Covid-19

Clive Efford Excerpts

Tuesday 1st September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

If I understand the question correctly, the ability to provide tests to parts of the private sector that need to know people do not have the virus in order to be able to reopen parts of the economy or just enable things to happen is a very important part of where we would like to get to when we have the next generation of testing. At the moment, we of course have to follow a clinical protocol for the roll-out and the use of the capacity we have. We have very significant capacity, having built it up over the pandemic, but the work with the private sector is very important, and we will be publishing more details on this shortly.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab) [V]]

I have had personal experience of track and trace over the last couple of weeks. Having filled in my initial form, I was contacted at least three times to be asked for the same information again, so it is a question not just of the contacts, but of what is being done with the data. My assessment is that there is poor management of the data and a waste of time and effort in duplication, including in contacting members of my household and telling them to isolate from the wrong date. Improvements are needed to what is done once track and trace gets in touch with people. Does the Secretary of State agree?

[Matt Hancock]

I am very happy to look into these individual circumstances. Of course, we are constantly seeking to improve the system. I am very glad that the hon. Gentleman was contacted so assiduously by the system, and I take the point about the need for the data to be collected as effectively and efficiently as possible. I hope that he and members of his household are following the rules and doing the isolation that is necessary.

Testing of NHS and Social Care Staff

Clive Efford Excerpts

Wednesday 24th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. The Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill), says to me that the hon. Lady is a very powerful campaigner on this subject. For that and for other conditions, people must absolutely come forward and get the help that they need. The NHS is there for that reason.

My third and final point is on testing. Testing for the virus and tracing how it spreads is critical to containing it as we ramp up services and ease the national lockdown. This is especially important for our NHS and social care system so that we can protect our colleagues and the people they look after. We have already built an immense national infrastructure for testing. Back in March, we had the capacity across all our testing channels to conduct fewer than 2,000 tests a day, whereas yesterday we saw more than 237,000 tests carried out. As we have built capacity, we have prioritised those in need. We started with the patients who needed a test, then expanded to NHS and social care workers and their families, then to other critical key workers, before we expanded to the wider community.

Today NHS England and NHS Improvement have written to NHS trusts and foundation trusts to outline further steps that must be taken in the NHS, including continuing to prioritise testing for all NHS staff with symptoms; extra testing of non-symptomatic staff when there is an incident, outbreak or high prevalence; and regular surveillance testing of staff which, on the advice of our chief medical officer, will be fortnightly or more frequently, depending on local or national epidemiology.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

On the testing figures that we get every day, after we take out studies that are being done through testing, along with double testing and those tests that are sent out through the post, are we not down to just about a third of the numbers that the Government claim are taking place? How can we have any confidence in what the Government say about what they are going to be doing about testing going forwards?

[Helen Whately]

The hon. Gentleman has talked about taking out large numbers of testing; as the Minister for Care, I have seen a huge demand from the social care sector for testing through those channels, so I would not take out other forms of testing. For example, testing through tests sent to people’s homes very much counts and should be considered as part of our testing programme.

We have put a rigorous focus on testing in care homes, too. We met our target of offering tests to all staff and all residents of care homes for over-65s and those with dementia in England by 6 June. We then announced that we were able to extend the testing programme to all adult care homes. Since the launch of whole care home testing, we have provided over a million test kits to more than 9,000 care homes, and we are now able to send out more than 50,000 test kits a day. We are also running a prevalence study to get a detailed picture of coronavirus infection in care homes. Phase 2 of that study has just gone live, meaning that 10,000 residents and staff across 100 care homes will have repeat swab and antibody tests.

Social Distancing: 2 Metre Rule

Clive Efford Excerpts

Monday 15th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

I am happy to give my hon. Friend the assurance she seeks. We are very much aware that time matters, and this review is being conducted as swiftly and as rigorously as it can be.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

Before it is safe to reduce the 2 metre rule, do we not require a world-beating track and trace system to be in place? And does a world-beating track and trace system not require a fully functioning app?

[Edward Argar]

As I have set out, I believe we have made an extremely strong and successful start with our track and trace system. Baroness Harding, who is heading up that piece of work, has made it clear that the app is important but that it is, as she characterised it, the cherry on the cake. It is not essential to the effective system that we have already got up and running.

Covid-19: R Rate and Lockdown Measures

Clive Efford Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this question. Of course, we proceed cautiously. That is why we take steps in turn to see the effect. The good news is that the evidence thus far is that the steps we have taken have coincided with a continued reduction in the incidence of the virus. That is why it is safe to proceed on the plan that we have set out.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

How can it be that, when we are coming out of lockdown and starting to relax some of the restrictions, local authorities do not know what they are expected to do in the event of a local outbreak and they do not know what powers they are to be given? How can it be that the Government can say only that they will tell them when it is practicably possible?

[Matt Hancock]

I am afraid that I do not recognise that picture at all. The local directors of public health have been heavily engaged in addressing local outbreaks throughout this pandemic. In the past few weeks, for instance, there have been outbreaks locally that have then been addressed, with a leadership role played locally by the local director of public health. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman was not listening to the answer given to one of his hon. Friends that we have also put £300 million into local authorities to assist them to make sure that they have that capability on the ground.

Covid-19 Response

Clive Efford Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes. Kevin Fenton, who is the London lead for public health in Public Health England, is undertaking exactly the review for which my hon. Friend asks. We propose to publish it in the coming weeks.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab) [V]]

The Government have promised to carry out routine testing in care homes, yet my local authority tells me that there is a shortage of the home-test kits needed to do that and fears that such kits will be diverted to fulfil another of the Government’s pledges on tracking and tracing as more become available. Yet again, the Government have made a claim that is not borne out by the situation in our care homes. By what date will we have enough home-test kits to carry out routine testing in care homes?

[Matt Hancock]

I am happy to ensure that my team contacts the hon. Gentleman’s local authority, not least to explain that home testing is only one of the avenues available. In fact, much more testing in care homes is done through the mobile testing units, with the mobile unit going to the care home, or by the satellite units, from which a whole batch is taken to the care home, than through the home-testing channel, which is designed for sending an individual test or a small number of tests to an individual house.

Covid-19

Clive Efford Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

My hon. Friend makes an incredibly important point. One reason why we have held off from taking measures like this for as long as we have is because they have significant downsides, many of which have been discussed in the Chamber today. I of course urge people to follow the advice that my hon. Friend gave, and I urge communities to come together as much as possible to help each other through.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

We need a plan for scaling back schools. Teachers are saying to me that they are part of a mass collection of people every day and are concerned not only about being infected but about relatives who may have secondary illnesses and about colleagues who are pregnant. Schools are losing pupils and losing staff. They will close of their own volition unless we have a plan to scale them back and provide essential childcare for those workers who will still need to work and the children who will still need to go to school.

[Matt Hancock]

I understand why some parents are concerned, but the evidence is that children are not badly affected by this virus and it is important to take that into account. The hon. Gentleman makes the point about people who need to go to work not being able to because of childcare responsibilities, and that is very serious in terms of the impact that it could have and is therefore very important to take into account.

--- Later in debate ---

[Matt Hancock]

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is in constant dialogue with the Governor of the Bank of England and the banks themselves. There were active discussions over the weekend about what further measures can be brought forward. The hon. Gentleman is right to ask that question of a different Government Department of me. We are working incredibly hard right across Government to address that concern and, indeed, every concern that Members across the House have rightly raised this evening.

Mr Speaker, I am grateful to you for allowing me to make this statement at an unusual time, and I will commit to come before the House whenever necessary to answer each and every concern.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. We all appreciate the work and the efforts of the Secretary of State for Health and his attempts to answer our questions this evening, but there were questions that he was not able to answer for several other Departments, such as the Treasury, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Education, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Transport. When will we get statements from other Secretaries of State, so that we can quiz them properly on the arrangements the Government are making on the very important issues we are raising on behalf of our constituents?

[Mr Speaker]

How the Government table their business is a matter for them. In fairness to the Government, they want to work with both sides of the House to ensure that we put the country first, and I am sure that that message will have been heard.

Coronavirus

Clive Efford Excerpts

Wednesday 11th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Absolutely. This is right at the top of the agenda; tackling fake news is incredibly important. The major social media platforms and search engines have already risen to this task and I pay tribute to them—in the past, I have been known not to pay tribute to them, and sometimes quite the reverse. They have absolutely risen to this task and we will keep on it, but, of course, the information that we provide to the public will have to evolve both as we learn more about the disease and as we move through the plan. For the moment, the absolute core message is that people should wash their hands.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

Are we reaching the stage where people, if they have any form of cold, should be self-isolating? We all know people who have had colds, some of them more severe than others, but they have been able to be confident that it has not been coronavirus. Now it is becoming prevalent, how can they be sure? It is going to create a lot of confusion. Are we reaching the stage where, as the Prime Minister alluded to the other day, people may have to self-isolate if they have any symptoms?

[Matt Hancock]

We are not there yet, but we are moving towards it. That is what the chief medical officer set out in the press conference on Monday, in part for exactly the reasons the hon. Member sets out.

Oral Answers to Questions

Clive Efford Excerpts

Tuesday 10th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, the 26,000 extra staff, as well as the extra GPs in primary care, are going to improve the position, but we also taking steps to improve access by making sure that people can access primary care in the best possible way. I can be clear to the House today that we will take a digital first approach to accessing primary care and out-patient appointments, so that, wherever clinically and practically possible, people can access—and should access—primary care through phones and digital means. This is especially important in the current coronavirus outbreak. Already, a roll-out has started, but we will make this across the country with immediate effect.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

We have been waiting for a year for the Greenwich clinical commissioning group to reopen a nurse-led practitioner drop-in centre on the Horn Park estate. This was a place where people from that local community could pop in and get minor treatments, but also vaccinations, and it could prescribe low-risk drugs. May I commend this service to the Secretary of State? Could he assist me in urging Greenwich CCG to reopen it as quickly as possible, but also look at it as a possible model for other areas?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes.

Coronavirus

Clive Efford Excerpts

Monday 9th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

We are increasing the amount of information that is available at airports, but the evidence from other countries that have tried temperature testing at airports shows that it is not effective and can actually be counterproductive to the effort because it leads to lots of false positives.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

Industries such as the hospitality industry employ people on zero-hours contracts, and I know of one major hotel that has laid off a number of people. What can the Secretary of State do to ensure that people are not left in financial difficulties due to their employers taking these decisions?

[Matt Hancock]

This is a matter that the Chancellor is considering ahead of the Budget.

Coronavirus

Clive Efford Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I will ask the chief medical officer to speak to the Republic of Ireland chief medical officer and to ensure that the best and appropriate clinical advice is given. Rather than me giving advice from the Dispatch Box, I will ensure we get the best clinical advice and join up with the Republic.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

I hear what the Secretary of State says about how people should go about their ordinary lives if they have not tested positive, but where parents self-isolate while awaiting testing, should their children go to school before they know the outcome of the test? Schools being what they are, it is bound to cause alarm. Should children not be kept away until such time as the all-clear is given?

[Matt Hancock]

It is best here that we follow the clinical advice, which is as I set out. One of the good things about the covid-19 coronavirus, compared with similar illnesses, is that it seems to be much less impactful in terms of symptoms on children, which is good news, because with the flu it is normally the other way around. That observation underpins the clinical advice. We need to listen to the scientists.