Covid-19

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, and I have asked Simon Stevens, the head of the NHS, to ensure that local trusts and clinical commissioning groups keep their local MPs informed of what is happening locally, what is having to happen and how they are responding. Of course, the NHS is incredibly busy at this time preparing for events to come, but that would be a good idea.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

What extra support will be available for pharmacists, and when will local authorities know what their public health funding allocation will be?

[Matt Hancock]

The public health budget is going up and pharmacists are an incredibly important part of the NHS family.

Social Care

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I am going to make some progress and talk about the long-term solutions we are seeking on social care. For all its many strengths, it is clear that the system cannot remain as it is. Three out of four over-65s will face some care costs in their lifetime, and approximately one in 10 will face lifetime costs of more than £100,000. We need a long-term funding solution, so that the system can continue to do all that we ask of it long into the future. Crucially, we need a solution that solves the problem, commands the widest possible support and stands the test of time. We know in this House that that challenge has been ducked for many years; we have had more than a dozen commissions, reviews and reports, and more than two decades of inaction, from Governments of all political stripes. We do not need another commission —we need a plan. So in our manifesto we set out our three-point plan to solve the crisis, as referred to in our amendment tonight, which I hope the whole House will support.

The first point is to deliver the funding that is needed now to stabilise the system. The funding will provide certainty for local authorities and providers while we put in place the long-term solution. At the last spending round, we said that would make an extra £1.5 billion available in 2020-21. That includes £1 billion of additional grant funding and the 2% adult social care precept, allowing councils access to a further half a billion pounds. Overall, that is part of a 4.4% real-terms increase in local authority core spending in 2021, and that spending comes on top of £2.5 billion in existing social care grants that will be maintained. All in all, our investment since 2015 has allowed an 11% cash-terms rise in social care spending by councils. So the amount of money going into the system is going up, and I am very glad about that, but clearly further progress needs to be made.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

Will the Secretary of State commit to publishing a distributional analysis of where that money is coming from and who it is going to?

[Matt Hancock]

The £1 billion comes from general taxation and the half a billion comes from the social care precept, and we have been absolutely clear about that.

The second part of the plan is to recommit to seeking a cross-party solution. In my view, past attempts at reform have not failed for lack of ideas or good will on the part of many people and many policy makers; they have failed because solving this problem is not just a task of policy making, but an act of political economy. The consequences of the decisions on the reform of social care will play out over decades and, as with past reforms—for instance, pension auto-enrolment—this is best done with cross-party support.

Wuhan Coronavirus

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Monday 3rd February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

My hon. Friend is right, and I am sure we can do yet more. Today, we put an extra £20 million into the global effort, and the UK is playing a huge international role. As I said in my statement, the main testing equipment was developed in Oxford and is now used around the world, and Public Health England’s work at Porton Down is globally leading. Developments in the science around the vaccine are a global effort in which Britain is taking the lead.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

Merseyside is home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe, so I certainly associate myself with the remarks of the shadow Secretary of State. While some in the Wirral were surprised by the news, many of my constituents have been in touch to say that their first thoughts are with those currently experiencing quarantine, in what must be a distressing situation for them. Given that we will have many lessons learnt, will the Secretary of State commit to visiting the Wirral, so that he can thank Merseyside police and NHS staff, and all those who have helped, and understand the experience so that we can improve as necessary? No doubt at some point this will happen again.

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, I would be happy to make that commitment. As the hon. Member may know, I was born and brought up in Chester; the Wirral is but a stone’s throw away. I wish to add Wirral Council to her list. It has done a great job in difficult circumstances, and worked closely with us to ensure the best support for those evacuees currently at Arrowe Park and for everybody on the Wirral, so that they get the support they need.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Tuesday 19th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the 12 deaths from sudden cardiac arrest in the young. Although the purchasing of a defibrillator is a matter for individual schools, the Government would encourage schools to buy them. The NHS supply chain is engaging with school networks to get good prices for these defibrillators, and the Department for Education has published on the Government website guidance for schools on buying and installing an automated external defibrillator. In addition, in January, the DFE announced plans for all children to be taught basic first aid in schools, including how to do CPR and use a defibrillator.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

13. What steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for mental health patients in the north-west.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Jackie Doyle-Price)]

National waiting time standards for early intervention in psychosis, improved access to psychological therapies and services for children and young people with eating disorders are already being met, or are on track to be met by 2020-21, in the north-west. We will introduce new waiting times and targets under the NHS long-term plan, and we have an ambition to deliver many more treatments for all who need them.

[Alison McGovern]

Adult waiting times in Wirral for talking therapies to treat anxiety and depression are some of the worst in the country. The average waiting time between referral and first treatment is 48 days, and between referral and second treatment, when we know that someone needs help, it is 159 days. Will the Minister thank all the volunteers in Wirral who are trying to help those who are suffering from anxiety and depression, and will she explain to me what she is going to do to stop this crisis?

Oral Answers to Questions

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Tuesday 27th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage]

I am always happy to speak to my right hon. Friend about such things. I understand that the intention is now to move to a more place-based approach to health and care planning in his local area, but all such changes are subject to consultation.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

I will be honest, I am confused. We have heard the Minister say several times that community approaches are important, but our walk-in centre in Eastham is yet again being threatened with closure. Which is it—do this Tory Government want crowded A&Es or proper walk-in centres that will prevent people from unnecessarily ending up at A&E?

[Caroline Dinenage]

I do not think I can make it any clearer: this Government are committed to providing community services right where people need them, and we are putting our money where our mouth is. Last week, the Prime Minister announced a major new investment in primary and community healthcare of £3.5 billion.

 Orkambi and Cystic Fibrosis

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Monday 19th March 2018 Westminster Hall

[Ian Austin]

That is a really important point and one that I hope the Minister will take into account. We should be looking not just at the cost of providing Orkambi, but at the savings that that would make in other areas. I want to develop that point in a few minutes.

What I did not understand before speaking to people with cystic fibrosis was the toll that not knowing whether they will be given these life-saving drugs takes on their mental health. I am talking about the worry that it causes them and their families and the stress and fear that it puts them through. Something else that I did not understand before meeting Carly was the impact that having a condition that reduces life expectancy has on the rest of someone’s life. Lynsey Beswick, who many hon. Members will recall was at the roundtable a few weeks ago, explained that very well. She is in her 30s and told me that, at a time when her friends are getting married, planning families, developing their careers and starting businesses—making long-term plans—people such as her are deterred from doing those things. They just cannot plan for their futures in the same way because, to put it bluntly, they do not know how long they have to live.

Since having Orkambi, Carly has been able to go on holiday abroad for the first time with her family. She has married. She has started a business. Let us think about that. She has started a business, so she is employing people and making a much bigger contribution to the economy. People talk in these debates about the cost of providing these drugs. Let us talk also about the contribution that people who are given Orkambi can make to society. Let us think not just about the cost, but about the contribution they make, the businesses they can start, the jobs they can create and the taxes that will be paid. Let us think about that as well. Let us think about the contribution that providing Orkambi can make to our economy.

What is worse, the longer people live without access to drugs such as Orkambi—I had not really appreciated this—the worse their lungs become. Every day that access to this drug is delayed is another day on which the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis are damaged. I want to repeat that point, because I really want people to think about this: every day that people who could be helped by Orkambi are denied it is another day on which their lungs suffer irreparable damage.

That damage will not be put right. It is not like some medical conditions whereby the patient is given a drug and they are cured, restored and put back to how they were originally. That is not the case here. That damage will not be put right when—or if—they eventually get this drug. The damage that has been done is permanent. Every day this treatment is delayed limits the lives of people it could help. I really want the Minister and others to understand that point, because I must confess that I had not fully understood it until I chaired that roundtable with the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and Vertex a few weeks ago.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a brilliant and important speech. I am here because of my constituent Ava and her family. Ava loves horse riding and her family want her to have the opportunity to live her life as an ordinary, healthy seven-year-old. That is all they want. Orkambi could provide her with that opportunity. Is not it people such as Ava and the people my hon. Friend has mentioned whom we have to keep at the forefront of our minds?

[Ian Austin]

My hon. Friend is completely right. This is what politics is about. What are we here for? We are here to listen to people in our constituencies. It is our job to come here and speak up on their behalf, which is exactly what she has just done.

I want the Minister to look really carefully at the way in which NICE works. This is not a criticism of NICE, the Government or anyone else, but new drugs are being developed and technological changes are happening so rapidly that I want to ask whether the way in which drugs are assessed, licensed and approved still works. My central question is: how are Ministers going to ensure that these ground-breaking drugs and new developments are made available much quicker?

In 2016, NICE was not able to recommend the use of Orkambi due to uncertainty about its long-term value, impact and cost-effectiveness. Vertex submitted a fresh proposal last month. On Friday, NHS England said:

“Following advice from Nice, the NHS has asked this particular drug company to review its proposed pricing. Unless this happens, further progress at this time is frankly unlikely.”

What sort of hope does a blunt statement such as “frankly unlikely” give people with cystic fibrosis? How does it give us any confidence that new drugs such as Symdeko, which is due to have its marketing authorisation confirmed by the European Medicines Agency in the coming works, will be approved as well?

Mental Health Act: CQC Report

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Tuesday 27th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

More than half of women with mental health problems have experienced violence or abuse, so may I ask the Minister what reforms will be made to the support available to women with mental health difficulties, particularly to reflect women’s experience of abuse in coercive or controlling relationships?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

The hon. Lady raises an issue that is close to my heart. In my opening statement I highlighted the discrimination faced by black people in detention, but I could just as easily highlight the discrimination faced by women. As she says, if they become victims of domestic abuse or coercive relationships, they often face mental health challenges as a result, and they are more likely to be detained in those circumstances. I co-chair the women’s mental health taskforce with Katharine Sacks-Jones from Agenda, and towards the end of the year we are looking to bring forward concrete actions to tackle exactly this kind of discrimination and make mental health services more responsive for women.

NHS Pay

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Wednesday 13th September 2017 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way, but I thank him even more for coming to Eastham in my constituency, where our precious walk-in centre is closing owing to staff shortages at our A&E, which is in crisis. The Tories says that we are talking down the NHS and lowering morale, but does he agree that it is not words that matter but action, and that is why we need action on pay?

[Jonathan Ashworth]

My hon. Friend is right. A popular, successful walk-in centre in her constituency has had to close to shift the staff to fill vacancies at the local A&E at Arrowe Park hospital, because the pay cap and other Government decisions have led to a staffing crisis in the wider NHS.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hunt]

What I will not apologise for is the dreadful short staffing on NHS hospital wards that we inherited in 2010, which led directly to the problems of Mid Staffs. Nor will I apologise for sorting that out and making sure that we have 12,000 more nurses on our hospital wards today than we had in 2010.

[Alison McGovern]

The Secretary of State is repeating words that the Tories have used to excuse their cuts for years but that have not dealt with the deficit, which is still with us. My constituents do not care about that; they care about Eastham walk-in centre, which is closed because of staff shortages. Will he answer this simple question? When will Eastham walk-in centre reopen?

[Mr Hunt]

What the hon. Lady’s constituents care about is that today we announced the lowest unemployment level since 1975, which is a massive benefit to her constituents. She says that we have been repeating our reasons for this terrible financial discipline, which has been so difficult. I am not someone who says that the entire responsibility for the recession in 2010 is the Labour party’s. I recognise that it was a global crash, but what Labour cannot deny is that the recession we faced here was far, far worse than in other countries. Why is that? What did the Governor of the Bank of England say at the time?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hunt]

I am going to make some progress and then I will give way further. I want to talk about the recruitment issues raised by the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West) and others, but I wish to conclude on the point about financial discipline, of which Opposition Members are so critical. The consequences for a Government of losing financial discipline are not just pay freezes and 1% caps, but 1 million people unemployed—as a result of that recession post-2008. Every Labour Government in modern times has left office with unemployment higher than when they arrived. That is why this afternoon’s motion is so bogus, because the difference between the Government and the Opposition is not about a desire to invest in public services; it is about the ability to deliver a strong economy so that we can make that investment.

[Alison McGovern]

rose—

Baby Loss

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Thursday 13th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Antoinette Sandbach]

I think it is shocking. Miscarriage is one of the silent subjects. Other Members will probably speak about it, or will have had their own experiences.

The second key principle involves commissioning. We know that the knowledge and learning are out there. There are some inspirational NHS trusts, consultants, midwives and chaplains who have established best practice in hospitals. Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria Strategic Clinical Networks has developed a stillbirth-specific integrated pathway. Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has introduced butterfly signs on maternity room doors to alert staff when parents have lost a baby, and has adapted its literature to ensure that they receive relevant information and advice. Abigail’s Footsteps offers equipment such as cold cots to hospitals.

The work that is being done by many charities and dedicated healthcare professionals needs to be shared within the NHS to address gaps in the service when parents are effectively left to fend for themselves. That means that there needs to be better and more effective training for healthcare professionals. It is really not acceptable that such limited pre-qualification bereavement training—sometimes as little as an hour—is given to midwives, given the current stillbirth rates. There needs to be better pre-qualification training for them and also for sonographers and GPs, given the statistics.

There are a number of inspirational examples of good practice in the country, and this weekend they are being celebrated at the Butterfly Awards ceremony in Worcester. If Members have examples of good practice in their constituencies, they should consider nominating them for next year’s Butterfly Awards, so that we can increase their prominence.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Lady very much for initiating the debate. If there is one thing that we can do in the House, it is break taboos, and she, along with other Members, has done that very successfully. Does she think that it is partly because of that taboo that the quality of training is so poor, and does she agree that the more we talk about miscarriage and baby loss, the better it will be?

[Antoinette Sandbach]

I certainly do. Baby loss awareness week has been running for 13 years, but we in this place need to ensure that it affects policy and delivers better outcomes, and that when outcomes do not change, we hold the Secretary of State and the Minister to account. I know that they have recognised the problem, but we will need to see a change in the figures by 2020.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Tuesday 5th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Alistair Burt]

How I miss the hon. Lady sitting on the Opposition Front Bench with her questions on mental health. I pay tribute to the exceptional work that she has done in this particular area. The £1.25 billion extra that is going into children and young persons’ mental health over the course of this Parliament—I along with other Members in the House have absolutely fought to make sure that it stays in the plans—will help. We have done more work than ever before in relation to combating stigma, but she is right to raise that, as it is essential that we do. It is also essential that the money that is provided centrally goes through clinical commissioning groups into mental health spending, and I am quite sure that she and I will make sure that happens.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State and others have sought to reassure us that nothing changes immediately with Brexit, but that is not right for the NHS. The impact on the economy is already clear, and that will have a knock-on effect on our health service. That is why I will meet local leaders in Wirral on Friday to try to formulate a Brexit plan for the NHS. Will the Secretary of State receive that plan and take all necessary steps to protect the health service in Wirral?

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

Of course, and we will take every step necessary to protect the NHS throughout the country, because it remains our most important public service. I am sure that, economically, the period ahead will be difficult, but now that we have had the argument and the British people have made their decision, it is also important that we talk up the opportunities from the new relationships that we may have in the future, and the extra funding that those could generate for the NHS, and I certainly hope that that is what happens.