Oral Answers to Questions

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 27th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to that. I am always very keen to work with the devolved nations to both learn from what they do well and to share our expertise and experience where we are doing better, and I hope we will all co-operate to do exactly that.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

Initiating breastfeeding at birth can help reduce to health inequalities. Due to the actions of the Scottish Government, breastfeeding rates in Scotland are at a record high, whereas in England they are falling back dramatically because of local cuts. What will the Minister do to increase breastfeeding rates in England?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I commend the hon. Lady for her leadership on the issue, and she is right that this is one of the most significant public health interventions we can make at the earliest point in life. I will happily line up with her to do more to champion breastfeeding, and there is certainly a lot further to go, not least in ensuring that society is more tolerant of the practice and that women really do enjoy their right to breastfeed.

Prevention of Ill Health: Government Vision

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Monday 5th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

There is such an important role here for employers. It is not part of the culture of the UK, except in some excellent examples, that employers take a proactive view of the health of their employees. Other countries around Europe do that much, much more systematically. I am attracted to the Dutch model, but there are others, too, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her support in doing that.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

Breastfeeding has a significant preventive effect, and babies who are not breastfed are at greater risk of eczema, asthma, obesity, diabetes and sudden infant death syndrome, among other conditions. Scotland has invested in breastfeeding support and seen rates at six to eight weeks rise, whereas in England the rates have fallen for the second year running. Will the Secretary of State invest to bring all maternity and community services up to UNICEF’s baby-friendly standard, and will he act to make sure that women who wish to breastfeed are not being failed by the cuts in England?

[Matt Hancock]

The earlier that we can start with this sort of strategy of preventing ill health the better, and there is a lot of merit in a lot of what the hon. Lady said.

Budget Resolutions

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 30th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

An end to austerity cannot come soon enough. It is disappointing that the Chancellor chose yesterday just to kick the can down the road, and that he has committed only to starting to end austerity—maybe—in a spending review next year. Families and children in my constituency cannot wait until then; they have waited long enough.

The Chancellor says that this is a Budget for hard-working families. I take issue with that term because we should not judge people on such a basis. Many families cannot work because of their circumstances and feel stigmatised by the “strivers and skivers” narrative that the Government continue to use. However, universal credit means the disgraceful reality that many families are actually in work but still facing poverty. Cuts to universal credit mean that they will not be able to work themselves out of that poverty trap.

That situation is compounded by the Chancellor’s pretendy living wage, which leaves 16 and 17-year-olds facing an increasing age pay gap. In 2017, the gap between the pretendy minimum wage and the rate for 16 and 17-year-olds was £3.45 and this year it was £3.63. Next year their rate will £3.86 less, but 16 and 17-year-olds still have the same bills to pay. They can be in the same job and doing the same task as somebody on the higher rate, but this Government do not value their labour, which is an absolute disgrace.

The reality is that the UK Government’s cuts will see welfare spending in Scotland cut by 3.7 billion. The Scottish Government are trying really hard and making changes to make the system fairer in the limited way we can, but we are working with one hand tied behind our back.

My constituency voted for independence in 2014 and to stay in the EU in 2016. We did not vote for austerity, and we did not vote for the choices this Tory Government are inflicting on us. This Government are doing nothing to convince these voters that their vote in 2016 was wrong. Acknowledging that austerity should be over, but taking no action to end it is a disappointing move for even the most hardened of cynics, and the possibility of crashing out of the EU without a deal fair focuses the mind.

Economic policy is not just about adding pennies here and there on fuel and alcohol but about the building blocks of what we want our society to look like. Austerity embeds inequality—there is no safety net for people who find themselves on hard times, and people feel punished for being disabled—and this is no way to build a fairer society. The UK Government also fail to acknowledge that austerity is gendered and discriminatory at its very core. The Government should be looking at inclusive growth policies to increase wages and to engage women in the labour market, but they are not doing so.

Women are more likely to claim benefits. This is not because they are lazy or workshy, as the “strivers and skivers” narrative would have us believe, but because a societal expectation still exists that women will look after the children, the elderly and the sick. Even now, the majority of unpaid labour is almost always performed by women. When benefits are cut, it is frequently women who will go hungry to make sure their children are fed. Women also go into low-paid and part-time work to meet their caring obligations.

What did the Government do? They cut and they cut and they cut. We have seen huge cuts to breastfeeding support across England. I mention that because it leaves women with very little choice. If they want to breastfeed and do not get support for that, they are forced to buy infant formula, but infant formula has risen in price by 9.6% since the Brexit vote. With real-terms cuts to benefits, where are these women supposed to find the extra money? Healthy Start vouchers have also not kept pace with the increase. On top of that, if the baby happens to be the third child born into a family, that family will now be nearly £3,000 a year worse off because of the two-child cap on universal credit. Something so arbitrary as the order children are born in should not affect their chances in life.

A freeze on fuel duty does not help many working families or those with caring obligations who are still struggling to make ends meet. People on very low incomes often do not own cars—in Glasgow, 51% of households do not have access to a car. Nor are people on very low incomes likely to benefit from an increase in the personal allowance, because they do not earn enough. Two thirds of them are women. What is the Chancellor going to do to help those women?

Some 3,400 women in my constituency are affected by the increases to the state pension age. These women have a contract with the state, and the UK Government are not holding up their end of it. Some parts of my constituency still have a life expectancy that is below average. That is a legacy of previous Tory policies, which forced people into poor life choices. Most people affected by this pension policy will not even live long enough to get the full benefit of their state pension.

The impact of this policy is starting to show in the statistics. The recent annual survey of hours and earnings showed that the gender pay gap for over-60s had increased by nearly 3% in a year. WASPI women are having to postpone their well-deserved retirement and take up low-paid jobs just to keep their heads above water.

Austerity means difficult choices for the lowest earners in our society. People are at risk of getting into debt to feed their families, pay rent or buy Christmas presents for their kids during the five-week wait on universal credit. As I have said in this place before, somebody making a claim in Shettleston jobcentre when universal credit rolls out on 5 December will be without money until 9 January—a cold, lonely Christmas, with no money coming in. The response of the Chancellor and DWP Ministers is to say, “It’s okay. They can get a loan.” People in my constituency do not want more debt; they want fair wages and a high standard of living, and they do not want to be dragged down by this Government’s policies.

Funding for managed migration does not help the people who will be part of the roll-out on 5 December in Calton. These people will miss out if there are any managed migration funds. That is why universal credit must be paused now. I am begging Ministers to look at this, because I do not want children in my constituency going with nothing at Christmas.

Austerity will not be over until the benefit freeze is lifted, the two-child cap is abolished and there is a focus on policies that actually increase wages. Last week I called on the Chancellor to end the benefit freeze. The Tories have rightly received harsh scrutiny over universal credit, but the benefit freeze could be just as damaging to low-income families. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that, by 2020, it will cost families as much as £800 a year.

There is a huge disparity here. The Government have a choice between big businesses, tax cuts and low earners, and their priorities have been made perfectly clear in this Budget, which does nothing for so many people in this country and will put them further in poverty.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Steve Brine]

This Government are investing heavily in school sports through the school sport premium. For instance, the money raised from the soft drinks industry levy—the sugar tax—is going directly to supporting schools’ investment in sports, for instance through the Daily Mile campaign, which has just been mentioned.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

Scotland’s diet and healthy weight delivery plan contains specific recognition that breastfeeding can be a means of preventing obesity. Will Ministers engage with the all-party group on infant feeding and inequalities to see what more can be done in England through early breastfeeding to prevent children from becoming obese later on in life?

[Steve Brine]

Yes, and I am a big supporter of breastfeeding—I have supported it a lot in my constituency, and we engage regularly with the sector. I will be interested in any proposals that the hon. Lady has.

Perinatal Mental Illness

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Thursday 19th July 2018 Westminster Hall

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. First, I thank the National Childbirth Trust for its work and campaigning on this issue and the hon. Members for Stockton South (Dr Williams) and for South West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous) for bringing this issue to the House. I thank all the Members who have spoken so passionately. There were common themes on access to support, expectations on mothers and being able to talk about post-natal depression.

Perinatal mental illness is crucial for families, and I welcome the calls for a more comprehensive six-week check and the implementation of the other recommendations made by the NCT. Other Members have talked about their experience, so I will mention my own, which was largely fine, other than the stress of being a new parent and being responsible for a new baby. Those things are overwhelming. New parents are given a tiny baby and they leave the hospital with it, and then they have to look after it for the rest of their life. That is quite a big deal, and we downplay it a little bit in society.

My pregnancies were trouble-free and my babies were both well, but in reflecting on this issue, I remembered vividly having panic dreams in which the baby had gone out of the cot. I would wake up in a huge panic, and everything was fine, but it reminded me that we are surrounded by all these hormones and feelings, and it is difficult and stressful, and we do not support mothers enough through that.

I was very glad of the support from the team at Bridgeton Health Centre and Townhead Medical Practice—I want to put it on the record that they were absolutely fantastic. However, when it came to the six-week check, I questioned the efficacy of getting people to fill out a tick-box form about their mental health. It seems to me pretty obvious that if someone did not want to disclose a mental health issue, they could easily fill in that form so that it passed, and nobody would ask any further questions. People have to actively seek help, at a time in their life when they do not know what is normal and hormones are flying all over the place. I hope that that can be improved, and that the check can be more detailed. At the moment, it is too easy to miss the key signs, as hon. Members have mentioned. It was good to hear the hon. Member for Stockton South talking about the feedback that he had from a patient. I hope that more doctors are like him, asking those questions in a way that will draw proper answers, and that time can be given to such things.

Conversations about mental health in society have changed a lot. However, as the hon. Member for Canterbury (Rosie Duffield) mentioned, how we talk about these things has not changed quite enough. I was struck by Serena Williams’ comments about her experience of post-natal depression. This is a woman who is known for her strength and resilience, and for being an athlete, champion and star. She struggled just like anybody else would, and found it incredibly difficult, but has been able to work through it. As we saw with her recent performances, she has come back very strongly, but we are all very vulnerable in those circumstances, and we cannot be complacent about how difficult it can be.

Research from the National Childbirth Trust found that only 50% of women get the help that they need at that key intervention point, and that stigma and embarrassment continue to be rife. The NCT report also highlights the genuine fear that women have—46% in the survey—of the consequences of a healthcare professional thinking that they are incapable of looking after their baby. Certainly in Glasgow, where there are many cases of social work intervention in families, women are scared that if they confess to any weaknesses, they will lose the care of their child. That might not be the case, but the fear is enough to stop women coming forward.

Socioeconomic factors are in play, and perinatal mental health problems are a major risk factor in poor outcomes for children and mothers. Mothers in areas of higher deprivation are far more likely to experience repeated mental health problems and predicted future problems. There is thought to be a direct causality between poor mental health and children’s development. A longitudinal survey in Scotland showed that children whose mothers were emotionally well had better social, behavioural and emotional development than those whose mothers had brief mental health problems. Those children had better development than those whose mothers had repeated mental health problems. That can affect children’s transition to school and their subsequent development and attainment. I recommend looking at the work of Scotland’s former chief medical officer, Sir Harry Burns, who has spoken passionately about the impact of children’s mental health and of parental mental health, and the consequences that it can have.

In Scotland, we have moved towards a nationally co-ordinated systemic approach. The Scottish Government’s new mental health strategy for 2017 to 2027 focuses specifically on allowing children to start their lives with good mental health. The Scottish Government have funded a national managed clinical network on perinatal mental health to the tune of £173,000 per year. It is the first MCN covering mental health in Scotland. The network will provide a focus, enabling us to improve standards for all children and new mothers across Scotland. The MCN is multidisciplinary, involving specialists in perinatal mental health, nursing, maternity and infant mental health. The establishment of the first network for mental health is part of the Scottish National party Government’s determination to give mental health parity with physical health. I understand that such clinical networks work in other parts of the health service and have a proven track record of driving up standards of care across the board.

I have seen figures that suggest that one in eight babies in Scotland are born to a parent who has experienced mental health issues, so it is significant and widespread. We know that perinatal mental health problems do not only affect mothers; they have a wider impact on the family. The MCN is taking forward a work plan addressing that, which includes assessing current provision across all levels of service delivery in Scotland. In the longer term, that will ensure that all women, and their infants and families, have equity of access to the perinatal mental health services that they need right across Scotland, where we have huge rural areas, many islands and various geographical challenges to overcome.

In its review of the current provision, the network will pay particular attention to the pathways into care for women who may live some distance from an existing mother and baby unit, and will make recommendations on improving access where difficulties emerge. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) spoke passionately about the issues that that causes in Northern Ireland and in Ireland more widely, where women cannot access mother and baby units and the support that they need. It must be even more stressful if a woman has to travel over the sea to get to a unit that provides the support they dearly need. In doing so, they will lose contact with family networks that could also support them.

Another core remit of the MCN is to determine what training midwives, health visitors, primary care and mental health professionals—

--- Later in debate ---

On resuming—

[Alison Thewliss]

I see we have had a change of Chair, Mr Rosindell. It is good to see you.

As I was saying before we were interrupted by the vote, the managed clinical network aims to ensure equitable co-ordinated access to mental health provision for pregnant and post-natal women. It seeks to understand current provision and promote improvements in local services, including access and options for families, professional expertise and effective service delivery. Beyond that, it will seek to contribute to improved early years health and development for infants, as part of a broader Scottish Government intention for improved early intervention. The MCN will make fuller recommendations before the end of this year on what services should be available in all board areas to meet the needs of women and their families.

The most exciting part about that for me was the women and families maternal mental health charter, “My Right to Good Care from NHS Scotland for my Baby, my Family and Me”, which was launched on 4 June. The charter has nine points, which I want to put on the record. They are, first, the right to be at the centre of my care, so that I have the information I need to make the best decisions for me, my pregnancy and my infant’s future health; secondly, the right to be seen by staff who have the appropriate level of knowledge and skills to assess and care for me; thirdly, the right to preconception and pregnancy advice and care if I have a pre-existing mental health condition; fourthly, the right to access expert advice and care about my maternal mental health when I require it, wherever I live in Scotland; fifthly, the right to have priority access to talking therapies during my pregnancy and post-natal period; sixthly, the right to be admitted jointly with my infant if I need in-patient mental health care; seventhly, the right to discuss my maternal mental health without fear of stigma or being judged; eighthly, the right for my family to have the information they need to help me and to get help for themselves; and ninthly, the right for my baby to have parents who are supported with their mental health. All these are very good points, which are the bedrock of what we should see in a mental health service for women and infants.

I cannot end my speech without mentioning my role as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on infant feeding and inequalities. The discussion in this country about breast feeding versus bottle feeding has become increasingly divisive. I do not want to venture into it, but a cause of many issues is the pressure on women to have the perfect, glowing, spotless, white-bloused-in-a-perfect-home version of breastfeeding, but that is unrealistic. It is more like chaos surrounding a knackered mother with all the surfaces covered in vomit and soggy muslin cloth—or maybe that was just me.

The hon. Member for Stockton South mentioned the perfect baby ads that we see and the idealised images of motherhood. We put pressure on mothers all the time without necessarily supporting them with being a mother and with the learned skill of breastfeeding. By not providing that support, we set women up to fail. Many carry that very personal pain around for a long time. It should not be that way.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

The hon. Lady is making a very compelling case. I am sorry that I was unable to attend the start of this debate, but I commend Members on both sides of the House for bringing us together to discuss these very important matters. Does she, like me, worry that the reduction in antenatal services and services for new mums and dads, particularly in our children’s centres, increases the challenges that new parents and expectant parents face?

--- Later in debate ---

[Alison Thewliss]

Absolutely. I visited a children’s centre in Blackpool and spoke to people involved with the Breastfeeding Network, and they said they had seen the peer support service cut suddenly. That service was crucial, because it was doing the job that the community services and health visitors did not have time to do. It was providing early intervention and support with mental health issues and all the other things that mothers need. I understand that the hon. Lady is very committed to this issue. Early intervention services are absolutely crucial. Children’s centres—somewhere that women can go—are so important, because going to them is an easy first step for women to take. They are not scary; they are accessible and are right on the doorstep—or they certainly should be.

The Breastfeeding Network cites evidence that breastfeeding can have a preventive effect when it comes to mental illness. It said:

“A large scale research study published in 2014 showed that mothers who planned to breastfeed and who actually went on to breastfeed were around 50% less likely to become depressed than mothers who had not planned to, and who did not, breastfeed. Mothers who planned to breastfeed but who did not go on to breastfeed were over twice as likely to become depressed as mothers who had not planned, and who did not breastfeed.”

Providing support for women’s breastfeeding goals is absolutely crucial. If women want to do it but are set up to fail, that can have a serious negative impact. The positive impact of the oxytocin, the bonding and the skin-to-skin contact can be crucial in helping women and children through what can be a very difficult period.

Women on antidepressants are given the often erroneous advice that they should stop breastfeeding. Some 15% of enquiries to the Breastfeeding Network drugs in breastmilk helpline, run by the amazing Wendy Jones, are about that very issue. Evidence demonstrates that giving up breastfeeding is not necessary in many cases, and that if a mum stops breastfeeding before she is ready, that can have a further negative effect on her mental health. I encourage the Minister to look at the drugs in breastmilk helpline and perhaps find some funding for that voluntary service, because GPs and pharmacists often rely on it to give advice to women.

The key to all of this is support for women in how they decide to feed their baby and in the choices they make in life. There is a real postcode lottery. I encourage the Minister to examine this further and to speak to the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative, which has been cataloguing come of the cuts.

In Glasgow, support also comes from the community, in the shape of groups such as Glasgow South PANDAS, run by Lauren Tonner. The group meets regularly and allows parents to talk about their concerns. As we have heard, it can be difficult to open up, but NCT research shows that opening up and seeking help generally leads to much better outcomes. I encourage those experiencing challenges to find a way to take the first step towards accessing support. It is important to state and restate that women in that situation are not alone. There is always support there for them, and there must be ways of ensuring that women understand that. Handing them a leaflet is not good enough; there must be support and talking therapy.

My wider concern is that we are not supporting women enough anymore. When they go into hospital to give birth, they have to leave very quickly. Community services are often not there, and families are more fragmented and further apart nowadays. That is an issue particularly for women with insecure immigration status, those who have not been in the UK very long, and those who are living in communities where community resilience has broken down and people do not know their neighbours well enough to ask for support. A friend of mine told me recently that she had wonderful neighbours who were there for her when she had her baby, which made a big difference to her when she was struggling. We need to do all we can to help women who are struggling to put food on the table, or are struggling with other aspects of life, such as maternity discrimination and all the other societal pressures on them. All those things contribute to post-natal depression and women’s poor mental health.

I hope UK Ministers and my colleagues in Edinburgh can share best practice and seek to remove barriers to support for women experiencing perinatal mental health issues. We owe it to every family to ensure that having a baby is a time when women can feel safe, supported and cared for.

Transforming Care Programme

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Thursday 5th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Norman Lamb]

I am very glad to hear that. I was unaware that I had only two minutes, so I am really sorry, but I am pleased that you are so chilled out this afternoon, Madam Deputy Speaker. I applaud you for that.

I am pleased that the Minister has said that we must learn the lessons from the mortality review. Also, we must recognise the critical importance of involving the individual and the family in the decision making and in shaping the programme, in every case. This is about human rights, and human rights are routinely being abused and ignored. That must end. I am grateful to everyone who has spoken in the debate to highlight the critical issues involved in giving people the chance of a good life.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House is concerned at the slow progress made under the Transforming Care programme, which was set up to improve the care and quality of life of children and adults with a learning disability and/or autism who display behaviour that challenges; recognises that a substantial number of people with learning disabilities remain trapped in, and continue to be inappropriately admitted to, Assessment and Treatment Units rather than living with support in the community; is further concerned at the lack of capacity within community services; notes evidence of the neglect, abuse, poor care, and premature deaths of people with learning disabilities; believes that the Transforming Care programme is unlikely to realise the ambitions set out in the Building the Right Support strategy before it ends in March 2019; calls on the Government to establish, prioritise, and adequately resource a successor programme that delivers a shift away from institutional care by investing in community services across education, health and social care; and further calls on the Government to ensure that such a programme is based on lifelong support that protects people’s human rights and promotes their independence and wellbeing.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Is there a means of putting it on record that the House’s business has finished just after 4 o’clock, collapsing an hour early, even though our important debate on baby leave in the House got pulled because of insufficient time? I understand that both this afternoon’s Westminster Hall debates also finished early. Do you agree that there ought to be a better way of organising business in the House so that important issues that need to be discussed have the time they need for discussion when other business falls short?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

I understand the hon. Lady’s point and her frustration that the debate on proxy voting, which we were all looking forward to, has not taken place, but she will understand that time had to be given in today’s proceedings for the Home Secretary to come to the House and address an urgent and important matter that arose only yesterday and which no one could have predicted. I am also aware that the timetabling of today’s business was so arranged, with a 2.30 pm cut-off for the first debate, because the Government were anxious to protect the time for the important matter we have just discussed in Back-Bench time. In saying that, I hope that those observing our proceedings will appreciate that the lack of Members in the Chamber did not reflect the importance the House attaches to this matter. It is extremely important; some of us have been debating these matters here for decades and are finally beginning to make progress. So while I take her point—it is well made—the fact is that sometimes the House has to adjust to events in the world outside, and that was why the Home Secretary needed time this afternoon.

 Orkambi and Cystic Fibrosis

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Monday 19th March 2018 Westminster Hall

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I start by thanking the 484 constituents in Glasgow East who signed the petition. The hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully) made an excellent speech and was very courteous in trying to keep his speaking time down to let other Members speak. It is a pleasure to see my hon. Friend the Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Marion Fellows) back in Parliament and on the Front Bench.

As a new Member of Parliament, the first time that a constituent came to me to raise cystic fibrosis, I am quite ashamed to say that I did not know a lot about it. I was very grateful to Karen Ashe, a constituent from Mount Vernon, who explained to me the difficulties that her daughter, who is just 14 years old, experiences, being admitted to hospital every eight weeks, and the real challenge that that brings. She impressed upon me the importance of why we need Orkambi now.

Even since the debate started, another constituent, Naomi Moore, has tweeted at me—that shows the good thing about us engaging digitally—because I said that I was taking part in the debate. She said:

“With access to amazing drugs like Orkambi/Kalydeco, I’ll be able to use my degree when I graduate. Without it, my future is uncertain and limited.”

She is a girl in Glasgow who is in her fourth year at university, studying geology. That is a very powerful point. The turnout of Members at the beginning of the debate—I must say I am quite disappointed that so many have disappeared—impresses upon us the importance of getting this right.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

My hon. Friend makes the point about young people and their future, which is a big part of the debate. Robert Kennedy and Ashley Wilson from Dalmarnock came to speak to me about their three-year-old daughter, Mirren. She goes for physio twice a day for her cystic fibrosis, but they fear that as she gets older, she may face weeks in hospital at a time. Does he agree that Orkambi ought to be there for them, so that they can access that treatment as their daughter gets older?

[David Linden]

Absolutely; I know that my hon. Friend is a passionate champion of her constituents in Glasgow Central and she is right to put that on the record.

Numerous other constituents have come to me, including Lee Bennie from Garrowhill. Again, she made the case that we need Orkambi now. Over the course of the weekend, I had the privilege of spending some time talking to a friend’s brother, Ross Moore. He is not a constituent of mine, but he has access to Orkambi through the compassionate access scheme. Ross is a remarkable young man who is incredibly articulate. I was quite struck by how frank he is; he has lived with cystic fibrosis for so long and I was very moved by the way in which he could explain why he has access to Orkambi and why he thinks that other people should have access to it.

Ross was moved on to Orkambi only in October last year because his lung function had dropped below 45%. He was quite honest in saying that the first six to 10 weeks were very tough; for some people that can be make or break, but he has got through that. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow Central (Alison Thewliss) has mentioned people’s ability to try to put that effort into physio, and Ross said that it is a very arduous process. He does physio for two to three hours a day. When speaking to him, I was struck that he already has access to Orkambi, and he does not want to pull up the ladder behind him. He said to me before I came into this Chamber, “Go in there and explain the benefit of Orkambi; we need to make sure that people understand that for those who do not have access to it already we have got to have that access, because it is only through that research and that ability to use it that they will have it.”

PACE Trial: People with ME

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 20th February 2018 Westminster Hall

[Carol Monaghan]

Many parents who try to home school their children also face local authority intervention, trying to get the children back to school. We must listen to patients.

This disease is very easy to ignore. All too often, those living with ME are housebound, and suffer from what they refer to as “brain fog”, which makes it difficult to mount an organised campaign. That means that much about ME remains unknown. There is some evidence that it could be grouped with auto-immune conditions such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Some people have reported that certain anti-viral drugs improve their condition, but without properly conducted scientific research, we do not have the answers. Ultimately, the impact of the PACE trial on those with ME has been devastating.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

rose—

[Luke Graham (Ochil and South Perthshire) (Con)]

rose—

[Carol Monaghan]

I give way to my hon. Friend.

[Alison Thewliss]

My hon. Friend makes a good case. My constituent Carol Ann McGregor has had ME since 1996 and has been bedbound for seven years. She says that she has

“lost my life, health, husband, my career and my home”.

Does my hon. Friend agree with my long-term family friend Maureen Bivard that the cover-up, and the way in which the PACE trial was carried out, amounts to a miscarriage of justice for patients?

[Carol Monaghan]

I think that when the full details of the trial become known, it will be considered one of the biggest medical scandals of the 21st century.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 6th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

The hon. Lady will know that action against sugar is very much part of the childhood obesity plan that the Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Steve Brine), is taking forward, but there is a lot more we can do to address the concerns about caffeine, which I know is high on his “to do” list. We will no doubt have more exchanges on this subject in due course.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

7. What progress his Department has made on implementing the maternity transformation programme.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

Our ambition was to halve the number of maternal deaths, neonatal deaths, neonatal injuries and stillbirths by 2030, but because of the progress we have made with our maternity safety programme, we have brought that forward to 2025.

[Alison Thewliss]

I am glad to hear that progress is being made. The World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative’s 2016 report highlighted several gaps in access to breastfeeding support, including deficiencies in clinical training and a lack of integration between the NHS and voluntary sector services. What can be done through the maternity transformation programme to ensure that women can access, and health professionals can provide, the best-quality infant feeding advice right across the country?

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to highlight that area. It is one of six high-impact areas we are focusing on throughout the country. We are making progress, but we know we could do a lot better.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 19th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Steve Brine]

Men may not be very good at wrapping at this time of year, but they need to get this one right. I welcome Public Health England’s “protect against STIs” campaign, which was launched last week and aims to reduce rates among 16 to 24-year-olds, and I encourage young people having fun this Christmas to do so sensibly.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

There is an increasing trend for women to share breast milk over the internet with no recourse to the milk banking guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Will the Minister meet me, and other members of the all-party parliamentary group on infant feeding and inequalities, to discuss the matter further and to ensure that breast milk can be used safely?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

As the hon. Lady says, it is important for us to ensure that anything that happens in this space is safe, and I should be very pleased to meet her and other members of the all-party group.