Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Alex Cunningham

Tuesday 25th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I recognise those issues, and I am very happy to take that suggestion away. I particularly want to put on the record that the scare stories put out by Labour in Lancaster about the potential closure of Royal Lancashire Infirmary are false. It is totally irresponsible to scare people in Lancaster in that way.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

T3. My constituent Corron Sparrow was left lying in the road for two hours with a compound fracture of his leg despite a call from a policeman to the North East Ambulance Service pleading for help. Eventually the service responded by sending an ill-equipped St John Ambulance team who then had to call for professional assistance. There are many more failures. It is now three weeks since I wrote to the chief executive, Yvonne Ormston, asking for an inquiry into this, but she has not even acknowledged my letter. Will the Minister intervene and tell the North East Ambulance Service that it cannot just ignore these matters?

Five Year Forward View

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Alex Cunningham

Thursday 23rd October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

They are not forced against their will to outsource. They make the decisions as to where they want to purchase services from, and they do so on the basis of what is best for patients. Just like the primary care trusts that they succeeded, they have to follow European law in the way that they do that.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

The growing funding gap over the next five years is a real cause for concern. Can the Secretary of State tell me whether, after five years of changing plans, scrutiny and prevarication, we will finally get approval from his Department and the Treasury for the new North Tees and Hartlepool hospital, or will I have to wait for my right hon. Friend the Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham) to approve it after the election?

[Mr Hunt]

I have met the chief executive involved and heard their case for that, and we are processing it as fast as we can.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Alex Cunningham

Tuesday 10th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

I agree with my hon. Friend that it has to be done on the basis of evidence. Part of that is an important change that the Government have made, which the Labour party criticised a great deal. We have depoliticised the process by giving it to NHS England, where it is decided at arm’s length from Ministers on the basis of need. It is challenging to do it fairly. There are some historical imbalances, and we have to do what we can to address them, but we have to do it in a way that is fair and is not tarnished by party politics.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

T4. Health inequality on Teesside is a major issue, but the Government axed plans for our new hospital four years ago. I am told that Ministers now accept that a new hospital to replace the two hospitals at North Tees and Hartlepool is the right way forward. When will they remove the barriers to the project and give the support that is needed?

Health

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Alex Cunningham

Monday 9th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am going to make some progress, and then I will give way.

The NHS is about more than just getting through difficult winters. Looking to the future, this Government will continue to take the bold steps necessary to prepare our NHS for the long-term challenges it faces. There are two key areas for action if we are to rise to this enormous challenge. First, we must never turn the clock back on Francis. The NHS will never live up to its founding ideals if it tolerates poor or unsafe care. The last Government presided over an NHS in which doctors or nurses who spoke out were bullied, in which problems at failing hospitals were brushed under the carpet and in which vulnerable older people were ignored and, tragically, on occasions, treated with contempt and cruelty. This Government have stood up for the patient, championing high standards with a new culture of compassionate care which is now transforming our health and care system.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State has already admitted some of his own failures this afternoon. Does he not think that some of the money he invested in his £3 billion reorganisation of the national health service could have been used to ensure that the NHS was hitting its targets today?

[Mr Hunt]

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would like to look at the facts relating to the actual cost of the reorganisation. The net saving as a result of it has been more than £1 billion a year, and we are now employing 7,000 more doctors and 3,000 more nurses than when his party was in office. Last year, as a result of this programme—

Urgent and Emergency Care Review

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Alex Cunningham

Tuesday 12th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

The crisis in nurse vacancies and recruitment highlighted today by the Royal College of Nursing affects the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, which tells me that it has been forced to recruit trained nurses from the Philippines, as there are insufficient UK nurses available. What is the Secretary of State doing to address that particular part of his failure?

[Mr Hunt]

I have to gently say to the hon. Gentleman that recruiting nurses from the Philippines did not happen for the first time under this Government. One reason why those nurse vacancies have gone up is that the Government decided to conduct a public inquiry into what happened at Mid Staffs. The system reacts to that by wanting to hire more nurses, and I think that he should welcome that, not criticise it.

Hospital Mortality Rates

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Alex Cunningham

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend speaks wisely, because the first step towards sorting out these problems is to have a system that Ministers cannot interfere with so that when there is failure, regulators are able to speak out without any political pressure—without any Ministers leaning on them in the run-up to elections—in the interests of patients. That is why we are completely changing the CQC. We are introducing a chief inspector of hospitals, who will be the nation’s whistleblower and who will have the independence and freedom that the old CQC never had. I hope that will help the public feel more confident that where there are problems they are properly tackled and not swept under the carpet.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

Several times the Secretary of State has admitted that staffing cut drastically on his watch is a major factor in deteriorating care in the NHS—an NHS that has been in the charge of the Conservative party for more than three years. What is he going to do about restoring staffing levels?

[Mr Hunt]

Clinical staff numbers have gone up by 8,000 since 2010: there are 6,000 more doctors, 1,000 more midwives and 1,000 more health visitors. The numbers have gone up since 2010. If we followed the shadow Secretary of State’s advice and cut the NHS budget from its current levels, that would not be possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Alex Cunningham

Tuesday 11th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

It would be my great pleasure to do so.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

T6. Three Health Ministers have indicated their support, and one even voted for it, so will the Secretary of State either introduce his own legislation or back new clause 17 to the Children and Families Bill to ban smoking in cars with children present?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Alex Cunningham

Tuesday 15th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am very happy to look into whether that is an area where my Department should take responsibility.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

My constituent, Elaine Catterick, has had a serious operation at the James Cook hospital on Teesside cancelled twice in three months—once with just a few hours’ notice. She has also learned that there are twice-daily meetings at the hospital to decide whose operation should be cancelled next, as staff struggle to cope with spending cuts. I hope that is not what the Secretary of State wanted from his reforms, so what is he going to do about it?

[Mr Hunt]

All cancelled operations are a concern. The number of cancelled operations was about 50% higher as a proportion of all operations under the previous Government, but no operation should be cancelled, and we will continue to do what we can to bring down the numbers.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Alex Cunningham

Thursday 8th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

12. What recent representations he has received on the implications for the broadcasting sector of the decision by News Corporation not to proceed with its proposed acquisition of BSkyB.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

It will not surprise the House to know that I received a number of representations over the News Corp BSkyB bid during its progress and considered them all carefully.

[Alex Cunningham]

Does the Secretary of State now agree with the Opposition that one of the lessons of the phone hacking scandal and the attempted takeover of BSkyB is that new, tougher cross-media ownership laws are required in this country and that no one media organisation should have such a concentration of power again?

[Mr Hunt]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that we need to look carefully at cross-media ownership laws. I agree with him as well that this needs to be done on a cross-media basis; it is not about the dominance of any individual platform any more. We also need to look at whether the merger rules for media takeovers work as effectively as they might. We will listen very carefully to the recommendations made by Lord Justice Leveson before taking action.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Alex Cunningham

Thursday 16th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

11. What recent progress he has made on his consideration of News Corporation’s proposed acquisition of BSkyB.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

Following my announcement on 3 March, I am currently considering responses to the consultation on undertakings, and I will announce my decision when the process is complete.

[Alex Cunningham]

Has the Murdoch empire, with its alleged wholesale illegal activities, not shown itself clearly unfit for an even greater control of the British media?

[Mr Hunt]

This is an issue about media plurality. I am not legally allowed to consider any other issues, but phone hacking is incredibly serious. The police are following their investigations and they must follow them wherever they lead. If the hon. Gentleman is not convinced by me, he should perhaps be convinced by his own Front-Bench team, as the shadow Culture Secretary has also said that the serious admissions of culpability by News International are not relevant to the News Corp’s BSkyB media plurality issue.