Countess of Chester Hospital Inquiry

Debate between Andy Carter and Steve Barclay

Monday 4th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

First of all, I pay tribute to the hon. Lady for the work she has done with the families and the staff in response to these terrible events. It is important that we reassure patients who are using the Countess of Chester Hospital now about the measures that have been put in place; that is why I wanted to bring to the House’s attention House the steps that have already been taken.

However, it was also striking in my discussions with family members that they were at pains to point out that some of the other staff they had been treated by in the Countess of Chester Hospital had been exceptional in their care. There were specific issues that raised very serious concerns, but the families were at pains to point out that there were other staff who had treated them extremely well. Indeed, as the shadow Health Secretary said, there were staff also raising concerns and ensuring that the police investigated. With NHS England colleagues, we are working closely with the Countess of Chester Hospital on next steps, but it is important that the measures we have taken provide reassurance about the quality of care that is available at Chester now.

[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

I commend the Secretary of State on his decision to upgrade the inquiry and put it on a statutory footing, something I know many of the families wanted. I am keen to understand what steps he can take to give assurances that there is consistency in all hospitals around the UK on the freedom to speak up guardians. What steps is he taking to ensure consistency right across the NHS estate?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend raises an extremely important point. That is why in 2022 the guidance around the national freedom to speak up policy was strengthened —I mentioned the appointment in September 2022 of Henrietta Hughes as the Patient Safety Commissioner—and why significant work has been done on the quality of data, looking at the work for example of the getting it right first time teams, so that the data can be analysed more effectively to alert investigation.

Looking at the timeline, there are further lessons around, for example, who had visibility of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health report and when. Clearly there are further lessons that we need to look at, but already the guidance, particularly on freedom to speak up, has been strengthened. Back in 2018 both the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 and alongside it the child death overview panel, which reviews all child deaths, were also strengthened.

Oral Answers

Debate between Andy Carter and Steve Barclay

Tuesday 25th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

We are committed to a major conditions paper, not least because many people with cancer have multiple conditions; that is why it is important that we look at these issues in the round. With the Minister for Social Care, I had a very useful roundtable with key stakeholders, including the cancer charities. The key issue is that as part of our work on cancer checks, over 320,000 more people are receiving treatment for cancer compared with last year—that is around fifth higher—and we are expanding our capacity through the diagnostic centres, the surgical hubs and the expansion of the workforce. All of that fits within the strategy we have through the major conditions paper.

[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

St Rocco’s Hospice in Warrington provides invaluable palliative and end-of-life care for families. However, the charities that run hospices around the UK are finding it incredibly difficult to raise funds. Will the Minister give us an assurance that she is working very closely with the sector to ensure that those services continue to be provided?

Junior Doctors’ Strikes

Debate between Andy Carter and Steve Barclay

Thursday 30th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

First, there is absolutely no traducing going on. In my last answer, I praised the junior doctors and recognised the fact that they have faced huge pressure from the pandemic, which is why we stand ready to work with them. Some on the BMA junior doctors committee have a different agenda, but we stand ready to work very constructively with that committee. The hon. Gentleman suggested that I drop the precondition. It is not I who set the precondition; it is the junior doctors committee that did so. I remind the House that it includes restoration to 2008 levels of all elements of pay, not just basic pay; parking fees and exam fees; and “radical” reform of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration. It is the junior doctors committee that set those preconditions, not the Government.

[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

I commend my right hon. Friend for the way in which he and his team have worked to find solutions with other trade unions, particularly the nurses. None the less, the 96-hour walkout is a significant period of disruption. Can he confirm that he is doing everything he can to ensure that those needing urgent healthcare in Warrington will be able to access it despite the industrial action by the BMA?

[Steve Barclay]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. Yes, the Department is working very closely with colleagues in NHS England and across the NHS to mitigate as best we can the impact of the junior doctors’ strike. He is right that we had meaningful and constructive talks with the staff council representing “Agenda for Change” staff. I am very pleased that, as a result of the constructive engagement we had, the NHS staff council was able to recommend that pay award to its members. He is right that that points to the constructive approach that we have taken. We stand ready to have that constructive engagement with junior doctors, recognising the real pressures that the profession has been under. We will mitigate as best we can, but, given the timing over the Easter period, obviously, there is a risk in terms of patient harm. We will do all we can to mitigate that.

Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan

Debate between Andy Carter and Steve Barclay

Monday 30th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

I am delighted that, thanks to my hon. Friend’s assiduous campaigning, he has secured his diagnostic centre, and that he assures me he will get it operational in one of the fastest times seen by any area. We are bringing forward our workforce plan, and as I set out, we have 2,500 more nurses this year compared with last year. We are on track for our manifesto commitment of an extra 50,000 nurses, with more than 30,000 recruited already.

[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

May I take my right hon. Friend back to the response he gave to the hon. Member for Weaver Vale (Mike Amesbury) about Warrington Hospital? That A&E unit is incredibly under pressure. Over the weekend nurses talked to me about the 120 patients currently waiting to be discharged, which is putting intolerable pressure on that unit. My right hon. Friend said that he was not particularly familiar with those issues, but perhaps I can invite him to Warrington to see the pressure. While he is there, perhaps he will also look at the Health and Social Care Academy, which was set up by the local college to try to address the shortage in social care. A great level of innovation seems to be happening there, and I am sure he would like to see Warrington for himself.

[Steve Barclay]

That last question gives me a beautiful opportunity to correct an earlier answer regarding the constituency of my hon. Friend. He knows I am familiar with this issue, because I remember calling him at about half past 10 one evening to discuss his A&E when some particular issues had come to the attention of the media. I am familiar with the pressures on his hospital—[Interruption.] I was just placing the constituency of the hon. Member for Weaver Vale (Mike Amesbury) vis-à-vis that of my hon. Friend. Now clarified on place, I am familiar with the fact that that hospital is under pressure. I know the Minister of State is due to visit, and I am sure she will look forward to meeting both the hon. Gentleman and my hon. Friend.

NHS Winter Pressures

Debate between Andy Carter and Steve Barclay

Monday 9th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend is right to point to the real pressures at Kettering which, as he says, I have visited. Not only am I keen to see it get its fair share, but I know that he will absolutely champion it through his good offices to ensure that that is the case, as he always does. He also raises an important point that the pressure of an ageing population is not universally distributed but is more intense in certain areas than others. Again, in our scrutiny of the data, I am keen to look at how that plays out in the variation in performance between trusts because, as I said, 15 trusts account for 56% of ambulance handover delays and there is significant variation across the NHS. Understanding what is driving that, such as different ageing profiles between different areas, is a key part of our recovery plans.

[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

I spent Friday morning at Warrington Hospital to see the challenges that A&E department staff are facing. One senior clinician said to me that it was the busiest he had seen it in 30 years. The entire hospital was full—there were no beds—and last Monday, 90 people were waiting in A&E to be admitted to a bed. The Secretary of State knows that I am waiting for an announcement on whether a new hospital can be funded in Warrington, and I am keen to hear when that announcement will come, but can he reassure my constituents that the funding announced today will support the staff in Warrington Hospital and the social care staff in Warrington and ensure that the pressures that they are facing will be addressed immediately?

[Steve Barclay]

Yes, I can; that is the whole purpose of the announcement. Although my hon. Friend campaigns assiduously for the new hospital, he will concede that, regardless of the decision, that would take time. To his point about the hospital being full, there is an immediate challenge about how we get additional capacity into the emergency department so that it can operate more effectively, because if there are too many people, that impedes an emergency department’s ability to operate effectively. There is also a challenge about how we address the wider occupancy in the hospital as a whole, because that is at the core of getting flow into the system. That is the essence of the feedback that we have listened to and taken on board from the clinical community —as he did on Friday—particularly within emergency departments. Today’s announcement speaks to the exact issue that he raises.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andy Carter and Steve Barclay

Tuesday 6th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

Again, that ignores both the pressure of time at the start of the pandemic and the fact that there was international competition, with companies competing for scarce resources. It is also the case that although more than 19,000 companies were offering PPE, only 2,600 passed initial due diligence checks.

[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

2. What steps his Department is taking to increase hospital bed capacity.

Urgent and Emergency Care

Debate between Andy Carter and Steve Barclay

Monday 5th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

A good example from Hull, which I visited over the summer, shows that this is not simply about money, although that is obviously a relevant factor. The hon. Lady will be familiar with the Jean Bishop integrated care centre in Hull, where the social care staff say that no one has left the service because they really enjoy working in an integrated way. The patient feedback is also extremely strong. That shows the sort of innovation we should apply across the system. I hope the hon. Lady would welcome that innovation in Hull being applied more widely.

[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

I know that the Secretary of State is aware of the pressures that Warrington Hospital has been under through the summer, particularly the wait times. I am grateful that he intervened and spoke to the chief executive about looking at some of the issues that it was facing. Having spent some time there and having talked to staff and the management, it is clear—I agree with him—that the real issue is delayed discharge. It appears that there is a 90-bed shortage in step-down care capacity in Warrington. Will he join me in urging Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Trust and Warrington Borough Council to make progress on increasing that capacity, so that we can try to address some of the issues in the emergency department?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that a central role for the integrated care systems in future is to look at how they best use the better care fund, how we better integrate around step-down provision, and how we ensure that best practice is being followed through the delayed discharge, including regarding some of the additional pressures that Warrington faced specifically, as I know from when we spoke over the summer. He will also know that there had been additional funding for new capacity at Warrington, which strangely was not highlighted in the media coverage that I saw.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andy Carter and Steve Barclay

Thursday 23rd September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

We have been clear that we will have an inquiry, and that will be next spring. Clearly, there will be consultations on shaping the leadership of that, its terms and how it will be conducted. The Prime Minister has been clear on his commitment to ensuring that we learn the lessons within the covid response not just in England, but across the United Kingdom. That applies in Wales, but in the other devolved Administrations as well. I think something we all share across the House is that the right lessons are drawn so that improvements can be made.

[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

T3. I was very pleased to hear the comments from the Minister earlier on small businesses securing Government contracts. I have been contacted by a number of businesses in Warrington—specifically, one that installs street charging for electric vehicles and another that supplies CO₂ monitors to schools. Both are trying to secure business from Government, but they have had no response from the procurement teams. Can he advise businesses in Warrington and across the country on how best to approach Government?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend raises a very good and practical issue about how such businesses benefit from the public spend. I would draw his attention to things such as the Contracts Finder, which is a free-to-use platform that publishes details of contracts above £10,000 and £25,000 exactly to enable businesses to have greater transparency on the sort of contracts that are available.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andy Carter and Steve Barclay

Thursday 9th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Steve Barclay)]

I begin by congratulating my hon. Friend on his election to the seat of Warrington South. I look forward to his advocacy on issues relating to our exit from the European Union. We stand ready to work with businesses up and down the country as we mark an important moment in our national history: leaving the European Union on 31 January.

[Andy Carter]

How will my right hon. Friend ensure that small businesses, which have been, and are, the engine of growth in my constituency, are able to share in the benefits of leaving the EU and in celebrating our departure on 31 January?

[Steve Barclay]

Before coming to the House, my hon. Friend was a champion of small businesses in Warrington, and I know he will continue to be so during his time in this place. The best way that we will support businesses in his constituency is by having control of our money, borders and laws. That is what our exit from the European Union does, and that is what he should rightly celebrate on 31 January.