NHS Major Incidents

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

Wednesday 28th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I totally agree with the right hon. Gentleman. I am sure, too, that he will agree with me that the best way to give the NHS certainty over funding in the future and the increase in funding that it needs to implement the five-year forward view is a strong economy, and it is only this Government who are able to deliver that.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

According to some statistics, I have more medics per square mile in my constituency than any other MP. I also have the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust on my patch and a lot of people who work across the west midlands and in Birmingham. The Secretary of State’s operational guidance, as he has interpreted it, is not perceived in the way that he thinks it is. A and E consultants tell me that they are not just overworked and overstretched, but unsafe. If he thinks the guidance is purely operational without any political interference, will he follow the call of the shadow Secretary of State and say that he will issue a new set of guidance that makes that clear, because it is not how it is seen on the ground?

[Mr Hunt]

I have great respect for the hon. Lady, so I hope she will understand this: when people are worried about political influence over operational guidance, I do not then issue some political guidance. The only thing that I, as Health Secretary, say in respect of instructions going out is that patient safety must always be the priority, and that is what I have said time after time. But then the actual decision about whether to declare a major incident must be taken by people locally. Julie Moore, the chief executive of UHB, is fantastic and absolutely able to make those decisions, and those decisions should not be second-guessed by politicians.

A and E (Major Incidents)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

Wednesday 7th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

May I congratulate my hon. Friend on the shining example he gives to everyone in this House by being a first responder? I do agree that one thing that we could do in the next year is to integrate better what happens in the ambulance services, out-of-hours GP services and 111. Individually, they are all doing a good job, but they could do a much better job if what they did was integrated.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

Facts are important in this debate. There is now good evidence to show that overcrowding in emergency departments increases mortality and length of stay. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the figures for hospitals are available in the House of Commons on a monthly basis, so that we can correlate spikes following emergencies with what happens to mortality rates? If mortalities increase, the problem is even more serious than we think it is.

[Mr Hunt]

I agree with the hon. Lady. It is critical that we look at the data carefully. I will see whether the data on mortality rates are available on a monthly basis. I will be as interested as she is to see it.

UK Ebola Preparedness

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

Monday 5th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I can reassure my hon. Friend that my right hon. Friend the International Development Secretary has spoken to the President of Sierra Leone about that very issue. One of the big learning points from the relative success of Nigeria, which we discussed earlier, in combating Ebola compared with Sierra Leone has been about the strength of the local health system. One particular challenge is that the entire health system in Sierra Leone is now focused on Ebola, raising the risk of other diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV, killing more people even than Ebola. Strong local health care systems are an important long-term insurance policy to ensure that countries can deal with infectious diseases.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

We are still learning about Ebola and the efficacy of the screening processes. What discussions has the Secretary of State had with other European countries, particularly European Health Ministers, to share best practice, exchange what we have learned and ensure a comprehensive approach?

[Mr Hunt]

I have spoken to several European Health Ministers, and the Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Jane Ellison), who has responsibility for public health, is in regular touch with them about the international effort. The hon. Lady is right that no one country can solve this on its own, and we collaborate well with others—perhaps most closely with the French, who have taken responsibility for the fight against Ebola in Guinea.

Ebola

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

Monday 13th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. I am sure that those arrangements are already in place, but I will ensure that they are. Yes, we are in touch with colleagues in other countries. It is important to say that there are only a very few direct flights to Europe from the affected region, and indeed there are none to the UK. At the moment, it is possible to be fairly confident that we will reach the vast majority of people who come from those affected areas. But part of what I am trying to convey in this afternoon’s statement is that the risk level could change—for example, there could be a breakdown in public order in the affected countries—which is why we need to be prepared for a much more porous situation, with people coming from many different points of entry.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

Is the Secretary of State talking to our universities, as a number of them must have overseas students from west Africa returning for their studies in October? Is he focusing on them in particular, and what provisions are we making to cater for them?

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Lady makes a very important point. Clearly, it is important that anyone who comes from those countries, whether a student or a visitor, is treated with the same screening and monitoring process. Screening and monitoring people simply on the basis of their passport would not work. There will be people who have indefinite leave to remain in the UK but who have a Sierra Leonean passport, and it would not be appropriate to put them through that process. It is most important that we have a system in place in which we can check and find out who has been to the Ebola-affected areas in the past three weeks, so that we can give them help if they need it.

NHS Investigations (Jimmy Savile)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

Thursday 26th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am absolutely happy to do that. I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend’s comments. The NHS needs to move to a system where it is the norm rather than the exception to report, and where NHS staff feel comfortable that reporting any concerns is an absolutely normal part of their job. She is right to say that one of the most disturbing things in the reports is the clear evidence that some people helped Savile in what he did—for example, that people were escorted to his private room in Broadmoor—which is very shocking. That is why it is very important that everyone is vigilant. I totally agree with what she said.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

The only people who emerge with any credit are the victims, and we need to support them. However, I was slightly stung by the Secretary of State’s comment about the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke). If the right hon. and learned Gentleman thought that the actions of the Minister—it was Edwina Currie, if I remember rightly—were inappropriate then, as they would be now, will he apologise for his stewardship of the Department at the time, or will the Secretary of State look at the Minister’s conduct and come back to the House to explain how it was possible?

[Mr Hunt]

I hope that I have gone some way to meet the hon. Lady’s concerns because, on behalf of the Government and the NHS, I have offered a full apology to all the victims for what happened, and I have accepted that there were failures at many levels. It is very important to say that the reports show that there was no evidence that Ministers or officials were aware of any sexual abuse by Savile. I pointed to the comments by my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe because I wanted to make it clear that this Government are not defending actions which, as he has said, were indefensible then and would be indefensible now.

Hospital Mortality Rates

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend’s hospital had excess mortality rates for five of the nine years leading up to 2010 and not enough action was taken, and that is what today is all about. I hope that what his constituents will take from today is that this Government are committed to turning around failing hospitals and putting in place the right leadership, and the reassurance that when their loved ones go to Queen’s hospital or anywhere else in the country, they can get the kind of care they would want for themselves.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

May I say to the Secretary of State that there is a tone and a language that we should choose to employ for candid conversations about failure and it saddens me that he did not find that language today, because it will not do us any good? The Francis report recommended a duty of candour. Will he update the House as to just how much progress he has made on that?

[Mr Hunt]

Yes, I can. We have accepted the recommendation that there should be a duty of candour on the boards of hospitals, with criminal sanctions if they fail to tell members of the public that they or their loved ones have been harmed by the hospital, and if they fail to tell the system that those incidents have happened. We have commissioned a review of safety by Sir Don Berwick, one of the greatest experts in the world, and we shall ask him whether we should extend that duty of candour to below board level. We shall wait to hear what he says. We understand the reasons why people might want to do that, but we are also aware that others have expressed the concern that it might destroy an atmosphere of trust in a hospital if people were worried about criminal consequences if they did not talk about any failures they saw in their daily work.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

Tuesday 26th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My right hon. Friend makes an important point. The thing about complaints procedures is that we must have a system that is not about process and whether there is a response to a complaint in three days. The question is whether a hospital looks at and learns from a complaints procedure and changes its behaviour. That is what the right hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Ann Clwyd) and Professor Tricia Hart are looking into. Hospitals will be inspected against best practice to try to encourage as many of them as possible to adopt the very best complaints procedures.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State has announced that he will consult on a barring scheme to prevent managers who are found guilty of gross misconduct from finding a job in another part of the system. To how many managers of Mid Staffordshire would he expect that to apply?

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Lady will know that, when it comes to individuals—appalled as I am, and as appalled as all hon. Members are, by what happened at Mid Staffs—I must try not to prejudge due process. If we are to bar people from employment, we must have a fair process and system and a right of appeal, which is required under our law anyway. However, I would not expect any manager responsible for the kind of things that happened at Mid Staffs to be able to get a job in the health service ever again.