Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Tuesday 20th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) (Con)]

2. What support his Department is providing to children who need sports prostheses.

[The Minister for Care (Caroline Dinenage)]

Since 2016, the Government have invested £750,000 to fund the provision of sports and activity prostheses for children and young people on the NHS. We have also invested a further £750,000 in a new National Institute for Health Research child prostheses research collaboration to drive improvements in technology. I can confirm that that funding will continue, and we will announce more details shortly.

[Mr Francois]

I thank the Minister for that reply. The centre at Headley Court provides world-class support for our servicemen who unfortunately lost limbs in Iraq or Afghanistan. It does incredible work. What lessons have we learned from Headley Court that we are able to transfer into the NHS?

[Caroline Dinenage]

My hon. Friend speaks about this with great knowledge. He was an outstanding Defence Minister and understands this subject better than almost anybody. He will be pleased to learn that, following the incredible progress that we have seen with adult prostheses through places such as Headley Court, we are now seeing the same technology in the development of children’s sports and activity prostheses, using the same manufacturers. The research collaboration will also enable us to invest in future studies, including in the development of some exciting technologies, such as myoelectrical bionic upper-limb prostheses for children.

[Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)]

3. What steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS primary care infrastructure meets the demands of an ageing population.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister for Care (Caroline Dinenage)]

Over the last three years, about 65% of social care service users have been extremely or very satisfied with their care and support in England, and 81% of adult social care providers are rated good or outstanding.

[Dan Carden]

Since 2010, Government funding for Liverpool City Council has been cut by 64%, or £444 million in real terms and, given that 90% of properties are in bands A to C, our ability to raise money locally through council tax is at the bottom end of the UK average. We need integrated health and social care, but a departmental name change will not do it; we need the money locally. When will we see proper reform and proper funding to plug the gap in our most deprived areas?

[Caroline Dinenage]

The hon. Gentleman is right to say that the integration of health and social care is vital, and I think that the renaming of the Department is a symbol of how seriously the Government take our commitment to it. I am keen to talk to him about funding, given that the figures for Liverpool show that it is raising £7.4 million from the social care precept and has received approximately £21 million in grant from the Government.

[Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean) (Con)]

I agree that the social care system needs more funds. In recent Budgets, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has found those funds and put them into the system. May I urge my hon. Friend, as she looks at the Government’s proposals in the Green Paper, to ensure that the Dilnot proposals are included? Those proposals, for which we have already legislated, will give us the best chance of a sustainable system in the current Parliament.

[Caroline Dinenage]

The Secretary of State was with Andrew Dilnot yesterday, and we are looking carefully at his proposals. My right hon. Friend is right: although 81% of adult social care providers are registered as good or outstanding, it is unacceptable for levels of care to fall below the standards that we would expect, and in preparing the Green Paper, we will look closely at how we can improve the system.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

19. According to recent polling by the Alzheimer’s Society, public concern about the social care system is growing, and it is clear that action is needed now to fix the crisis. Why will the Government not heed the will of Parliament and commit themselves to closing the social care funding gap, as agreed in the vote on our Opposition day motion last October?

[Caroline Dinenage]

I do not entirely agree with what the hon. Gentleman has said. We provided an extra £2 billion in last year’s Budget to help councils to commission care services that are sustainable, high-quality and diverse. In the Green Paper, which will be published this summer, we will consider how we can future-proof the system.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

The Government inspector for Northamptonshire County Council has recommended that, because of misgovernance over the last five years, the council should be abolished. Will my hon. Friend and her colleagues work with the new successor authorities to ensure that a successful social care system is established in the county?

[Caroline Dinenage]

The Secretary of State has already had conversations with councillors about this matter, but my hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise it. The Care Act 2014 placed a duty on local authorities in England to promote diverse, sustainable, high-quality care, and it is important for them to continue to do that.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

The National Audit Office says that our care system is not “sustainably funded”, the Care Quality Commission says that one quarter of care facilities are not safe enough, and care providers cherry-pick to whom they will give care places, and even evict people with advanced dementia on cost grounds. What is the Care Minister doing to address those issues and the sharp decline in public satisfaction with the social care system?

[Caroline Dinenage]

We know that the sector is under pressure because of the ageing population, but the Government have given councils access to £9.4 billion more dedicated funding over three years. The hon. Lady is right to emphasise the importance of putting power back in the hands of residents and their families, which is why we published a package of measures to ensure and protect consumer protections in the social care sector, and we will continue to look at that very closely.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

6. What progress his Department is making on reforming the provision of social care.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

9. What progress Public Health England has made on implementing his Department’s policy of publishing data on hand gel usage in NHS trusts as an indicator of hand hygiene compliance.

[The Minister for Care (Caroline Dinenage)]

Patient safety, and particularly infection prevention, are among the Government’s key priorities. Public Health England has carried out some initial analysis of available data. However, currently the data is incomplete and would not give a true reflection of the usage of hand gel. We are working with Public Health England to explore how we can improve that data.

[Nigel Mills]

I am sure the Minister will agree that it is a matter of real importance that all NHS staff wash their hands at all the required five moments of patient contact. Does she agree that it is disappointing that we have not quite got that data published yet, and will she set a date when we will be able to see that data for each trust?

[Caroline Dinenage]

As I have said, we will continue to look at that, but, as my hon. Friend knows, the Department has a really strong track record of tackling infection. Incidents of MRSA are down 54% on 2010. We have published a revised code of practice on hand hygiene and we are working with partners across health and social care to ensure that this remains a focus.

[Stephen Pound (Ealing North) (Lab)]

There has been some excellent work on extending hand gel usage throughout the NHS, and the decline in MRSA is, I think, indicative of that. However, there is a glaring prejudice, certainly in my part of the world, amongst people who think that these gels contain alcohol, and will not use them for that reason. Is it possible to instigate some form of signalling or marking to prove and to state that there is no alcohol within these hand gels, because we do not want to see people prevented from using them?

[Caroline Dinenage]

The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point, and it is certainly something that we can look at more closely.

[Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet) (Con)]

Will the Minister explain the work that the Government are doing with Public Health England to raise awareness of sepsis infections, and do urgent work to tackle that potential killer?

[Caroline Dinenage]

This is a massive priority for the Government, and we are about to start a public information campaign. Sepsis is a killer—one that deserves to be given the utmost importance, and one that we will be seeking to tackle in every way that we can.

[Anna Turley (Redcar) (Lab/Co-op)]

10. What estimate he has made of the number of young people who have not had access to child and adolescent mental health services after a referral in the last 12 months.

--- Later in debate ---

[Edward Argar (Charnwood) (Con)]

12. What steps the Government are taking to support Dementia Awareness Week.

[The Minister for Care (Caroline Dinenage)]

Dementia Awareness Week runs from 21 to 27 May, and the Department of Health and Social Care is expecting to participate fully in a range of activities that week, working with partner organisations and the voluntary sector.

[Edward Argar]

Alongside the work of Governments of both parties to improve dementia research, care and awareness—Dementia Awareness Week is a key part of that—the role of voluntary organisations and dedicated volunteers around the country is vital. Will the Minister join me in paying tribute to the fantastic work of specialist dementia care Admiral Nurses and in backing Leicestershire Dementia UK volunteers in their campaign, which is well on track, to raise the £50,000 needed for an Admiral Nurse for our county?

[Caroline Dinenage]

First, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the sterling work he does as co-chair of the all-party group on dementia. He is absolutely right to say that Admiral Nurses do fantastic work in many parts of the country, helping people with dementia to maintain their independence, and improve their quality of life and that of their families. I very much support all the fundraising activities going on in his local area.

[Stephen McPartland (Stevenage) (Con)]

13. Whether he has plans to establish a satellite radiotherapy unit in Stevenage.