Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton and Lord Lansley

Tuesday 17th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mark Lancaster (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

T6. Yesterday’s figures showed a 17% increase in the population of Milton Keynes over the past 10 years, the highest outside London or Manchester, and an unexpected increase of some 4,000 over the estimate in the past 12 months. May I seek the Secretary of State’s reassurance that that will be reflected in future health care budgets for the city?

[Mr Lansley]

As my hon. Friend will, I hope, have understood from previous exchanges, the focus on the delivery of care to the resident population in an area covered by a clinical commissioning group will mean that we try, as far as possible, to align resources with the needs of a whole population rather than with just the practice-registered population.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton and Lord Lansley

Tuesday 12th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mark Lancaster (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley)]

My responsibility is to lead the NHS in delivering improved health outcomes in England, to lead a public health service that improves the health of the nation and reduces health inequalities, and to lead the reform of adult social care, which supports and protects vulnerable people.

[Mark Lancaster]

The strategic health authority has ruled out the locally preferred option for the transformation of community health services in Milton Keynes. Given the Government’s commitment to localism and their preferred approach to the integration of services, will the Secretary of State look at this matter again?

[Mr Lansley]

It is for the primary care trust to appraise the options and decide which is best for local people. The SHA has a role in providing assurance in that process, but I would urge both the PCT and the SHA to ensure that they meet the test that we are looking for, which is that any decision must be in the best clinical interests of patients and must meet the views of clinical commissioners in the future and, indeed, those of the public, not least as expressed through the local authority. I would urge the PCT and the SHA to make progress on that, and, if it would be of any assistance to my hon. Friend, I would be glad if he were able to meet me, the PCT and the local authority to help to resolve the issue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton and Lord Lansley

Tuesday 12th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mark Lancaster (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

6. What steps he has taken to increase access to NHS dentistry since May 2010.

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley)]

I am pleased to be able to tell my hon. Friend that the number of people with access to NHS dentistry has increased by nearly three quarters of a million over the past year.

[Mark Lancaster]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer. In Milton Keynes in recent years we have seen greater access to dentistry. One area of particular concern is access to dentistry for children, so may I press my right hon. Friend on how exactly he will address that problem?

[Mr Lansley]

I agree with my hon. Friend. We have made it very clear that, contrary to the practice of the previous Government, we are not looking for dentists to deny access to NHS dentistry to children whose parents are not registered with them. Alongside increasing access to dentistry as a whole, we intend specifically to secure increased access for children to NHS dentistry. That will be even more the case in the pilots that we will start this month, which are specifically intended to secure a more preventive approach to dentistry, which maintains good oral health. That is especially important for children.

NHS Future Forum

Debate between Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton and Lord Lansley

Tuesday 14th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

If you will forgive me, Mr Speaker, I do not think that I will favour that question with an answer.

[Mark Lancaster (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State expand on the support that organisations such as the Spinal Injuries Association can expect through specialised commissioning?

[Mr Lansley]

I believe that as a result of our proposals the NHS commissioning board will be able to provide more consistency in much specialised commissioning, and I hope that that will apply to people with spinal injuries. I am well acquainted with the work of the Spinal Injuries Association: I think that it has done terrific work, and we have already worked closely with it in trying to ensure that we improve commissioning and services for those with spinal injuries.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton and Lord Lansley

Tuesday 8th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mark Lancaster (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

T3. The Secretary of State has visited Milton Keynes, so he will be well aware of the historical problems at the maternity unit there and, following the intervention of his Department, of the positive outcomes that have been achieved with one-to-one supervision for all mothers. I am convinced that the increased training of midwives has contributed to those outcomes, but may I press him to reassure the House that that level of training will continue?

[Mr Lansley]

Yes, I am very grateful to my hon. Friend and I share his wish for continuing improvement in the maternity services at Milton Keynes hospital. I can tell him and the House that we are delivering on our commitment to improve maternity services, which is at the heart of that wish. The number of midwifery training places commissioned for next year—2011-12—will be no less than this year, sustaining a record number of midwives in training. That will be on top of an increase between May and November 2010—after the coalition Government came in—of 296 additional midwives employed in the NHS.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton and Lord Lansley

Tuesday 25th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley)]

Last week, I announced the second wave of GP-led pathfinder consortia. There are now 141 groups of GP practices piloting the future GP commissioning arrangements. Those groups are made up of more than 4,000 GP practices, with over half the population starting to benefit from services that better meet their needs and improve outcomes for patients. The Health and Social Care Bill, which had its First Reading last week, sets out the legislative framework that supports our reforms.

[Mark Lancaster]

Consortia in Milton Keynes have been given £1 per patient as a transition fund. That money is most welcome. It will rise to £2 per head next year. The problem, however, is that the fund is proving hard to access because of the bureaucratic nature of the local primary care trust. Will the Secretary of State look into that and ensure that the money is accessible?

[Mr Lansley]

I entirely understand my hon. Friend’s point. The PCT’s role is to support the development of consortia, not inhibit it. The operating framework that was published last month sets out the range of support that PCTs should be offering emerging consortia. Milton Keynes PCT has confirmed that it will actively support Premier MK, one of two consortia in the area, with its application to become a pathfinder, and that it is actively working with another consortium in the Milton Keynes area.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton and Lord Lansley

Tuesday 7th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mark Lancaster (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

13. What recent progress he has made on the introduction of GP-led commissioning consortiums.

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley)]

On 21 October, I invited general practice-led commissioning consortiums to put themselves forward as pathfinders, and I have been absolutely delighted by the response. The pathfinder consortiums will be announced shortly. They have formed in response to the needs of local communities, and there is, sensibly, variation around the country to take account of those differing needs. Some consortiums map on to local authority boundaries; others organise themselves around catchments for hospitals or smaller populations. This bottom-up, locally determined approach is exactly in line with what we envisaged in the policy framework.

[Mr Lansley]

That is exactly what our reforms will allow. We are putting not only the freedom to refer in the hands of general practices but choice in the hands of patients, and allying that to the power on the part of commissioners to commission services that meet the needs of their local community. That is precisely the change that will empower front-line clinicians and patients.

[Mark Lancaster]

Having consulted widely in Milton Keynes, I am pleased to say that the Government’s plans have been broadly welcomed. However, one area of concern that has been raised with me by patients, in particular, is the amount of time that they will get to spend face to face with their GP. Can the Secretary of State reassure my constituents and outline the administrative support that GPs will get in fulfilling their new functions?

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. In Milton Keynes, GP Healthcare MK and Premier MK consortiums are shaping their services in order to be able to deliver better and improved services for their patients. We do not intend that all GPs individually should become managers, by any means; there will be clinical leadership, but the consortiums should have commissioning support. The primary care trust in Milton Keynes has had some good commissioning support arrangements, as I know from having visited it in the past. It is open to the new commissioning consortiums to take teams from the primary care trust into their new consortium support arrangements, but they can go elsewhere. They can look to the local authority and to the independent sector to provide them with the commissioning support that they need so that clinicians provide leadership but continue to be responsible for clinical care.

Public Health White Paper

Debate between Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton and Lord Lansley

Tuesday 30th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady. At least I know that she supports the proposal to transfer the responsibility to local government—not something I discovered from the reply of the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey). The short answer is that I have already announced that over the next four years we will double the number of family nurse partnerships, so we shall indeed support them. More than that, as Sir Michael Marmot made clear, it is vital that we combine the targeted support that the FNPs can give and a restored universal health visiting service to help every family as they start out.

[Mark Lancaster (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

One of the clearest indicators of health inequalities is life expectancy. In two near-neighbouring wards in Milton Keynes, there is a variation of 12 years, which is a staggering figure. How can we address this problem?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The truth is that we know we have to take action nationally, and we will, not only through health protection but through much more effective health screening, immunisation programmes and an early start in the health visitor programme, for example. It will be for his local authorities and communities to get together to ask how they can address the inequalities. That will be vital to achieving health improvement in his community.