Health Promotion Bill [HL]

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 2nd December 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to take part in this Second Reading and, as other noble Lords have done, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Addington, who is a champion for sport both in Parliament and, still, on the pitch. I also congratulate all members of your Lordships’ Select Committee on the National Plan for Sport and Recreation, which produced such an excellent report, as pertinent today as on the day of publication.

The Bill has two significant underpinnings. The first is to place this in the Department of Health and Social Care, a significant spending government department. The second is that we need a cross-government, cross-Whitehall effort. This is often the case for a number of policy areas and, to my mind, in recent history has really happened only twice. The first was the tremendous effort that everybody across government made with the Covid pandemic. The second, 10 years ago now, was the cross-Whitehall effort for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Why was there a cross-government effort for that? People wanted to be involved and wanted to make it a success.

What we were trying to do in 2012 was not just to have a sensational summer of Olympic and Paralympic sport but to try to do what no previous Games had done and drive a legacy of participation. We achieved something but by no means did we achieve everything, hence why we are where we are today: an obesity epidemic; a type 2 diabetes crisis; stroke and heart attack. I will not go on, but we as a nation cannot go on like this, which is why the Bill is so significant. First, I ask my noble friend about the name of the office. Would it not make sense to follow the excellent recommendation of the noble Lord, Lord Addington, that it should be the “office for health promotion”, as it was initially going to be? Certainly, the government response is uncompelling as to why that name does not encapsulate everything we are trying to achieve with this body.

Similarly, on the prescription of exercise, can my noble friend the Minister tell the House how successful that is currently, how widespread it is and what the department is doing to put it on absolute turbocharge to ensure that it is available to everybody up and down the country? The Bill rightly highlights the importance of detection. What is being done to have a culture across society of scanning and screening to stop disease and early death in their terrible tracks? There is much we can do, as the Bill indicates, with data and new, innovative technologies, so what is the department doing to foster an ecosystem, a culture of exploration and of concept proofing across the public and private sectors to bring forward all the possible ideas in this area? Wearables is an obvious example. What is being done to ensure that all those involved have the right level of data and digital education? I know it is not my noble friend’s department, but what is being done to ensure effective data and digital education right from primary school onwards?

The clue, in many ways, is in the name: “sport” is a contraction of “support”. What the Bill offers is support for every citizen across the country—enabling and empowering through exercise, physical well-being and the mental well-being that flows from that. We cannot go on like this. We do not have to go on like this. We have a choice. In this straightforward, significant Bill, we have an important part of that choice. Let us take it.

Mental Health Act Reform

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

Monday 18th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

The noble Baroness asks a very perceptive question. I pay tribute to her work in this area and the challenge and scrutiny that she has given to the Government, which have helped lead to the position we are in at the moment. This is exactly the kind of area that we will be presenting for consultation, and I very much look forward to the noble Baroness’s contribution to that consultation.

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con) [V]]

I welcome the White Paper, which represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Allied to that, can the Minister confirm whether the Government will commit to prioritising permanent and immediate mental health support for all our NHS front-line workers in ICU, in the emergency room and beyond—immediate lifelong prioritised mental health support for all those who have given so much support and continue to give it to all of us through this pandemic?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I live opposite University College Hospital. Every night I hear the ambulances arriving and I think of the staff on the front line working so hard night after night in such difficult circumstances, dealing with people in agony. The mental health of our NHS staff is paramount. Some £50 million has been invested in strengthening mental health support for staff. We have put in place the mental health hotline, practical support, financial advice and specialist bereavement and psychological support. I have no doubt that more could be done but this is very much an area that, as my noble friend rightly points out, is worthy of more investment.

Obesity

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

Tuesday 5th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

The noble Baroness puts her point extremely well indeed. Undoubtedly, there is a movement in the country as a whole to relate more closely the production of food in this country and the way in which healthy eating relies on good, locally produced food, and I take on board her points entirely. We very much take obesity more seriously as a result of Covid. That has given our plans a huge amount of energy, and the sponsorship of the Prime Minister has been very vocal.

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)]

My Lords, would my noble friend agree that serious mental illness—SMI—must be a significant factor in the commissioning of and referrals within obesity services if those currently experiencing obesity and mental illness are to get the service, support and help they need?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, not everyone who is obese has mental illness, but some people who are obese do have mental illness. That is why we announced measures on weight management in Tackling Obesity: Empowering Adults and Children to Live Healthier Lives, which makes clear proposals for how those who have obesity as part of their mental illness challenge can be supported and provided for.

Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Leicester) Regulations 2020

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

Wednesday 29th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I pay tribute to all those in Leicester who are working so hard to bring this local outbreak under control. They deserve all our support and thanks.

Does my noble friend the Minister agree that, in essence, there is no such thing as a pandemic, just a series of local outbreaks? To this end, will he comment on the approach that should be taken to effectively bring local outbreaks under control? Similarly, I ask my noble friend: how do you hide a factory—secrete a sweatshop? Will he confirm that the Health and Safety Executive, not just in Leicester but countrywide, dramatically scaled back its operations, as did other inspectorates, at the beginning of the Covid outbreak for—yes, you guessed it, my Lords—health and safety reasons? This decision meant that a situation such as the one in Leicester was surely inevitable. What is being done to address this situation?

Similarly, at the beginning of the Covid outbreak, not the recent resurgence in Leicester, what efforts were made to ensure that communications could be obtained in different formats: large print, on tape, email for blind people, different languages—particularly in areas such as Leicester where there were clear language needs? Can my noble friend the Minister confirm what efforts were made in that respect, both at the beginning of the outbreak and, indeed, with the recent resurgence in the city of Leicester?

Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

Friday 24th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for the way in which he introduced these regulations, not least for his commitment that we will have more real-time consideration of legislation. We need to put an end to this regulation retrospection.

Has he seen the global research that came out this week, strongly suggesting that—tragically—lockdown has had no positive impact on mortality rates? To this extent, we need to be smarter going forward. It seems that there is no purpose in even considering another major lockdown in future. We need different ways to deal with this crisis. Obesity seems a significant piece of this jigsaw. What more will the Government do to tackle obesity?

Finally, I associate myself wholeheartedly and full-throatedly with the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Bull. Disabled people have suffered at the extreme jaw in this Covid crisis. Imagine a blind person locked down in a flat, not even able to look out of the window for something to do. I ask my noble friend to go back to the department, consider all policies concerning Covid and ensure that they do not fall disproportionately on disabled people. Can he push to ensure that we have a national disability strategy across all government policy?

Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2020

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

Thursday 25th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, the mantra goes that “We are all in this together”. If Covid has shown us anything, it is that indeed we are all in this, but in no sense together. As one small example, at the beginning of the outbreak, after an extraordinary personal and affecting message from one of our front-line health workers, the supermarkets put on an hour of shopping for NHS front-line workers. For weeks now, these one-hour sessions have been abused by people who have nothing whatever to do with the NHS. Will my noble friend state firmly and clearly from the Dispatch Box that, where supermarkets have laid on an hour of shopping for our hard-working front-line NHS workers, everybody else should just wait until the end of that hour and leave it to them?

Will my noble friend also confirm that, after the review on 28 June, the 14-day quarantine will be dropped next week? Finally, echoing the words perfectly put by my excellent and noble friend Lord Blencathra, does he agree that “At a metre, wear a mask”? We need to get back to work. It is a tragedy that we have mortgaged our children’s future and are decimating so much of their education. Private schools have not missed one lesson; many in comprehensives and first or infant schools have had precious little education, despite the great work of our teachers. Does he agree that we need to get back to work, get our children back to school and do it all under the clear mantra, “At a metre, wear a mask”?

Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

Monday 15th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con) [V]]

My Lords, we owe all our front-line workers, not least those in the NHS and in care homes, an enduring debt of gratitude. To that end, can my noble friend say what is the current situation with PPE? Do the NHS and our care home workers have all the PPE that they require, and is it all now in date? Similarly, it may be beyond my noble friend’s brief, but of the supermarkets that opened up early sessions for NHS workers specifically to come first thing in the morning, how many are still running those sessions, and how many of them are now simply letting all members of the public come in, denying NHS workers that key opportunity to get their shopping when they are off shift?

At the beginning of this pandemic, the WHO said that a safe social distance was one metre, and it has stuck to that throughout. To that end, will my noble friend announce to the House tonight that it is time to end two metres and go to one metre, not least combining it with the use of masks so that we can transition to this state safely and securely? Bars and restaurants have said that at two metres, they can add 30% of custom, and at one metre over 70%—which is where an efficient and effective business can be run.

Can my noble friend tell the House that we will end this quarantine situation, which makes no sense at this time at all? Similarly, how is it possible to get on a domestic airliner from London to Glasgow and sit next to your fellow passengers with no social distancing, yet we cannot go to places of worship together with safe social distancing? You can get on that plane and sit right next to fellow passengers, yet we cannot get our young people back to school. Does my noble friend agree that if we end the quarantine period and reduce social distancing from two metres to one metre, we will be able to have a safe and social summer, in which we will be able to educate our young people, get our economy back on track, and return to some form of society?

[The Deputy Speaker]

I understand that the noble Lord, Lord Wei, has scratched, so I call the noble Lord, Lord Rennard.

Covid-19: Masks

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

Thursday 11th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con) [V]]

On a related issue, can my noble friend confirm that there is no longer any out-of-date PPE in the NHS and care home delivery pipeline, and if there is, when that will no longer be the case?

To the matter at hand, it is clear that if one wears a face mask, it does not stop one getting the disease, but it prevents others getting it. To that end, would the Minister agree that, logically, if we all come together and wear face masks, we will all necessarily stop each other getting the disease? Does he agree that it is time to mask up and make the difference? It would enable us to drop 2 metres to 1 metre, get the economy back up and get kids back in school—they desperately need to be learning. If the Government want a line for it, does he agree that it is time to come together as a country, mask up, cover up and kill Covid-19?

National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, for tabling this Motion. Covid is a callous killer for which we currently have no cure. I take a moment to offer condolences to the families and friends of all those cruelly taken from us before their time and offer a large salute and enduring debt of gratitude to all our care and front-line workers in health, supermarkets and across the piece. We owe them an enduring debt of gratitude.

Has the Covid crisis revealed the issues there are with the current CCG structure? Does my noble friend the Minister believe it is time to review the whole nature of CCGs and commissioning within health and social care, with everything possible for review laid out on the table? Does he agree that our right honourable friend Jeremy Hunt did a great service to the nation in bringing health and social care together in one department? Does he also agree that it is a pity our right honourable friend Jeremy Hunt ran out of time in getting that resource to deliver some sense of parity for social care, alongside health?

In 2017 the former Prime Minister, Theresa May, laid out in the Conservative manifesto a plan for social care. It was roundly rejected by the electorate. Was she politically naive? I do not think so—she was clear, upfront and honest. The fact of that rejection should be considered by everybody, because it leaves us in the situation we are still in, as has been said by previous speakers, years after the Dilnot review. When is the Green Paper likely to be published? How do we get to a position in which we can have that parity between health and social care across the country?

NHS: Artificial Intelligence

Lord Holmes of Richmond Excerpts

Tuesday 24th April 2018 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Holmes of Richmond]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage the adoption of artificial intelligence in the National Health Service.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord O’Shaughnessy) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government believe that artificial intelligence, or AI, has the potential to transform health and care services. Our work to support this includes £4.2 billion of spending to update hospital IT infrastructure as well as the digital health technology catalyst, which provides funding to help small and medium-sized enterprises turn innovative ideas into reality. In addition, the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund is supporting AI programmes in digital pathology and radiology, with winners of the wave 3 competition announced next month. We will continue to ensure that our regulatory frameworks protect patients while enabling the benefits of AI to transform care.

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)]

My Lords, does my noble friend agree that the potential benefits to the National Health Service from AI go far further than just the clinical setting? For example, DNAs currently cost the service in excess of £1 billion. What more can be done to generate proofs of concept and work, not just in London but across the country, to ensure that AI machine learning, with all its benefits, can be put into making the NHS the greatest health service, not only in patient care but in taking up all the advantages of the fourth industrial revolution?

[Lord O’Shaughnessy]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his question and congratulate him and the rest of the committee on the excellent report, AI in the UK: Ready, Willing and Able?, which has a substantial chapter on AI’s application in healthcare. The potential to transform every element of health and care is susceptible to artificial intelligence. A couple of areas outside the clinical setting that I would highlight are workforce planning and triaging patients between different forms of care. As for support, in addition to the items in my first Answer, I highlight the work of the Topol review, which is designed to make sure that staff are fully equipped and trained to take advantage of these technologies as they come through the system, rather than letting them sit with a few early adopters and not becoming more widespread in the NHS.