Bus Industry Support

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Thursday 16th March 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

My Lords—

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

The time has elapsed for this Question.

Disabled People: Personal Assistants

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 7th September 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness for raising those issues. As she will recognise, some of them fall between DWP and the Department of Health, so I can take the second question back to DWP on her behalf. We recognise this issue as part of the wider social care sector but one issue with bringing people in from overseas—as many noble Lords will know, I am in favour of recruiting from overseas—is that personal assistants are often employed by individuals and, sadly, under the Home Office rules, they are not considered sponsors. When this was raised with me yesterday, I asked for it to be looked into in more detail and was assured that more conversations will be going on. It is a reasonable suggestion; we just need to have those conversations with the relevant department.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we have a remote contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell of Surbiton.

[Baroness Campbell of Surbiton (CB) [V]]

My Lords, I have contributed to your Lordships’ House for 15 years because I am supported by PAs. Without them, thousands of disabled people could not work. Can the Minister explain how the Government are honouring their commitment to support disabled people’s UN convention rights to live independently, given the current PA employment crisis? Does he agree that fixing social care must include many different ways of attracting motivated PAs? Will he meet me and disabled experts to discuss solutions to this crisis?

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Baroness makes a welcome point and clearly demonstrates the usefulness of and real need for personal assistants; indeed, I have met and had conversations with her and her personal assistant. This is part of the wider issues around employing and getting more people into social care, as well as professionalisation. At the moment, some of the initiatives to professionalise a service do not extend to personal assistants, partly because of the way they are employed. When I asked why we cannot harmonise between personal assistants and other people in the care sector, I was told that conversations are going on. I will have to take this back to the department and DWP to get an answer for the noble Baroness.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we now have a virtual contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Thomas of Winchester.

General Practitioners: Shortage

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Tuesday 12th July 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I assure the noble Lord that the Government are doing lots of things. Not only are we listening but we are looking at potential solutions and discussing them with the relevant bodies. For example, one of the pressures mentioned was the impact of the number of phone calls. There has been investment in handling them and getting them redirected appropriately, and GP practices have been offered money for that. The other issue is pensions: some GPs are worried about taking a hit on their pension if they come back to service. There are discussions about whether they are really worse off and how we can retain staff. Also, having other staff at the GP level who can take on some of those functions that GPs do not necessarily need to do could ease their workload. The administrative burden has added to this, but the digitisation of services should solve a lot of those problems.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

I call the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, to make a virtual contribution.

Thyroid Patients: Liothyronine

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 6th July 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for sending me the question in advance, since it was quite complicated—I sent it to the advisers, and when it came back, I had to ask for further explanation. So here is the advice that I have been given, and I hope that noble Lords will bear with me. The term “routinely” can be defined as “regularly”, as part of the usual way of doing things, rather than for any clinically accepted reason. It is actually regularly because patients should not be given liothyronine as the first-line treatment; the exception to that is when patients have tried the first-line treatment but still have symptoms. In that case, liothyronine is tried. I am assured that, although this may be confusing, the language is known to commissioners, whom the guidance is aimed at. However, they appreciate that others outside the commissioning process may not understand it as clearly.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

The noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, will make a virtual contribution.

Paramedic Services

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Monday 4th July 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for the question and also for the point that this happens at number of different points in the system. Clearly, there are recruitment campaigns for doctors and nurses. In addition, the number of ambulance and support staff has increased by almost 40% since 2010. Call handler numbers have also increased since the start of May 2022; we have 400 more. In addition, there are pledges to increase the training of paramedic graduates nationally by 3,000 per annum. All these will take time to get into the system, which is still recovering from the pandemic.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we have a virtual contribution.

Mental Health: Advertising and Body Image

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Thursday 30th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I pay tribute to the right reverend Prelate and the campaign in which she has been involved. It is an important issue, and we are still learning a lot. As she rightly said, Norway is about to introduce such a law; France and Israel have introduced it in the past. Sadly, the evidence coming from those studies as to the effectiveness of the measures is limited. There is also a debate about whether those images should be stopped in the first place, rather than allowing altered images and then putting a warning on them. We need to see more evidence about the most effective way.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

We have a remote contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton.

Diabetic Prevention Programme

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Thursday 23rd June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord for his question but what is more important is that we get people who have diabetes on to the programme in the first place. As we adjust the programme to take account of the pandemic, for example, and digital offers, we are also looking at different ways to work with different communities. For example, I was talking to a young girl of Bengali origin in my department the other day. I said, “What do we do about getting to the heart of the communities, given that we are in Westminster and Whitehall?” She said that one of the problems in her community is that, “We love ghee—we love clarified butter, in our curries and our rotis.” We are looking at alternative recipes and menus so that people can still have the same food but it can be healthier.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

The noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, is contributing remotely.

Social Care: Adults

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 22nd June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for the question, but make the point that it is important that we look not only to our domestic workforce but to recruit people from far and wide to fill those gaps. We have always done that. As I often say from this place, we must remember that public services in this country were saved by people from the Commonwealth after the war. They played a very important role in making sure that this country and its public services recovered after the war. On recruitment from overseas, on 15 February, we added care workers to the health and care visa and shortage occupation list, allowing these roles to be recruited from overseas. We hope that will enable us to fill thousands of eligible vacancies.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, is participating remotely.

Defibrillators

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 15th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

Clearly, one thing is making sure the defibrillators are there and people know how to use them, but also, as the noble Lord rightly says, they should be educated in CPR and resuscitation. All state-funded schools in England are required to teach first aid, including CPR. Those requirements came in in 2020. To support schools further, the department’s teacher training modules cover all the teacher requirements in that. We are looking at how we roll that out further. As the noble Lord rightly acknowledges, it is all very well having defibrillators, but people have to use them and we also want to make sure we raise awareness of CPR.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, I call the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton.

Vaccinations

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 15th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that question. She will know that we are investing in a number of different areas via NIHR and other research bodies. Those research bodies also welcome applications for research funds in specific areas. We do not necessarily ring-fence that funding, but we ask for applications. One issue we learned about is that there is the potential for future vaccines to cure, or be used as therapeutics for, a wider range of issues. In addition, we are looking at blood tests which can identify far more conditions.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we have a virtual contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for that question. There is a lot of innovation in vaccines. Over the years, we have seen combined vaccinations, and some places have moved away from vaccinations to orals or to not necessarily needing vaccinations at all. I am aware of that, and I would be very happy to write to my noble friend with more details.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we have a virtual contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Masham of Ilton.

GP Access

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Tuesday 7th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Baroness raises a very important point, as does the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, who frequently champions the role of unpaid carers. The new model of primary care is taking on some of the services that were previously provided by secondary care, and it will be a more modern, networked service. Clearly, part of that mix, not only in primary care but at the ICS level, will be how we make sure that we have a proper integrated health and care system and how we can help carers and make sure that they are looked after while they provide a service for people.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we have a virtual contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Masham of Ilton.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Monday 23rd May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Lord makes a very important point. One of the things we are looking at, so that we will not only be a centre for life sciences but make sure that our NHS is at the forefront of healthcare worldwide, is to make sure that we look at the different stages of medicines when they are approved, if they have conditional marketing, and the different stages of approval to see whether we can get them to patients earlier. As the noble Lord says, we should share the good news about NICE. It issued guidance within 90 days for licensing of 100% of new active substances in 2021-22 and has the highest number of technology appraisals in any year since appraisals began. There is some good news, but NICE recognises that it has to do more and we are in conversation about that.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

I call the noble Lord, Lord Howarth of Newport, who is contributing virtually, to ask the fourth Oral Question.

Long Covid

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Monday 23rd May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Lord is absolutely right that we have to look particularly at the issue of paediatric care, as well as other long Covid sufferers. The research is varied in terms of the different medical definitions I just gave. Of the three categories, the latter two loosely tie in with what we understand long Covid to be. They are also in line with the WHO definitions. We have established specialised paediatric services, and the research will look across age groups to see what the most appropriate interventions will be.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we have a virtual contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Baroness makes an important point because there have been some reports that patients feel that GPs have not taken their concerns seriously. In response, NHS England has worked with the Royal College of General Practitioners to provide advice for GPs on the identification and management of long Covid. They have also worked with Health Education England to produce e-learning modules on Covid-19 recovery and rehabilitation. Rather than take up too much time, I commit to writing to the noble Baroness on her second question.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we have a virtual contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Harris of Richmond.

International Healthcare Outcomes

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Thursday 19th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

My noble friend makes an important point. When you look at the Civitas report, there are a number of statistics where the UK does quite well, but they were not always highlighted. This comes back to the point that this is not only about money; it is about how you spend that money and ensure that you focus on outcomes. One thing we are looking at is better use of the money, for example by using new technology to identify the waiting list and prioritise based on need, as opposed to waiting time.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we have a virtual contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton.

St George’s Hospital: Patient Deaths

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 18th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

My noble friend makes very important points which I am sure many noble Lords will agree with. It is about understanding what went wrong in places and learning from that. NHS England and Improvement is committed to improving the standard of patient safety investigations. It set up a new patient safety investigations team; as many noble Lords will know, HSSIB and a number of other panels and investigations are also looking to learn. In addition, NHS England and Improvement will have to respond to the coroners’ reports.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we have a virtual contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton.

NHS Mental Health Patients in Private Hospitals

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Thursday 28th April 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Baroness makes an important point about how we ensure that those who require services in their community receive them, while ensuring that we have the appropriate workforce. She will know that throughout debate on the Health and Care Bill, we have discussed the fact that Health Education England, as well as NHS England, is developing workforce strategies—as are local trusts at their level, which know their needs and requirements at the same time. In terms of the specific question, I shall have to write to the noble Baroness.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we have a virtual contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton.

Folic Acid Fortification

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 6th April 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

It is not fair to have a go at officials over this. Once the Northern Ireland Assembly election period is out of the way, they can get on with it.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we have a virtual contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton.

NHS: Pre-pandemic Facility Levels

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Tuesday 29th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

One of the advances we have seen with technology is the community diagnostic centre; these will no longer necessarily be at health centres or GP surgeries. We are looking at rolling them out in the community, in shopping centres and sports stadiums. About 80% of the people on the waiting lists are waiting for diagnostics, so we hope that will be a great way of tackling the waiting list.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we have a virtual contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton.

NHS: Gambling Treatment Services

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Monday 28th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I completely recognise the noble Lord’s point, which is why we welcome the fact that GambleAware will no longer fund the two clinics in London and Leeds. NHS England has stepped forward on that, but we are reviewing this overall, in a holistic way. When we have an issue that is considered across government, we must make sure that it is all joined up. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has been leading the review into the Gambling Act 2005, and has asked the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and the Department of Health and Social Care to feed into it, along with all the other stakeholders.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, will make a virtual contribution.

Mental Health Services for Rough Sleepers

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Monday 21st March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

Like many other noble Lords, the noble Baroness has raised a very important aspect of this issue. She is absolutely right that people with drug addiction often have physical and mental health needs as well. Mental health problems and trauma are often central to an individual’s dependence on drugs, alcohol or other forms of abuse. As set out in the drugs strategy, we are working with NHS England to ensure that there is joined-up service provision between specialist mental health services and substance misuse services for people with co-occurring issues, including those who are experiencing rough sleeping. We are also going to make sure that the next phase of integrated care system development includes leadership on drugs and alcohol to integrate both physical and mental healthcare and substance misuse services.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we now have a guaranteed virtual contribution from the noble Lord, Lord Howarth of Newport.

Covid-19: Restrictions

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Monday 14th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The Government have reflected on that and, in line with the public sector equality duty, have considered the impact of those decisions on the wider population but also on those who were previously classified as extremely vulnerable or clinically extremely vulnerable. For example, we are looking at whether it is appropriate to continue to give them free tests, and how they can get in touch with clinicians and others to ensure that they are more protected.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we will have a virtual contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton.

Care Homes: Evicted Residents

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Thursday 10th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

Having looked at the different procedures, I am sure that the noble Baroness is absolutely right. One thing that we want to do is to ensure that the guidance is quite clear. The CQC collects certain data and the ombudsman can investigate certain cases, but the CQC cannot investigate individual cases. It clearly is confusing and one thing that we want to do to improve the system is to make sure that we have a better complaints system and, overall, a better quality of care for patients all round.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, will make a virtual contribution.

Vaccination Strategy

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Thursday 13th January 2022 Lords Chamber

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

I thank the noble Baroness for raising these issues. The first issue, that of anti-vaxxers, is really important. In a free society we always have to get the balance right between freedom of speech, making sure that people are free to go about their daily work, and making sure that those who want the vaccine get it as soon as possible. The Government are aware of this and are looking at it, but it is really important that we get the right balance. Whatever we think of the anti-vaxxers’ message, they have a right to say it, but we have to make sure that it does not impinge on the liberty of others to get their vaccine, especially since we are encouraging as many people as possible to get vaccinated.

I join the noble Baroness in paying tribute to the Chief Medical Officer, Jonathan Van-Tam. He appears on our daily omicron calls and I have had a number of conversations with him, and I know that there is incredible respect for JVT across the country. Indeed, I know that a number of people tuned in to his Christmas lectures on the virus; as the noble Baroness says, they were an excellent explanation of the virus and how to tackle it.

As for how we reach local communities, particularly those communities that have not come forward, I have had a number of conversations with noble Lords and Baronesses with their own experience of working with local communities in a bottom-up way. We have seen a number of local activities; indeed, my local masjid, or mosque, has a walk-in vaccination centre, and we have seen that in other faith places. A number of faith-based and interfaith networks have worked closely with the local community, because often some communities do not have the trust in authority that they have in priests, vicars, bishops—if I may say so—imams, et cetera. That is really important. We have also recorded promotional films in a number of languages, including Punjabi and Urdu in Birmingham, and got some celebrities to come up. I know I have gone on too long but I am very excited about what we are doing.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

The noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, is taking part remotely. I invite the noble Baroness to speak.

[Baroness Brinton (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I too echo the gratitude that this House and this country shows to Jonathan Van-Tam. Four months on, there are still severely clinically extremely vulnerable people eligible for a third primary dose and then a booster who cannot book their booster because the data system still cannot record this. Many CEV young children with underlying conditions are still waiting for their vaccines, as well as for guidance on how they, their families and their schools can keep them safe from Covid. This is important because there are now more children in hospital with Covid in the last three weeks than in the nine months of the first wave. Please can the Minister say how these people, who the Government say need the vaccines right now to keep them safe, can get them?

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness for making me aware of the issues. She will recall that we had a meeting on how we can address the concerns of the clinically extremely vulnerable, and I had hoped that a number of action points had flowed from that. If those have not been acted upon, I hope she will write to me and I can chase up the department and the NHS. I had assumed that that meeting, where we gave them some action points, was effective. I am sure she remembers that we requested a letter with action points, but if those have not been followed up, I will endeavour to chase that up.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

The noble Baroness, Lady Masham of Ilton, is taking part remotely. I invite the noble Baroness to speak.

Ambulance Response Times

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 1st December 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

All noble Lords have raised important points about the pressures on different parts of the system. In taking a systemic overall view, the Secretary of State is holding regular “pressure” meetings and looking at the key metrics in getting those pressures down. He is also looking at how we can tackle things systemically from within, including discharge issues. We are looking at how to improve on discharges to make sure that there is enough space, thereby continuing to ensure not only that elderly patients are back in their homes as quickly as possible, but that we reduce the length of time that others have to wait for ambulances.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, that concludes Oral Questions for today.

NHS: Primary Care Surgeries

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 24th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The Government recognise that it is important that people can see GPs and, as much as possible, invest in making sure that there are more full-time equivalent GPs. We have done that and we will continue to do so.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.

Dementia: Art and Music-based Interventions

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Monday 22nd November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord for that suggestion. We are looking, across the health sector, at how we can think outside the box and train students in other disciplines to help in healthcare. Clearly, music can potentially play a role. In terms of the music studio offer, can I just say “Wait until you’ve heard me”?

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, all supplementary questions have been asked. We now move to the next question.

Covid-19: UK Arrivals

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Tuesday 16th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

As someone whose family comes from outside the EU, who has taught in universities and who recognises the great asset that there is and the great advantages that there are in being open to the world, and global Britain, I share the noble Baroness’s frustration. Yes, we have left the EU, which is very much a project of white privilege, and moved to a more global outlook. It is really important that we now focus on the world generally. The issue is quite technical at the moment. One of the things needed for the test and trace system to work is that you need access to the underlying data and verification. We are looking at a number of different options for how to achieve that.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

The noble Lord, Lord Flight, is not present so I call the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter of Kentish Town.

Clinical Negligence Claims

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 10th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Baroness raises an important point that spending more on compensation means less money for the care of patients. That is why we are committed to looking at various ways of reducing this and are working with the Ministry of Justice. Issues include the role the royal colleges play and the training they give to their medical staff, while needing to instil a culture of more openness when things go wrong. When things go right, we are ready to praise but when things go wrong, they have to stop hiding, delaying and denying, and be open.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

I call the noble Lord, Lord Walney. He is not present. I call—

Health Care and Adult Social Care

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 27th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I think that all noble Lords will agree with the point made by the noble Lord about the importance of unpaid carers and also paid carers. In relation to unpaid carers, we hope that as the social care reforms, in particular, come through, patients will be able to take advantage of social care. That will remove some of the burden from unpaid carers and free up their time. We are, however, looking closely at the implications and consequences of some of the proposed reforms.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, that concludes Oral Questions for today.

Covid-19: Vaccinations Administered Abroad

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 27th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

One of the reasons for the delay has been the wide range of vaccinations that have been administered worldwide. MHRA is working to make sure that it is confident about recognising them in a Covid pass. There is also a range of issues relating to anti-fraud measures that have to be put in place to maintain the integrity of a Covid pass service. The multi-organisation approach that has been adopted has ensured a high-quality service. NHS England has engaged vaccination centres, provided training and enhanced the vaccine data resolution service capability. NHS Digital has updated the API to allow overseas vaccinations to flow from the vaccine database—the so-called national immunisation management system—to the Covid pass. Also, NHSX has built the certification rules to enable overseas vaccinations in the Covid pass.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

The noble Lord, Lord Flight, is not present, so I call the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Lord makes a very fair point. This is what we are trying to achieve, but we have to work through the trials and the data to make sure that we can do it as soon as possible.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.

Social Care

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 27th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Baroness makes a valuable point about the need to look at mental health and social care. The issue is that, sometimes, for some of the patients who are being helped, it is not only mental health that we are looking at; there is a multiplicity of issues. I will try to get a specific answer and will write to the noble Baroness.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.

COVID-19: Type 2 Diabetes

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Thursday 21st October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The Government will consider a number of inputs in looking at the most appropriate strategy to address type 2 diabetes and, as many noble Lords have referred to, the increase in weight of many in our population during lockdown. The Government will consider the evidence of the Dimbleby independent review throughout the development of our food strategy.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, all supplementary questions have been asked, so we now move to the next Question.

Drugs: Black Review

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Tuesday 19th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question; we have known each other for a number of years, and I have always admired the work she has done in local communities in Tower Hamlets. In response to her specific question, I will commit to meet her and others who want to discuss this issue in more detail, but we have to wait until the end of the year for the Government’s response to Dame Carol Black’s review.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, all supplementary questions have been asked and we now move to the next Question.

GPs: In-person Appointments

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Tuesday 19th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I sympathise with the case that the noble Baroness communicated. It is important that GPs and patients work that relationship out between themselves. If a patient asks for a face-to-face appointment and the GP refuses to give one, the GP has to have a good medical reason.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.

Health: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Tuesday 12th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for her question and for making time to meet with me in the early days of my job and give me the benefit of her experience, particularly on the issues she covered in the Cumberlege review. It is absolutely right that we praise our health service when it does well, but we should also be able to acknowledge when mistakes are made or when patients do not receive the kind of service we expect them to. It is important that my noble friend and others push me, as the Minister, and the Department of Health and Social Care to make sure that we are addressing the genuine needs of patients and that patients are not ignored. I pledge that I will be a champion of patients.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.

Health: Type 2 Diabetes

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Tuesday 12th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness. I do not have the detailed assessments of that but I commit to writing to her with more details.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, that concludes Oral Questions for today.

Virginity Testing

Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Kamall

Tuesday 12th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

One issue we have to think about whenever we bring in any new law or ban is the unintended consequences. One unintended consequence that has been raised is that doing so might drive this practice not only into the home but underground. If we make it illegal, it is illegal; we must make sure that, when someone subjects a woman or girl to that awful experience, everyone knows it is illegal and that they will face the full force of the law.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.