Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 5th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to talk about the whole health system. One thing we are doing as part of our work on urgent and emergency care is preventing people from being admitted to hospital unnecessarily, or from being brought to A&E in the first place. Primary care is part of that. In our investment in expanding medical school places, we are particularly encouraging medical schools, such as the new Kent and Canterbury Medical School near me, to train students to work more outside hospitals, including in primary care.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

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[Helen Whately]

I work closely with colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions on the recruitment of people looking for jobs in social care, and I will raise that point with my colleague in the Department.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

It was the Minister’s party that promised to fix the crisis in social care “once and for all”. With vacancy rates almost three times above the national average and turnover rates for new staff at more than 45%, it is clear that the Government failed. Labour’s plan for a national care service with clear standards for providers and a new deal for staff will give social care the fundamental reset it needs. The Government have done it with our workforce plan, and they have half-heartedly tried it with dentistry. Does the Minister want to copy our homework once again?

[Helen Whately]

Let us be honest, Labour has no plan for social care. Whatever the shadow Minister says, it is unfunded. There is no funding committed to it and it is not meaningful. Those of us on the Conservative side of the House are reforming adult social care. We not only have a plan, but it is in progress.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the SNP spokesperson.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

I have asked the Secretary of State a number of times how she intends to recruit and retain social care staff, particularly with the visa changes coming into effect next Monday, stopping those from overseas coming to fill skills gaps from bringing their spouse or dependants with them. I ask again: how does the Secretary of State intend to improve the recruitment and retention of staff in the social care sector while her colleagues effectively work to undermine her?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 23rd January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

I am actually really shocked by the way the hon. Member referred to the care workforce, with terms like “It is all blah”—very shocking. I am determined that care workers should get the recognition they deserve. We have a 10-year plan for social care, and it is working: the care workforce grew by over 20,000 last year, vacancies in social care are down, and retention is up. We are reforming social care so that it works as a career. That is why, as I said a moment ago—I wish the hon. Member had been listening—we have introduced the first ever career pathway for social care workers and a new national care qualification.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

Hospice Funding: Devon

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Wednesday 17th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

The hon. Member raised that question in the Westminster Hall debate I referred to. He is talking about a specific situation. Rather than spending the limited time I have addressing that, I am keen to respond to my hon. Friend the Member for East Devon, who has secured this debate on hospice funding in Devon.

I was talking about the enormous importance of hospices and their role in our communities, and the strengths of having hospices in our communities add to the significance of the care they provide. I mentioned my own experience. Hospices do this thing of making a time that can seem completely unbearable become somehow bearable. That makes a difference not only for the individual cared for by the hospice but for all those around them.

Let me turn to Devon specifically. Devon does reflect the national picture, with NHS palliative and end of life services such as a specialist NHS team, community nursing care and a Marie Curie night care service. I mention that because some people may think of hospices as the sole provider end of life care in any community. The picture is broader than that, but of course hospices are important. Indeed, NHS Devon has grant arrangements with four Devon hospices that operate in-patient beds. In East Devon specifically, patients can receive end of life care in hospital, at home, in a care home, or from Hospiscare or Sidmouth Hospice at Home, to which my hon. Friend referred.

In England, integrated care boards are responsible for the commissioning of end of life and palliative care services to meet the reasonable needs of their local populations. As part of the Health and Care Act 2022, palliative care services were specifically added to the list of services that an ICB must commission, reflecting the importance of end of life and palliative care in our healthcare system. Adding that will ensure a more consistent national approach and support commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. In July 2022, NHS England published statutory guidance on palliative and end of life care to support commissioners with that duty. That includes specific reference to ensuring that there is sufficient provision of specialist palliative care services, hospice beds and future financial sustainability.

I acknowledge that hospices, like many organisations—and indeed households—are having to contend with financial pressures including rising energy costs. That is why charities including hospices have already benefited from the energy bills discount scheme, which provides a discount on high energy bills and is running until 31 of March 2024. Hospices may also be entitled to a reduction in VAT from 20% to 5%. In addition to that, in 2022 NHS England released £1.5 billion in additional funding to ICBs to provide support for inflation. ICBs were able to distribute that funding according to local need. It was therefore an option for them to support palliative and end of life care providers, such as NHS contracted hospices, with rising costs from inflation.

I recognise the financial challenges that hospices continue to face and the difficulty there is in raising funds from local communities when people themselves are facing pressures with the cost of living. My hon. Friend made a clear case for the financial support that the hospice in his area deserves. I encourage him to continue to argue that point. It is good to hear that he has been in touch with his local integrated care board, which is the organisation responsible for assessing palliative care needs in his community and ensuring that the need is met.

My hon. Friend is not the first Member to ask to meet me to discuss this topic, or to call a debate on it. I am working to increase the transparency and the information available to colleagues and our constituents, so that they can be assured about the provision of palliative and end of life care. To that end, I have organised a meeting next week with representatives from NHS England, and have invited Members from across the House to attend it, for an update on palliative and end of life care and to ask questions directly of NHS England on this topic.

I have welcomed the opportunity this evening to talk about the wonderful work of hospices not only in Devon but across the country. I assure my hon. Friend and other Members present that I am committed to supporting hospices to continue what they do so well in our communities, and to improving access to palliative and end of life care for people across the country, whether that care is given by a hospice or by the national health service.

[Mr Speaker]

We are so lucky to have the hospice movement, including St Catherine’s and Derian House in my constituency.

Question put and agreed to.

Building an NHS Fit for the Future

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Monday 13th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

As I said a moment ago—let me remind the hon. Lady of this—we are not waiting for legislation in order to bring forward mental health reforms. That is why, for instance, we have already been rolling out mental health support teams in schools. We are already ahead of schedule on that; we are giving a quarter of England’s school and college children access to mental health support teams a year ahead of schedule. In addition, thanks to this Government, dormitory accommodation for mental health patients will soon become a thing of the past.

It has been a pleasure to work with the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Steve Barclay), and a huge honour to work with my hon. Friends the Members for Colchester (Will Quince) and for Harborough (Neil O'Brien) as part of a Government taking the long-term decisions to build a health and care system for the future, one with more doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physios and care workers, better mental healthcare for adults and children, more proactive care in the community, greater capacity, the newest technology and more choice, where conditions are diagnosed quicker or prevented altogether, thus helping people to live longer and healthier lives.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 17th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Social Care (Helen Whately)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

You can respond sitting down if you wish.

[Helen Whately]

It is fine; thank you, Mr Speaker.

Since Brexit, we have more than 13,000 more doctors and 48,000 more nurses working in the NHS in England, and 40,000 more full-time equivalent staff in adult social care. Our points-based immigration system means that we can recruit the talent we need from all over the world for our health and social care system, including from the European Union.

--- Later in debate ---

[Helen Whately]

We have the health and social care visa, which supports our health and social care services to recruit doctors, nurses and other professionals, as well as social care staff, helping to boost those numbers. The hon. Gentleman referred to the important NHS workforce long-term plan, which will increase the home-grown staff in our health service. That will give us 60,000 more doctors, 170,000 more nurses and 70,000 more allied health professionals in our NHS over the next 15 years.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the SNP spokesperson.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

It has been reported that the Home Secretary plans to tighten the rules for those arriving on a health and care worker visa, to block most from bringing dependents with them—yet another in a long list of her vendettas against children coming to these isles. What recent assessments has the Secretary of State made of how that will impact international recruitment and capacity in our already struggling health and care services?

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[Helen Whately]

My hon. Friend has made a good point about the importance of transparency and accurate data. As she said, just this week we learnt that Labour-run NHS Wales had been under-reporting its A&E waiting times. According to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, about 45,000 patients are missing from the data. While we are working hard to improve services in the NHS in England, the Labour-run NHS in Wales is merely fudging the figures.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

The whole purpose of integrated care systems is to join up social care and NHS services in a better way. We know, for example, that fracture liaison services keep 100,000 people out of hospital, but only 50% of English NHS trusts have them, and despite the commitment given by the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care—the hon. Member for Lewes (Maria Caulfield—to providing more, nothing has happened, and Lord Evans has walked back from her commitment. I realise that I am pushing at an open door in directing this question to a Minister whose leg is strapped up, but when will the Government finally deliver for the “back better bones” campaign to help older people to survive and thrive?

Oral Answers

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 25th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

I can assure the hon. Member that not a penny of funding is being cut from adult social care. We are driving forward our reforms to the adult social care system, which have the workforce at their heart. We are introducing a new career path for the social care workforce, new care qualifications and new training, boosting the adult social care workforce and making sure people in that workforce get the recognition and rewards they deserve.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Liz Kendall (Leicester West) (Lab)]

The Minister says this Government back social care—I would love to see what the reality would be if they were against it. We already know that the Conservatives have completely failed to deliver their flagship policy of a cap on care costs, and over Easter we learned that they have broken the rest of their promises on social care too. The £500 million promised for the care workforce has been cut in half; the £300 million promised for housing in care has been slashed by two thirds; and as for the £600 million of other promises, your guess is as good as mine, Mr Speaker. They have not had the courage to announce this to Parliament or the nous to grasp that if people are not kept in their own homes, they end up stuck in hospital, with all the knock-on consequences for NHS waiting times and emergency care. Will the Minister tell us where all that money has gone? Why on earth should older and disabled people and their families ever believe the Conservatives on social care again?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 7th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

Cancer will be a substantial part of the major conditions strategy. We will be looking at the major causes of ill health in the country, of which cancer is, of course, one. Part of that will involve ensuring that we are good at diagnosing cancer, because the earlier it is diagnosed, the more treatable it is, and hence the better the outcomes for people with cancer will be.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Health and Care Committee.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 24th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

If the hon. Gentleman had been listening to earlier questions, he would have heard about the increased number of GPs in England, with more than 2,000 more GPs now working in England. Coming to the question of the NHS in Scotland, which is of course run by the SNP-led Scottish Government, I have heard that NHS Scotland is “haemorrhaging” staff, in the words of the chair of the British Medical Association in Scotland.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the SNP spokesperson.

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

With more than 4,000 fewer specialist doctors from the EU or the European Free Trade Association in the UK than in pre-EU referendum trends, there is clear evidence that shutting off free movement is a totally unnecessary barrier to recruitment for our care and health services. Have the Minister and Secretary of State made representations to the Cabinet to discuss the disastrous effects of Brexit on the UK?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 6th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

As announced in the autumn statement, we have a record funding settlement of £7.5 billion going into the social care system over the next two years, to improve both access and quality of care. I am happy to meet my right hon. Friend to look into the specific challenge that she has outlined, because it is important that local areas are working together across boundaries.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Liz Kendall (Leicester West) (Lab)]

Let’s just tell it like it is on the Government’s record on social care reform. Their cap on care costs was first promised 10 years ago. In 2015, they delayed it and in 2017 they scrapped it. In 2019, the right hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson) again promised to fix the crisis in social care, but last month the Chancellor buried the policy, once and for all. After 12 long years, what have Conservative Members got to show on social care: the highest ever staff vacancies; millions left without the care they need; hospitals full of people who do not need to be there; and families picking up the strain. Isn’t the truth on social care, just as with our economy, transport, housing and schools, that the Conservatives have run out of excuses and run out of road, and the country deserves a change?

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[Helen Whately]

I point the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West (Anna Firth) a moment ago specifically about face masks. I have asked for updated guidance for the social care sector on the use of face masks. I recognise the difficulties they cause—for instance, in communication—and I am looking forward to being able to give an update to hon. Members and the sector on that shortly.

[Mr Speaker]

Last question, Margaret Ferrier.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 28th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

I hear my right hon. Friend’s request. The combination of the freeze on fuel duty in the Budget and the cut in the spring statement is essentially a £5 billion tax cut. That is substantial support with the cost of fuel for businesses. As I have also said, we are taking further steps to support businesses with business rate cuts. I also remind her of our cut to national insurance, increasing the employment allowance by £1,000, supporting around 500,000 smaller businesses.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Clive Efford.

We have a slight problem. Can the Chancellor answer the question as if it has been asked?

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[Helen Whately]

As the hon. Lady points out, with our investment in infrastructure—particularly rail, in the £96 billion integrated rail plan for the midlands and the north—we are showing how the Government are supporting the growth of the economy, including through providing the transport infrastructure that we need for that.

[Mr Speaker]

I call shadow Minister James Murray.

[James Murray (Ealing North) (Lab/Co-op)]

Labour welcomes the principle of a UK infrastructure bank moving to a statutory footing, but it is crucial to make sure that public money supports decent jobs that people can raise a family on. Will the Minister therefore support our proposals for all projects funded by the infrastructure bank to come with a good jobs plan and for working people to be given a voice on its board?

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[Helen Whately]

The hon. Member and I met recently to speak about the cost of fuel in rural areas. As I also represent a rural constituency, I appreciate his point. As he knows, the cut that we made to fuel duty is benefiting people in rural areas as well as those across the whole country. That, combined with the duty freeze, is £5 billion-worth of help for people. As we have discussed today, we are also providing targeted support to people: in particular, there is the £1,200 for 8 million households on benefits to help with the rising cost of living.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 17th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Tell him yes!

[Helen Whately]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The growth of tourism is really important as part of the wider economic growth of the country, and I would be delighted to meet the hon. Gentleman to talk about his proposal.

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[Mr Speaker]

It has to be a yes to that.

[Helen Whately]

My hon. Friend tempts me with a visit to a vineyard in her constituency. She has already made the argument very strongly—when I recently met the wine and spirits all-party group. Representing a wine-producing constituency, she will appreciate, I am sure, our announcement of the reduction in the duty rate for sparkling wine. As I said to my right hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Philip Dunne) earlier, I am speaking to businesses in the sector to make sure that we get right the practicalities of introducing these reforms.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 7th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I appeal to Members that if you all want to get in, you have to help each other. If you are not going to help each other, do not be disappointed when you do not get in. It is not fair, and the same goes for the Front Benchers. Topicals are meant to be quick, short and speedy to keep the business going. We are not being fair. Whoever is answering that question, please do so briefly.

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Helen Whately)]

As we build a strong economy, we need to raise skills. That is why we announced in the spending review an increase of £3.8 billion in skills spending over this Parliament. The spending review included funding for a specific 50-plus training scheme to support people like those being helped by Teach A Trade so that they can retrain and stay in work. I am happy to speak further to my hon. Friend about how we can support Teach A Trade and others like it to do what they do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 8th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

I will look into the hon. Lady’s specific request, but I can tell her that the Government are actively supporting research into motor neurone disease. For instance, in April I jointly hosted a roundtable event on boosting MND research with the National Institute for Health Research/Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre, which brought together researchers and others. We are absolutely committed to this area of work.

[Mr Speaker]

Final question, Mark Harper.

NHS Staff Pay

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Monday 8th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

I thank the shadow Secretary of State for his welcome. As it is International Women’s Day, it is a shame that he does not have a female colleague by his side at the Dispatch Box.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I think we just need to get back into reality. I do not think we need the personal slights. The shadow Secretary of State is entitled to ask for an urgent question and I have granted it, so you are questioning me, not the shadow Secretary of State.

[Helen Whately]

My apologies, Mr Speaker.

I do not think that we should play politics with these very serious questions as we come through a pandemic that has hit us and the world so hard, when people have lost their lives, people have lost their jobs, and we as a Government have had to spend so much to support the economy, individuals and, indeed, the NHS. I have been speaking to staff on the frontline of health and social care throughout this pandemic, and I and the Government are grateful to them and thank them from the bottom of our hearts for what they have done and are still doing. While so much of the public sector is having a pay freeze, NHS staff will get a pay rise.

In these difficult times, the Government have submitted their evidence to the pay review bodies and, as I said in my opening statement, they will report back to us. They will look at a wide range of evidence, including, for instance, evidence from trade unions, inflation, and the wider situation with the economy and pay levels, and we will of course look at their recommendations carefully.

The right hon. Gentleman talked about the vote that we had on the NHS Funding Act and, yes, we absolutely did vote for it. We are fulfilling our commitment to record investment in the NHS—£34 billion more. He also referred to the long-term plan and, although not something we voted on, the 2.1% increase within it will be invested in the NHS workforce this year. That will include not only these pay rises, but pay progression and further investment in the NHS workforce.

We will continue to invest in more doctors and more nurses for the NHS, and I wish that the right hon. Gentleman would welcome that. We will continue to support the recovery of our economy and restore our public finances, so that we can fund our NHS not just through the pandemic, but into the future.

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[Helen Whately]

The pay conversation that we are having at the moment is indeed about nurses—who are a fabulous part of our NHS workforce, and I cannot thank them enough—but it is also about the wider NHS workforce, which includes paramedics and health support workers, and this pay settlement will also include some doctors. More than 1 million staff are being considered in this process, and that is why the cost is closer to £1 billion than the figure the hon. Lady mentioned; it is around £750 million. The Government were absolutely right to invest in PPE to protect staff in health and social care during the pandemic at a time when there was a global shortage of PPE, and we are absolutely right to have invested in a world-beating test and trace service, which is doing a phenomenal job and is essential to our country’s recovery from this pandemic.

[Mr Speaker]

We now come to the final question, from Nigel Mills.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con) [V]]

Will the Minister confirm that the public sector pay review body can take into account the exceptional service and sacrifice of our nurses and medical staff over the last year, and that if it recommends a higher pay rise than 1%, the Government will look at funding that from new resources and not have to scrimp and save elsewhere in NHS to fund the difference?

[Helen Whately]

I agree: our NHS workforce—in fact, our whole health and social care workforce—have done a phenomenal job through the pandemic and, we should not forget, continue to do so. I will not pre-empt the recommendations that we will receive from the pay review body, but I assure my hon. Friend that we will absolutely consider them carefully before coming to a decision.

[Mr Speaker]

I will now suspend the House for three minutes to enable the necessary arrangements for the next business to be made.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Helen Whately and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 6th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

My hon. Friend makes an important point about the importance of visiting both to the individuals living in care homes, and to their family and friends. Achieving the balance between protecting care home residents from the risk that covid might be brought into the care home, where it is so hard to control, and giving them access to visitors, has been one of the hardest areas to get right over the past few months. That is why in the summer we issued guidance on safe visiting and gave more freedom on the decisions about visiting to local authorities, with directors of public health working with care homes. I want us to continue to support and enable safe visiting for care homes.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We have to get through this grouped set of questions, and it is going to take us well into topicals time; the Minister really does need to speed up on the answers.

[Fiona Bruce]

I thank the Minister for the social care winter plan announced two weeks ago. Can she tell me when this half a billion pound infection control fund will be released to councils covering constituencies such as mine in Congleton, in order to help protect residents and staff over the winter?