Drug-related Deaths in England and Wales
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts(4 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
I will indeed be doing that, not least because our work with other departments continues to take account of the early warning to which the noble Baroness refers. That is in respect of the threat of synthetic opioids, which we know is extremely real and pressing.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Newcastle is absolutely right: there is a direct relationship between poverty and drugs deaths, which is why it is vital that we increase our resources for fighting poverty and why we need to raise taxes on wealthy landowners such as James Dyson and Jeremy Clarkson.
Baroness Merron (Lab)
As always, I pay close attention to the contributions of my noble friend, who makes helpful observations. We do indeed need to continue our work in this area. It is quite important to look back at the history that Dame Carol Black reported on. She talked about one of the difficulties being that funding for community drug and alcohol services was subsumed into the public health grant in 2013, which meant that by 2019-20 funding for those services had been reduced by over a third. That is a £212 million disinvestment. The result of all this is that drug use has increased, with all the major indicators of its harm. This is something we need to turn around.
National Insurance Contributions: Healthcare
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
Noble Lords may wish to groan and comment, but it is a fact. The deficit that the previous Government ran up in my department alone would mean 20,000 fewer appointments per week. That compares very unfavourably with the 40,000 more appointments that this Government are promising.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
Does my noble friend agree that we are all getting a bit fed up with the groans from those on the other side when we take the time to remind them of the appalling debt we inherited? It is a truth that has been independently verified that we inherited this £22 billion. They are unwilling to admit the truth. Does she also agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of Stevenage, that we are putting forward proposals that they, understandably, constantly attack, but that they will not put up alternative proposals for dealing with the debt we have inherited?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I certainly agree with the comments of my noble friend Lady Taylor, who set out the government response very clearly in the last Question. I also share the view of my noble friend Lord Foulkes that it is important to be honest; I believe we have taken that on board as a new Government. That is why, for example, we commissioned the independent review by the noble Lord, Lord Darzi, to find out the state of the NHS in order that we could move forward. What the noble Lord found did not make for pretty reading, and it is our job to put this mess into a rather better shape than it is now.
Pharmacies: Rural Areas
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
The noble Baroness makes a good point about the shortage of medicines; this has been raised many times in your Lordships’ House. I will ensure that my colleague Ministers are aware of the points raised today, to build these into our consideration of how we support pharmacists and pharmacies to continue to do a good job and, indeed, expand their remit.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
Does the Minister agree that part of the problem around access to rural pharmacies is the massive deterioration of bus services under the previous Government? Since our Government are going to give powers to local councils to run bus services more efficiently and effectively, will that not improve access to local rural pharmacies? Can the Minister ensure that that is done as quickly as possible?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I welcome the announcement by the Secretary of State for Transport about ensuring that bus services can be more readily available, which will assist access to pharmacies. However, there are other options that we need to continue to look at. For example, there are 400 distance-selling pharmacies that deliver medicines which they dispense free of charge to patients, and provide other pharmaceutical services remotely, and, as we know, GP practices can dispense medicines to their patients. I mention those as examples of more creative ways in which we can support people in rural areas.
Government Policy on Health
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
It is right that people from outside government come into departments to lend their expertise and share their views and that Ministers make decisions without those people involved. That was the line I was trying to draw. The Secretary of State for Health is very fortunate to be able to turn to every living former Labour Health Secretary, from the right honourable Alan Milburn through to my noble friend Lord Reid, Andy Burnham and many others, because all of them have offered to roll their sleeves up and assist us. Perhaps I could remind your Lordships’ House that, between them, they delivered the shortest waiting times and highest patient satisfaction in the history of the National Health Service. I hope that we will be able to do justice to their experience.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that this is very different, because the Minister is taking advice from people with huge experience, and it is open and above board? This is unlike when Boris Johnson was Prime Minister, and his wife Carrie Johnson apparently made a number of decisions, including the appointment of Ministers. Was that not something we ought to be worried about, rather than this open and sensible arrangement we have now?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
My noble friend makes an important distinction, and I would certainly share that view. It is worth reminding your Lordships’ House that ministerial meetings that are attended by third parties are declared in a quarterly transparency publication in the established way. Of course, this will be done. I can tell your Lordships’ House that I had a meeting with the right honourable Alan Milburn, and it was very useful.
Smoking: Public Places
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have, and on what timescale, to introduce legislation to extend the ban on smoking in public places; and what additional measures such legislation will contain.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)
My Lords, the Government are soon to introduce the tobacco and vapes Bill, which stands to be the most significant public health intervention in a generation and will put us on track to become a smoke-free UK. The Prime Minister fully supports measures that will create a smoke-free environment, helping to reduce 80,000 preventable deaths, reduce the burden on the NHS and reduce the burden on the taxpayer. We will set out more details very soon.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
I am really grateful to the Minister, but can she give a clear indication as to when the legislation will be introduced, to start to reduce these premature deaths? There is overwhelming public support for a smoking ban in children’s parks, in beer gardens, on beaches and in front of hospitals. I have seen people coming out of hospitals and lighting up, when their lungs and heart are affected by that smoking. We need action as quickly as possible. I exceptionally thank the Conservatives for setting this in motion when they were in government.
Noble Lords
Northern Ireland Dentists: Amalgam Fillings
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts(5 months ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
Certainly, the Windsor Framework, under which some EU rules apply in Northern Ireland, is intended to help the EU and the UK work together constructively and to ensure the smooth flow of trade within the UK internal market. I am sure that my colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office will continue to keep that under review. I know that the Northern Ireland Secretary has been very involved in the amalgam issue.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, will the Minister confirm that the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, is one of the people who got us into this mess in the first place?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for his opinion; that is noted. The Question from the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, was extremely welcome.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts(1 year, 5 months ago)
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Lord Markham (Con)
The noble Lord is correct. I have two good examples of that, BioNTech and Moderna, where as part of commercial arrangements for us to buy large amounts of Covid vaccines from them they are making investments in UK plants. It will not always be practical, but those examples are billion pound-plus investments which I think we all agree are welcome news.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, following the previous Question, it is great to have a Minister who knows what he is talking about. Does he agree that it is important that we have the same kind of policies in all parts of the United Kingdom in relation to vaccination and immunisation? What discussions is he having with his counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
Lord Markham (Con)
First, I thank noble Lord. That is the nicest thing anybody has ever said to me; I think I want to go on holiday at this point. This is a devolved matter, but it is something on which we are working very closely with the devolved Administrations. I must admit, as we discussed yesterday, that there is concern about the Northern Ireland Administration. Obviously, the Executive and Assembly not meeting at the moment makes some areas more difficult. We had examples of that yesterday, and we are about to have one in a minute when we talk about the fortification of bread. However, where we can, we are working closely with our colleagues.
GP Appointments
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts(1 year, 10 months ago)
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Lord Markham (Con)
My understanding is that the new GP contract is part of live conversations with the BMA that we are about to get into—I think it is over the summer that those negotiations will start to take place. Within all of that, we will be looking at all those sorts of things in terms of how we want to see the GP service evolve. At the same time, we will be talking openly to the BMA about what it wants for its doctors, so that we get an outcome that works well for both sides.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, has the Minister seen the report produced today by the Auditor-General for Scotland? It is devastating about every aspect of the NHS in Scotland, including access to GPs. How much of this is because of underfunding by the UK Tory Government and how much because of the devastating administration of the Scottish Government?
Hospitals: Maintenance
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts(1 year, 10 months ago)
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Lord Markham (Con)
We have eight cohort 1 hospitals, which all have full planning permission and are in various stages of construction. We have 10 cohort 2 hospitals, of which two have full planning permission, seven have outline planning permission and one is awaiting approval of outline permission. All have had the preparation works done. So that is 17 where massive progress is being made. We then have cohort 3 schemes: the new hospital 2.0 projects, which are introducing modern methods of construction to standardise production and get cheaper and more efficient hospitals at a quicker rate of output. That is what I invite noble Lords to come and see for themselves over the coming weeks. This programme is very real and I will happily take people through whatever detail they want because, believe me, it is all there.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
Is the Minister aware that, from time to time I have asked his predecessors to discuss with Scottish Ministers how they can help each other? However, in this area I am not going to do that because in Scotland, the children’s hospital in Edinburgh was delayed by a year and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow has had enormous problems. Is there a competition between the English Tories and the SNP to see who can bring the NHS to its knees first?
Lord Markham (Con)
I can speak clearly on the subject of the new hospital programme, which I think the noble Lord will find is world-class. I will happily demonstrate that to him; indeed, people will see how ground-breaking this project actually is. We will see standardised designs with improved clinical standards, and more efficient productivity and costs as a result. It will be world-class, and we will export it around the world.
NHS Dental Contract
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts(2 years ago)
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Lord Markham (Con)
I am aware of some of the dental deserts. Some 700 urgent care centres have been set up to try to cater for such cases, and they have seen 4 million people. In total, there were about 26 million treatments last year. About 75% of patients who wanted to get an appointment were able to. Clearly, that leaves 25% who were not. We need to work further on that, including in Cornwall.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, the Minister’s replies have been exceptionally helpful. I wonder whether he and the Government could consider what might be done to get non-practising dentists back into practice.
Lord Markham (Con)
It is a good question. I will take the noble Lord’s compliment of being exceptionally helpful; I hope I can give another helpful answer. We need to look at everything we can do to attract dentists. The contract is fundamental to that, because, unless it is attractive for them financially, it will not help.