Vaccine Roll-out

Steve McCabe Excerpts

Thursday 21st January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Across Shropshire, and Telford and the Wrekin, 14,000 doses have been delivered to the over-80s. I will look into the specific question of the primary care network that my right hon. Friend raises, because I was not aware of that fact. Clearly, Shropshire is vaccinating the over-80s but I will look into that specific. It is true that, right across the country, the catch-up is absolutely vital in areas if they are behind, because it is right that this is done fairly across the country. I will get back to my right hon. Friend with the details of the individual case that he raises.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab) [V]]

Is it true, as has been reported, that up to a fifth of staff in some care homes have refused the vaccine? If so, does the Secretary of State have data on this and a plan to address it?

Mental Health Act Reform

Steve McCabe Excerpts

Wednesday 13th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, absolutely. We have put more support directly into schools, and we are rolling out the mental health link workers to make sure young people get that support when they need it.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab) [V]]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s approach to this issue. Can he give an assurance that independent mental health advocates will have the power to challenge treatment decisions and to make applications for discharge?

[Matt Hancock]

That is one of the purposes of having advocates in this way. Exactly how we frame that in law will no doubt be a subject for nuance and debate to get it right, and I am very grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s support. It is very heartening to see the emphatic cross-party support for the White Paper today, and the commitment I will give to him is that we should continue to discuss, and we will continue to discuss in an open-minded way, exactly how we put the details into legislation to make sure that we get them right and continue with this consensus-based approach.

Public Health

Steve McCabe Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab) [V]]

I accept that we need measures to suppress the virus while we await the vaccine roll-out, even if those measures are draconian. I therefore find it difficult to object to the Government restrictions, but I am not convinced that areas switching tiers or being placed in higher tiers will work. The tier system seems flawed, with arbitrary entry points, as in the initial London decision, and no obvious exit route. We have also seen the nonsense of a tier 1 area, Herefordshire, sharing a border with Wales.

If we need a lockdown and further restrictions, surely it should be the same for everyone. This thing does not recognise boundaries on a map, and businesses in all areas have the same needs. If they cannot open and operate, they should receive adequate support and compensation. They need protection from the financial consequences of Government action as well as those of the virus. The hospitality sector, vital small enterprises that cannot pay their rent, the self-employed being punished through no fault of their own—they all need support.

In Birmingham, many of those businesses will be wiped out and thousands more people thrown out of work if the Government do not act. Sure, it costs money, but I say that punishing innocent people will prove more costly in the long run. They are the people and businesses that will help our economy to pick up when we have got on top of this thing and are able to move on.

Why not be honest with everyone—health workers and teachers who have given so much, parents and the elderly? Why not admit another lockdown is necessary? The vast majority will co-operate if they believe it is fair. I think the Minister is well intentioned, but creating umpteen different systems and restrictions has proved a recipe for chaos rather than controlling the virus. And, of course, just as the Barnard Castle episode damaged initial trust, the spectacle of this Government standing by while the Boxing day hunts were free to spread the virus far and wide just serves to reinforce the idea that the rules are not applied fairly to all.

It is not too late to row back from what has become a suicidal game of snakes and ladders, pitting area against area and punishing people for no good reason. I fear that these inadequate solutions will only sow further divisions. Let us learn from mistakes and not go into the new year repeating the same old errors.

Covid-19 Update

Steve McCabe Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The majority of infections happen within the household, from one person in a household to another. That is, perhaps, inevitable, because we are physically closest to those with whom we live. Over the last 10 days, it has not yet been possible to do a full analysis of where we think the transmission is happening within tier 4. The reason for that is simply that the data are not available, and the data are particularly difficult to interpret over the Christmas period. I am very happy to keep talking to my right hon. Friend to try to understand as much as we can about where the transmissions are happening, because that is the route to keeping them under control in the least damaging way possible until we can complete the vaccine roll-out.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab) [V]]

I, too, welcome the vaccine news. I know the Secretary of State is a keen advocate of the use of lateral flow tests in care homes. In one group consisting of three homes in my constituency, it is taking a thousand staff hours a month to deliver just under 4,000 tests. That is not manageable without neglecting other vital duties. What can the Secretary of State offer by way of help?

[Matt Hancock]

We have put in more support to help care homes with the challenges that covid throws up, in relation to both testing and other things such as PPE that are so necessary. I am very happy to arrange a meeting between the hon. Gentleman and the Minister for Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Helen Whately), to see what more can be done, and in particular whether the burden that he describes—the time taken to do these vital tests—can be minimised in some way.

Oral Answers to Questions

Steve McCabe Excerpts

Tuesday 17th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Unfortunately, we do finish at quarter past 12, so I will start topical questions, slightly late, with Steve McCabe.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Matt Hancock)]

We are seeing major scientific advances that will help to get things back to normal. We are expanding mass testing with the two mega labs that will add another 600,000 to our daily testing capacity and, on vaccines, we have secured an initial agreement for 5 million doses of the very promising Moderna vaccine and begun clinical trials of the Janssen vaccine.

[Steve McCabe]

It is now 41 days since I asked the Secretary of State whether he would stop the clock so that no one seeking access to fertility treatment loses out because of delays due to the pandemic. When does he hope that his Department will get around to answering?

[Matt Hancock]

The provision of fertility services is happening in the normal way in as many places as possible across England, but it is not happening everywhere because of the huge pressures on the NHS from the second wave of covid. As my hon. Friend the Minister of State was saying a moment ago, there are pressures on the NHS. There are now 15,000 people in hospital with covid across the UK, but the NHS is doing far more normal services that it was not able to do in the first wave.

Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Services: Covid-19

Steve McCabe Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2020 Westminster Hall

[Sir David Amess (Southend West) (Con)]

It is a great honour for me to make my maiden speech from the Opposition side of the Chamber, although it seems a little strange.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Craig Tracey) on securing the debate. I agreed with everything he said. Yes, I am reminded of my hon. Friends the Members for Norwich North (Chloe Smith) and for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch), and of the redoubtable Paula Sherriff. We are all thinking of them at the moment, as they battle cancer. As far as my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Steve Brine) was concerned, I empathise with his remarks, because I was once on the Health Committee for 10 years. We had inquiries into many of the issues raised today.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer of all. At any time, about 600,000 people in the UK are living with or recovering from breast cancer. My wife had breast cancer. She was stage 2 and her treatment was absolutely wonderful. She, dare I say, got away with radiotherapy, but a number of her friends were stage 3 and had to have chemotherapy. Through early detection, however, more and more women are surviving as a result.

Perhaps my hon. Friend the Minister will write to me about this: Southend breast cancer service has been way up there at the top, but I was slightly concerned to be told that, in my constituency, 42 per 10,000, or 152 people, develop breast cancer every year; and I am really concerned that the uptake of breast cancer screening is below the national average, at only 65.3% of women invited to attend. Only 76.7% of women are diagnosed at stage 1 or 2, compared with nearly 80% across England. I am concerned by that, and I feel a responsibility as a local Member of Parliament to do something about the issue.

As we have heard from other colleagues, covid-19 has caused many regular services to be cancelled or delayed. In order to clear the backlog and ensure attendance at screening centres, women are sent—again, I say this to my hon. Friend the Minister—open invitations, rather than timed appointments. That may lead to fewer women making appointments and so reduce the uptake of breast screening, which has been happening consistently in recent years. If open invitations are issued, measures such as appointment reminders and letters from GPs must be put in place, urging women to attend.

Colleagues have mentioned Professor Michael Richards and his recommendations last autumn. The review found that screening capacity in the NHS needs urgent investment to increase the workforce and provide adequate equipment and facilities. Following the plan to extend the upper age for testing from 65 to 70, additional pressure was placed on existing staff, many of whom are near retirement age. About half of all mammographers are aged 50 and are likely to retire in the next 10 to 15 years.

I also hope that, now the Chancellor has discovered a money tree—which I am certainly going to get hold of—additional funding will be found for investment in clinical nurse specialists, to support those with incurable secondary breast cancer. Yes, the Macmillan nurses do an absolutely fantastic job—but more needs to be done.

In conclusion, the coronavirus pandemic has changed the way in which the NHS offers its services beyond recognition—we all salute that—with new technology, such as virtual appointments, being offered to patients. However, we must not lose sight of the importance of physical screening and consultations, in particular for breast cancer diagnosis. With the sobering statistic that one in seven women in the UK—my wife and three of our colleagues, whom we know about—will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives, it is more important than ever that this service is funded and resourced to allow the best chance of survival and recovery for those women.

[Steve McCabe (in the Chair)]

We have 30 minutes now for the Front Benchers to respond and to allow a little time for Mr Tracey at the end.

--- Later in debate ---

[Craig Tracey]

I thank the Minister. It is far better that we heard from her than from me. She has tackled this issue in the forthright way we have come to expect. Coming into this debate, I knew that we were in the right hands and I am even more sure of that now. I also thank other colleagues who participated in the debate, not just for their contributions but for the way the debate has been conducted. That is the message—

[Steve McCabe (in the Chair)]

Order.

Motion lapsed (Standing Order No. 10(6)).

Dementia: Covid-19

Steve McCabe Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2020 Westminster Hall

[Steve McCabe (in the Chair)]

It has come to my attention that the Order Paper states that the debate will start at 3.30 pm. I am advised that that is a mistake. I will work on the assumption that most people know it is 3 and they are here. If anyone inadvertently turns up later, we will make allowances for them on that basis.

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve McCabe (in the Chair)]

The call list is quite long. We can get everyone in if people stick to about four minutes. I do not want to impose a time limit, but that would be helpful.

Public Health: Coronavirus Regulations

Steve McCabe Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

I would love to have been a fly on the wall during the discussions that have just taken place, because I have yet to hear from a west midlands council leader or a mayor who supports the decisions that were arrived at, and there seems to be little evidence to support the tier 2 decision. I am told that contact tracing shows that hospitality is probably responsible for about 2% of contacts in Birmingham, and I do not quite get it. Giving pubs 48 hours’ notice of the plan shows indifference to the pressure that those people are under and the jobs that are at risk.

I want to mention two things on testing. One of my constituents told me she had developed symptoms and got a test at the local walk-in centre on 1 October. Seven days later, no results, so she ordered a home test and sent it off. Then someone at 119 advised that, because she was tested more than seven days ago, they could not give her the results, and 12 days later, no test results at all. Her husband is ill in hospital and she cannot visit until she has a negative test. Why are we doing this to her?

Another constituent received a text at 6 am on Sunday morning with the name, date of birth and covid test result for someone they have never met or heard of. The test results were negative, but I have no idea whether the person who actually took the test knows that. I have raised this matter urgently with NHS Track and Trace, but frankly, I am sceptical about getting any kind of suitable reply. My constituent has never had a covid test. How on earth has this happened, and how many other people’s results have been sent to the wrong person? World-beating—we would settle for something that simply worked.

I have two final observations. First, why are Ministers continuing to tell people that it will be okay by Christmas? What kind of signal are they sending people at this time? Do they mean it will be okay by Christmas and then terrible in the new year? Is that what they are planning to do? Finally, I would really like to know why we did not give council leaders the option of a two-week circuit break, as was suggested by the officials. Would that not have been a much better deal for many of the people in my constituency and in many other constituencies around the country than the ridiculous proposals that have now been imposed on them?

Public Health

Steve McCabe Excerpts

Tuesday 6th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

I am sure the Minister really appreciated that warm welcome from her colleagues—so different from those horrid breakfast-time interviews that she is occasionally trapped in.

I would like to make three very quick points. I want to ask, first, about this rule of six. If it is a purely arbitrary figure and it has no scientific basis at all, does the Minister accept that she is being quite unfair to those with larger extended families, and how does she justify that?

Secondly, we need clarity on the question about police powers of entry. It is quite ridiculous for the Minister to come to the Dispatch Box and tell us that the police can level fines and that they can do this or that enforcement, only for us to discover that, if they are standing outside a property where there is a party of 40, 50 or 60 going wild, they have no room to enter. It would be useful, if we are being asked to renew these powers, to know what powers the police have.

Finally, is there a numerical point of reference—an R number, say, or a number of cases—for when these restrictions will be revised in either direction? If that is the case, surely we should know, and surely the public should know.

Coronavirus

Steve McCabe Excerpts

Tuesday 15th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

My colleague the Culture Secretary is responsible for the programme of pilot events. For a pilot event to go ahead, it needs both the support of the local council and to have been advised as covid-secure by Public Health England. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport takes the lead. As the MP for Newmarket—one of the four towns in my constituency relies on sport, as do the livelihoods of thousands of my constituents—of course I understand the impact, in exactly the same way that my hon. Friend does, as the MP for Cheltenham racecourse. I speak a lot to the Culture Secretary and the Prime Minister about this subject. I hope that we can get as much going as fast as possible, but safely.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

I understand that it is not dead easy, but rather than come here and give us big numbers about tests completed or the average journey, why does the Secretary of State not listen to what people in all parts of the House are telling him today? Why does he not try to understand what it is like to be a parent in special-measures Birmingham who is directed to Oldham for a test when there is a walk-in centre two miles down the road virtually empty? Will he just recognise that there is a problem and tell us what he is going to do to try to put it right?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, I absolutely recognise that there are challenges: I set them out in my initial answer and have done repeatedly. I urge colleagues in all parts of the House, and the hon. Gentleman, for whom I have huge respect, to accept that we are only going to solve these problems if we use the data as our guide.