Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 5th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I remind everyone that these are topical questions. It is about the many Members I need to get in, rather than the ping-pong over the Dispatch Box. Let us move on to Andrew Jones as a good example.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

T2. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I am talking to my local integrated care board about establishing the first centre of dental excellence in North Yorkshire, to be located in Harrogate, to build on the dental recovery plan. Does my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State agree that boosting capacity is critical to catching up from the pandemic, and that centres of dental excellence are a very good way to achieve it?

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

I completely agree with my hon. Friend that we need more capacity in our dental workforce, and I know he will be a big advocate for his constituency. We set out in the first ever NHS long-term workforce plan that we will increase dentistry training places by 40% by 2031-32. Our dental recovery plan sets out many different measures to improve capacity.

NHS Dentistry: Recovery and Reform

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 7th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

My hon. Friend will not be surprised to learn that I have received rather a lot of lobbying about the location of future dental schools. He will see in the plan that we are very open to the idea of training people with a view to their remaining in those areas. This is where golden hellos come in, and they will most definitely apply in the hardest-to-reach and underserved areas. As I say, we are taking very careful criteria-driven decisions about where the dental vans will be supplied, but we understand the problem that Norfolk has.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

I welcome the statement and also thank my right hon. Friend for meeting me recently to discuss dental care in Harrogate and Knaresborough, where we have recently seen two practices hand back their NHS contracts, causing significant patient concern. I was pleased to hear her comments earlier about the retention of dentists within the NHS. Does she agree that good oral health is a critical part of good overall health, that establishing best practice early in life is essential and that that involves the very earliest years and supporting parents?

[Victoria Atkins]

Very much so. The truth is that teeth appear long before reception class, and this is why we want to focus not just on babies and toddlers in early years settings but, importantly, on pregnant mums because their oral health while pregnant can have ramifications for their baby. The dental recovery plan is seeking to address this through a long-term sweep from the very beginning of life to adulthood, with 2.5 million more appointments and a long-term plan for NHS dentistry in our country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Please can I just say that these are topicals? I have got to get through a big list, and lots of Members are standing. We need short, punchy questions, and the same with answers.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

T6. I have been carrying out a health survey of thousands of residents in Harrogate and Knaresborough, to ask them for their experiences and views of the NHS. I will share the results with local healthcare professionals, to support them and their work. When the results are in, will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how they will help inform and shape our local healthcare planning ?

[Victoria Atkins]

I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that. As always, he is an excellent advocate for his constituency, and I will enjoy listening to the results of his survey.

NHS Winter Pressures

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Monday 9th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

As I said in my opening remarks, I regret the fact that some patients in emergency care did not receive acceptable care in recent weeks, but I gently remind the hon. Lady that the pressure, particularly around flu and covid rates, is something that has put huge pressure on the NHS in Wales and Scotland, as well as across Europe and across the globe.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and I welcome North Yorkshire’s involvement in the trials he has announced today. He has highlighted the increased bed occupancy that has come from the flu surge. NHS North Yorkshire briefed me earlier that flu vaccination take-up in North Yorkshire was 64%. That means that one in three people is not vaccinated. Does my right hon. Friend agree that putting more focus on encouraging vaccination take-up is one way in which we can all help to alleviate this crisis and reduce demand in our hospitals?

[Steve Barclay]

I very much agree with my hon. Friend about encouraging greater vaccine take-up. I think we can agree across the House that that is to be encouraged, and I hope all Members will reinforce the UK Health Security Agency’s messages on the take-up of the vaccine. We have expanded the scope to include over-50s, and we have the world-leading bivalent vaccine that targets both omicron and the original strain of covid, but it is important that as many people as possible get their flu jab as well, and I encourage all Members to support that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 1st November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

Of course retention is as important as recruitment. Since September, we have had the non-repayable training grant, which is a minimum of £5,000 per academic year, additional funding for certain courses, and extra funding worth up to £3,000 for eligible students to cover childcare costs. That is, of course, on recruitment. On retention, we are looking at more access to mental health support and high-quality support while in training and clinical placement, but of course there is more to do.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

3. What steps he is taking to support people with mental health conditions.

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

The NHS long-term plan commits to investing at least an additional £2.3 billion a year by the next financial year to expand and transform mental health services in England. That will be supported by an additional 27,000 mental health professionals in the workforce to deliver that transformation.

[Andrew Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. I recently met the child and adolescent mental health services team in Harrogate, and they confirmed that there are long waiting lists for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism diagnosis. Will the Minister consider the criteria to help those who need the service most to get the support they need?

[Maria Caulfield]

I thank my hon. Friend, who raises a good point. He does a huge amount of campaigning in Harrogate and Knaresborough on this issue. We recognise there can be long waits for diagnosis both for ADHD and autism, and that is why we refreshed our national autism strategy last year, backed by more than £74 million to help to reduce diagnosis waiting times. NHS England is now setting out the process of how children, young people and adults might receive a diagnostic assessment much more quickly.

Covid-19: Purchasing Effort

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Thursday 3rd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

That is an important point, and I will turn to it in just a second.

The hon. Gentleman was also wrong to say that the money was thrown away. He knows that that is not what has happened here. He knows that this is about stock that has been written down in value, not written off. He knows that the vast bulk of that remaining is fit for use. We set very high standards in the NHS, but it is fit for use in other settings, and we are ensuring that we explore those other avenues, so that it can be used.

The hon. Gentleman talked about pub landlords. He will have heard my right hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matt Hancock) make this point in the Chamber. No contract was awarded to that individual, so I would caution him to be a little bit careful about the allegations he makes, and to check his facts before he does so.

Let me now turn to one of the broader themes raised by the hon. Gentleman. He talked about running down PPE stocks. Can he name any country in Europe that did not also have to buy vast amounts of PPE at the height of the pandemic, at the height of the market? This pandemic was unprecedented. We learned more about it with every day that passed. When we first started purchasing PPE, we were confronted with horrific pictures from hospitals in Bergamo in Italy. We saw the challenges that were faced, and we moved fast to ensure that our frontline had what it needed. We strained every sinew, and we got the PPE that our country needed.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the revaluation of the stock simply reflects global market price fluctuations? Will he confirm that the PPE is being used? Will he also disregard the comments from Opposition Members, who are peddling known inaccuracies and whose comments on the finances show them to be utterly economically illiterate?

Covid-19 Vaccinations

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Thursday 4th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Maggie Throup]

The hon. Lady raises an important issue. However, it is important that, for that individual whose GP is not able to give them a jab, they have words with their hospital consultant who may have more knowledge of their condition. I will definitely look into the system.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her statement. Delivering 8.7 million booster jabs at 2,400 vaccination sites is a great achievement. I agree entirely with the point about making booster jabs as available as possible. On that point though, in North Yorkshire, where we have had fantastic vaccine roll-out and take-up—it has been a great achievement—I am hearing mixed messages about what is happening in schools. The CCG has told me that they should be eligible for visits by the end of this month, but some schools have been reporting that they are not looking at visits until January or February next year by which stage, of course, it is too late. If I look at the website on the location of walk-in centres and tap in Harrogate, it brings up five locations in Halifax, which is about 17 miles away. Are there any problems with vaccine supply, or are we having some difficulties in North Yorkshire at the moment?

[Maggie Throup]

I can reassure my hon. Friend that there is no problem at all with the supply of vaccines; we have plenty of supply. He talks about schools. The vaccine programme in schools is being carried out by the school-aged immunisation service, which is very experienced in carrying out vaccinations for different conditions in schools. If there is a problem in his area, I will definitely look into it on his behalf.

Covid-19 Update

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Thursday 21st October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Maggie Throup]

Yes, I will definitely look into that. If there is a problem in the system, we will get it fixed.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her statement and for highlighting just how many people have been vaccinated in this country. Vaccine take-up has been very high in Harrogate and Knaresborough, reflecting that. I visited a large secondary school recently, and the headteacher told me that 250 pupils and 19 staff were off. It was emphasised that by no means was all of that a covid issue, but it was impacting on the operational capacity of the school and children’s education. What additional incentives are being utilised to encourage vaccine take-up, particularly among younger people?

[Maggie Throup]

As I have said previously, we are opening up opportunities for children to get their vaccine, but I reassure the House that the school age immunisation service will not pay just one visit to schools; it will go back, because it realises it does not capture everyone the first time round.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 19th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Julian Sturdy (York Outer) (Con)]

1. What recent steps his Department has taken to increase NHS capacity.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

16. What recent steps his Department has taken to increase NHS capacity.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

19. What recent steps his Department has taken to increase NHS capacity.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Jones]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer and welcome the extra investment he outlined, but too often we talk about catch up in terms of physical health. What is he doing to catch up on mental health, particularly mental health beds?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the importance of mental health. He will know that one of the unintended consequences of the lockdowns is that, sadly, there were more cases of mental ill health. The NHS long-term plan commits to increasing investment in mental health at least as fast as investment in physical health, with at least £2.3 billion of extra spending on mental health by 2023-24, which I hope he welcomes.

Covid-19 Update

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Monday 5th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks about the vaccine. As he says, it is a successful UK-wide programme, and the take up of vaccinations in Northern Ireland is just as high as in any other part of the UK. I am working closely with my counterpart in Northern Ireland. We have already had two discussions in a week, and we will be speaking and co-ordinating on a regular basis. Things are working well.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement, which will be greeted with a sense of relief across the country due to the profound challenges that people have faced during the lockdowns. This success is, of course, possible only because of the vaccine roll-out, so will he keep up the pressure to ensure that as many people as possible are vaccinated? While doing that, will he also focus on the significant catch-up required to deal with other health conditions? I am thinking particularly of mental health and cancer.

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend is right to raise that matter. He points out—certain Members of this House sometimes miss this—that the pandemic has caused many other non-covid health problems, and he mentions two of the most important. We are seeing plenty of evidence of increased mental health problems, and departmental officials think that at least some 40,000 people who would have come forward for cancer referrals in a normal year have not done so. That is a reminder of why it is important for us to move back towards freedom and to learn to live with covid.