NHS: Junior Doctors’ Contract

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 6th July 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

No, I do not agree with that. Where I do agree with the noble Baroness is that this has gone on for far too long. We have been in discussion on this issue for nearly four years. It has got to come to a resolution, so the Secretary of State is absolutely right to introduce this new contract.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, what would the Government do if large numbers of junior doctors decided to resign rather than accept the new contract?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

There is no indication that large numbers of junior doctors are resigning because of the introduction of this new contract. If it does happen, we will have to address that issue when it occurs.

Health: Diabetes and Obesity

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

I entirely endorse the words of the noble Baroness, which I am sure will be reiterated in the obesity strategy when it is announced later in the summer.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree with me that far too much attention has been given to sugary drinks, the consumption of which has been in decline for the past 10 years, and not enough attention given to other unhealthy foods that are causing the problems?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

I think that the levy on sugary drinks has been universally welcomed as a start. That the proceeds of the levy will be put into the sport premium in primary schools and lengthening the school day in secondary schools is all for the good. If we are to address obesity, it has be across a very wide front.

Carers over 80: Support

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 13th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, under the Care Act there is an assessment, eligibility criteria and a support plan. Clearly there is no point having a plan without the support.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Government consider setting up an independent review to look at the sorts of budgets that local authorities will require to provide a decent service?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

As part of the consultation that is being conducted in preparation for the publication of the strategy at the end of the year, the Government have called for evidence, looking at international comparisons as well as an economic review, which I am sure will take into account the issues the noble Lord raises.

Health: Alcohol

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 12th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, traffic accidents caused by alcohol have been costed. I cannot give the noble Baroness that figure today but I will write to her with it. I do not believe that we are currently reviewing the alcohol limit for driving, although I know that in Scotland it has recently been reduced.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, have the Government considered using the tax system to encourage people to drink lower-alcohol drinks?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

That is a very good question. I do not have the answer to hand but I would like to think about that and write to the noble Lord. As part of the responsibility deal that was done with the industry in 2010, there has been a significant increase in lower-alcohol drinks, but I will have to come back to the noble Lord on that issue.

Junior Doctors: Contract

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 5th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

No; the noble Lord has misunderstood the contract. The number of hours are coming down, not going up.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government are pursuing a policy which is not evidence-based and is driven by dogma. Would it not be better to seek arbitration to get us out of the mess they have got us into?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, we now have a pause for five days. This is not dogma; we have two parties who have different views about a small part—about 10%—of the existing contract. Over the next five days we have a chance to resolve that.

Mental Health Services

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 28th April 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, I find it hard to believe that anyone can think that mental health is not a key priority for this Government, given that we have promised to spend another £1.4 billion on children and young people’s mental health and a further £1 billion a year on adult mental health, along with accepting the findings of the Farmer report in full. I assure the House that mental health remains an absolute priority for the Government.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, quite frankly, our experience is that a crisis is taking place, especially in children’s mental health services. Has the Minister visited these centres to see whether that money is being delivered? Our experience is that it is not.

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

I think there is a general recognition that mental health has been the Cinderella service of the NHS for generations and that, within that, mental health provision for children and young people has been a Cinderella service within the Cinderella service. We are putting a great deal of resource into it. Yes, I have visited a number of mental health care trusts. We all know at first hand that the service is highly underfunded, which is why we have committed to spend this extra money on it over the next five years.

NHS: Hospital Overcrowding

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 15th March 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, clearly it must make more sense to provide better treatment for elderly people in their homes, away from hospitals, particularly for those with often multiple long-term conditions. One of the tragedies of government policy since 2000—this goes across both parties—is that, although the rhetoric has been about moving care out of hospitals into the community, it has been extremely difficult to do it.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister accept that, although they may not be the only cause, the cuts in social care have had a profound effect on overcrowding in our hospitals? Would it not be a good idea to reverse those cuts and take some of the pressures away from our hospitals?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, I think it is well understood that the integration of healthcare and social care is hugely important and that the two cannot be seen in isolation. It will be very interesting to see how things develop in Manchester, where we are going to see an experiment in the integration of health and social care on a very large scale.

Health: Black and Minority Ethnic Psychiatric Patients

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 29th February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

The noble Lord raises an interesting point. I do not have an answer to his question except the straightforward, “I do not know”. I hope that when the WRES data on staff come through, they can be extended to patients and carers as well—as suggested in the recent report by the noble Lord, Lord Crisp. That information and evidence should then be made available.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government seem to be setting great store by the fact that they are waiting for a review. It is well known that mental health services are massively under-resourced. Would it not be a good start to put some resources into those services?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, the Government are committed to putting more resources into mental health. There is a recognition, across all parties in this House, that mental health has been a Cinderella service for ever. We are all committed to parity of esteem between mental and physical health and more resources are now going into mental health.

Accident and Emergency Services: Staffing

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, the noble Baroness raises an important point, but it is not new: 24% of all doctors who work in the NHS have been trained overseas. This problem goes back over 20 to 30 years. We must train more of our own doctors. On the specific point on emergency medicine, I was surprised that, over the last 10 years, there has been an increase in emergency doctors—A&E doctors in the main—of 9% per annum, against growth in demand of between 2% and 3%. That does not fully answer the noble Baroness’s point, but, compared with other parts of the NHS, there has been greater investment in doctors and other staff in emergency medicine.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister give us more detail on the action he has taken on the scandalous use of agency staff in the NHS? Will he tell us how long it will take to deal with this problem?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, this is a big problem, and to fully address it will take up to two years. We are addressing it in two respects: first, the number of people coming in through agencies; and, secondly, the mark-up that agencies charge, which is sometimes more than the cost of the person being supplied.

Mental Health Taskforce

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, that is clearly a very good question. At our level, we will monitor this through the mandate given to NHS England. Within that mandate, it has told all CCGs that they must increase their spending on mental health services by, I think, at least 3.7%. The noble Baroness will be interested to know that in the first six months of this year the increase in spending on mental health has been 5.4%, so it is higher than the stipulated 3.7%. Over the next five years I think we will see a trend towards more money going into mental health and primary care and away from acute care. We should not underestimate the very difficult impact that will have on many of our acute hospital services. The transformation will be very difficult. We may not agree on how much money it will take but I think we all agree in this House on the direction of travel—that it must be right for money to be spent in those areas. I hope that answers the noble Baroness’s question.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister will be aware of the acute shortage of mental health beds for children. How many new beds will be provided by the Statement?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, this Statement does not deal with children. The Government have promised to spend an extra £1.4 billion on children and young people over the next five years. I cannot recall the impact that it will have on the number of beds but there will certainly be more beds for children experiencing severe eating disorders. I will have to write to the noble Lord with that information if that is all right.