Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Tuesday 13th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his campaigning for Crawley hospital and pay tribute to staff at the hospital, which was rated “good” by the Care Quality Commission last year as part of the new inspection regime. He will welcome the fact that since 2010 the number of doctors at the hospital has increased by 97 and the number of nurses by 107. Of course, we will always consider ways to improve services for his constituents.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

22. The Home Secretary talked about the £2 billion he has put aside for the NHS, some £1.5 billion of which is for clinical commissioning groups and specialised commissioning. Why are more than 50 CCGs in the south of England to receive a 3.6% increase in funding to the detriment of the north, where my own CCG is to receive only 0.24%, which is below inflation and a pittance compared with the south?

[Mr Hunt]

These things are decided independently by NHS England, which made the decision on the basis of which CCGs were most off their target allocation and on social deprivation and the number of older people. I remind the hon. Gentleman that there are many older and vulnerable people in the south, too, and they need a fair settlement from the NHS. That is why the decision was made.

A and E (Major Incidents)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Wednesday 7th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

If the hon. Lady is making a criticism, I would ask her what she is going to do, because the shadow Chancellor confirmed this week that he will not find extra money for social care. I will tell her what we are doing. We are merging the social care and local NHS systems to try to stop people being pushed from pillar to post, and to give them the joined-up, compassionate, safe care that we think is an absolute priority. That is happening in Bolton—I have visited facilities in Bolton that are displaying excellent care—and we should support such efforts, not criticise them.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

In January 2013, I raised with the Health Secretary the incident in which an 84-year-old lady had to wait 11 hours for an ambulance. This Christmas, a 101-year-old lady had to wait six hours for an ambulance, and an 89-year-old pensioner also had to wait 11 hours for an ambulance. When do individual incidents of failure become a pattern, and is the Health Secretary himself an individual incident of failure?

[Mr Hunt]

I take huge interest in individual examples of where things have gone wrong, and that has informed a lot of my approach to the job. Just like A and E departments, when ambulance services get calls, they have to triage them and deal with the highest-priority calls quickest. The calls they get can sometimes be dealt with after a period of hours, but other calls are much more urgent. The important thing for ambulance services is to know that we are backing them with more paramedics, more investment and more ambulances, and that is what we are doing.

A and E and Ambulance Services

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Thursday 18th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to that issue. One issue that has been debated often in this House is the money we waste in the NHS on locum staff, who are much more expensive than full-time staff. One of the ways we can deal with that is through something I announced in my response to the extra money in the autumn statement on our long-term plan for the NHS, which is to give multi-year commissioning contracts and multi-year tariffs to trusts, so that they can have a longer-term horizon. Too often the planning horizon is just for the next year. Indeed, I think there is a discussion to be had about whether this winter pressures money we put in every year to help could be better integrated in NHS core budgets, as a way of making sure we get the best use of that money.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

North-East ambulance service is now the eighth out of 10 ambulance services to be moved to operational level 4 as a result of winter pressures—while temperatures are 12° C and above. In my area, the local hospital trust is £91 million in deficit and the Government have gone into a process of closing minor injuries units in Guisborough hospital and Brotton hospital and walk-in centres in Skelton and Park End. Does the Health Secretary believe any of those factors might be adding to winter pressures, or am I just scaremongering and being political?

[Mr Hunt]

If the hon. Gentleman looks at the facts, rather than being political, he will see that in his constituency there are more doctors and nurses and more front-line clinical staff than there were, and he will find that more people are getting operations and more people are being seen at A and E departments than when his party was in power. That is why, I am afraid, it is very political. I notice that on the day when the Labour party is saying that there is a big issue with winter pressures in the NHS, fewer than 10 Labour Back Benchers are present—fewer than 10; that is how seriously Labour is interested in this issue. Is it not really about the politics?

NHS (Five Year Forward View)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Monday 1st December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I think what the public find very perplexing about this is that the Labour party opposed reforms that mean we have 10,000 more doctors and nurses on the front line. Labour is now not welcoming additional financial investment in the NHS that means we will have even more doctors and nurses, and it does not recognise the fundamental point that affects the whole NHS, which is that, in employing those extra doctors and nurses, we have to back them with a culture of safety and compassionate care that we never saw under Labour.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

Our NHS is indeed reliant on a strong economy, but we should note that the UK’s state deficit is the worst in the European Union at the moment and our state debt has more than doubled since May 2010. Can I take it from the Secretary of State that I can go back to the constituents of Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland and tell them that their acute hospital trust will have its £91 million deficit removed; that its PFI, which was opened up in the Major years, will be dealt with properly; that Hemlington, Park End and Skelton medical centres will stay open: and that minor injuries units in Guisborough and Brotton will remain open?

[Mr Hunt]

I warmly congratulate the hon. Gentleman on being the first Labour Member to say in this House that a strong NHS needs a strong economy. May I encourage him to transmit that message to those on his Front Bench, and perhaps to the shadow Chancellor, who might then understand why people in the NHS are backing this Government because they know that we will deliver a strong economy? I do not know whether we can do all the things the hon. Gentleman talked about, but we will have a better chance with the fastest-growing economy in the G7.

Five Year Forward View

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Thursday 23rd October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I welcome the King James Bible reference. The independent Commonwealth Fund report that my right hon. Friend mentions contained one very startling fact, which Labour Members would do well to remember when they go on about the NHS—when they left office, we were seventh out of 11 countries on patient-centred care, whereas this year, now that we are in office, we came top. That is a huge improvement in patient-centred care. Under the new Care Quality Commission regime, his own hospital, John Radcliffe, got a “good” rating, which is an extremely impressive result.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

The ambulance trust in the north-east has quadrupled the use of private ambulances, increasing its costs, and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is in deficit. In my constituency, two urgent care wards and a minor injuries unit are to be closed. A medical centre in Skelton has been closed, a medical centre in Park End has been closed, and a medical centre in Hemlington is to be closed. Does the Secretary of State take any responsibility for any of these health services in my constituency or across England? Every single response we get from him, every single time, is that somebody else is to blame.

[Mr Hunt]

Not at all—I take full responsibility for the NHS. Given the pressures created by having nearly 1 million more over-65s than we had four years ago, and the fact that the Government have had to cope with the deepest recession since the second world war, I believe that the NHS is doing remarkably well, and this document gives it a blueprint for the future that we can all welcome.

Patient Safety

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Tuesday 24th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Yes, and I would like to thank my hon. Friend for her superb work in supporting Basildon and Thurrock hospital through a very difficult period. I think that the chief executive there, Clare Panniker, is an exemplary one. She wrote an article in The Guardian pointing out that it is incredibly painful for trusts when they go into special measures, that it causes a lot of pressure in the local media, but that it also means that change can be made much more quickly when an urgency to solve these problems, many of which have been around for years and years, is created. I commend the staff of that hospital not just for coming out of special measures but for being rated “good” by the chief inspector of hospitals—a fantastic achievement.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

Never mind the fact that this Government will not publish the risk register for a £3 billion top-down reorganisation; the Secretary of State and his Ministers will not meet me. If he wants to talk about accountability, why will he and his Ministers not meet me to talk about a minor injury unit in Guisborough being closed, a minor injuries unit in Brotton hospital being closed, a GP centre in Park End being closed and a walk-in and GP centre in Skelton being closed? All those units are in my constituency and they are all being closed, yet the Secretary of State and his Ministers will not meet me, which would represent genuine accountability.

[Mr Hunt]

Let me say to the hon. Gentleman that the accountability he talks about is precisely demonstrated by his ability to ask me questions right now as he has just done. He needs to be accountable and come clean with the House by saying that he has actually met my Ministers on a number of occasions on precisely the issues that he raised.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Tuesday 1st April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

The Francis report highlighted the importance of ward sisters in properly managing wards, so why has the number of band 8 nurses in the north-east fallen by 87 since the general election?

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

The number of nurses overall is up by 1,600 since the general election. Let me be absolutely clear that I do not believe in a system where the Secretary of State is micro-managing precisely how many nurses there are in every ward in every hospital in the country. Because we have protected funding that Labour wanted to cut, there are more doctors and more nurses than there were when it was in government.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Tuesday 14th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

At the excellent James Cook University hospital between 19 December and 1 January, 49 ambulances were delayed for more than 30 minutes, 168 beds were blocked and 82% of admitted patients had been treated within 18 weeks, rather than the Government target of 90%. Why does the Secretary of State think that that is the case?

[Mr Hunt]

Because there is sustained pressure throughout the NHS. Across the NHS, hospitals and ambulance services are doing very well in the circumstances. I am happy to look at the hon. Gentleman’s specific concerns to make sure that his local NHS trust is doing everything it should.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I absolutely agree. It is really important that we recognise those challenges in rural areas, and indeed semi-rural areas such as my constituency, where we have had similar issues. I can assure my hon. Friend that when we make structural changes, we take those issues closely into account.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

How many walk-in centres have been closed since May 2010?

[Mr Hunt]

I do not have the figure at my fingertips, but I will happily write to the hon. Gentleman.

Hospital Mortality Rates

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

That open relationship between hon. Members and their local NHS trusts is extremely important and useful. We all have to recognise that sometimes we have to speak up publicly when there are problems at our local NHS trust, because we have to represent our constituents, and that is part of the change due to this process. In the end, the most important thing is to give people confidence that, when there are problems, we are a Government who are committed to sorting them out.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

Page 22 of the Keogh report clearly states:

“Contrary to the pre-visit data, when the review teams visited the hospitals, they found frequent examples of inadequate numbers of nursing staff in some ward areas. The reported data did not provide a true picture of the numbers of staff actually working on the wards.”

It goes on to say that that

“was compounded by an over-reliance on unregistered staff and temporary staff”.

Given that the Government have sacked more than 1,000 people in front-line nursing roles in seven of the trusts involved, what conclusion does the Secretary of State draw from that paragraph?

[Mr Hunt]

It is funny how Labour Members like to accuse Government Members of making party political points, but then misrepresent the reality that there are 8,000 more clinical staff throughout the NHS than when their Government were in power.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Tuesday 11th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Sir Bruce is free to meet anyone he likes. Actually, he had a meeting with MPs last month, which the right hon. Lady could have attended if she had wanted to do so, and there was extensive engagement with local south-east London MPs before the decision on Lewisham hospital was made.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

8. How many accident and emergency departments he visited in an official capacity in winter 2012-13.

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

I regularly visit a range of services across the NHS. Since taking up post in September 2012, I have visited 28 NHS front-line services, including seven A and E departments.

[Tom Blenkinsop]

Will the Secretary of State confirm that a freedom of information request to the Department of Health revealed that he did not visit an A and E unit until April 2013, a full six months after his appointment and despite a clear A and E crisis over the winter-spring period under his supervision?

[Mr Hunt]

As ever, the Labour party is being selective in its use of information. As I have said, I visited seven A and E departments, including over the Easter period when we had some severe A and E pressures that I wanted to investigate for myself. Let me tell the hon. Gentleman about another thing that this Government have done that his Government never did: it is not just Ministers who are going out on to the front line; we have asked all our civil servants to go on to the front line for up to four weeks. I am extremely proud that my Department will be the first to connect with the front line in that way, and am even prouder of the response from my own civil servants, who embraced the scheme with great enthusiasm.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her determined campaigning on this issue. She will agree that we must allow the law to follow its course. The police are looking at the five reports on hospital safety that were undertaken, the inquests and the lists of patients who appear to have been treated badly, and they are talking to the relatives of those patients. We must allow them to do their work, but no one is above the law, and particularly in this case it is important that justice be done.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

T10. With the Department of Health having awarded Cleveland fire brigade £198,000 from its social enterprise investment fund, will the Minister confirm, pursuant to concerns raised by the Fire Industry Association, that his Department undertook an assessment as to the compliance with the European state aid regulations of the state’s funding of community interest companies that compete to take business away from the private sector?

A and E Departments

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Tuesday 21st May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. I commend him for the extremely responsible and committed way in which he has been keeping an eye on what is happening in his local hospital. He is absolutely right to suggest that, before implementing any big reconfiguration, we need to be certain that what we are doing will improve patient care and not damage it. I will continue to ensure that that is the case.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

We know that walk-in centres alleviate the pressure on A and Es. How many walk-in centres have shut since May 2010?

[Mr Hunt]

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that many more walk-in centres would be shut if we had to cut the NHS budget, which is what the Labour party wants to do.

NHS Commissioning Board (Mandate)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Tuesday 13th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

That is a very important question. We are going to avoid that because I will not be signing any big national IT contracts. The initiative will be locally led and locally driven. Guidelines will be laid down to make sure that all the systems developed in different parts of the country are inter-operable. That is very important, but we will not have any grand plans nor will there be a big single database, so we can thereby avoid some of the problems. We must none the less be prepared to grasp what technology changes can mean for the NHS, just as they do for the rest of society.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

On 23 October I raised with the Secretary of State unacceptable delays of two and a half hours for the transfer of patients from ambulances to James Cook University hospital accident and emergency in Middlesbrough on 27 September. Last Thursday night for one hour and last Friday morning for one hour, owing to bed pressures, patients in ambulances were diverted from James Cook to North Tees hospital, and 14 planned operations were cancelled the same Friday and the following Saturday. Is not the mandate completely dependent on whether the Secretary of State is in control of the remit of his Department?

[Mr Hunt]

The mandate makes it clear that waiting times targets must be met. That is a very important part of the mandate. I continue to be extremely concerned by what the hon. Gentleman tells me about what is happening in his constituency, and I look to his local NHS to come up with a sustainable, rapid solution.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Tuesday 23rd October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: that is a mendacious scare story that is being put out on the ground. Real-terms spending on the NHS has increased across the country, which has not been possible across all Government Departments. Because of that, we are able to invest more in patient care, cancer drugs, doctors and facilities across the country, and indeed in Kettering.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

2. How many patients waited longer than half an hour in an ambulance to be transferred to accident and emergency in each year since 2009-10.

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

The Department’s records date back to 2010-11. The number of ambulance handovers delayed by longer than half an hour was 63,892 between 1 November 2010 and 24 February 2011 and 77,543 between 1 November 2011 and l March 2012.

[Tom Blenkinsop]

On 27 September, patients and paramedics were left waiting outside James Cook university hospital in Middlesbrough for two and a half hours before being handed over. Dr Clifford of the college of emergency medicine described such delays as being due to an unacceptable mismatch in demand and supply. Does the Secretary of State agree with Dr Clifford, and what steps will he take to ensure that those problems do not recur for my constituents?

[Mr Hunt]

I am extremely concerned about what happened on 27 September. I can confirm to the hon. Gentleman that all the red 1 calls on that day were met within the target time of eight minutes, but the delays were completely unacceptable. I know that the trust is taking measures to ensure that the problems are not repeated, particularly looking forward to the winter time when there is likely to be extra pressure on ambulance services. I will follow the matter very closely, and I expect the trust to come up with measures to ensure that his constituents are properly safeguarded.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Tom Blenkinsop

Monday 26th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am very happy to praise the work of that organisation, which I visited with my hon. Friend before the election. I can personally attest to what a brilliant job it is doing. I think that it involves more than 50,000 young people every year across four London boroughs, and it has a brilliant role to play. I hope that restoring the lottery to its original four pillars as one of my first acts as Secretary of State will make more funds available for such projects and for their important work.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

T4. Guisborough and Skinningrove in my constituency suffer from bad TV reception, and certain channels are unobtainable. Both areas are served by relay transmitters rather than masts. Will the Minister confirm the date for digital switchover in both communities, and provide details of the funding of the switchover? Will he also give me a guarantee that the residents of those areas will be able to receive all Freeview channels once the process is complete?