Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Jason McCartney

Tuesday 21st March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

On the contrary, we have not abandoned the 95% target—we have reiterated its importance. There is, however, one part of the United Kingdom that has said it wants to move away from the 95% target—Wales. The Welsh Health Minister said last week:

“You can go to A&E and be there five hours but have…a good experience.”

That is not looking after patients; it is giving up on them.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

On this important issue of A&Es, does the Secretary of State agree that it makes no sense at all for my local clinical commissioning group to be bringing forward a business case to spend an extra £300 million on bulldozing Huddersfield royal infirmary and downgrading our A&E?

[Mr Hunt]

I recognise the very strong arguments my hon. Friend makes and the strong campaigning he does on behalf of his constituents. We are waiting for the final recommendations to come from his local CCG, but I agree that too often we have closed beds in the NHS when we do not have alternative capacity in the community, and we need to be very careful not to repeat that mistake.

Mental Health and NHS Performance

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Jason McCartney

Monday 9th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Lady raises a very important issue. Like her, I have had constituents who found it difficult to access educational psychologists and they have not been able to get approval for the plan that they need. We will consider these issues in the build-up to the Green Paper, and I encourage the hon. Lady to participate in that process.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

Will the Health Secretary please get the message out there loud and clear to health bosses up and down the country that we need more capacity in our A&Es, so that when my CCG goes to NHS England with a request for £285 million for its appalling plan to downgrade my local A&E, bulldoze Huddersfield royal infirmary and replace it with a small planned care unit with fewer beds, it will realise that that money would be better spent on frontline A&E care in one of the country’s biggest towns.

[Mr Hunt]

I take seriously, of course, everything my hon. Friend says. I will say that the NHS does not always get these things right. I led a campaign against an A&E closure in my constituency when I was a Back Bencher—[Interruption]—and the Labour party was in power and about to take a wholly mistaken decision, which I was luckily able to persuade the Government not to take in the interests of my constituents. We will look carefully into these issues. On the broader point that my hon. Friend makes, we have to understand across the NHS that capacity matters, but in the long run, we will not solve the problem solely by increasing capacity in A&Es for ever. We need alternative forms of provision. Demand is growing, so we need to find different ways to offer treatment to people who do not need to be in an A&E. That is what we are exploring.

NHS Funding

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Jason McCartney

Monday 31st October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I do not think the hon. Gentleman was listening to my statement, which said clearly that the NHS is under unbelievable pressure. It does not really work for the Labour party to campaign for increases in the minimum wage, which we read about today, and then to criticise the increasing costs in the adult social care system caused by the national living wage that was introduced by this Government.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State look at splitting the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, so that the disastrous PFI deal at Halifax, where we will pay £700 million for a hospital that cost £64 million, will stop dictating the closure and downgrading of services at Huddersfield?

[Mr Hunt]

I salute my hon. Friend for the campaign he is leading at the moment, standing up for his constituents. He is right to point to PFI as one of the principal causes, and we now have to find a way to deal with that issue in a way that improves and does not detract from the quality of care offered to the people he represents.

NHS: Learning from Mistakes

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Jason McCartney

Wednesday 9th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for her support for Jonnie’s parents. This is a very sad case. The independent investigator in the case talked about the closed culture he encountered at two different trusts. Indeed, that is a very good example of the change in culture we need. I have worked with them. I hope we can secure a second inquest into Jonnie’s death, so we can get to the truth. I am afraid it will be too late, but we want to get there eventually.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

As the Secretary of State is aware, my local clinical commissioning group starts a 14-week consultation next Wednesday on proposals to downgrade A&E at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. Does he agree that patient safety must be the priority in those decisions, not the ruinous PFI deal signed by Halifax hospital in 1998, which is the backdrop to these appalling plans?

[Mr Hunt]

No one fights harder for his constituents on healthcare matters than my hon. Friend, and I commend him for that. The process he talks about will be led by clinicians. He is absolutely right that patient safety must be of paramount importance.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Jason McCartney

Tuesday 7th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Lady is right to draw attention to this tragedy, and we will be bringing our plans forward to the House shortly.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

When will the Secretary of State be making a full statement in response to the Penrose inquiry into those affected by contaminated blood?

[Mr Hunt]

As I have just said, we will bring our plans to the House very shortly.