NHS Dentistry: Recovery and Reform

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Wednesday 7th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

I must thank my hon. Friend for all his work. I know how much how much effort and commitment he has put into these plans, and it shows the genuine—[Interruption.] Sorry; the hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) is being a little ungracious. My hon. Friend the Member for Harborough (Neil O’Brien) has been part of the united work across Government to deliver these plans. I very much take on board his recommendations and encouragement. As I say, we see this plan as delivering 2.5 million more appointments for our constituents, but of course we want to look to the long term as well.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Is the Secretary of State aware that Rip Van Winkle fell asleep for 20 years? This Conservative Government have been asleep for even longer than that, as far as dentistry is concerned. Will the Secretary of State now wake up and talk to real working dentists, such as Phil Lucitt—one of my excellent NHS dentists in Huddersfield, who is in the Gallery with his wife today—and get something done about this crisis? It is a crisis in Huddersfield, as in every town in this country, such as Bristol, as we heard yesterday. People are in pain, people are suffering, and for 14 years her Government have done little about it.

[Victoria Atkins]

I must admit that I did not know quite where that question was going, but I think the hon. Gentleman is urging me to speak to dentists. I am delighted to reassure him that my ministerial officials and I do of course speak to dentists. In fact, only today I was at a practice in the heart of Westminster, speaking to a dental manager who welcomes this plan. I will veer away and resist the temptation to comment on Rip Van Winkle.

Pharmacy First

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Wednesday 31st January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I do not agree with most of what the Minister has said today. We are all in favour of pharmacies, but I think this statement is a distraction from the real problems in our health service, our GP service and much else.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. Will the hon. Gentleman please ask a question?

[Mr Sheerman]

Has the Minister looked at the number of pharmacies that have closed in the poorest areas of our country? Lastly, what is she going to do about companies like Boots? It has even closed its local branch in Westminster—

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. Because of his seniority, I have allowed the hon. Gentleman a little leeway. One question, one answer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Barry Sheerman, briefly—[Laughter.]

[Mr Sheerman]

I have turned over a new leaf, Mr Speaker.

May I urge the Secretary of State to take this issue very seriously, to direct much more social media at young people and to get into schools the message about the real damage that can be done to the entire life of a child if the mother is drinking alcohol during pregnancy?

[Victoria Atkins]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for bringing some insight into how we can best reach families. Of course, it is not just mums, but fathers or carers who can have a huge impact on our children. That is why the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Dame Andrea Leadsom), is investing so much energy and commitment in our family hubs. We believe that they can be the centre for families to make the very best start to a child’s life.

Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 5th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

Of course, conversations continue between Ministers across Government in terms of helping not just with health inequalities but with inequality of opportunity. That is why I very much hope that the hon. Lady and her colleagues will welcome the thoughtful focus that both the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions have put into the back to work plan. We know that getting people into work can have enormous benefits, not just financially but, importantly, for their wellbeing. The idea behind the back to work plan is that we do it by working with people to draw out their full potential and help them to lead healthy lives.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

8. If she will review the provision of health services for people living with (a) Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and (b) hypermobility spectrum disorder.

[The Minister for Health and Secondary Care (Andrew Stephenson)]

We recognise that body-wide symptoms associated with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorder can be disabling and can affect all aspects of life. General rheumatology services, which support people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorder, are locally commissioned by integrated care boards, which are best placed to make decisions according to local need. The major conditions strategy will focus on six groups of conditions, including musculoskeletal disorders such as these syndromes and disorders.

[Mr Sheerman]

That is all very well, but I do not think that will convince my constituents or the one in 500 people who suffer from that awful disease. This wonderful talented group of people on the Treasury Bench obviously inhabit an alternate universe. My GP said that these days there is no training or research, and that we do not have the capacity to look into these things. People with EDS have to be assessed by uptrained GPs, but they are not there. Our GP and medical services are on their knees. When will the Minister wake up to that fact?

Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 11th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

My right hon. Friend is right. We have some good news: Skills for Care data shows that home care job vacancies are falling—something I hear when I speak to home care providers. Looking ahead to next winter, I want every local authority to have enough home care on hand. That is why I emphasised the importance of home care when we distributed £600 million of discharge funding to local councils and NHS organisations in April. We are asking all local authorities to plan ahead and book enough home care in advance for this coming winter.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Is this not the very day to thank our care workers up and down the country? So many families depend on those people who toil away, day by day, visiting houses, often not being paid in between their visits. Could we look closely at recruitment and the agencies involved? Let us get real pay for care workers up, now.

[Helen Whately]

I think that every day is a good day to thank our care workers for their skills, compassion and hard work. We gave social care a record funding settlement of up to £7.5 billion in the autumn statement, which is being used to help local authorities increase the fees that they pay to care providers, in turn enabling care providers to pay their workforce better. That is going hand in hand with extra funding to support discharge into social care this winter and our reforms for the care workforce.

Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 6th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

When will the new Health team wake up to the fact that many of the things that we have discussed this morning—but particularly social care—will be solved only by treating local authorities as friends, allies and partners, rather than the enemy? Please can we have action to make local authorities full partners in delivering every sort of care?

[Helen Whately]

After hearing the hon. Member’s point, I should think that he therefore welcomes the fact that we have set up integrated care systems, which bring together health and social care. The £500 million discharge fund that I have mentioned is allocated to local areas to be pooled into the better care fund and spent jointly between local authorities and the NHS. Funding is an important part of this. In the autumn statement, social care received a historic funding settlement of £7.5 billion over the next two years. That is important, as well as ensuring that the NHS and local authorities work together hand in hand.

Draft Mental Health Bill

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Monday 27th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

Yes, it will. I set out in my earlier answers some of the Bill’s changes for those with learning difficulties and autism. I think my hon. Friend will also welcome the publication of the new 10-year mental health plan.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Secretary of State may recall that I am very much involved with the Autism Commission, and I hope he has seen our recent report on autism’s lifelong impact on families. I support everything he has said this afternoon, except one thing. We need a deep cultural change in this area, whether it is GPs understanding more and having more proficiency, or teachers and schools recognising early signs of difficulty and struggle. If we believe in levelling up, why do only wealthy people get easy access to therapy? As I found when I chaired the Education Committee, we need more therapists and more therapy to be available.

[Sajid Javid]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman about cultural change. Whether we are talking about teachers or healthcare professionals, we need to make sure they have a certain level of training on autism. I am sure he knows the NHS has started rolling out a type of mandatory training on autism, and I would be happy to meet him to discuss how we can go further in the light of that report.

Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 14th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I beg the departmental team to look carefully at something that is close to my heart: AF or atrial fibrillation. In care homes and every nursing setting, we need people to detect the early signs of atrial fibrillation. If it is not detected, it often leads to strokes, which are one of the most expensive things for the NHS to cope with. We do not have enough AF awareness or testing. Can we get a campaign going on the issue?

[Gillian Keegan]

I am certainly happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to understand more about the issue. At the heart of it, I think, is prevention; we are trying to understand how we can prevent some of what causes greater illnesses later on for those who are in a care home or are receiving social care in their own home. That is certainly a big part of the strategy for our social care reforms.

Health and Social Care Leadership Review

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend is right: it is important that, where people who are working within the NHS or social care see wrongdoing or things that concern them, they have a safe space to report that and to make sure that their concerns are properly addressed. She will know that the Health and Social Care Act 2022 contains new provisions, including one for the Health Services Safety Investigations Body, but I have listened carefully to what she has said and I will consider what more we can do.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Secretary of State might recall that, as a member of the all-party group for management, I have had a long interest in management and good management. I congratulate him on having this review, because the NHS is a complex organisation.

The Topol review that was carried out only two or three years ago showed a world of technology and change that is almost beyond belief for such a massive human organisation. I have not had the time to read the report yet, but is the Secretary of State sure that we have high-quality training for our managers? Many of the business schools and many of the people providing the training in our universities are not training for that kind of environment. We do need first-rate, high-quality management schools with a health bias.

[Sajid Javid]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman. I know that he has a long-standing, valuable interest in this issue. I appreciate that he has not had time to look at the report, but I think he will be pleased when he reads our recommendations around a modern training plan.

Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

As one of the original campaigners for a ban on smoking in public places, I fully support what has just been suggested, but can I go further and beg the Secretary of State to come up very soon with a plan so that every child, every person and every family in this country can breathe clean, fresh air away from the pollution coming from diesel vehicles and other sources?

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Gentleman has long been a campaigner on this issue and I commend him for that. He is right to continue pushing. I do not want to pre-empt the outcome of the independent review because it is just that, a review fully independent of Government. However, once it is complete—I hope to publish it in May—we can set out our plans.