NHS Dentistry: Recovery and Reform

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Wednesday 7th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

Thanks to the work of my hon. Friend and others, Tees Valley is a powerhouse of growth industries, as exemplified by the Chancellor in his Budget and autumn statements recently. I will take away my hon. Friend’s words of advice about his university. On the point about encouraging ICBs to take part in this work, as this plan is a joint document with NHS England, the expectation will be on ICBs to deliver the plan, because they exist to look after our constituents. This plan is one of the ways we will be able to secure that help.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

In Bedford and Kempston, like many areas in the country, we have a dental crisis. I have raised the matter of dentistry previously, including in a Westminster Hall debate. There can be no question but that under this Conservative Government there is a dentistry crisis and the people of this country have been failed. Why does the Health Secretary refuse to admit that 14 years of neglect and underspending have led us to this?

[Victoria Atkins]

Says the script. I assume the hon. Gentleman will welcome the 2.5 million more appointments that this dental recovery plan will deliver for all our country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Tuesday 5th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Dame Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Lady knows full well that making decisions that change legislation requires consultation. That is both the convention and the requirement. The Government have brought forward the consultation as soon as possible. It will close tomorrow and we will introduce legislation as soon as possible in the new year. I think the hon. Lady will find that that legislation really will tackle the problem of the cynical targeting of children.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

6. What steps she is taking to improve patient access to primary care.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Dame Andrea Leadsom)]

The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to know that, with huge thanks to all the superb GPs and health teams, our manifesto commitment for 50 million more general practice appointments a year compared with 2019 has now been delivered. Our primary care recovery plan is addressing access challenges by tackling the 8 am rush for appointments, cutting bureaucracy for GPs and, of course, expanding community pharmacy services.

[Mohammad Yasin]

I thank the Minister for her answer, but let me correct her. Since 2014, the number of GP practices in Bedford and Kempston has decreased from 18 to 11; there are fewer doctors, while the patient list has increased; and the number of patients per qualified GP now stands at 2,812, which is a rise of 60%. Will the Minister apologise to GPs and to my constituents, who face a daily struggle to access a GP because her Government have decimated NHS primary care services?

[Dame Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Gentleman will appreciate that 50 million more appointments between 2019 and now is a fantastic increase. There are just under 4,000 new GPs since 2019, and the hon. Gentleman will appreciate that through the post-covid recovery plan to improve access we have said to GP practices that they should provide urgent appointments on the same day and for every patient within two weeks. That has significantly improved access for patients, and GP appointments are now being hugely supported by access to community first, our flagship programme to improve healthcare throughout the country.

Building an NHS Fit for the Future

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

Thirteen years of Tory rule has delivered a broken country, where the majority of people know that times are harder now than they were before. Whether it is accessing a GP, trying to get on the housing ladder or meeting the ever-rising costs of food, childcare, energy and public services, people are working harder and paying more taxes for less in return. Our morale is being tested to the limit.

The climate change emergency has been downgraded, the Government are going backwards on their commitments. Our rivers have been turned into open sewers. Schools are struggling to cover their costs. Public buildings are collapsing. Food bank use continues to soar, and more and more children are falling into poverty. All this zombie Government could offer in their last stand before the general election was this pathetic agenda. Instead of genuine attempts to fix the problems they have created, the Government have opted for more division and yet more authoritarian anti-strike measures; they do not believe that public service workers have a right to stand up for fair pay, conditions and better services for the patients they care about.

I will focus my King’s Speech response on health and social care, because more than 7 million people are waiting, on record waiting lists. I am so disappointed on behalf of my constituents that the King’s Speech offered little hope to get the NHS back on its feet—in other words, to how it was the last time Labour was in power. Many of my constituents are waiting for care, and the struggle to get a GP appointment is the norm. Access to dental care is not possible for many, and some of my constituents are struggling to access vital medications because of ongoing drug shortages, particularly epilepsy drugs, HRT and ADHD medication. There was nothing in the King’s Speech to address those problems, and mental health reform has again been kicked into the long grass.

Parts of the Mental Health Act are 40 years old, and we now know so much more about mental health conditions and how to treat them, so why are the Government failing patients and children, and continuing to ignore the mental health emergency? My constituents have been waiting nearly seven years for the in-patient mental health beds they lost to be returned. This Government enabled blatant profiteering during the national health emergency, and the covid inquiry has confirmed what we already suspected: that the Government response to covid was slow, chaotic and deadly. They went from clapping the NHS to calling for their sacking for having the temerity to demand a wage they could live on. The Government say they want minimum service levels on strike days, but what is the Conservative plan to provide a minimum level of service on non-strike days? The Government have finally relented to Labour’s calls to publish a long-term workforce plan for the NHS to ensure that the service can meet demand.

The Health Foundation forecasts that waiting lists will go up to 8 million by next year—not down, as the Prime Minister promised—and these proposals have come far too late. The health service is now short of 125,000 staff, and the announcement will take years to have an impact. There is no plan on retention measures, but I offer the Government one piece of advice: stop blaming hard-working, burned-out NHS staff for the Government’s decade of neglect of our NHS. There is still no long-term social care workforce plan to overcome the severe staff shortages in the care sector. We cannot fix health unless we fix social care. It will be left to the next Labour Government to rescue the NHS from the biggest crisis in its history, to get it back on its feet and to make it fit for the future.

--- Later in debate ---

[Liz Kendall]

I have spoken to many doctors who come to work in the hospitals in my constituency—

[Mohammad Yasin]

And Bedford.

[Liz Kendall]

—and in many other parts of the country, and they want to come, work and support the work that we do. We have looked at all those issues and taken them into account, and made a small-c conservative estimate of the impact that it would have. We are confident that that will provide the resources we need to get the backlog down and get Britain working again.

We will overhaul skills with new technical excellence colleges and by reforming apprenticeships, so that no one is ever written off again, whatever their age. We will devolve employment support to local areas to better meet local needs, because the man—or even woman—in Whitehall can never know what is really needed in Leicester, Liverpool or Leeds. We will grow our economy in every part of the country by getting Britain building, through our plans to make Britain a clean energy superpower, and by ensuring that we are the best place to start up and grow a business.

Those are the long-term changes that our country needs. In contrast, the King’s Speech just tinkered at the edges or ignored those problems all together. And what have we seen today? The latest round of chaos, confusion and division in the Conservative party—a party so concerned about its own future that it cannot focus on the future of the country, proving once more than it can never be the change from 13 years of its own failure—and a weak Prime Minister, finally forced to sack his Home Secretary, and to bring back a former Prime Minister he accused only weeks ago of being part of a failed status quo, in a desperate attempt to save his own neck. The people of this country deserve better. They want change. It is time for an election so Labour can give Britain its future back.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Tuesday 6th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

I know that is an extremely important scheme. My hon. Friend will know that the costs have risen considerably from when it was first proposed, and it is therefore right that we look at embracing modern methods of construction and at whether a rebuild option is the way forward. I am very happy to meet him to discuss it.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

The Government have failed to support the East London NHS Foundation Trust’s bid for a new hospital, despite the fact that it has the capital to build the much-needed Bedford health village. We have a mental ill-health epidemic among adults and children. Does the Minister agree that it is reckless to expect my constituents to wait many months and to travel miles to access in-patient mental health services?

Health and Wellbeing Services: East of England

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Wednesday 1st March 2023 Westminster Hall

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel) on securing this important debate. I also congratulate the APPG for the east of England on shining a light on how the east of England is getting a raw deal in Government funding for public services.

Nowhere is that raw deal more acutely felt that in health and wellbeing services. In the east of England, per capita spend on health is the lowest of any UK region or nation, at £2,889 compared with £3,236 nationally. Combine that with the fact that the east of England has the highest population growth of any region, at 8.3%, and it is not difficult to see why, after 13 years of Conservative mismanagement, people are waiting far too long for GP, hospital and dental appointments, and even for an ambulance to turn up to a category 1 call, where there is a threat to life.

Figures released yesterday by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine show that the east of England has been the worst performing NHS region for the last four months, when measured against the four-hour standard. One in 11 patients who were admitted to hospital in the east of England waited 12 hours or more in an emergency department after the decision to admit them was made. That means that the sickest and most vulnerable patients disproportionately experience delays to care, which is why the excess morality rate is going through the roof. Many of them are preventable deaths.

For years we simply have not had the investment in the workforce to provide enough medical staff, including doctors, nurses and midwives, to look after a growing ageing population with increasingly complex needs. Staff are burned out covering gaps in care, and exhausted after covid. The problems are so extensive that the Government do not seem to know where to start to fix the broken system. The urgent and emergency care recovery plan, announced just over a month ago, does nothing to get patients a GP appointment sooner, or to restore district nursing so that patients can be cared for in the community.

The Chancellor recognised the importance of investing in the NHS workforce while he was Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee. It is a shame that he does not put his money where his mouth is now, and broker a deal with nurses, ambulance drivers, paramedics and junior doctors to end the strikes that are causing so much disruption and stress to staff and patients alike. East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust employees will strike next week for the first time.

Many public service workers cannot afford the cost of living. Why will this Government not listen to them and consider offering them a fair wage for a day’s work? This is not just any work; it is critical, life-saving and highly stressful work. My constituents in Bedford and Kempston want to see the end of these industrial disputes. They are sick and tired of the fact that nothing works any more in this country. They are tired of the Government blaming anyone but themselves for the state we are in. It is the Government’s job to sort the disputes out, so they should get on and do it.

[Giles Watling]

Does the hon. Gentleman not appreciate that it would be far better to have a 5% wage rise when inflation is down at 2%, which would make the rise much more effective? One of the most effective things that we can do right now is bring inflation down and make wages actually mean something.

[Mohammad Yasin]

The hon. Member must know that these people have faced real-terms pay cuts for years. They are critical workers in our NHS; they deserve better. After many years, for the Government to offer them 5% during this cost of living crisis is not good enough. They should be concentrating on work, but they cannot pay their bills, they have to choose between heating and eating, and they are worried about their families. That is the problem. These people deserve better working conditions and pay than they are getting from this Government.

I put on the record how pleased I was to see the East London NHS Foundation Trust people and culture team named team of the year at the Healthcare People Management Association annual awards. It is time that the Government got their act together to release the capital funding to give the trust the go-ahead to build the much-needed mental health village in Bedford. The number of mentally unwell patients, including young people, who are forced out of the area to access treatment is alarming, and it is growing. How much longer do they have to wait for the promised in-patient facility in their area? My constituents deserve better community care and hospitals need relief, so I urge the Government to finally release the funding to build the facilities desperately needed in my constituency.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Tuesday 24th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Let me just remind people: these are questions to the Government.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

4. What steps he is taking to help improve access to GPs.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Steve Barclay)]

We recognise that increased demand has had an impact on GP services. That is why we are investing at least £1.5 billion to create an additional 50 million GP appointments by 2024.

[Mohammad Yasin]

There is a clear failure to invest in critical infrastructure across the primary care estate, for example, in modernising in-patient mental health services and GP hubs. To make matters worse, Government bureaucracy is holding up capital funding allocations. My constituents deserve better community care and hospitals need relief, so when will the Government finally release the funding to build the facilities desperately needed in Bedford and Kempston?

NHS: Long-term Strategy

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

Bedford Hospital, its partners in the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes trust and ambulance services are currently experiencing an extreme level of pressure, with record numbers of people using services. The NHS is trying to cope with this level of demand with record waiting lists and a depleted and burnt-out workforce. Desperate times call for desperate measures, which is no doubt why The Sunday Times recently reported that Bedfordshire patients could find themselves being treated in field hospitals. Although the trust board said that the use of field hospitals was not imminent, the fact that it is being discussed at all should worry the Government. The Prime Minister and other Ministers will not even admit that there is a crisis. If they did, perhaps they would take some meaningful action.

The latest Care Quality Commission inspection report on Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in December found an overall rating of good, which is testament to the hard work of staff and hospital leaders. However, the trust was found to require improvements around safety, particularly in relation to urgent and emergency care, medicine and maternity services. Much of the concern relates to waiting times and staff not having completed training in line with the levels required for their role. Workforce shortages are at the heart of these problems. If staff are unable to take the time to complete training or are spread too thinly to do their jobs properly, it is inevitable that the service they are able to provide will not be as it should. Staff and patients deserve better.

The most pressing issue in Bedford is the serious delays in funding for capital expenditure. The primary care estate is not fit for purpose and is a threat to patient care and the ability to attract GPs to the area.

Despite six years of waiting, the Government are still stalling on their promise to return in-patient mental health beds to Bedford. More children are seeking mental health support than ever before. Plans and funding are in place for a new mental health facility with specialist places for children, yet the East London NHS Foundation Trust is still waiting to hear from the DHSC if its expression of interest in the new hospitals programme, announced a year and a half ago, has been successful.

The Conservatives have been in power for 13 years. It is clear that the NHS has been broken apart piece by piece, despite the best efforts of staff. To go from record NHS satisfaction levels under a Labour Government to patients dying waiting in A&E under this Government is a dereliction of duty and a shame on our nation.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

Women’s Health Strategy for England

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Wednesday 20th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the importance of tackling domestic abuse. Indeed, last year the Government brought forward and the House passed the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 in recognition of that. There is an important read-across from issues of domestic abuse into the wider piece about data and how that in turn links into prosecutions, evidence gathering and empowering those who are victims with the support they need. It is an extremely important issue, and it is important that we take that legislation forward.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

We know that midwives and maternity services are struggling across the country. In my own constituency, we have seen Bedford hospital, despite its best efforts, struggling with midwife recruitment and retention. What steps are the Government actively taking as part of the women’s health strategy to ensure that maternity services are well staffed and resourced?

[Steve Barclay]

While this strategy sets out a number of future steps, there are also steps we have already taken, including on maternity services. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that we have announced an extra £127 million of support for the NHS maternity workforce and £95 million to recruit an additional 1,200 midwives and 100 consultant obstetricians. Steps have been taken, and more steps are set out in this strategy.

Access to GP Services and NHS Dentistry

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Tuesday 21st June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

It is a great honour to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford East (Imran Hussain). I have received a steady stream of complaints from my constituents in Bedford and Kempston about excessive GP and dental waiting times. They are angry, frustrated and bewildered that the system is failing them, but there is also a sense of fear that the NHS they knew and loved is no longer there for them.

For over a decade, Opposition MPs have warned about the impact of underfunding the NHS and of the harmful top-down reforms; and about what would happen if the Government failed to take seriously the recruitment, retention and training problems for GPs and dentists. We expect an announcement on dental contract reform before the summer recess, but we need more than short-term quick wins to reform that fundamentally flawed contract. For patients across the country to see any real difference in the level of access to NHS dentistry, we need genuine, meaningful contract reform, yet formal negotiations on such reform have yet to begin.

Over recent months, I have met GPs across Bedfordshire, who have all made it clear to me that there is a crisis in general practice. In Bedford, there is only one GP per 2,500 people, which makes it one of the places worst hit by GP shortages in the whole country. Those shortages are leading to staff burnout and poor retention, and unfortunately are hitting patients in need of care hardest. Surgeries are being assimilated into trusts to try to rectify those issues, but as GPs take on more acute care from hospitals that face their own backlogs, surgeries are seeing increased demands from patients.

Worryingly, we are also seeing escalating levels of verbal and physical abuse directed at GPs, dentists and surgery staff. Much of the current narrative, which is actively encouraged by those on the Tory Front Bench, is that GPs are hiding behind remote appointments and are working part time. That is not true; the truth is very different. GPs who are considered part time often find themselves in their surgeries covering full-time hours due to the growth in administrative work.

GP bashing only leads to more doctors and their staff leaving the profession. With too few doctors available to treat patients, that combination has led to growing waiting times for patients to access appointments. The BMA says that doctors are feeling a sense of “moral distress”, because they cannot give patients the care and support they deserve.

Now that covid restrictions have eased, it is, of course, vital that in-person appointments are there for those who need them. By enabling some remote consultations, many surgeries aim to clear the backlog of appointments more quickly and free up capacity to treat patients who need physical appointments. Covid accelerated and exposed the existing crisis, but the Government know that we were well on our way to this point before the pandemic.

The Government may be trying to patch the funding holes with emergency money, but too often they fail to invest in sustainable long-term plans, such as the well-thought-out Kempston health hub bid that they rejected. We urgently need a convincing plan to get to grips with the serious workforce crisis and get the NHS back to how it was under the last Labour Government.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Tuesday 14th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

Yes, that is a very important issue and I will be happy to meet my hon. Friend.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

When I wrote to the Minister recently about my concerns about NHS dentistry waiting times, I was advised that my constituent was not restricted by geography, which implied that he should travel for an appointment, but the whole of the east of England has been identified by the Association of Dental Groups as a dental desert. The Minister is well aware of this problem, the severe workforce shortages and the broken dentistry contracts. When will the Government stop blaming the dental practices, get on with the job and get the workforce this country needs?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)]

This Government are not blaming dentists for the pressures they are facing. If anyone is to blame, it is the Labour Government for their 2006 contract. We are amending that contract, and will make an announcement before the summer recess.