work together around the needs of young people as well as their families and carers, and if the families and the young people themselves feel involved in the way in which their care is being organised and planned.
Baroness Howarth of Breckland (CB)
My Lords, in terms of developing the specification, can the noble Earl tell us how stakeholders are to be involved? In particular, will the young people themselves now have a voice? I declare an interest as the president of Little Hearts Matter, which deals with children with single-ventricle problems.
Earl Howe
I think that we can pay considerable tribute to the Children and Young People’s Health Outcomes Forum. It is one of the bodies that have highlighted the need for more effective transitions and for new outcomes indicators to measure them. Its framework for this year includes a proposal that, where possible, all data should be presented in single-year or five-year age bands up to the age of 25 to support better monitoring. Moreover, the forum asked the National Network of Parent Carer Forums to develop a narrative of what good integrated care looks like in transition. The CQC report has drawn quite heavily on that report in its conclusions.
Baroness Barker (LD)
My Lords, the Teenage Cancer Trust had to battle for years to get NHS commissioners to understand that age-specific rather than gender-specific wards are better for young people. It is a good organisation, but it has been a hard job to change the mindset of the NHS. Can he help organisations such as the Teenage Cancer Trust to find ways in which to influence commissioners far more quickly than they have been able to do in the past?
Earl Howe
My noble friend raises another extremely important point which applies not only to cancer, but also particularly to mental health settings. We have had many debates in this Chamber about age-appropriate settings. I will take her point back with me and find out where we are in our dialogue with stakeholder groups.
Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)
My Lords, can the noble Earl tell the House whether the commissioning will specify autism in the service specifications? Further, will the NHS England staff who are responsible for implementing these measures be trained to deal with the issue of autism?
Earl Howe
The noble Baroness raises an important point and I can reassure her that we are addressing the full range of complex needs in children and young people. She may also be interested to know that Health Education England will be working with the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to develop a training course that will allow GPs to develop a specialist interest in the care of young people with long-term conditions. The aim is to introduce the course in September 2015. It will include a particular emphasis on the transition from childhood.
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)
Do the Government recognise the need for a champion, such as we have had with Dr Lidstone in Wales, who has completely transformed the transition for children with life-limiting illness?
National Health Service: Hospital Beds
Earl Howe Excerpts(9 years, 11 months ago)
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Lord Kennedy of Southwark
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s report on the number of hospital beds per person in the United Kingdom in comparison to Europe.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe) (Con)
My Lords, numbers of hospital beds per person do not provide meaningful comparisons of good-quality care. Our NHS is making efficient use of its beds by judging patient demand and managing bed numbers accordingly. In the NHS, as in Europe, the number of beds has reduced because progress in medical technology is enabling more patients to be treated and discharged on the same day, and average length of hospital stay has reduced over the past decade.
Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab)
My Lords, France has twice the number of beds we have here in the UK while Germany, I think, has nearly three times as many. We are now seeing dangerous levels of overcrowding, with greater risk of infection due to beds not being cleaned properly in time. Does the Minister not see that this is very reminiscent of the previous time his party was in office and that the NHS is just not safe in their hands?
Earl Howe
No, in a word. First of all, it is very important to compare like with like. A number of other health systems have completely different models from our own. For example, they still have large, long-stay hospitals for people with mental health problems and older people. The NHS has a strong primary care tradition and is committed to providing care in the community. Some of the statistics that have been collated by the OECD include systems in Europe where nursing home beds are included in the figures or indeed the private sector. We are seeing healthcare infections at their lowest ever levels. There have been dramatic falls in both MRSA and C. diff infections since 2010.
Lord Ribeiro (Con)
Would my noble friend like to ask the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy of Southwark, how funding is undertaken in Germany? German hospitals are funded on the basis of length of stay. In this country, we have demonstrated that we can get patients home much more quickly, particularly after surgery, with the use of day case surgery. Furthermore, Sweden has fewer beds than we do.
Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab)
My Lords, is there any linkage between hospital-acquired infections and the reduction in the number of beds?
Earl Howe
My Lords, no. By comparing the OECD bed-provision data and the 2011 joint prevalence survey, the available European data indicate that bed provision and healthcare-associated infection rates across countries are not correlated. Indeed, as I have said, we have seen a dramatic fall in the number of healthcare-associated infections in hospitals, combined with a rising level of demand for in-patient beds.
Baroness Brinton (LD)
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, mentioned France. In France, most patients who have had a hip replacement spend a month in a convalescent hospital having in-house physiotherapy, whereas of course in the UK most people return home. I wonder whether my noble friend can tell us whether there are data to show how medical technology has improved both hospital care and community care, so that we can confirm the OECD report’s phrasing that the reduction in the number of hospital beds,
“has been driven … by progress in medical technology”.
Lord Turnberg (Lab)
My Lords, is the noble Earl aware that we have one of the highest rates of bed occupancy in the EU, approaching 90%, and yet we have the lowest average length of stay? All this makes it extremely difficult to think about reducing bed numbers still further.
Earl Howe
In fact, average annual bed occupancy rates have been stable at around 84% to 87% since 2000. Of course, that rate goes up and down. We know that winter sees greater pressure on bed occupancy, but the NHS has long experience in managing peaks in demand, particularly over the winter. We do not set optimum bed occupancy requirements on the NHS. As the noble Lord knows well, that is a matter for the local NHS to manage.
Lord Mawhinney (Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend recall that the previous Government did not run their NHS policy on the basis of the number of beds in the NHS, and rightly so? Will he continue robustly to reject the arguments of those who, using beds as a criterion, are so out of date with modern medicine delivery?
Earl Howe
My noble friend has encapsulated the point very well. One cannot correlate bed numbers as a stark statistic with the quality of care that a health system delivers. Our system is dependent not just on acute settings but on care in the community, and that is where the focus should rightly lie at the moment.
Lord Rooker (Lab)
Then can we look at outcomes rather than beds as far as the OECD figures are concerned? For the United Kingdom, I will take just three factors: infant mortality, cancer survival rates and obesity. We are beyond the 20 best performers in terms of outcomes—20 OECD countries do better than us. Why are we operating so poorly compared with these other countries?
Earl Howe
There are a number of issues there. The noble Lord is right to raise obesity, in particular, where only one solution is available to us, which is a public health policy which embraces all parts of the system and, indeed, individuals. The issues that he raises are too complex for me to encapsulate in a short answer but I will be happy to write to him about what we are doing in all three areas. He is of course absolutely right to raise them as very important issues for the health service.
Healthcare Professions: Regulation
Earl Howe Excerpts(9 years, 11 months ago)
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Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to modernise the regulatory framework for the healthcare professions.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe) (Con)
My Lords, we asked the Law Commission to undertake a major review of professional regulatory legislation, which reported in April this year. The report is complex and needs thorough consideration, which we are currently undertaking. We are committed to legislating on this important issue when parliamentary time allows. In the mean time, we are already using secondary legislation to make urgent changes necessary to make sure that patients can continue to be confident they are receiving safe care.
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)
My Lords, the noble Earl will recognise that the Law Commission work has been extremely valuable. The outcome is potential legislation to modernise all the regulatory bodies in the health service, which has the full support of all the regulatory bodies. The noble Earl cannot be serious in suggesting that a lack of time prevents Parliament considering that Bill. It was widely expected to be taken in this Session, and I am sure that we could come back a week or two earlier to help the noble Earl get this through. Is the real case not that the Government are so worried about their stewardship of the NHS that they dare not bring a Bill on healthcare in this Session?
Earl Howe
No, my Lords. We understand the frustration felt by the regulators that this has not been taken forward yet, but other government priorities have had to take precedence. That is the reality that we must accept. As I have said, we are committed to legislating on this important issue when time allows. With that in mind, we are currently working hard in consultation with key partners, including the professional regulators and patient and professional representatives, on our response to the Law Commission’s work. The complexity of that exercise cannot be overemphasised.
Lord Willis of Knaresborough (LD)
Would my noble friend agree that, after the very challenging Bills that went through the House in the first two Sessions, this Bill would have support right across the Chamber, across both Houses and across all the professions in terms of patient safety? Would my noble friend also agree that this would be a wonderful opportunity for us to tackle the appalling situation whereby 1.3 million healthcare support workers are not regulated and do not have standards, and no one can judge fitness to practise? A draft Bill would at least give us an opportunity to frame that legislation.
Earl Howe
My Lords, as my noble friend will know, we have debated the regulation of healthcare assistants on a number of occasions. The Government’s view is well known. However, I agree with him that the content of the Law Commission’s draft Bill is welcome to many parties—indeed, the Government are keen to see it progress. Much of the proposed legislation is already law in one form or another. The review is about pulling together all the different bits of legislation, introducing consistency across the professional regulators where practicable, making sure legislation is fit for purpose and, importantly, introducing flexibility for the regulators to respond to changing situations.
Lord Patel (CB)
Will the Minister confirm that the Department of Health intends to bring in an urgent amendment via a Section 60 order to allow the GMC to implement the urgent reforms that it needs to protect patients and bring doctors to account?
Earl Howe
Yes, my Lords, we are working with the GMC to develop secondary legislation that will strengthen and protect the separation of the GMC’s investigation and adjudication functions by establishing the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in statute, as well as modernising the adjudication procedures, and to address a number of lacunas in the legislative framework. We are seeking to have the Section 60 order on the GMC’s fitness-to-practise processes in place before the general election.
Baroness Pitkeathley
I declare an interest as chair of the Professional Standards Authority. The authority has already done preparatory work for the Department of Health on which changes to Section 60 orders would be in the interests of public protection and cost-effectiveness. Can the Minister say that the Government will take account of this work and the views of the regulators as they consider their next steps?
Lord Walton of Detchant
Yet again I shall declare an interest as a past president of the GMC from 1982 to 1989. To follow up a point made by my noble friend Lord Patel, I spoke recently to the current chair of the General Medical Council, Sir Peter Rubin. He and his colleagues are very concerned about the introduction of a number of important changes in the interests of improving medical treatment and medical education, and to protect patients, which will require amendment of the Medical Act. What are the prospects of seeing any such amendments introduced in this House and debated before the next election if the Bill introduced by the Law Commission is to be long delayed?
Earl Howe
My Lords, I have already said that we will introduce a Section 60 order amending the powers of the GMC, as it has requested and as we agree should happen. There is a range of changes that we hope to incorporate in that Section 60 order and I hope to have further news on that quite soon.
Lord Winston (Lab)
My Lords, I draw the Minister’s attention to the regulation provided by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which is allowing entirely unvalidated experimental treatments, such as pre-implantation genetic screening, for patients who then have to pay to experiment on themselves. Many clinics are also advertising on the Underground and some have relationships to do work that is not allowed by British regulation in other clinics overseas. Is the noble Earl prepared to respond to that really burning issue and the exploitation of infertile women?
Baroness Masham of Ilton (CB)
My Lords, is the Minister aware that clinical physiologists desperately need full registration? They have had voluntary registration for some years and they say it does not work.
NHS: Clinical Commissioning Groups
Earl Howe Excerpts(9 years, 11 months ago)
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Baroness Wheeler
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will ensure Clinical Commissioning Groups’ strategies and implementation plans support carers and take account of their needs and aspirations.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe) (Con)
My Lords, NHS England assures clinical commissioning groups’ plans to support and challenge them to meet the needs of their populations. This includes considering supporting carers, who are a hugely valuable asset for local communities. NHS England has published a commitment to a carers action plan. It will review the delivery of these commitments through feedback from carers and carers’ organisations and through progress towards the relevant outcomes indicators and mandate objectives.
Baroness Wheeler (Lab)
I thank the Minister for his response. At the start of national Carers Week, it is right for the whole House to pay tribute to our 1.5 million carers and the vital support that they provide in caring for their partners, friends or a family member. What is the Minister’s response to a recent Carers UK survey, which found that while GPs have implemented systems to identify those undertaking carers’ responsibilities, few are actually doing anything differently to accommodate them—for example, giving regular health checks or changing appointment systems to support getting somebody to the surgery who is in a wheelchair or caring for somebody with dementia? Does the Minister agree that the appointment of carers leads under CCG implementation plans is a key step in bringing about the major push that is needed to get GPs to up their game? How will the Government ensure that that happens?
Earl Howe
My Lords, I fully endorse the comments of the noble Baroness about the importance of carers. They play a crucial role as partners in care for the well-being of those they look after. I saw that report and of course it is important that GPs are aware of their role in supporting carers. We set out our vision for this in a document we published, Transforming Primary Care. That recognises the importance of involving and supporting carers. It sets out an expectation for GPs to identify carers as a matter of course. As I said in my original Answer, CCG plans will be assured by NHS England, including the important element of carers’ support and recognition.
Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Con)
My Lords, is the Minister aware that, at last, carers who work by going from one person to another will be paid for their travel time? I have drawn attention in this House before to the fact that people who were self-employed under such care systems were earning £2-something an hour. Does the Minister agree that that will be a great benefit to both the clients and, in particular, the carers who rely on that income?
Earl Howe
I do agree with my noble friend, but I would point out to her that the thrust of the noble Baroness’s Question is about unpaid carers, of whom there are 5.4 million in this country, 1.4 million of whom work more than 50 hours a week as unpaid carers. It is to support those people that the attention of NHS England is being rightly directed.
Baroness Pitkeathley (Lab)
I thank the Minister for pointing that out and saving me having to do so. We are talking about so-called informal, unpaid carers in this Question. My noble friend’s Question has underlined how much progress is still to be made in bringing the needs of carers to the attention of local CCGs and health professionals. Will future versions of the carers strategy action plan address that issue?
Earl Howe
My Lords, yes. The action plan will of course be reviewed, as it needs to be, at regular intervals. I am sure that the noble Baroness will know that the action plan needs to be informed by the various legislative changes that we have recently made through both the Care Act and the Children and Families Act, both of which immeasurably strengthen the rights of carers and what they can expect from the system.
Baroness Brinton (LD)
My Lords, given that the Francis report said that it was important that carers be involved and informed about the care of their family member but one study found that only one-third of those surveyed were told how to care for their relative or how to cope with dementia, what are the Government doing to make that a real priority for CCGs?
Earl Howe
My noble friend makes a crucial point. In the document Transforming Primary Care, we included a clear expectation for GPs to work with wider health and care professionals to involve people using services and their carers in identifying and planning for a person’s needs in the round. The plan sets out a clear expectation for GPs to identify as a matter of course whether a person is themselves a carer for another person, whether they have a carer or carers and to understand fully the contribution that carers make.
The Lord Bishop of Norwich
My Lords, the census revealed a substantial increase in young carers, some of whom may not even recognise the term but are simply doing what is expected in their family. Does the Minister agree that CCGs should consult and connect with schools to ensure that those noble but often vulnerable young adults get the support they deserve?
Earl Howe
I fully agree with the right reverend Prelate. The Government’s carers strategy sends out a strong message that education, health and young carer services should work together with families better to identify and support young carers to prevent them taking on harmful caring roles. Young carers’ education, development or employment opportunities should not be diminished because of their caring role, and the right reverend Prelate may like to note that one of the initiatives recently put in train has been to recruit school nurses who are reaching out to schools to ensure that young carers’ needs are recognised in schools.
Elderly People: Abuse
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe) (Con)
My Lords, I cannot hope to do justice in the short time available to the excellent contributions from noble Lords to this debate. However, I express my gratitude to my noble friend Lady Cumberlege for enabling us to discuss such an important subject.
We have stated in no uncertain terms that it is the right of every citizen to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. Everyone is entitled to receive care delivered by well trained, properly managed and compassionate staff. We are determined to make this a reality. Despite this, cases continue to come to light of abuse and neglect, particularly of older people. We have only to look to the truly abhorrent and sickening cases uncovered at Winterbourne View and by the recent “Panorama” programme, which exposed appalling abuse and neglect at two care homes.
It is important that we also recognise that abuse and neglect is not limited to care provided in residential settings; it can take place anywhere, including someone’s own home, and be carried out by anyone, not just those paid to provide care. Nor is abuse limited to just the physical kind. It takes many forms including the psychological, exploitation and financial. Time and again we hear of targeted fraud on older people, as the noble Lord, Lord Wills, explained, but more often than not the person responsible for the abuse is in a position of trust and power. Everyone should be vigilant in helping to identify those experiencing abuse and neglect or at risk of it. They could be people working in health, social care, policing, banking, trading standards, leisure services, faith groups and housing—the list goes on. As made clear in the Care Bill, sharing of information is crucial. Findings from serious case reviews have sometimes stated that if professionals or others had acted upon their concerns or sought more information, death or serious harm might have been prevented.
We have a growing ageing population, which is to be celebrated, but there needs to be a sharp focus on the quality of life. Radical reform is needed of how health and social care are delivered. The Care Bill starts this process by providing the legal framework to achieve this. It places the well-being principle, prevention and early intervention at its heart. However, we are under no illusion that legislation will eradicate the type of behaviour that leaves people feeling distressed, frightened and fearful.
As many noble Lords emphasised, including the right reverend Prelate, my noble friend Lord Willis and the noble Lord, Lord Griffiths, eradication of these practices and behaviours can be realised only through a collective change in culture—one that leaves no place for abuse and neglect of any kind; one that shares an individual and collective responsibility for spotting when abuse is taking place and identifying those most at risk of experiencing it; and one that works in a collaborative way to challenge and address those corrosive practices.
It is right that people are held to account for the quality of care that they provide. Measures are being implemented to ensure that company directors who are complicit or turn a blind eye to poor care will be liable to prosecution. In future, they and provider organisations could face unlimited fines if found guilty. This should provide additional incentives for effective management and support of staff. There are already systems and processes in place to provide public assurance, including Care Quality Commission registration requirements and the Disclosure and Barring Service. These alone though do not go far enough.
The noble Lord, Lord Turnberg, referred to poor commissioning services. We will be working with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association to develop a set of commissioning standards for local authorities that focus on quality care and support for individuals.
However, following the publication of the Francis report into the failings of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, Camilla Cavendish was asked to review how healthcare assistants and support workers in health and care settings were valued and supported. She proposed, among other measures, the introduction of a certificate of fundamental care, now known as the care certificate. This will give evidence to employers, patients and service users that the person in front of them has been trained to a specific set of standards and knows how to act with compassion and respect. I think that it will also raise the standing and prestige of that person, an issue rightly raised by the right reverend Prelate and the noble Lord, Lord Turnberg. Health Education England, working alongside key partners, has already begun piloting the care certificate across England, as my noble friend Lord Willis mentioned. Subject to evaluation, there will soon be a standard national approach to training on the skills and values needed to be an effective healthcare assistant or social care support worker. It is planned to roll this out in March next year.
I say to the noble Lord, Lord Turnberg, that “I care” ambassadors are uniquely placed as qualified and experienced care workers to promote the image of social care and act as role models. We are fully committed to ensuring that social care services employ people with the right values and skills by introducing a fit and proper person test for directors and a care certificate for front-line staff. Where a director is deemed unfit for the role by the CQC, it will be able to insist on their removal.
In addition, the system of regulation and inspection needs to improve. The CQC is currently introducing a new system of inspection of social care providers, based on much tougher fundamental standards of care, that clearly has the individual at its heart. It will be structured around five key questions that matter most to people—are services safe, caring, effective, well led and responsive to people’s needs? New inspections will draw on the views of people and their family who are experts by their experiences of the services that they see and use. The inspections will be carried out by people who deliver the type of care. CQC has been piloting this new approach in more than 200 social care providers since April this year. It will begin to inspect and rate all providers against the new standards from this October.
New measures in the Care Bill make clear local authorities’ responsibilities and those of key partners, such as the lead commissioner and local police, in safeguarding adults. This is vital in ensuring clear accountability, roles and responsibilities for helping and protecting adults who are experiencing, or at risk of, abuse and neglect.
Every local authority must establish a safeguarding adults board. These boards will be responsible for managing and co-ordinating arrangements that exist to prevent and respond to adult abuse and neglect. They will also have a duty to make inquiries or require another agency to do so. These inquiries will establish whether any action needs to be taken and, if so, by whom.
To make new legislative duties effective, services need to combine efforts to ensure that those who need to be cared for are protected. Strong professional relationships with those staff working in housing, the NHS, community pharmacists and local police will ensure that when concerns are raised they are firmly addressed, while never forgetting the person at the centre of those concerns and ensuring that they are a part of the discussion.
My noble friend Lady Cumberlege asked me about the Government’s response to the Law Commission’s report, a topic also raised by the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath. It is right for me to place on record our gratitude to the Law Commission for the significant time and effort that have been put into developing a detailed and thorough analysis. The department is considering the proposals very carefully and will produce a formal response in due course. It is not possible for me to comment on next steps at this stage until the contents of the Queen’s Speech are known after 4 June.
My noble friend Lady Cumberlege cited a graphic case of an individual who was abused by her daughters. I would say to her that the Office of the Public Guardian should be informed where abuse of a power of attorney is suspected, and it will investigate the claims and work closely with the police where appropriate. The Government have commissioned a practical legal guide for front-line practitioners to support them in using the law where it is necessary to gain access to someone where it is being prevented.
My noble friend also referred to the instance of abusive workers being dismissed from one employer and then going to work elsewhere. If care home or home care employers sack an employee for abusive practice, they are under a legal obligation to refer the person to the Disclosure and Barring Service. When employers are recruiting, they must make robust and rigorous checks and adopt a value-based approach to appointing staff.
Time prevents me covering more subjects. I will write to noble Lords whose questions I have not answered, but I hope my response today leaves no doubt in anyone’s minds about our position on this. We have zero tolerance of abuse or neglect of anyone living in our society. We have taken firm steps to challenge and address those people who do so and organisations that turn a blind eye to poor practices. We will continue to make improvements as part of the response to the Francis report and the Berwick review. We agreed to develop a new criminal offence for individuals and organisations of ill treatment or wilful neglect of users of care services. Following consultation on the proposals for the new offences, we are now carefully considering all the responses. We remain committed to legislating for the new offences as soon as parliamentary time allows.
National Health Service: Nursing Staff
Earl Howe Excerpts(9 years, 12 months ago)
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Baroness Kennedy of Cradley
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps are being taken to ensure adequate levels of nursing staff in the National Health Service.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe) (Con)
My Lords, patient safety is paramount. Patient safety experts agree that safe staffing levels should be set locally. Local NHS organisations are best placed to determine the skill mix of their workforce and must have freedom to deploy staff in ways appropriate for their locality. We have commissioned NICE to develop guidance on setting safe staffing levels and to endorse safe staffing tools. If hospitals do not have sufficient nurses, the Chief Inspector of Hospitals will take action.
Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Lab)
As today is International Nurses Day, will the noble Earl join me and many others in this House in paying tribute to the hard work of our NHS nurses? Further, can he explain why, since 2010, the actual number of qualified nurses has fallen and nearly 4,000 senior nursing posts have been lost? What are the Government going to do about that worrying reduction in experience and skill in nursing in our NHS?
Earl Howe
My Lords, I readily join the noble Baroness in paying tribute to our nursing workforce, whether in acute settings, in the community or, indeed, in any other setting. In fact, if the noble Baroness consults the official statistics, she will see that there are more nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff at present than there ever have been in the history of the NHS. Since the election, more than 5,100 more nurses are working on our wards, there are more than 1,700 more midwives and more than 2,000 more health visitors. We have been able to fund these increased numbers by a reduction in administrative staff—today there are more than 19,600 fewer administrative staff. I would be interested to hear where the noble Baroness gets her figures from but, as she will have gathered, mine are completely in the other direction.
The Lord Bishop of Oxford
My Lords, given the court ruling last week against Thanet Clinical Commissioning Group saying that it was obliged to follow NICE guidelines unless a special factor could be determined that would justify departure, will Her Majesty’s Government give an assurance that the same test will apply to NHS trusts in regard to the ratio of nurses and patients?
Earl Howe
The guidance issued today by NICE on staffing ratios, to which I think the right reverend Prelate is specifically referring, is in draft, but the deputy chief executive of NICE has stressed that there are no floor or ceiling numbers on the required number of nursing staff that can be applied either across the whole of the NHS or in a particular ward setting. What the profession is seeking, and what NICE is looking to give it, is a reference tool or guideline that will enable it to judge correct staffing levels in accordance with the particular circumstances of a ward and the skill mix of the staff on that ward. It is a guideline rather than a mandatory prescription.
Baroness Manzoor (LD)
My Lords, my question relates to specialist nurses. NICE has issued guidelines in relation to TB, and I am delighted to see that Public Health England has also issued a strategy on TB, making it a key component. However, there are variations in the number of TB nurses within trusts. How are the Government and NHS England going to adhere to the ratios that have been advocated by NICE?
Earl Howe
My Lords, as regards specialist nurses, the Government have supported the development of a range of specialist roles within the profession. In the end it is for local NHS organisations, with their knowledge of the needs of the local population, to invest in training for specialist skills and to deploy specialist nurses. We recognise that more could be done by some local healthcare organisations in this area, and Health Education England is able to support employers with continuing personal and professional development—but within clear limits. The planning process has created an opportunity for employers, through the LETBs—local education and training boards—to prioritise investment in this area.
Lord Turnberg (Lab)
My Lords, the number of nurses may have gone up a little, but the main problem is the marked reduction in the number of senior nurses on wards. These are the women and men who are in charge of a ward and make sure that care is properly delivered at the ward level. Does the noble Earl consider that this particular loss is because we do not reward and value these key individuals well enough to recruit or retain them?
Earl Howe
My Lords, as the noble Lord will be aware, finances in the NHS are tight. However, as I said earlier, there are now 5,100 more nurses on our wards than there were in May 2010. That must indicate that nursing is still an attractive profession for the brightest and the best of our young men and women.
Lord Willis of Knaresborough (LD)
My Lords, will my noble friend accept that nurses do not work in isolation and that in order to deliver the high-quality care and safety that the Government rightly demand, the whole of the caring workforce needs to be properly trained and properly educated? What steps are being taken to ensure that healthcare support workers in particular—there are more than a million of them—get the training that they deserve to give patients the care that they too deserve?
Earl Howe
My noble friend is right. He may be aware that last month Health Education England, Skills for Care and Skills for Health launched the pilot for the new care certificate, which is taking place across a range of health and social care settings. It will test a set of standards designed to help employers to assess not only workers’ skills, but also the knowledge, behaviours and values that are required to deliver compassionate and high-quality care. That pilot will continue throughout the summer and, subject to evaluation, it is planned to introduce the care certificate next March.
Independent Living Fund
Earl Howe Excerpts(9 years, 12 months ago)
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Baroness Campbell of Surbiton
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the assessment guidance to local authorities under the Care Bill will address the particular needs of people transferring from the Independent Living Fund.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe) (Con)
My Lords, one of the key principles of the Care Bill is that people who require care and support should have choice and control over their lives. The Bill requires that all assessments will consider the person’s needs, well-being and desired outcomes. The requirements of the Bill, and of guidance supporting implementation, will apply equally to all adults having an assessment, including those who are transferring from the Independent Living Fund.
Baroness Campbell of Surbiton (CB)
I thank the Minister for his considered reply but, given the Government’s emphasis on people who have direct experience of using care and support services being centrally involved in their design and delivery, will the Minister please explain why his Government think it unnecessary to set up a reference group, including disabled people, the Independent Living Fund, local authorities and civil servants, to oversee this very important ILF transition?
Earl Howe
My Lords, the noble Baroness will know that she and I had a very useful meeting last week and I, with my honourable colleague Norman Lamb, undertook to her that we would give that proposal serious consideration, which we will certainly do. I will be in touch with her in the coming weeks to arrange a further discussion about this. We are absolutely committed to co-production in this and to involving stakeholders wherever possible.
Baroness Wilkins (Lab)
My Lords, given that the Government have set the national eligibility criteria at a level that will not provide sufficient support for independent living, will the Minister say whether and how the Government will monitor the level of unmet need of the transferred ILF clients if elements of their package are not eligible for local authority funding?
Earl Howe
My Lords, 94% of ILF users receive support from both the ILF and the local authority. Local authorities will assess those who are transferring from the ILF. If a person is assessed as not having eligible needs, the Care Bill provides authorities with a power to meet those needs, and they do so. Authorities should also advise on what preventive services, information or advice, or other support may be available in the wider community to help them achieve their particular outcomes.
Lord Paddick (LD)
My Lords, while the Government’s policy of localism is to be generally welcomed, does my noble friend not agree that there should be some exceptions? If, as a result of devolving the Independent Living Fund, some severely disabled people can no longer afford to live wholly independent and fulfilling lives, how is this in the best interests of those disabled people? Will he explain, bearing in mind the high cost of social care and residential care, how that will be in the best interests of the taxpayer?
Earl Howe
My Lords, the provisions in the Care Bill will apply equally to everyone with care and support needs, including those who are currently receiving support from the ILF. The aim of the ILF is to support independent living for disabled people. The overarching aim of the Care Bill is to give people with care and support needs more choice and control over their lives. It focuses specifically on their well-being and the outcomes that they want to achieve, and puts them at the heart of the system. That would be my reply. There is no question of forcing people into residential care. The starting point is: what are the needs and wishes of the individuals involved, and how can care be built around those?
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)
My Lords, can the noble Earl guarantee that no current recipient of the fund will lose out when money is transferred and it is the responsibility of local government? Will he tell the House why this money is not being ring-fenced? Will he acknowledge that in two recent examples of money being transferred by his department to local government—the Healthwatch budget and the public health budget—local authorities have not passed on the full amount? How will he ensure that local authorities spend that money on independent living?
Earl Howe
As the noble Lord knows, local government social care funding is not ring-fenced. We believe that allowing local authorities the flexibility to manage their budgets locally means that they can respond to local needs and priorities better. The Care Bill, as I have just said, will require local authorities to involve the person in the development of their care and support plan and, as far as possible, agree that with them. The person’s care and support plan may be different from their current package, but the central point is that they will be at the heart of the process to ensure that the package provides them with choice and control over their lives.
Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)
My Lords, the Government’s recently published strategy, Think Autism, vowed to help people with autism spectrum disorder to live independent lives. However, the abolition of the Independent Living Fund withdraws the very scheme that was set up precisely to help those vulnerable people to live in the community. How many people with autism spectrum disorder currently receive support under the Independent Living Fund and will therefore be affected by this closure?
Earl Howe
My Lords, I do not have that figure in my brief but the number of people receiving payments from the Independent Living Fund is relatively few in comparison to the total number of people receiving adult social care and support. If I have any further figures that I can supply to the noble Baroness, I shall be happy to write to her.
Lord Laming (CB)
Will the noble Earl share with the House the objections to ring-fencing this fund during the initial period to make sure that we have certainty that the money will be used for the purpose for which it is intended?
Earl Howe
My Lords, the issue is that we essentially have a two-tier system. That is at the heart of why the ILF is being disbanded over the next year or so. As a result of that, we know that there is some cross-subsidisation, with local authorities using ILF money to off-set the cost of social care. We are rechannelling that money to local authorities in the expectation that they will use it for adult social care, as I have said. It is not, however, ring-fenced.