Sri Lanka

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Paula Sherriff

Tuesday 23rd April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am very happy to do that. There is a very large Tamil Christian community in Sri Lanka. The important work that has happened over the last decade to achieve reconciliation between Tamils and Sinhalese also needs to be about religious reconciliation and religious tolerance.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

Undoubtedly, questions will need to be answered and lessons will need to be learned, but today is not the day for that. Will the Foreign Secretary therefore reassure the House that the UK stands ready to help Sri Lanka with whatever it needs? Furthermore, does he agree that the world, and not just Sri Lanka, may need to reflect on the learnings that come out of any investigation, particularly when it comes to the persecution of faiths?

[Mr Hunt]

I am happy to give the hon. Lady that undertaking. I think a number of hard lessons will need to be learned about what happened, not least because it does seem, from statements that the Sri Lankan Government have given, that there was some intelligence forewarning of these attacks, although we do not yet know whether that meant that they could have been prevented.

However, we are also keen to understand broader issues around freedom of religious belief. My own view is that the issue has been talked about a lot in the United States but not so much in Europe, and it is important that we have our perspective on it, which might be different from the perspective in the United States. That is absolutely our intention.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Paula Sherriff

Tuesday 6th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I will happily do so.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

Research by the Children’s Commissioner revealed that the spend on children and young people’s mental health services varied by CCG from 0.2% to 9%, resulting in services in some areas being described as “shockingly poor”. Can the Secretary of State therefore explain the reason for the variation, and will he commit today to matching Labour’s pledge to increase the proportion of the mental health budget spend on CAMHS services?

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Lady is right to shine a light on that variation, and that is why this Government have introduced Ofsted ratings for all CCGs—to make sure that we understand. It is not just in children and young people’s mental health, but in all mental health where we see that variation. Specifically when it comes to children and young people’s mental health, she will be pleased to know that last year overall spending went up by 20%, and the Green Paper that we published announced an additional £300 million in investment.

NHS Winter Crisis

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Paula Sherriff

Wednesday 10th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I want to make some progress before I give way again.

A very important point that we have not talked about much in this debate, although it is extremely relevant to people on the NHS frontline, is flu. This year, we have had a much bigger spike in the number of flu cases than at any time since the winter of 2009, but we also have in this country the most comprehensive flu vaccination programme in Europe. This year, for the first time, it was made available to those who are eight years and under and to care home staff. As a result, a million more people have been vaccinated for flu this year than in the year before. Uptake among NHS staff is at 59.3%, which is its highest ever level.

I say that because while the shadow Secretary of State tries to make the case that no preparations were made, the reality is that the NHS could not have been working harder to prepare for this winter. The result of those preparations is that A&E performance, having declined for six years in a row, last year stabilised for the first time, according to the latest verified data. In the week after Christmas, compared with the year before, we had fewer A&E diverts and more calls to NHS 111. Many Members have talked about trolley waits. It is totally unacceptable for people to be left on a trolley for a long time, but November’s figures, which are the latest verified figures, showed that the number of trolley waits had fallen by three quarters compared with the previous November, so a huge amount has been happening.

[Paula Sherriff]

Does the right hon. Gentleman think that patients being treated in cleaning cupboards and six patients in four-bed bays without lockers, curtains or call bells are signs of good preparation for the winter crisis?

[Mr Hunt]

That is completely unacceptable, but it is disappointing that the hon. Lady stands up and runs down the NHS when her own trust, which received £3.4 million before Christmas to help with winter, has managed to improve its performance: last November’s figure was 91.8% compared with 77.7% a year earlier. That is a huge achievement for Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust. Why will she not praise what is happening, rather than running the NHS down?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Paula Sherriff

Tuesday 14th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. We have no plans for legislative changes, but we do want to see closer working between NHS Improvement and NHS England on the ground, so that people working in constituencies and areas such as his get only one set of instructions. We are making good progress.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

T7. I have repeatedly asked the Secretary of State, and I ask him yet again, whether he will visit my area to see for himself the damaging impacts that the downgrades and closures of local hospital services in Dewsbury and Huddersfield will have on my constituents.

[Mr Hunt]

I am very happy to accept the hon. Lady’s invitation to visit her area, which I will do, but what I know I will see when I go there is that 8,300 more people are being treated within four hours at her local hospital, where there are 42 more doctors and 56 more nurses than in 2010.