Future of Health and Care

Debate between Ben Bradley and Matt Hancock

Thursday 11th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The devolution of decision making to integrated care systems will help to join up care and deliver it more effectively. That is one reason why these proposals have been received so enthusiastically by the NHS itself and by NHS colleagues, including from local government, not least because the proposals originated from proposals from the NHS. I look forward to working with the hon. Gentleman and suggest that he works with his local NHS to make sure that this legislation goes through in the most high-quality way possible and that we have a high-quality debate on it, so that it can serve his constituents in exactly the way he sets out.

[Ben Bradley (Mansfield) (Con) [V]]

I know from conversations I have had with the Health Secretary in Mansfield that much of this change will be widely welcomed, and joining up our services is vital if we are to have the best possible healthcare system. I just have one concern: the announcement also talks about new public health measures, and there is an obesity strategy that I fear risks increasing inequality by raising the cost of the weekly shop. Surely education is the key to public health, by, for example, teaching people to cook fresh meals, as people need the skills to make healthier choices or they just end up paying more. So will the Health Secretary ensure that the public health elements of these reforms focus on that education and do not just end up hitting people in their pockets?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, of course I am alive to that concern, and I look forward to further discussing these measures with my hon. Friend. The crisis has demonstrated how helping people achieve a healthy weight is important, and the Prime Minister has shown personal leadership on that in policy terms. Of course more information and education is an incredibly important part of this because it is about shared responsibility, including personal responsibility, to improve public health. I look forward to working with my hon. Friend on the details of it and making sure that we can get this into such a shape that it genuinely supports the tackling of obesity in a way that supports people, as he sets out.

The National Health Service

Debate between Ben Bradley and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 23rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I will absolutely look at that, and I think that the new hospital is going to be absolutely terrific up in his part of the world. I will also put on record my gratitude to my hon. Friend the Member for Calder Valley (Craig Whittaker), who as a Whip has not been allowed to speak on this issue in the House, but who privately has been campaigning hard. This shows what happens when local MPs have a positive attitude towards the future of our NHS.

[Ben Bradley (Mansfield) (Con)]

While we are talking about positive hospital stories, I would like to raise with my right hon. Friend the case of Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which has gone from being in special measures to rated as good. It has now been nominated for the trust of the year award, which is a fantastic story for the NHS and those local services under a Conservative Government. I want to move my right hon. Friend on to the issue of health inequalities if I can. We had a Green Paper earlier in the year about smoking cessation. Mansfield has one of the highest levels of smoking in the country; we are the fourth worst area at more than 23%. We have set a target to try to reduce smoking levels by 2030, but that needs action. Will he take that action in the near future?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes. There is no greater spokesman for Mansfield than my hon. Friend, and he is absolutely right about smoking. We have set a target of ending smoking by 2030. It is a stretching target, and there is an awful lot that we need to do to achieve it.