Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Oliver Colvile

Tuesday 21st March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The formula is based on the better care fund formula, which is based on the spending power of local authorities. Let me tell the hon. Lady that, over the next year, that improved better care fund is going up by 35%, and Surrey’s allocation is going up by only 5%.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

T8. As the Secretary of State knows, I am the vice-chairman of the all-party group on pharmacy. Will he update the House on the progress of the decriminalisation of dispensing errors by pharmacists? What is the hitch?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Oliver Colvile

Tuesday 20th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Lady talks about council tax, but she does not call out Labour councils like Hillingdon, Hounslow, Merton and Stoke which complain about pressures in the social care system and then refuse to introduce the social care precept that could make a difference to their residents. We are taking the situation seriously. More was done this week and more will be done in future.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

T7. As my hon. Friend is aware, last week the Murray report was published. When is he likely to consider it, and when will he make a statement?

Junior Doctors Contract

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Oliver Colvile

Thursday 19th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We are, of course, willing to have those discussions with colleagues in other parts of the UK. The hon. Gentleman is right to say that having a seven-day service does not just involve junior doctors; it involves widespread changes across the service. I should say that nurses, healthcare assistants, porters, cleaners—other people who work in hospitals—already operate on 24/7 shifts, so the changes necessary to those contracts are much less profound than they are to some of the doctors contracts, which is why it is important that we change not just the junior doctors contract, but the consultants contract. The fact that we have been able to reach a negotiated agreement with the junior doctors bodes well for the consultants contract, which is the next step.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

I congratulate both my right hon. Friend and the Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer) on their hard work in dealing with this protracted dispute with the BMA. Patients up and down the country, including those in my constituency, were somewhat concerned about the cancellation of operations, and I am delighted that the Department is going to try to ensure that we catch up on that. One thing that came out of this dispute was that some senior consultants ended up getting on to the front line for the first time in a long time. What can be done to try to make sure that that happens on a regular basis, so that they are getting experience on the front line, too?

[Mr Hunt]

If I answer that question directly, I will dig myself into rather a deep hole. I echo my hon. Friend’s thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich, who has done an outstanding job by my side at every stage throughout this difficult period. I can certainly say that we would not have had yesterday’s agreement without his strong help and support at every stage. It is true that there are A&E departments across the country that, in having to plan for the two-day withdrawal of emergency care, found that having consultants more visible to patients had some positive impacts. I know that studies are going on to see what lessons can be learned from that going forward.

Junior Doctors Contracts

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Oliver Colvile

Monday 25th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend—the one Conservative who signed up to that proposal—when he was Health Minister proposed a contract that was much tougher on junior doctors than the contract we have ended up introducing. This has been a very interesting U-turn on his part.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

To take pressure off GPs, A&E units and junior doctors, may I urge my right hon. Friend to make full use of the pharmacy network and ensure that it can play its full part in a seven-day national health service?

[Mr Hunt]

No health statement would be complete without a mention by my hon. Friend of the important role that pharmacies can play in solving absolutely any problem that the NHS faces. Once again, I commend his excellent contribution.

Junior Doctors Contracts

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Oliver Colvile

Monday 18th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The difference between those of us on the Government side of the House and those on the Opposition side is that we do not have an ideological view about a trust wanting to offer some private treatment in order to benefit its NHS patients. That is what some trusts are doing, within very strict constraints. I think that most people know that all the scare stories that were put out about the Health and Social Care Bill in 2012 have not materialised. We are finding that trusts are being very sensible about making sure they get that balance right. Indeed, in certain circumstances it makes a big difference to improving NHS care.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

The key thing is looking after patient safety, so will my right hon. Friend consider changing the law so that hospitals such as Derriford hospital can make use of dedicated military doctors to fulfil that service if it is needed?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend always makes important suggestions that can benefit his constituency, and rightly so. I do not think that there is a need to change the law for that to happen; if military help were needed, I think the military would stand ready to offer it. At the moment, we are making contingency plans by drawing on the consultant workforce, who are not involved in industrial action, and our hope is that A&E departments throughout the country will be covered by that extra support.

Junior Doctors Contracts

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Oliver Colvile

Thursday 11th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We have no plans to do so, but I cannot be drawn any further, except to say that we do have to deliver our manifesto commitments. The specific issues that we have identified with respect to seven-day working relate to consultant and junior doctor presence, and that is what we are focused on putting right.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for the very clear way in which he has kept the House up to date on the progress of all this. It is very important not only that we free up beds in hospitals, most certainly at weekends, but that we should be making much greater use of our pharmacies to deliver better healthcare within the community. Will he explain how that might happen?

[Mr Hunt]

I believe my right hon. Friend the Minister of State is with the pharmacists now discussing that precise issue. My hon. Friend raises this issue regularly and rightly: pharmacists have a very important part in the future of the NHS.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Oliver Colvile

Tuesday 9th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

The only reason we do not have a solution on the junior doctors is the BMA saying in December that it would negotiate on the one outstanding issue—pay on Saturdays—but last month refusing to negotiate. If the BMA is prepared to negotiate and be flexible on that, so are we. It is noticeable that despite 3,000 cancelled operations, no one in the Labour party is condemning the strikes.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

T6. Will my right hon. Friend update us on the progress in decriminalising dispensing errors for pharmacists?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Oliver Colvile

Tuesday 17th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

Junior doctors are the backbone of the NHS. It is highly regrettable that their union has let them down by refusing to negotiate a new contract that will be fairer for doctors and safer for patients, and deliver the truly seven-day services we all want.

[Oliver Colvile]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer, but has he had an opportunity to speak to medical schools about the new contract for junior doctors, especially the Peninsula medical school in my Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport constituency?

[Mr Hunt]

NHS Employers has regular discussions with the Medical Schools Council, which represents the Peninsula medical school. Although the training of doctors is not the specific contractual dispute that is in the headlines, it is something on which we could make significant improvements. We want to use this opportunity to work with medical schools and the royal colleges to see whether we can bring back some of the continuity of training that used to be such an important feature of junior doctors’ training.