NHS: Clinical Negligence

Debate between Lord Roberts of Llandudno and Earl Howe

Tuesday 20th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

I agree with the noble Baroness. We view it as important that NHS organisations manage complaints in a positive manner and use the information obtained to improve service delivery. Saying sorry is important. People who complain often want an apology, an explanation and an assurance that the same thing will not happen to someone else.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, do the figures we have been given today include Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland? Are those claims included in the total figure?

[Earl Howe]

My advice is that the figure includes England only, but if I am incorrect in any respect, I will write to my noble friend.

HIV: Stigma

Debate between Lord Roberts of Llandudno and Earl Howe

Monday 1st December 2014 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

I shall expand on my previous answer. Sex and relationship education is compulsory in maintained secondary schools, although not in academies. All maintained schools and academies have a statutory requirement to have due regard to the Secretary of State’s sex and relationship education guidance, which dates from 2000, when teaching sex and relationship education. The guidance makes it clear that all such education should be age-appropriate and makes the following points about HIV and sexually transmitted infections:

“information and knowledge about HIV/AIDS is vital; young people need to understand what is risky behaviour and what is not; young people need factual information about safer sex and skills to enable them to negotiate safer sex … Young people need to be aware of the risks of contracting a STI and how to prevent it”.

They also need to know about the diagnosis and treatment of HIV and STIs.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, is this not the direction in which we need the devolved health commitment in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to go? What co-operation is there between them and the English set-up through television programmes, advertising and in other ways? Is this not one of the areas where it is essential to have effective co-operation?

[Earl Howe]

Yes, indeed, my Lords. I can tell my noble friend that there is such co-operation and constant communication between the public health authorities in England and the devolved Administrations on this, as on many other matters.

Health: Multiple Sclerosis

Debate between Lord Roberts of Llandudno and Earl Howe

Monday 30th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

The noble Baroness is right that care plans have to be tailored to each individual patient. For those with serious neurological conditions, that is as important as for anyone. I do not have up-to-date information about what work NHS England is doing at the moment on this, but I am happy to write to her on the subject.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, how widely shared are these new medications? For instance, I know that some cancer medications are available to patients in England but not to patients in Wales. How widely is this information shared so that everyone can benefit, even if we are under the devolved Administrations?

[Earl Howe]

My noble friend will know that I cannot speak for the devolved Administrations, who have complete autonomy in their healthcare policies. I can say that a number of drugs have been recommended for use on the NHS for MS patients, including Tysabri, Gilenya, Aubagio and Lemtrada. However, it is ultimately for the devolved Administrations to decide whether they wish to have the same set of rules in place as we do in England.

Health: Sugar Consumption

Debate between Lord Roberts of Llandudno and Earl Howe

Wednesday 6th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

I am sure that that is a message which I should take back to my colleagues in the Department for Transport, and I will gladly do so.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno]

My Lords, we have already heard mention of the importance of the proper labelling of foods. Could that labelling be such that even the youngest child, perhaps with type 1 diabetes, would be able to understand it without having to go into some mathematical equation to decide exactly what is good for him to eat?

NHS: Health Tourism

Debate between Lord Roberts of Llandudno and Earl Howe

Monday 28th May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

The best answer I can give the noble Lord is that this entire area of health tourism is one which we in the department are looking at extremely closely. A review has been carried out by officials and Ministers are considering the recommendations flowing from that. It is a complex set of issues but clearly the context to which the noble Lord rightly refers will need to come under the spotlight.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno]

My Lords, if this is devolved to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, how are the Government relating this particular problem to the Assemblies and the Parliament?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, we are in constant contact with our counterparts in the devolved Administrations. The policy adopted in England need not necessarily be replicated in those Administrations but we seek to keep officials in those parts of the country fully informed as we go forward.

Health: Cancer Drugs Fund

Debate between Lord Roberts of Llandudno and Earl Howe

Monday 14th November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

We plan to ensure that value-based pricing will take care of the gap that currently exists in the availability of cancer drugs, which the cancer drugs fund is trying to address. In theory, until then any drug that a clinician wishes to prescribe for a cancer patient is available under the cancer drugs fund. There is no restriction that we have set; it is a clinical judgment.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno]

My Lords, many patients from north Wales go to Christie’s Hospital in Manchester or Clatterbridge on Merseyside. How will this fund be available to them? How does Wales come out of the complexity of this situation?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, it is of course for the devolved Administrations to make their own decisions about their individual needs and budgets. It will depend on whether commissioners in Wales are willing to accept the cost of treating a patient with a drug that is not normally available in Wales. I cannot generalise but it is up to Welsh commissioners to take that decision.

Health: Funding

Debate between Lord Roberts of Llandudno and Earl Howe

Tuesday 1st November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will take action to ensure that there is no delay in funding medical treatment in hospitals in England for residents of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe)]

My Lords, in the future it will be the role of the NHS Commissioning Board to act as the steward of NHS resources in England, including managing the structure of payments for NHS services. During the transition to the new NHS structure, officials from the Department of Health are working with colleagues from the devolved Administrations to understand and resolve any issues which are arising as the result of the devolution of the responsibility for healthcare.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno]

I thank the Minister for that reply. Will he give us an assurance that no person needing medical attention, wherever they are in the United Kingdom, shall be denied the very best attention possible, and that in order to facilitate that—and I have some indication that this is already happening—there should be immediate discussions between the devolved health administrations and here to make sure that neither funding nor procedure nor anything else will prevent the best treatment for patients wherever they are in this kingdom?

[Earl Howe]

I fully agree with my noble friend that the same principles should apply across the United Kingdom as regards access to NHS treatment and facilities. The majority of cross-border flows occur in relation to Welsh patients coming in to England, and I am not aware that there are particular problems there. The Department of Health and the Welsh Government have agreed a protocol for cross-border healthcare commissioning, to define commissioning and payment arrangements for those living along the border. I believe that that is working well.

Drugs: Prescribed Drug Addiction and Withdrawal

Debate between Lord Roberts of Llandudno and Earl Howe

Thursday 23rd June 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I am afraid that I do not have that figure in my brief, but I shall write to the noble Lord if it is available.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno]

My Lords, as this is a UK-wide problem, how do you link with the devolved Administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to make sure that the guidelines that we get here for England are shared with those in the other Administrations?

[Earl Howe]

My noble friend will know, as his question certainly made clear, that health is a devolved matter. However, we work very closely with our counterparts in the devolved Administrations on a basis of mutual information. I am sure that, for example, the Royal College of General Practitioners will wish to make certain that the devolved Administrations are every bit as well informed about their work as we are in the department in London.

Health: Cancer

Debate between Lord Roberts of Llandudno and Earl Howe

Wednesday 2nd March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I am indeed aware of that excellent report. It is being studied with care in my department. We hope to make an announcement reasonably soon in response to it. It contains some extremely important recommendations which, if implemented, should do a great deal to restore the country's position as a destination of choice for clinical trials.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno]

My Lords—