Type 1 Diabetes (Young People)

Debate between Jim Shannon and Dan Poulter

Wednesday 30th April 2014 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr Daniel Poulter)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the second time this week, the first time being during the Defence Committee sitting yesterday.

I pay tribute to the right hon. Member for Knowsley (Mr Howarth) for securing the debate and for his articulate and reasoned contribution to it, and for his passionate advocacy of the needs of people with type 1 diabetes. He has family experience of these issues that will have strongly informed his understanding of them. The balanced, perceptive way that he approached the debate, raising important issues, particularly about tariff-setting, which is in my view the strongest and best way to drive up the quality of care available for patients with type 1 diabetes, is of great credit to him and helped set the tone for a consensual debate. It is also a pleasure to respond to the right hon. Gentleman formally, because he responded to my maiden speech when I was first accepted into the House. He was kind to me then and I hope that my response will do this debate justice and will bring some comfort to hon. Members who have raised concerns.

I also pay tribute to hon. Members’ contributions to the debate. As always, the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) makes important points about how, although we have devolved health systems, we need to learn lessons from best practice throughout England and Northern Ireland. It is important, even in a devolved health system, that we work collaboratively together to improve standards of care. I will try to deal with points raised in the contributions from the right hon. Member for Tynemouth (Mr Campbell) and the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas).

My hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mark Field) eloquently outlined for all of us what this means on a day-to-day basis for a young person with type 1 diabetes. In many respects, that sets out the challenge for our health service: working together with the education sector and with other parts of our health and care system, it needs to help improve the day-to-day quality of life for people with type 1 diabetes. My hon. Friend the Member for Torbay (Mr Sanders) made a similar point. My hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North (Caroline Nokes) raised the importance of research funding. I will address those points later in my remarks.

As we have heard, type 1 diabetes has a potentially devastating effect on children’s health. Poor diabetic control for children increases their risk of developing long-term complications over the course of their lives—we have heard about renal complications, diabetic retinopathy and the consequences of diabetes-related peripheral neuropathy. Such consequences are potentially life changing, and so it is important that we do all that we can to address them and to support people with type 1 diabetes. It is a question not just of early diagnosis but of the right care and support in the secondary care setting, in primary care and in the community, to give better support to people with the condition so that they can stay well and be properly looked after. That is a challenge that we face in all aspects of the care that we provide to young people.

The children and young people’s health outcomes forum, which was set up by my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), highlighted a number of challenges faced by children with long-term conditions such as diabetes and by their families. It is worth highlighting two or three. The first was that there are poor arrangements for transition to adulthood—that has been highlighted throughout our debate. Secondly, there is a need for better integration of care, with co-ordination around the patient—the child or young person. We need a comprehensive, multidisciplinary team approach to care, with a much greater emphasis on better support for young people in the community and in their own homes. There also needs to be much speedier diagnosis of long-term conditions in young people, including asthma, diabetes and epilepsy.

The NHS atlas of variation has identified an unacceptable variation between different areas, a point raised by the shadow Minister. That is clearly unacceptable to us all. There is variation in the quality of management of children’s diabetes, and in the number of children with previously diagnosed diabetes admitted to hospital for diabetic ketoacidosis. We all know, then, that we have some way to go on improving the care of children and young people with diabetes. I hope my remarks will be able to give some reassurance that we are now firmly on the right track, particularly with our best practice tariff.

[Jim Shannon]

In my contribution I outlined the diabetes strategy that was in place for the 10 years up to 2013. I have asked Ministers about that issue a number of times and am keen to see a continuing initiative for a UK-wide strategy. Will the Minister give us an idea of his intentions in that regard? That strategy could address regional variations.

[Dr Poulter]

As I mentioned earlier, it is important that we learn from good practice, not just in the UK but elsewhere. A key driver of improving practice is clinical audit of the quality of services delivered. Outcomes for people with diabetes in England will also be assessed by the national diabetes audit, which includes a core audit, the national in-patient diabetes audit, a diabetes pregnancy audit, the national patient experience of diabetes services survey and the national diabetes foot audit, which is due to be launched this summer. Having that high quality comparative data, gathered through clinical audit from different care settings across the UK, will help us to understand where services are and are not delivered well. Audits in particular care settings always make recommendations for improvement, and the following year there is another audit. Exposing where care is good or not so good and putting in place plans for improvement on the ground will be a big step forward. At a national level, we can then look at which improvement plans have worked and which have been less successful. That learning is a good way of driving up standards and can be shared with Northern Ireland and other devolved parts of the United Kingdom, and indeed on an international basis. I believe that in this country we are historically good at collecting data. The purpose of national audits is to drive up standards of care, which is why NHS England is putting many more national audits in place throughout the health service. We will be able to compare what is done in different care settings, learn where care needs to be better and drive up standards throughout our health service.

We all understand the importance of the integration of mental health care and diabetes care for the young people who have serious health issues resulting from that combination of issues, which puts them at high risk of complications and premature death. The Government are investing £54 million over four years to enhance the children and young people’s improving access to psychological therapies—CYP IAPT—programme. That programme is helping to transform services through training in evidence-based therapies to support children and young people with a range of mental health issues. I am sure we all support that programme and want to see it expanded further.

I am glad to say that investment in type 1 diabetes research by the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research has risen from more than £5.8 million in 2011-12 to more than £6.5 million in 2012-13. The National Institute for Health Research is funding a £1.5 million trial focusing on children and young people with type 1 diabetes, which is comparing outcomes for patients treated with multiple daily insulin injections to outcomes for those using pumps, one year and five years after diagnosis. The report of the trial is due to be published in a few months. When we are looking at how best to support people with type 1 diabetes in leading as normal a life as possible, whether that be in education or in the workplace, it is important that we understand which interventions and methods of support work best. I am sure that that research will put us in a much better place on that.

Care Bill [Lords]

Debate between Jim Shannon and Dan Poulter

Tuesday 11th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Jim Shannon]

That is the issue, summed up in a couple of sentences. The Minister may look to his civil servants for some direction; he may have it already. If so, that is good news.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr Daniel Poulter)]

May I reiterate what I said many times in my opening remarks, which I hope will be helpful to the hon. Gentleman? Clear safeguards are being put in place to ensure that the data cannot be used for insurance purposes. I give that reassurance again today.

[Jim Shannon]

Earlier I referred to Macmillan and to Cancer Research UK who, even today, are not convinced. We make these points on behalf of our constituents and the groups that lobby us.

Care Bill [Lords]

Debate between Jim Shannon and Dan Poulter

Monday 10th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Dr Poulter]

I have not said anything controversial yet, so if the hon. Gentleman will let me make some progress, I will happily give way later.

To realise the huge potential of health care data, patients and professionals must have absolute trust in the way that the data will be protected and used, together with an understanding of why collecting the data on such a scale is important. I absolutely understand that many people have concerns about how the process might work, but I am confident that the Government amendments will bring further reassurance to the House about the care.data programme.

The Government fully support NHS England’s decision to delay the start of the care.data programme so that more work can be done to build understanding and confidence. NHS England will be leading that work. In parallel, having listened to key stakeholders and to discussions in this place, the Government have brought forward a package of measures, including amendments to the Bill, to respond to concerns and to give the public greater clarity and reassurance that their data are safe.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012, which established the Health and Social Care Information Centre, introduced a raft of safeguards to balance the huge benefits that linking health and care data can bring. That offered people greater protection than was previously available. It is worth highlighting some sections of the 2012 Act as examples of that.

Under section 260, the Health and Social Care Information Centre must not publish the information that it obtains in a form that would enable an individual, other than a provider of care, to be identified. Similarly, under section 261, the HSCIC cannot disseminate share data that could be used to identify an individual, other than a provider of care, except when there is another legal basis for doing so, which could happen in the event of a civil emergency or public health emergency, such as a flu pandemic. Under section 263, the HSCIC must publish a code of practice that makes it clear how it and others should handle confidential data. Under section 264, the HSCIC must be open and transparent about the data it obtains by publishing a register with descriptions of the information. Indeed, the HSCIC is currently working to ensure that it is transparent about all the data it has released to others.

Moreover, the Government have made the commitment that if someone has concerns about data being used in this way, they can ask their general practice to note their objection and opt out of the system. Following that, no identifiable data about them will flow from their GP record to the HSCIC. Directions to the HSCIC under section 254 of the 2012 Act—separate from the amendments that the House is considering—will ensure that that commitment to patients has legal force.

We are going further than that. Having listened to key stakeholders and to discussions in Parliament, we have a further package of measures that, in parallel with NHS England’s further engagement activity, will respond to the concerns that we have heard and give the public additional reassurance that their data are safe. Of course, aggregated and anonymised data, which cannot be used to identify any individual person, should and will be made generally available. Indeed, a great deal of research relies on data of this type, where researchers do not need to see any data at the individual person level. Such aggregated and anonymous data are available now, and were available previously through the predecessor body to the HSCIC.

New clause 34 sets out a number of changes to the 2012 Act which, taken together, clarify when the HSCIC can and cannot release data. The new clause expressly prevents the HSCIC from using its general dissemination power where there is not a clear health care, adult social care or health promotion purpose—for example, for commercial insurance purposes. I am happy to confirm that the new clause enables anonymised information to be disseminated under the HSCIC’s general dissemination power for a wide range of health and care-related purposes, including for commissioning for a wide range of public health purposes and for research relating to health and care services such as the epidemiological research that is needed at the earliest stages of developing new treatments.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Can the Minister reassure us that there will be no possibility of private companies obtaining the data and using them for their own purposes, instead of their being used for their original purposes in accordance with NHS data protection regulations?

[Dr Poulter]

I hope that I have already given the hon. Gentleman some reassurance that the data will have to be used for the benefit of the health and care service, or for the purposes of public health. They are not to be used for insurance purposes, for example. I will go on to outline some of the safeguards involved.

Pharmacies and the NHS

Debate between Jim Shannon and Dan Poulter

Wednesday 20th November 2013 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr Daniel Poulter)]

We have had a wide-ranging debate today on issues such as the deregulation and regulation of pharmacies, the local provision of pharmaceutical services and the extension of the role of pharmacists and what they do in our communities. Importantly, we have also discussed pricing and behaviour that, if not fraudulent, is certainly very irregular on behalf of some pharmacists and drugs companies. I hope that I will have time to deal with all those issues, but I will write in more detail to any Member here today who feels that more points need to be answered.

Before I go any further, may I say that it is a pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairmanship, Dr McCrea? We took part in many sittings together when the Health and Social Care Act 2012 was considered in Committee, and it is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer), my constituency neighbour, on securing today’s debate. It is important to recognise that our NHS is not only about doctors and nurses, but about midwives, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, heath care assistants and all the other people who contribute to the health of the nation every day, including pharmacists, who play an increasingly important role in delivering high-quality local health care and who are embracing the enhanced role that they have been offered under the 2012 Act. It is right that we put on record our thanks for the work that pharmacists do every day.

The right hon. Member for Rother Valley (Mr Barron), in an excellent, considered speech, made some very good points. In particular, he said that community pharmacists are the face of our NHS in many communities. He is absolutely right in saying that because, particularly in more deprived areas of the country, pharmacists are often the first point of call for advice—whether on simple details about medications or for important primary health care advice. Pharmacists perform that role every day. We should be grateful to them for what they do, and I put on record my thanks for that work.

It is important to put on record that pharmacies are in robust health. Although we debate deregulation and difficulties, we know that there are more NHS community pharmacies than ever before—more than 11,400 in England—and they are offering health care, treatment and healthy lifestyle advice and support throughout the country. They dispensed more than 900 million prescription items last year, which is up 53% from 10 years ago, and about 2 million prescriptions are handed out every day by pharmacists. Therefore, we have an industry, as part of our NHS and in its commercial activities and other work, that is in robust health and is performing a valuable service for our NHS.

Of course, we could get into the issues that the right hon. Gentleman rightly raised on the appropriateness of prescribing medication. The chief medical officer talked in some detail in a report about the need for GPs to look sometimes at the appropriateness of the antibiotics that they prescribe and about how we need to look at antimicrobial resistance in this country. The right hon. Gentleman made his points very well, but I hope that he will forgive the fact that I shall not address them directly in today’s remarks. However, he was right to make them and the chief medical officer certainly agrees with him, as do I.

I shall deal with other points that have been made, but initially, I would like to address the important points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich. We rightly value the innovation and the opportunities that pharmacists have to innovate and support their local communities in different ways. Because they are centred in the community, only pharmacists are able to use such methods. I had the pleasure of attending the annual pharmacy awards and looking at some of those ways. I saw pharmacies, embedded in local communities, making a real difference in providing health and lifestyle advice and improving the quality of care available to local patients.

At the same time, although we want to encourage and support innovation—the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme, or the PPRS, was recently renegotiated and enhanced to give pharmacists the opportunity to innovate exactly as I have described—we also need to recognise that we have a publicly funded national health service, which is a point that has been made across the Chamber today, and we are very proud of it. It is free at the point of need, and it is important to ensure that the money that is given to the health service, whether to pharmacies or to other parts of the NHS, is properly spent, and there is also a role in ensuring that services are provided in a safe and effective way. I shall come on to some of those points later.

My hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile) has been a consistently strong advocate for the role of pharmacists, and he made his points very well today. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) also made a useful and powerful contribution, which was picked up by the hon. Member for Copeland (Mr Reed) a few moments ago, about the importance of ensuring that there is no fraud in the system and that pharmacists always behave appropriately. I am sure that the majority of the time pharmacists behave appropriately and make a very valuable contribution. When there may be fraudulent behaviour, it is right to pick up on that and investigate it. I will come back to that in a moment, because we all want to see high value for money from our NHS and to make sure that the money is spent on patients and not wasted. I think that that is something that we all agree with and believe in across the House.

I turn to the important issue of pricing. The vast majority of drugs that are prescribed are either covered by the PPRS or are generics, where competition helps to keep the price down. We recently introduced a price for common specialists, but a small number of prescriptions, as has been mentioned in the debate, fall outside the pricing mechanisms that are in place. We are working with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee to find a better mechanism to encourage pharmacists to seek lower prices.

Where there may be cases of fraud, it is right that we investigate them, and they are investigated. NHS Protect exists to safeguard—to protect—against fraud in the NHS. That has been a consistent policy; it was followed by the previous Government, and it has been followed by the current Government. The reason why we need services such as NHS Protect is to ensure that if there is fraudulent practice—in this case, potentially in the behaviour of a small number of pharmacists in dealing with small, unique areas of pricing—it is investigated properly. I will ensure that either I or Earl Howe, who is the Minister responsible, writes to the hon. Member for Copeland to inform him of where we have got to with the investigation.

The other point, which was made by the hon. Member for Strangford and is very important, is that we want to ensure that money goes on patients. There is increasing demand for drugs. It is very good that the NHS is continually innovating and developing more treatments, better surgical techniques and improved drugs and mechanisms. Of course, when drugs are used in the NHS, they need to be evidence-based, but I hope that he will agree that it is good that we have set up the cancer drugs fund, which has helped to increase the speed at which people with cancer receive drugs. More than 30,000 people have benefited from the cancer drugs fund and received cancer drugs. We should all be pleased about that and proud of it.

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the Minister for that positive response. I outlined in my contribution a couple of examples of people who did not access the cancer drugs fund, but in my mind clearly should have qualified. Is he prepared to look at that issue to satisfy those people who need drugs urgently because of the time they have left on this earth?

[Dr Poulter]

On how drugs are accessed, one of the problems—this was why the cancer drugs fund was set up—was that some people, as the hon. Gentleman rightly outlined, had been receiving drugs in other countries for many years, but we in this country were a little slower to respond to some of those innovations. But of course we need to ensure that, whatever fund we set up for providing medications, those medications are shown to be effective and there is an evidence base for them. However we do things, there will always be new treatments on the horizon that we would like to get through to people more quickly, and we need to ensure that those treatments are always evidence-based. I think that we can be pleased that the cancer drugs fund has made a significant difference by providing treatments in a more effective and much quicker manner, but if the hon. Gentleman would like to discus the matter further, I would be very happy to see him and talk it through in more detail.

I think that it would be useful for me, picking up on the points raised early in the debate, to outline the processes involved in opening a pharmacy. Anyone can open a pharmacy anywhere, subject to the premises being registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council, when the owner’s service model includes the sale or supply of pharmacy medicines or prescription-only medicines against prescriptions from that pharmacy. However, there are extra criteria for providing NHS pharmaceutical services. Anyone wanting to provide NHS pharmaceutical services is required to apply to the NHS to be included on a pharmaceutical list.

Before September 2012, there were control of entry requirements. The NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2005 determined whether a pharmaceutical contractor could provide NHS pharmaceutical services. In England, no new contractor could be entered on to a PCT pharmaceutical list unless it was “necessary or expedient” to secure the adequate provision of pharmaceutical services locally. That was the control of entry test. If a new service provider was judged neither necessary nor expedient, the NHS, or the PCT in question, had to refuse the application. There were rights of appeal to the family health services appeal unit, which is run by the NHS Litigation Authority. That was available if there was a concern.

Part of the reason for the strict criteria relates to the pricing mechanism and how pharmacists are paid, which I will come to later. Obviously, the local health economy is an issue, and pharmacists are not paid just for the number of prescriptions that they provide; they are also given a baseline fee. When we have a publicly funded health service and we need to ensure that need and demand are aligned, it is important that we look at this in the round. I sympathise very strongly with the points about the need to de-bureaucratise the NHS where possible—those were good points well made—but we also have to recognise that this is not just about arbitrary mapping; it is about aligning need and demand for a service within the pricing framework in place. That is not just about the number of prescriptions that are provided; it is a much more complex mechanism. I will come to those points later.

Herbal Medicine (Regulation)

Debate between Jim Shannon and Dan Poulter

Tuesday 9th July 2013 Westminster Hall

[Dr Poulter]

I reassure my hon. Friend that I am not aware of any points of disagreement with the devolved Administrations, but I will write to him and provide reassurance if there are any issues of which I am unaware. My understanding is that there is a unified position across all of the different health Departments.

[Jim Shannon]

On the devolved Administrations, I speak with some knowledge of the Northern Ireland Assembly, where my colleague Edwin Poots is the Minister of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. We and the Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly are keen to have a focus of attention and a continuity of thought among all the regions of the United Kingdom to ensure that we can support the Under-Secretary of State for Health. The quicker he and the Government move that on, the gladder the regions—especially Northern Ireland—will be to jump in behind and support them.

[Dr Poulter]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to highlight the strong working relationships, particularly with his colleague in Northern Ireland. We are grateful for that continuing strong working relationship on both this and other issues, and I look forward to working with him.

I reassure my hon. Friend the Member for Bosworth, who was concerned about the short and the long grass, that the intention behind his involvement in the working party is to keep it firm to its task. I am sure that he will want, as part of his involvement, to ensure that that happens. When we meet to discuss this further after the House returns in September, we can ensure that the proposals are proportionate and fit for purpose, and that they protect the public, including through giving people an informed choice about the use of herbal products.

Health and Care Services

Debate between Jim Shannon and Dan Poulter

Wednesday 3rd July 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr Daniel Poulter)]

It is a pleasure to close this debate and to respond to my right hon. Friend the Member for Charnwood (Mr Dorrell) and to his Committee’s report. I had the great privilege of serving under his chairmanship before I was appointed as a Minister, and he has been perhaps the greatest advocate of joined-up and integrated care, both as a distinguished member of previous Governments as Secretary of State for Health, and in all the work he has done as Chair of the Health Committee. His work has helped to lead to the great emphasis that the Government are placing on integrated and joined-up care, both through the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and in the statement by the Chancellor last week.

Friday marks the 65th anniversary of the NHS. I am proud to work in the NHS and to look after its patients. I think every Member in this House wants to see a health service of which we can all be proud. We are proud of our health service, but this 65th year of the NHS has also been marked by many challenges, which were outlined in the Mid Staffs report, the response to Morecambe Bay and in the comments on Tameside hospital made by the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne). We have to respond to those challenges, and the Government are taking strong steps to ensure that we deliver and stamp out the small pockets of poor care in the care system.

If we are to deliver a health service that is fit for the future, it has to be a joined-up health and care service. We can no longer afford to see the NHS and the social care sector as silos in their own right: we have to have a joined-up integrated approach. It is for that reason that we are proud to have increased the NHS budget by £12.7 billion. We are driving integration with that budget increase. We are encouraging local authorities and the NHS to collaborate in treating the needs of patients, and to address the problem highlighted by the Select Committee of people being passed, like pass the parcel, from one part of the system to another without any joined-up thinking or integrated care. I know that Members on both sides of the House want an end to that. In the spirit of consensus, we all want a health and care system that truly looks after the needs of individuals and is not run by the different financial and cultural silos of the whole.

We have heard strong contributions from hon. Members on both sides of the House in what has been a consensual debate. If we are to tackle the challenge outlined by Sir David Nicholson in 2009, when the previous Government were in power, to make 4% efficiency savings year on year just to stand still and to meet the increasing demand of an ageing population and the increasing health care expectations of patients, then we need consensus. To meet the challenge, we have to see a fundamental service transformation and redesign. We also have to see a far more productive NHS. Productivity gains and efficiency savings have to be made, while the challenges outlined by the Mid Staffs case and others are just as true today.

My hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel) outlined clearly the importance of cutting back on bureaucracy and waste in the NHS where possible. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, £1.5 billion of bureaucratic savings will be put back into front-line care on an annual basis. She was right to highlight the importance of clinical leadership in delivering better services. There is good evidence that clinical leadership is not just about improving patient care. We can improve productivity through clinical leadership by improving the procurement of services and goods in the NHS. Procurement of services and goods makes up £20 billion of the NHS budget. There is good evidence that strong clinical engagement and leadership will help us to deliver greater productivity.

My hon. Friend the Member for Bosworth (David Tredinnick) talked about a number of other opportunities that the Health and Social Care Act offers to drive integrated care. I am pleased, as late converts, that the Opposition are now supporting the arguments we outlined during the passage of the Act about the importance of integrated health and social care. He also looked forward to the debate, which I will not enter into today—I hope he will forgive me—about the importance of complementary and alternative therapies. I look forward to furthering that debate with him next week.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister for giving way—I asked to make an intervention beforehand, so he knows the subject matter. In the last year health tourism cost the NHS some £24 million, ranging from £100,000 in some trusts to £3.5 million in others. The Secretary of State made an important statement this morning about addressing that issue. Is the Minister in a position to set out the time scale for saving the NHS that £24 million a year?

[Dr Poulter]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to highlight the fact that health tourism presents challenges. We need to look at them, which is why we have launched a consultation on exactly how to do so. We should recognise that we hugely value the fact—it is very beneficial to the British economy—that students come here from overseas to train and, sometimes, to work. Part of ensuring that they do so in a responsible manner and do not short-change British taxpayers and British patients means making provision for their health care needs, if necessary, and ensuring that the NHS does not pick up the tab. That is something we have opened a consultation on. It will report back later this year, and I am happy to discuss the matter further with the hon. Gentleman away from this debate.

In opening the debate, my right hon. Friend the Member for Charnwood was absolutely right to ask how we would deliver greater productivity in the NHS and to say that pay plays a part. Improving procurement, driving greater productivity and, crucially, service reconfiguration all play their parts too. It is worth highlighting the fact that the NHS needs to become more efficient at how it manages its estates, with £3.1 billion or so spent on NHS estates annually. There is much that can be done to improve the energy efficiency of those estates, which is why the Government launched a £50 million fund to support that work. A lot also needs to be done to reduce the £2.4 billion temporary staffing bill. That is something we will be talking about when we launch a paper later in the summer. There also needs to be greater focus on good leadership at board level—something we have touched on before—and engaging clinical leaders in helping to drive productivity and improvements in patient care.

It is also worth outlining the role of tariffs, which were touched on in the Committee’s report and in today’s debate, in driving more joined-up care. It is true that tariff change in itself is not good enough to drive improvements in patient care. Tariff change must drive service change and transformation at the same time, driving the more integrated care model that we all believe in. When my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley) was Secretary of State, he initiated a review of the tariff system and looked specifically at best practice tariffs. We are now seeing the emergence of tariff change in a way that not only reduces costs, but drives service transformation. In the case of fragile hip fractures, day case procedures—such as cholecystectomies and similar procedures—and major trauma, we are seeing service change and transformation being driven by improved tariffs, which often cut across primary and secondary care.

If we are to deliver an NHS that is fit for the future, both financially and in human terms, that will be down to major service transformation and moving towards a system that provides integrated health and care. That is why last week my right hon. Friend the Chancellor outlined in his statement a £3.8 billion fund that will be shared between the NHS and local authorities to deliver integrated services more efficiently for older people and disabled people, ensuring that health and social care work together to improve outcomes for local people. Importantly, the Health Committee’s calls for health and wellbeing boards to play a vital role in overseeing the fund is something that we envisage becoming a reality.

In conclusion, we know that there are big challenges to the NHS in driving up productivity, and we know that we have already met some of them by cutting out, through our reforms, £1.5 billion of bureaucracy in the NHS—money much better spent on patient care. Crucially, in the years ahead, we will focus on the service transformation that is required to deliver a more integrated health service, continuing to develop those best practice tariffs that drive integration and bring together health and social care. It is not just about finances, because it is also about good care, which is why it is important to deliver the integrated system that patients deserve.

Nursery Milk Scheme

Debate between Jim Shannon and Dan Poulter

Monday 5th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Jim Shannon]

The debate so far has been about the price of a pint of milk. My recollection, like that of the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke), is of a third of a pint of milk. If we reduce the quantity of milk for a small child, would that not reduce the price? Is that too simplistic?

[Dr Poulter]

We will see what the consultation says. One option, which I have outlined, takes into account the bureaucratic burden of the cost on schools. We value the scheme and want to keep it—that is implicit—but at the same time, we recognise that going through a bureaucratic process to claim for milk could increase the cost to nurseries and other child care settings. The third option in the consultation is therefore for direct procurement from the Department of Health. That would help to reduce the bureaucracy in the scheme, although the hon. Gentleman will be aware that there is an allied, parallel scheme in Northern Ireland that operates in a similar way to the schemes in England, Scotland and Wales.

The National Farmers Union values the nursery milk scheme as a well established and highly regarded programme that plays an intrinsic role in society, supporting our dairy farmers as a key part of the supply chain. At the same time, the NFU believes that every attempt must be made to ensure a fair return to the whole dairy supply chain, including the primary dairy farmer. We must not lose sight of that. When the intermediaries are making huge profits, the farm-gate price—the price paid to farmers, who we value, particularly in rural communities—must be recognised in how the scheme operates. For the NFU and all those concerned about the impact of the proposed changes on the dairy market, let me explain that, according to Dairy UK estimates, milk supplied under the nursery milk scheme represents less than 1% of the total value of the UK dairy market; nevertheless, it is an important part of that market.

We are consulting on the scheme. The consultation closed at the end of last month, and we will be considering the representations made. To conclude, I repeat that the nursery milk scheme will continue as a universal benefit. It has huge health benefits for young children, and all eligible children in the care of child-care providers will continue to receive their free milk. We need to establish a system, however, that makes the nursery milk scheme fit for purpose and makes it adapt to recognise the important role that farmers play in the supply of milk—

Obesity

Debate between Jim Shannon and Dan Poulter

Wednesday 9th November 2011 Westminster Hall

[Dr Daniel Poulter (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) (Con)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I will not speak for very long, but it is worth highlighting some of the issues that have been raised in a comprehensive way. I congratulate the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) on securing this debate.

Obesity in the UK is a growing problem. In 1993, only 13% of men and 16% of women were obese, but in 2009, 22% of men—and 24% of women—were obese, which represents almost a doubling of the number of men with obesity. I am not talking about people with a body mass index of between 25 and 30, which means that they are overweight; I am talking about obesity. Almost a quarter of the UK population is obese and I am sure that we all find that unacceptable.

How can we deal with obesity effectively, because whatever previous Governments have done, obesity has not been addressed in a way that has worked or has been effective? First, I will briefly outline how Government policy is moving towards more community-based interventions on obesity, and I will explain how that approach, through the health and wellbeing boards that will be set up under the health care reforms, will be effective and work well. Secondly, I will talk a little about nudge theory, because I am more hopeful and optimistic about it than my medical colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Dr Wollaston). There is good evidence elsewhere, particularly in Iceland, that it has worked, and I hope it will also work effectively in relation to obesity.

[Jim Shannon]

While the hon. Gentleman is giving us his thoughts, and given his experience in his previous job, will he comment on gastric band operations? Just two weeks ago, I had occasion to visit the Northern Ireland Health Minister, Edwin Poots, with some of my constituents. These people had tried everything to lose weight; they had tried dieting and exercise—some of them were not able to exercise, which was the other problem—but they had clear medical and health problems. As a last resort—this really is the last chance saloon, or the last chance restaurant, perhaps—should regions and Health Ministers set aside money specifically for gastric band operations?

[Dr Poulter]

We certainly have to look at how the Government can help people to take more responsibility for their own health care. That is fundamental to obesity issues, and it is a particular challenge in more deprived areas. People often require gastric bands at the point where the medical problems associated with obesity—diabetes, the risk of heart attack or stroke, or high blood pressure—pose a potentially life-threatening risk. Such people may not have that long to live if a gastric band is not put in place, so it is the only feasible mechanism for dealing with obesity in such cases. Gastric bands have been shown to be an effective mechanism for looking after that part of the population, and there is good medical evidence to support their use. There is also good evidence in terms of the health care economics, as helping people to become slimmer will lessen the burden on the NHS.

The gastric band is good for the patient, because their health improves dramatically when it is used effectively, but the challenge with obesity is to bring about long-term lifestyle change, and the question with gastric bands is whether they necessarily deal with long-term lifestyle changes. In a medical sense, there needs to be greater emphasis on the education that goes with the bigger issues around obesity and lifestyle at the same time as the gastric band is fitted. I hope that that helps to answer the hon. Gentleman’s question.

Pig Farming

Debate between Jim Shannon and Dan Poulter

Wednesday 23rd March 2011 Westminster Hall

[Dr Poulter]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right and makes the point very powerfully. The fact is that there is not a level playing field, particularly in the European Union. Stricter EU animal welfare laws for pigs have been agreed, but they will come fully into force only in 2013. As he forcefully argues, we need those standards to be applied in Europe. However, it is not just a question of standards being applied universally; our supermarkets must also show corporate responsibility. If overseas food producers do not produce food to the same high standards of animal welfare and traceability as British farmers, our supermarkets should not buy food from them. We need to see that corporate responsibility from the industry.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I represent an area in Northern Ireland where almost everyone used to keep pigs, sometimes in large numbers. We are now down to only one producer, albeit a big one, which indicates that we are hearing the death knell of the pig industry. In some parts of Europe, regulation is non-existent, so does the hon. Gentleman feel that the Minister needs to convey to European Ministers and to Brussels the fact that whereas regulation is enforced with almost evangelical zeal in parts of the United Kingdom, the same is not true in other parts of Europe?

[Dr Poulter]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that forceful intervention, and I absolutely agree with him. British pig farmers have struggled a great deal over the past few years, and it is a great pity that the number of people farming pigs has consistently declined throughout the UK. We would like that to be put right and we would like to see greater support for pig farmers. He is right to mention the EU, because over the past decade or so Whitehall has been fond of gold-plating and platinum-plating European legislation, whereas countries that do not like the legislation tend to ignore it. He is absolutely right to say that we need to seek consistency across the EU, and that needs to be taken up at a European level. We want a level playing field so that our farmers can have a thriving and prosperous future.

I do not want to detain colleagues much longer, because we want to hear from the Minister. We have talked much about honest food labelling, which applies across the farming sector, but particularly to British pork. At the moment, bacon only has to be sliced in the UK to be labelled British, which is unacceptable. UK law requires that labelling should not be misleading, which is a good thing, but it does not define how much British involvement is required before produce can be counted as British. Traditionally, slaughtering animals in this country would count, so calling something British lamb or British pork could mean that although the meat was imported, slaughter and packaging took place in the UK, but now meat need only be sliced here to be labelled British. That can be misleading in supermarkets. We want stronger action on labelling, and I am sure that the Bill to be introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk will go a good way towards countering that great problem, which would also help to support British pig farmers.

We have talked a lot about getting greater corporate responsibility from our retailers. I mentioned the fact that while pig farmers have been losing £20 per pig over the past three years, our retailers have been making profits of £100 to £120 per pig. Surely there must be an onus on those retailers not only to support honest food labelling and promote the fact that British farmers produce pork to higher animal welfare standards and with greater traceability, but to want to support local and British produce. That has to be a good thing. As we know from the example of Morrisons, cited by my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk, consumers want to buy British and support local food producers. Consumers in East Anglia, Suffolk and Norfolk want to support our local food producers. That would be a good thing for supermarkets to do.