Future of Health and Care

Bob Seely Excerpts
Thursday 11th February 2021

(3 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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On the contrary—this White Paper covers health and care. It covers the integration of the NHS and social care at a local level. Of course there is further work on funding, as we have committed to in our manifesto, but the integration of those services, which has been so important during the pandemic, is one of the critical pieces of the forthcoming health and care Bill.

Bob Seely Portrait Bob Seely (Isle of Wight) (Con) [V]
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I congratulate the Secretary of State on this very important plan and announcement. As he knows, the Island is already piloting some ideas, so I thank his team of excellent advisers and the Secretary of State himself. May we have more pilot schemes to support his work? As he knows, the benefit of his approach may be felt more strongly on the Isle of Wight than anywhere else in Britain, due to our excellent but unavoidably small hospital at St Mary’s, the smallest county council in England, and our age profile. We want to help him and we want to be at the front of the queue. Will he also please consider the position of the 12 unavoidably small hospitals in England as part of the programme, of which St Mary’s is the most unique because it is on an island? I thank the Secretary of State and his team for their great work.

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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With an ask like that, it is hard to say anything other than yes, enthusiastically. I am keen to work with my hon. Friend, who is such an incredible voice for the Isle of Wight. The services on the Isle of Wight, by its island nature, are more closely aligned together than in many other parts of the country, but nevertheless suffer from some of the bureaucratic silo requirements in current legislation. I hope that these proposals will be received enthusiastically by all those involved in the provision of health, social care and public health on the Isle of Wight because they will remove the legislative barriers to closer integration and allow them to continue in the direction in which I know they are enthusiastically working with my hon. Friend’s support.