NHS: Hospital Waiting Times
Debate between Lord Stirrup and Lord Evans of Rainow
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
Our ambition for cancer diagnosis is that by March 2024 75% of patients urgently referred by their GP for suspected cancer will receive a cancer diagnosis or have cancer ruled out within 28 days. In November 2023, 71.9% of patients received a diagnosis or all-clear within 28 days. We are confident that we will meet our March 2024 ambition.
Lord Stirrup (CB)
My Lords, the Minister will be aware that doctors who do not go on strike work frantically to cover for those who do. When the strike is over, they have to work frantically to try to eat into the backlogs, which have only grown during the strike. What action is being taken—apart from just wishing the strikes would go away—to manage clinical workloads in order to avoid plunging morale, burnout, premature retirements and all the compound consequences for waiting lists that flow from these?
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
The noble and gallant Lord makes a very good point. We are treating more patients than ever before due to the highest investment in the NHS, with community diagnostic centres, surgical hubs, more doctors and more nurses. Apart from the junior doctors, all parts of the NHS workforce—nurses, midwives, paramedics, consultant doctors and speciality doctors—have accepted the Government’s pay offers.
We urge the junior doctors to stop going on strike for their unreasonable pay demand. As the noble and gallant Lord rightly pointed out, it puts pressure on the whole workforce. The other parts of the workforce have accepted the pay offer. It is about everybody coming together, particularly junior doctors, at this difficult time. We are treating more people. The waiting lists came down in 2023. But, for as long as they go on unprecedented strikes, we will struggle to get to those targets.
NHS: General Medical Practitioners
Debate between Lord Stirrup and Lord Evans of Rainow(6 months ago)
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Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
The noble Baroness is absolutely right. GP practices’ premises vary throughout the country but, as I said earlier, there is capital funding available for new practices. From my own experience, when GP practices merge it gives an opportunity for them to have a purpose-built building. When I was a Member of Parliament there was a very good example of that where four GP practices throughout the constituency came together to form an outstanding modern GP practice with a new GP practice building.
Lord Stirrup (CB)
My Lords, it is clear that allowing doctors to spend more time with their patients would permit more searching diagnoses, leading to fewer unnecessary referrals and helping to take some of the pressure off secondary care waiting lists. What allowance has been made for this in the calculation of the total GP requirement?
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
The noble and gallant Lord raises a very important point. The delivery plan for recovering access is backed by a major investment in primary care services, up to £645 million over two years, to expand services such as community pharmacies. Getting more people to use community pharmacies and other such facilities enables GPs to focus on exactly what the noble and gallant Lord is talking about: those people who need to have diagnoses and very quick scans in hospitals.
Health: Cardiac Arrest
Debate between Lord Stirrup and Lord Evans of Rainow
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
If the noble Lord refers to the House of Lords or the House of Commons, he raises a very good point. However, in my experience, looking at defibrillators out and about in the community, they are very well signposted—there are signs that clearly indicate them to the public. But it does vary; there is no standard, as indeed communities vary throughout the country. If the noble Lord wants to share with me his case of a specific defibrillator, we can certainly take that up with the House authorities.
Lord Stirrup (CB)
My Lords, this important question is part of a wider issue regarding rapid intervention across a range of health emergencies. Stroke victims, for example, who are treated quickly have a much better recovery rate and suffer much less harm, and therefore place much less subsequent pressure on health and social services. What are the Government doing to ensure that rapid intervention is a key element in the health strategy across this country? Our outcomes on a range of medical emergencies are much worse in this country than in many others.
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
The NHS is doing all that it can to raise awareness. The noble Lord talks about stroke victims, and awareness and looking for the signs of somebody who is suffering from a stroke are far better than they were. However, the noble Lord is right and, as I said in an earlier answer, we can always learn from other countries’ health services. On heart attacks, the survival rate of those who receive CPR is twice that of those who do not receive it.
Secondary Metastatic Breast Cancer
Debate between Lord Stirrup and Lord Evans of Rainow
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
My Lords, up-to-date and accurate data is critical to finding a cure for this terrible disease. The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service works closely with hospital trusts to determine sources of data that can be used to complete the cancer outcomes and services dataset, and works with the software suppliers of cancer management systems to ensure that data items can be recorded. Compliance and data standards are monitored by local integrated care boards, otherwise known as ICBs.
Lord Stirrup (CB)
My Lords, time is critical in all cancer cases. What impact is the ongoing industrial action in the NHS having on the average delays to cancer diagnoses and the commencement of treatment for such cancers?
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
I thank the noble and gallant Lord for that question. I do not have specific data regarding strike action, but while strike action is unhelpful, the faster diagnosis standard, which ensures that 75% of patients receive a definitive diagnosis regarding cancer within 28 days of referral from a GP or screening services, was met for the first time in February 2023, at 73.5%.