Covid-19 Update

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Monday 7th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

We are explicit about that. I appreciate what the hon. Lady said about the importance of data and data saving lives, and I agree with her about the importance of trust and bringing people with you. In fact, a large majority of those in the NHS are now actively enthusiastic about using data better. I very much hope we can keep it that way, not least because everybody has now seen the importance of using data to manage a crisis. One of the reasons for the vaccine success—why it has been rolled out so effectively—is that the data architecture that underpins the vaccine roll-out is extremely effective, and I pay tribute to the people who built it.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

In Harrow, because of the delta variant, we have surge testing in our schools: 13,000 young people have been tested at school and 12,000 relatives at home. This weekend, 3,280 vaccinations took place because we had two new pop-up vaccination centres for 18-year-olds and over. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating the entire team who have made this massive project, so diligently followed, to enable people to be safe in Harrow, but will he also consider having further pop-up clinics for 18-year-olds so that we can get everyone vaccinated as soon as possible?

[Matt Hancock]

I pay tribute to the team at Harrow, and especially for the testing expansion. My hon. Friend said that there were 13,000 pupils and 12,000 of their relatives, and that includes me, because one of my children goes to school in the Harrow area. We got our PCR tests at home, we sat around the kitchen table and we all did them together, and I am glad to say they were all negative. This showed me—I felt like a mystery shopper —how effective this surge testing can be in making sure that we tackle these problems. We have seen that surge testing can work. We saw it in south London, where it worked. We have seen it in Bolton, where the case rate has come down. It has been used in Hounslow. It has been used in other specific areas, and I am glad it is now under way in Harrow to try to keep this under control.

Covid-19 Update

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Monday 17th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I do aim to try to take everybody, so can we have concise questions—and concise answers, Secretary of State?

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

My right hon. Friend will be aware that London has a younger cohort and is full of communities from across the world, but many are hesitant because of the activities of pharmaceutical companies in the countries of their origin. Will he look at aspects of control to ensure that those communities can get the vaccine they choose to take, rather than attempting to force them to take vaccines they are extremely reluctant to take?

[Matt Hancock]

We have had a principle of saying that they come forward for the vaccine and get the vaccine that is there on the day, but of course we have nuanced that because of the changes in the clinical advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine. As we reach further and further into those who need encouragement to come forward, so we are willing to look at more and more creative solutions to tackle people’s hesitancy. As it happens, I was in Brent central mosque last week at Eid. It was absolutely wonderful to see the work they have done to make sure that people of all faiths and none can come forward. For many Muslim people it means that in Brent they can go forward to somewhere where they are very comfortable being vaccinated. It was brilliant, frankly, to see teams working in the mosque to vaccinate people of all backgrounds. The imam was vaccinated by someone with the support of a member of the Jewish community with me looking on, all organised by a Hindu administrator. It was modern Britain at its best. They have done thousands of vaccines and they have done great work. I know it is that sort of approach that my hon. Friend is looking for. If we can do more on the specifics of which vaccine, I am very happy to look at that. [Interruption.]

Covid-19 Update

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Monday 19th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I certainly agree with the hon. Lady on her final point, on international collaboration and working together, which, along with the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister, we are working incredibly hard on. We are using the UK’s presidency of the G7 and the enthusiasm of the new Administration in Washington to try to drive international collaboration, in particular collaboration among like-minded democracies in favour of an open and transparent, science-led response to pandemics. I hope that she will concur with that approach.

On the new variants of concern, it is important when looking at the numbers to distinguish between community spread and spread connected to travel. By taking the action that I have just announced to put India on the red list, we are restricting yet further the likelihood of incursion from India of somebody with a new variant. However, the majority of the cases that we have seen already in this country have been picked up by the testing that we have in place now for every single passenger entering this country. That is a sign of the system working, and it is now being strengthened.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

I am delighted to say that I have had my second dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine and, so far, no ill effects. In Harrow, we have had surge testing because we have had a relatively small number of cases of the South African variant discovered. Literally thousands of people have been tested, but one of the most frustrating things is that these tests then have to be sent off and there appears to be an extremely long turnaround time before we get the results. What can the Secretary of State do to speed up getting the results of these tests? Otherwise, people will not be aware of whether they have the variant or whether they should take particular actions.

[Matt Hancock]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this important issue. I know that this is an important announcement for him and his constituents, representing as he does a significant number of constituents from the Indian diaspora. We have managed to reduce somewhat the turnaround time for the sequencing of positive tests, but we are also introducing a new type of test that can detect not just whether someone is positive but whether they have one of the known variants without having to go through a full sequence. That can give us a snapshot much, much faster—within a matter of hours—of whether a positive result has one of the known variants, before sending it off to sequencing so that we can see any new variant that we do not know about. We are introducing that technology. It is starting in the Lighthouse lab testing facility in Glasgow and we are rolling it out across the system. It is an important tool to make sure that we can get the turnaround time of spotting the variants down faster.

Covid-19 Vaccine: Take-up Rates in London

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Tuesday 9th March 2021 Westminster Hall

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship once again, Sir Christopher, albeit for the first time virtually. I congratulate the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) on securing the debate, which is important for all Londoners. It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Westminster North (Ms Buck).

In the London Borough of Harrow, we have had an outstanding performance on vaccination rates. We received congratulations from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on that performance, and I put on the record my appreciation and thanks to the fantastic team—both from the NHS and the volunteers—who made this possible. To set it in context, more than 70,000 people in Harrow have had their first vaccination, out of an adult population of just under 200,000, which is a remarkable performance, at the Hive centre, which opened in December, and at Byron Hall and Tithe Farm, which opened in January. To get to this stage so quickly has been remarkably good.

That has to be set against the fact that Harrow is the most ethnically diverse borough in London. Others have a higher number of different sections of population, but we literally have someone from every country on the planet and various different communities, so it is a direct challenge to reach all those different communities and to encourage them to come forward to get their vaccinations. This fantastic effort also has to be set against the position that, at the beginning of the pandemic, Northwick Park Hospital came very close to being overwhelmed by the number of covid cases. Sadly, we have had a very high death rate, and at one stage Harrow had the highest covid transmission rate in London, so achieving this vaccination rate has been vital.

More than 35,000 people have had their first vaccination at the Hive since the middle of December, and the Prime Minister visited the site to see at first hand the excellent work that is being done. However, we are experiencing problems, and I will relay some of those for the Minister. There is reluctance among the Afro-Caribbean, Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities, who are hard to reach. There have been real difficulties in getting them to come forward; there is a reluctance to have the vaccine. Among the white British, Irish and Indian population, there have been no such problems—they have come forward in their droves to receive their vaccinations, which is good news.

The supply problems are really serious. To give the Minister an example—I hope he will be able to answer this—the capacity at each of our vaccination centres is roughly 860 doses a day, yet this week, our centres will only receive 400 doses. That is less than half a day’s work, so the lack of supply is holding us back from achieving even faster vaccination rates.

The real problem that emanates from that is that we are having particular difficulties in contacting younger people who have underlying health conditions. They are among the most reluctant to come forward, because of the myths and legends about what the vaccine does to people’s bodies. I am pleased that we now have a myth-buster to combat this unfortunate propaganda, which is spreading very widely among different communities. An excellent video has also been put together by different community leaders, coming together irrespective of race, religion, colour or creed to say why it is important that people have the vaccination, to encourage people to do so, and to try to combat some of this insidious propaganda.

Also on the issue of vaccine supply, my centres complain that they get notified only a day in advance of the vaccine arriving, which of course means that it is very difficult to schedule people in to get their vaccinations. Can we have a better plan for supply of vaccine, which is vitally important? Equally, allowing flexibility to GPs undertaking vaccinations at GP surgeries would help considerably. It would reach those harder-to-reach groups, because people trust their GPs in the way that they do not necessarily trust going to a large vaccination centre.

I will end my remarks by saying that in Harrow, certainly, we have achieved remarkably well, but we can do better provided that we get the supply, that we have better notice, and that the facilities continue to arrive. At the end of April, two of our mass vaccination centres will close, and there will be the potential for complete chaos when we come to the second doses, because everyone will be invited to attend one centre in Harrow to get their second dose. I predict that is going to be quite chaotic, so I would ask that we look at potentially keeping those centres open for a further period to ensure that every adult gets their opportunity for at least the first dose by the end of July, as per the plan that the Minister has.

Thank you, Sir Christopher, and I look forward to listening to what other colleagues have to say.

[Sir Christopher Chope (in the Chair)]

As there are still eight more speakers and we start the wind-ups at 10.33, I am afraid that I now have to impose a four-minute maximum time limit.

Covid-19: Government’s Publication of Contracts

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Tuesday 9th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

As part of the answer to her question, I refer the hon. Lady to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). In response to the rest of her question, the honest answer is that we are undertaking a stocktake and an audit. It is that which is required to assess whether any stockpiles are not fit for purpose or do not meet requirements, or to check what was and was not delivered and make sure that every order was fully fulfilled. We have been very clear that, as part of that audit, that stocktake, we will pursue with any who did not meet the requirements or did not supply the goods the recouping of that money for the public purse.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

Last year, the shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster wrote:

“We need Government to strain every sinew and utilise untapped resources in UK manufacturing, to deliver essential equipment to frontline workers. This must be a national effort which leaves no stone unturned.”

Can my hon. Friend say that the Government have done what she wanted and have delivered for the people of this country?

[Edward Argar]

I would argue that that is exactly what the Government have done. The hon. Member for Leeds West (Rachel Reeves) and I do not always agree, but I agreed with her then and I agree with what she wrote then now.

NHS Staff Pay

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Monday 8th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

It is absolutely right that we invested in ensuring that we could supply PPE to the NHS and the social care workforce during this extremely challenging time. There was a global shortage of PPE, so it is right that we spent money on that. As we look ahead at the pay deal for the next year, it is right that we exempt NHS staff from the wider pay freeze for the public sector and ensure that they get the recognition they deserve for what they have done and are still doing.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

I thank my hon. Friend for the answers she has given thus far. Clearly we have to await the results of the independent pay review body, but can she explain to the House the basis on which the Government have put forward the proposal of 1% and how that compares with the commitments that were made to dramatically increase salaries, particularly for nurses at the start of their careers?

[Helen Whately]

We have delivered on the commitments in the multi-year pay deal for “Agenda for Change” staff, including nurses. That includes the 12% pay rise for newly qualified nurses, bringing the starting salary for a new nurse to almost £25,000. We are now going into a new pay settlement for the forthcoming year. As part of the spending review, the Budget will set the envelope to cover pay costs for that pay settlement, but there are extra pay costs for the growing number of staff as we increase our staff in the NHS, particularly nurses—as I said, we are on track to have 50,000 more nurses in the NHS by the end of this Parliament.

Covid-19 Update

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

These cases would be caught by the new hotel quarantine policy. The right hon. Lady talks about the need for more testing, and we have introduced tests on day 2 and day 8, to ensure that we keep everybody who arrives as a passenger in the UK under the necessary level of surveillance.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

My right hon. Friend will be aware that my constituency is extremely diverse in its racial and religious makeup, and our national health service staff have done a brilliant job in keeping up the fantastic vaccination rate during this period. However, we are still having to combat the anti-vaxx propaganda that is going out. How will my right hon. Friend ensure that people get the truth about the wisdom of taking the vaccine, regardless of what race, religion, and cultural background they come from?

[Matt Hancock]

That is an incredibly important question, and I pay tribute to the work that my hon. Friend has done in getting that message out. In Harrow we are vaccinating in mosques, temples, and GP surgeries. A critical part of the roll-out is to ensure that the message gets to everybody that this vaccine is safe and it works. It is no good just my saying that. We want to, and we are, engaging with leaders of all communities—faith leaders, and people who have strong voices in their community. Critically, we must ensure that people feel as much as possible that the vaccination effort is accessible to them. It is on us to ensure that the vaccines are easy to get hold of, and that people get answers to any reasonable questions they may have. I look forward to working further with my hon. Friend on delivering that across Harrow and the whole of the country.

Covid Contracts: Judicial Review

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Wednesday 24th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

I will not stray near the wilder accusations made by the right hon. Gentleman. What I will say to him is that the data of NHS service users is always protected by this Government.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

I am a great believer in competitive tendering to gain the right value for money for the public sector. At the height of the first wave of the pandemic, my local hospital, Northwick Park, came perilously close to being overwhelmed by the number of patients and by having only one day’s supply of PPE within the hospital. Thanks to Government actions and the Department of Health and Social Care, that was remedied. What does my hon. Friend think would have happened if the Government had decided to competitively tender all those items and wait potentially three months before the supplies were available?

[Edward Argar]

My hon. Friend highlights the work of his fantastic hospital at Northwick Park and the fact, which I alluded to in response to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, that while we did not run out of PPE nationally, there were some real challenges at a number of sites. They did an amazing job to ensure that they had the PPE they needed. I believe the minimum time it can take to run a tender is around a month, and I certainly would not have wished to see us not utilising regulation 32 and waiting a month to order and secure the PPE that his hospital and those working in it needed.

Covid-19 Update

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I totally understand why people want the answer to that question, because of the hope that the vaccine gives us. What I can tell the hon. Lady is that the speed of the roll-out will be determined by the speed of manufacture. While we have 530,000 doses ready to go from Monday, we also need to make sure that we receive more approved doses. We are working closely with AstraZeneca on that, as we have with Pfizer. That is what will determine the speed of the roll-out. The NHS has a plan, and it is ready to go.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

I have nothing but praise for the NHS workers who have been rolling out the vaccination programme thus far, but many of my elderly and vulnerable constituents have had to queue for more than an hour after their appointed hour for vaccination. Will my right hon. Friend confirm what those many people who have already had the first dose of the vaccine should do about the second dose? Should they attend at their appointed hour, or should they wait for a new appointment in several weeks’ time?

[Matt Hancock]

Those with appointments before 4 January should attend their appointment, and those with appointments from 4 January onwards will have them rescheduled. I understand that that will, obviously, require effort, especially in primary care, and that some people are looking forward to their second dose. However, the overriding health priority and all the clinical advice is that, because we can get protection after the first dose of the vaccine, in order to save lives we need to move to the 12-week window rather than the three-week window that we had with the Pfizer jab.

On people queuing and the need to make sure that that system is as efficient as possible, I have not heard about that happening elsewhere in the country. If I may, I will arrange a meeting between my hon. Friend and the vaccine roll-out Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Nadhim Zahawi), to make sure that we can get to the bottom of it and that things are running as smoothly as possible in Harrow.

Public Health

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

I would like to start by paying tribute to the NHS staff and care workers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to care for people suffering from this dreadful virus, and to all those who have been involved in setting up testing centres and the new vaccination centres. They, once again, have had to work incredible hours over the festive period to make our lives more tolerable and to enable people to be tested and vaccinated.

The situation in London tonight is at a critical stage. The report suggests that London hospital capacity is at 99.7%, which does not leave any room for people suffering from covid to be transported to hospital. Equally, the new variant appears to be causing this huge rise in the transmission rate, and the last data showed that every London borough is experiencing an increase in the transmission rate across the board.

In the last public data, my borough was sitting at 632 cases per 100,000 population, yet tonight the report says it is 792—a dramatic increase once again. All the boroughs across London are experiencing these problems, and testing is definitely the answer, but there is a confusing message.

I ask my hon. Friend the Minister for Care to ensure that people understand the process by which they should go for a test. By definition, if we have walk-in centres, some people are walking in thinking that that is all they have to do to get a test. They are not phoning ahead to book a test, or even going on the website to make sure of the correct advice before they turn up. Even more confusingly, in some cases people are literally walking in and getting a test, whereas others are being turned away.

I am also concerned about the position of the vaccine centres. The reality is that, if we now advise people that one jab will be sufficient and that they should wait 12 weeks for the next jab, this will potentially lead to a source of confusion. One of the problems we are going to experience is that people can still carry covid-19 and infect others, even after they have had a vaccine. We need to be clear on that position so that people do not go out and inadvertently cause further infections and transmissions.

The position of learning-disabled people on the vaccination priority list is also an issue. They appear to be just included based on the age range, but in many cases learning-disabled people need the assistance of a carer to attend a vaccine centre. They are not necessarily able to do that by themselves.

We must also take into account the economic impact of this dreadful virus. We have heard about the hospitality industry, but there are many people who have received no help whatsoever from the Government. They may have changed jobs at just the wrong time, or they may be self-employed and unable to produce accounts—we could go through the list. Those people desperately need assistance. In my own borough, unemployment has doubled since the pandemic began. We had virtually full employment, so we were in a position to cope with that, but that has not been the case in many other parts of the country.

On vaccination rates, the reality is that if we vaccinate 1 million people a week, it will take 14 months to vaccinate the whole population. If we can do 2 million a week, we will reduce it to seven months, but that is still far too long. There are also people out there who will resist having the vaccine. We have to promote the vaccine and encourage people to have it as quickly as possible, so that we can get back to as near normal as possible by Easter and beyond. Then we can make sure that the economy bounces back and people are safe.

Finally, I ask my hon. Friend the Minister for Care to respond to this point. The whole of London is in tier 4 right now, but the position in Harrow is confusing because it appears that all the primary schools in the surrounding boroughs will be closed from next Monday, whereas those in Harrow will be open. That seems to be confusing everyone, given that we are in the same position as every other London borough.