Gosport Independent Panel: Publication of Report

Debate between Lord Carlile of Berriew and Lord O'Shaughnessy

Wednesday 20th June 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Carlile of Berriew (CB)]

Does the Minister agree that it is particularly shocking that those who did not cover up—the brave staff who expressed concerns about what was happening—were ignored for so long? Does he agree that the culture of closing ranks among some medical staff should be regarded in itself as serious professional misconduct by doctors and others? Does he also agree that there should be training in the whole of the NHS which makes it easier for staff to identify the excessive use of opiates and to have action taken upon it?

[Lord O’Shaughnessy]

The noble Lord makes two excellent suggestions. His suggestion about whether cover-ups should count as serious professional misconduct will be something the regulators will want to consider, as is better training on the use and prescription of opioids. We have made some progress in recent years. The freedom to speak up guardians are in place, and we talked about the learning from deaths programme. There is also the duty of candour. They are clearly steps forward but the panel has exposed that we are still not there yet. The suggestions the noble Lord makes are good and serious and we will want to consider them.

General Practitioners: Workforce

Debate between Lord Carlile of Berriew and Lord O'Shaughnessy

Monday 5th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord O’Shaughnessy]

The noble Baroness might be interested to note that in 2014, the number of GPs in specialty training was 2,671, and in 2017, it was 3,157—an increase of nearly 400. That is how we are filling the places.

[Lord Carlile of Berriew (CB)]

Is the Minister aware of the increasing number of inner-city general practices where the entire GP workforce consists of locum doctors because of recruitment problems? Does he agree that that is an expensive way to provide GPs, and one which diminishes the doctor-patient relationship?

[Lord O’Shaughnessy]

I agree with the noble Lord: we need to crack down on agency and locum spend. That has been falling in recent years. The way we will fix this issue and the demand for general practice in a sustained way is to increase the number of GPs coming into the service, and, as I said, that is exactly what we are doing.