Childbirth: Black Women

Lord Walney Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd May 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

That is what the equity and equality plans are all about: understanding the local needs of an area. As I mentioned before, a lot of this is often due to the underlying health conditions of that ethnic-minority group. Also, many of us take for granted the fact that we are very clear on how to access medical services, but a lot of people from these ethnic minorities do not have the experience—for want of a better word —of accessing them. A key part of the plan also needs to be about how we can make this care accessible for all these groups.

[Lord Walney (CB)]

Is the Minister aware of the findings of the 2015 Kirkup report into neonatal deaths in Morecambe Bay? Among its findings, it concluded that ethnic-minority women were on a number of occasions not given respect and agency by white British midwives, which may have contributed to neonatal deaths. Has that been looked at by the department, and what has been done since?

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I am familiar with that report, and the more recent Kirkup report on east Kent mentions some of the same issues. That is why part of the investment has been in a training programme to make sure that the suitable cultural awareness is there, because the noble Lord is correct that this is an issue.

Social Care: Workforce Strategy

Lord Walney Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd March 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

My understanding—I am doing this partially from memory so I will correct it if need be—is that the national living wage will come in shortly, in April. Care workers are paid that. I believe it is over £10, but I will confirm that.

[Lord Walney (CB)]

Further to a number of questions, I point out that the Minister talks about the recognition of the need for overseas workers to plug the gap at the moment, but where is the government strategy to focus on the growing number of British people who are trapped outside the labour market and need further support? This care profession, with appropriate levels of remuneration and support, could be a way to get more people off inactive benefits and into the workforce.

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I was very pleased, as I hope other noble Lords were, that the centrepiece of the Budget just last week was the need to get more people into the workforce. The health department clearly plays a key part in that with mid-life health MoTs to help and support people getting back into work, including things such as physiotherapy, which we mentioned just now, to give them the strength and confidence to go back to work.

Health and Social Care Update

Lord Walney Excerpts

Monday 10th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

As I mentioned earlier, yes, there are inflationary pressures, but as a percentage of our national wealth—our GDP—we are investing more than ever before, at around 12%. That level is very high compared with most other OECD countries. So, the investment and the staffing are there. I think the correct challenge, which I have heard from a number of Members today, is whether we are getting the best performance out of that money and investment. Again, that is very much where I have been brought in—to make sure that we are taking those areas that are performing well and disseminating that good practice. That is where I would like to focus my attention, to make sure that we really are getting the maximum output possible from this record level of investment.

[Lord Walney (CB)]

I add my welcome to the Minister, and I ask him about the issue of unmet need in the care sector from local authorities. His predecessor gave a Written Answer to my noble friend Lord Stevens earlier this year which made it clear that the Government do not currently record the scale of the unmet need from care packages that cannot be offered by local authorities. The Minister brings a considerable amount of expertise to this; does he recognise that that is a shortcoming, an issue, and is it something he would like to see his department address?

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Walney. Another part of my many and varied background is as a previous deputy leader of Westminster Council, so I realise the importance of local authorities in this role. I will not confess to being familiar with that scale of unmet need at the moment, but I thank the noble Lord for raising that issue. I will make sure I go and find out more on it and, if I may, come back with a written response.

Polio

Lord Walney Excerpts

Thursday 23rd June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for that question. There is routine surveillance that happens anyway. However, in this case they have detected it in more than one surveillance. Quite often, it is seen as a one-off and then not seen again for some time; in this case, it has been detected at each interval of the surveillance. We know it is from the Beckton Sewage Treatment Works—in that part of London. I must be careful about the words I use here: clearly, it is mixed up with a lot of other stuff, and we must now work out how we go along the pipe, as it were, and investigate individual pipes to see whether we can locate the source. In theory, it might be possible to find individual households or streets but it is too early to do so. What we are doing here is really world-beating: it is a first and shows that we are ahead. However, one issue in being ahead is that we detect things that would not have been detected earlier, and people are worried about them.

[Lord Walney (CB)]

My Lords, does the Minister recognise the stark difference at the moment in the quality of vaccine records’ availability? I declare an interest in that a consultancy of which I am a director works with Palantir, which has been part of the extraordinary change in the Covid vaccine records. Does he recognise the need to update the rest of the NHS so that the information on hand to patients, which has been so valuable in the system here, is more widely available for polio and other vaccines?

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Lord makes a really important about the future of the NHS and our health services. Last week, the Government published the Data Saves Lives strategy, which is what it says on the cover. One of the first issues we must tackle is digitising the NHS as much as possible. Digitisation is one of my three priorities, alongside sharing data. First, this will ensure that we can identify population health issues and patterns in conjunction with AI; secondly, giving appropriate access to researchers allows us to continue to be world-beating in identifying such issues. In future, it may well be that we can get a sample, use a bit of AI—thanks to other data sets—and locate more accurately. At the moment, we are really at the cutting edge of this. What will be vital to it is the digitisation, sharing of and access to data across the system.

NHS: Nurse Recruitment

Lord Walney Excerpts

Thursday 27th January 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord for giving me the opportunity to explain that. It is really important that we do not suck out the best talent from countries, especially those with a shortage of medical staff. We are very clear that we talk to countries that train more staff than they need for their domestic service so that they can come here as foreign revenue earners. We have also published updated guidelines.

[Lord Walney (CB)]

Is it not a real problem that the Treasury has not yet set the budget for Health Education England, given that there are fewer than three months before the new financial year and it has the responsibility for the number of new nurses that are going to be trained in this country?

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I am afraid I disagree with the noble Lord, because we are on track to reach our 50,000 target, particularly because we are not just using one route in. We are using a number of different routes; people can retrain from other courses, and we have apprenticeships. We are looking at completely different, innovative pathways into nursing.

Clinical Negligence Claims

Lord Walney Excerpts

Wednesday 10th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

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

[Lord Walney (CB)]

Yes I am.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

I am sorry.

[Lord Walney (CB)]

Thank you. I accept entirely what the Minister says about learning from experience but was this not supposed to have been baked into the NHS after numerous reports in recent years? Does he accept that we need to look again at the way in which the NHS trusts are often slow in learning from their mistakes, rather than allowing this culture to continue?

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I completely agree with the sentiments behind the question. It is important that at all stages we bake in a culture of openness in the NHS so it can no longer hide behind the fact that we are full of praise for it when it does things well. However, when things go wrong, I am afraid that it shuts up shop and hides behind various techniques. It is important that we are as open as possible in trying to make sure we tackle some of the problems and learn in the future.

Covid-19 Update

Lord Walney Excerpts

Thursday 4th February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, we have done an enormous amount for those who have been working in domiciliary care. The noble Lord is entirely right to shine a spotlight on those who play such an important role in the community, caring for the elderly and the infirm. The amount of itinerant travel, where these workers move from one person to another, has been dramatically reduced—partly to reduce the fear of infection. PPE has been used and we are putting testing in place for those working in domiciliary care. I am extremely pleased to report that this has had a huge impact on infection rates, and we will ensure that they are prioritised in the vaccine rollout accordingly.

I did not get the full details of the particular issue raised by the noble Lord in his second question, but if he would be kind enough to send me an email, I would be glad to look into it as he requested.

[Lord Walney (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, further to the question from the noble Lord, Lord Winston, on antivirals, I raise the issue of monoclonal antibody production. The work of the Government in establishing an enduring manufacturing capability and rollout capacity for vaccines is deeply impressive. Why, then, do they appear to be stepping back from the push to rapidly manufacture antibodies, which was a core part of Kate Bingham’s Covid strategy?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I am not sure whether we are completely stepping back from the production of monoclonal antibodies. I am extremely grateful to the noble Lord for the briefing that he shared with me last month and for the opportunities to look at how we can onshore the manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies. He is entirely right: this is a critical area of life science production where Great Britain is frustratingly massively behind. In the resilience of our healthcare supply chains, we have a huge gap in this country, and it is one that we are keen to address. The Therapeutics Taskforce is looking at monoclonal antibodies as a way of supporting our response to Covid and we have, through Project Defend, a workstream to look at how we can encourage onshore manufacturing of these essential healthcare supplies.

Covid-19: Vaccinations

Lord Walney Excerpts

Wednesday 13th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, the SIREN study is an important study on antibody protection. My understanding is that it is due to be published very soon indeed, and when it is, I will be glad to share the insight with my noble friend.

[Lord Walney (Non-Afl)]

Further to the question from the noble Baroness, Lady Richie, the Minister told your Lordships’ House yesterday that was there was a very real threat that a variant could start escaping the vaccine. In those circumstances, could there not be a need for a massive standing vaccination programme, far beyond the national flu jab scheme, and are the Government therefore making contingency plans for such a challenge?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

That is a gruesome prospect and not one that I like to see in a debate like today’s, where there is so much positivity. However, the noble Lord is entirely right that mutations may go that way. The good news is that the current round of mutations that have been seen in Kent, South Africa and Brazil seem to be about transmissibility, not escapology. It is as though the car had driven into the pits and had a turbo attached to it, but not camouflage equipment. But that could happen, and if it did, we would indeed have to look at much more emphatic and systematic long-term vaccination programme.

Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Self-Isolation and Linked Households) (England) Regulations 2020

Lord Walney Excerpts

Thursday 7th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Walney (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, many noble Lords have already raised concerns and suggestions about the vaccine roll-out. I invite the Minister, when summing up, to cheer us all up, because we have seen the extraordinary capacity of this country to be world-beating in becoming the first country able to vaccinate people. What are the Government doing to understand where the blockages are? Has he been able to pinpoint what Israel has been doing successfully, with the extraordinary achievements in that country? What can the Government bring in short order to this situation? They have shown that they can act quickly. What will change in the coming weeks to speed this up?

My second question is about the Government’s approach to lockdown once the goal of vaccinating the four most vulnerable groups has been reached, a target set for the middle of February. Hopefully, once that has happened, the pressure on the NHS will be very quickly lessened, because far fewer of those getting the virus will require the same level of hospital treatment. Surely then the R number could remain very high—far above one—yet the pressure be alleviated. Are the Government working on the basis that at that point they will relax these restrictions, start to deal with the huge damage that has been caused by the lockdown, and bring back the benefit of being able to move around freely again?

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

Lord Walney Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Walney (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, much of the criticism expressed by your Lordships today has of course been cogent, but I do not share the sense of certainty over the desirability of alternative options, nor the sense of recrimination, in most instances, in relation to the Government’s actions so far. Government Ministers and, looking outwards, all of us carry an extraordinary weight in imposing such levels of restrictions, which I have supported and will support in future. But they are creating huge pressures on communities, families and individuals, which will in many cases be felt for the entire lifetimes to come of those who endure them.

I want to use the little time I have to ask the Minister about people attempting to beat the deadline. We saw that happening in the week before Christmas, with that distressing sight of huge queues and overcrowded trains as people left the capital. Have the Government made any assessment of the level of increased spreading of the virus which such behaviour created, in that instance and others, and of what they can do to prevent the problem that people will act to beat these deadlines with a greater degree of harmful behaviour, ahead of any deadline imposed in future?