NHS: Dangerous Waste and Body Parts Disposal

Lord Christopher Excerpts

Wednesday 10th October 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

I am absolutely not saying that. To go through the timescale, the noble Lord is quite right that 31 July was the escalation from the Environment Agency to Defra, which then contacted the Department of Health and Social Care. Ministers were informed on 8 August, by which point a huge amount of effort had gone in not only to analyse the problem but to put in place contingency plans. A final enforcement notice for the Normanton site was issued by the Environment Agency with a need to comply by 25 September, which fell after the two-week Sitting that we had in September. In the meantime, plans were put in place—the Secretary of State chaired a cross-government meeting—and on 3 October the partial suspension was put in place. That is what triggered the termination of contracts by NHS trusts and their replacement by a new contract with Mitie.

[Lord Christopher (Lab)]

My Lords, I find this an extraordinary situation. Is there nothing in this contract—or, indeed, any government contract, through whatever agency—to impose an obligation on the contractor to advise whoever he should advise that he is not able to complete the work he is contracted to do?

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

The noble Lord is quite right. There are, of course, contractual obligations; the point is that those obligations have not been fulfilled. That is one reason why the Environment Agency is now pursuing a criminal investigation against the firm.

NHS: Mental Health Patient Assessment Needs

Lord Christopher Excerpts

Monday 12th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

I cannot tell the House that we have achieved parity of esteem. Demonstrably, across the country, we have not yet achieved parity of esteem, but we are on a journey to doing so. On the figures that the noble Lord raised, we spent £300 million more last year than the year before on mental health, and every CCG is spending more on mental health this year than the overall increase in their allocation. At the end of October, we will have the figures for the first six months, and perhaps then I can come back to the House and give him those figures in more detail.

[Lord Christopher (Lab)]

My Lords, was it not the case that a good deal of spreading the news of good practice was usefully done by the Audit Commission, which the Government abolished?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

I cannot comment on the Audit Commission. I do not know how much good it did in that regard because I was not here at the time. However, I am very conscious of the fact that spreading best practice across the NHS, particularly operational and clinical best practice, could be a lot better. That would be true in a clinical specialty such as orthopaedics. However, it is also true that, in some hospitals, the flow of patients through the hospital is much better organised than in others. There is a great deal to be learned by spreading best practice. There is also a lot to be learned from around the world. I take the view that we have, in the NHS, probably some of the finest hospitals in the world. We also have some very poor hospitals. It should not be all that difficult for the poor to learn from the best.

Health: Midwives

Lord Christopher Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, we naturally applaud the professionalism of independent midwives. I agree with my noble friend that it is a positive step forward that all healthcare professionals in this country have professional indemnity insurance. We must think of the patient always and, should something go wrong, it is right that every patient is protected by indemnity or insurance.

[Lord Christopher (Lab)]

My Lords, is the Minister content that the measure of training, related only to the birth rate, is adequate? Should we not build in wastage?

[Earl Howe]

I am not sure that I completely heard the noble Lord’s question. Could he please repeat it?

[Lord Christopher]

Is a measure of the numbers training which is related only to the birth rate adequate, unless you also build in the wastage rate?

[Earl Howe]

The noble Lord makes a good point about building in a wastage rate. Since 2010, the number of midwives has increased by 5.75% and the number of births has decreased by 3.3%. This is why I indicated in my earlier answer that we were, in that sense, ahead of the curve. There is a great deal of work going on to ensure that there is no attrition or wastage during the training period, as this is a waste of the person’s skills and taxpayers’ money.