Irish Diaspora in Britain

Conor McGinn Excerpts

Thursday 17th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)]

Tá áthas agus bród orm páirt a ghlacadh sa díospóireacht seo agus labhairt ar son pháirtí an Lucht Oibre—I am delighted to be winding up the debate on behalf of the Labour party. Normally at this time on St Patrick’s Day I would be up to my oxters in Guinness and beaten dockets, either at Cheltenham or in the Sheephaven Bay pub in Camden. None the less, it is a pleasure to be here in surroundings and company that might be seen as more eminent, but are definitely less craic.

Being Irish is something of which I am very proud and which is very important to me, and being Irish in Britain—this great country that has given me so many opportunities—adds another special and distinct layer to my identity and, I know, the identities of millions of other people. My hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Tony Lloyd) understands that deeply, and I thank him not just for securing this debate, but for his decades of work in supporting the Irish in Britain and furthering the cause of good relations between Britain and Ireland. I know that all the Members who have spoken today are similarly committed. Some of the members of the all-party parliamentary group on Ireland and the Irish in Britain—for instance, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan) and the hon. Member for Bolton North East (Mark Logan)—cannot be here today, but they also undertake such work.

I know that many of us will be thinking of our friend Jack Dromey today. He would be so proud that we are having this debate, and of course he would be actively participating in it by making what he would describe as “just seven brief points”. We also think today of many colleagues who took up the cause of the Irish in Britain at a time when it was certainly not politically advantageous, and on occasion was even personally dangerous. You and I, Madam Deputy Speaker, talk frequently of your great friend Sir Patrick Duffy, who was one such champion. I know that the whole House will want to send him our best wishes. He is the oldest living former Member of Parliament. At the age of 101, he is still active, and has written the story of his incredible life, from Mayo to NATO, in his autobiography.

Let me now turn to the subject of our community, its place here in Britain, and its role in strengthening relations between the Britain and Ireland. The first thing to say is, like British citizens in Ireland, the Irish in Britain have a special status. That has benefited us greatly, and although paths diverged when the UK left the EU, the maintenance of that unique arrangement is very welcome.

About half a million Irish-born people live in Britain. I use the term “Irish-born” specifically because, of course, many more people here have Irish parents and even more have Irish grandparents, as was mentioned by the hon. Members for Bury North (James Daly), for West Dunbartonshire (Martin Docherty-Hughes) and for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Steven Bonnar). As we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Dagenham and Rainham (Jon Cruddas) and the hon. Member for Angus (Dave Doogan), the contribution made to British life by Irish people is enormous—economically, culturally, socially, in sport and, dare I even say it, politically; and also, of course, in public service.

Perhaps the last two years have shown more than ever the role of Irish people in every part of society here as we have come through the pandemic together. I am thinking of the thousands of nurses, doctors, clinicians, porters and cleaners in our national health service. I also think of the academics who researched and created the vaccine, who included an Irishwoman, Professor Tess Lambe, and of the first person to receive it—Margaret Keenan, another Irishwoman. Then there were those in the community groups and centres, from London to Liverpool, who put their shoulder to the wheel to help those who needed that help, from providing companionship for older people to providing food parcels for families. The work of organisations such as our many Gaelic Athletic Association clubs and their volunteers was incredible, and the national charity Irish in Britain was to the fore in creating the Vaccine Le Chéile, or “Vaccine Together”, campaign to encourage take-up. I know that that community campaign was strongly supported and assisted by my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth).

This week alone showed me the strength, diversity and extent of the Irish community. Last week the British Irish Chamber of Commerce held one of its council meetings here in Parliament. Over the weekend the Taoiseach paid a visit, and was hosted in the City of London by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Vincent Keaveney, the first Irish citizen to have that role. On Sunday, the Liverpool Irish Centre hosted a lunch for Irish pensioners—and there are quite a few of them in Ireland’s 33rd county of Merseyside, including some in my own constituency and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Kim Johnson). On Monday morning I went with my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition to the London Irish Centre, which provides welfare support and advice for those in our community who need its help and assistance, while the arts-related and cultural side of its work showcases the best of our music, language, drama and literature.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker, that I could not be here for this debate because I had a debate in Westminster Hall that I had sponsored. I want to add my support for the hon. Member for Rochdale (Tony Lloyd) and the others who have spoken in the debate and for what they are trying to achieve. I am pleased to be supporting it through this intervention. Could I also ask a question? Would the hon. Member for St Helens North (Conor McGinn) support the request that I and others have made for the Republic of Ireland to join the Commonwealth?

[Conor McGinn]

I have a great deal of sympathy with what the hon. Gentleman says. He tempts me to stray into policy areas that are not mine, so I will pass on his comments to the shadow Foreign Secretary and ask for a response. But it was a nice try!

The hon. Gentleman will be delighted to know that, just on Tuesday, Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, alongside my hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter), visited the Irish cultural centre in Hammersmith. I think they were even persuaded to take up the bodhran and play their part in an impromptu music session. Yesterday here in Parliament I was proud to co-host an event for parliamentarians with the Irish ambassador and CHAMP, the peace and reconciliation organisation. And of course today, on St Patrick’s day itself, we are having this debate.

The position and prominence of our community has arguably never been stronger, but we have come through tough times and the impact of the troubles was felt acutely by the Irish community here. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) and the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Margaret Ferrier) said, many were shunned and subjected to anti-Irish racism, personally and through the press. We know about the prominent miscarriages of justice, but we also remember the treatment of the wider community as a suspect community and the impact of legislation such as the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1974.

I am sure the hon. Member for Belfast South (Claire Hanna) would agree that, outside Northern Ireland, no group of people have benefited more from, or been more supportive of, the peace process and good relations between the UK and Ireland than the Irish in Britain. We still face challenges, however. We know that many of our fellow Irish in Britain still suffer health inequalities, for example, with higher rates of cancers and increasing mental health conditions. I know that the Minister has a keen interest in this. The Government have a duty to address that in the same way they would for other communities.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

Does the hon. Member agree that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is a direct challenge to the recognition of the profound issues faced by the Irish Traveller community? This relates not only to Irish Travellers but to Irish citizens who travel through the common travel area. Perhaps he might challenge the Minister on that as well.

[Conor McGinn]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. I recognise and acknowledge the incredibly challenging work that he does to speak up in this House for Irish Travellers, and I hope he knows that he has my full support in that task, as does the Irish Traveller community.

We know that the impact of the UK leaving the EU has meant that there have been, and will be, testing times for the relationship between Ireland and Britain. The Irish community here has a distinctive role in helping to bridge those gaps and divisions when they arise and in ensuring that all of us in positions of political leadership strive to maintain the forward momentum of strong co-operation between two countries who should always be each other’s greatest allies. In that regard, I want to commend the work of the Irish embassy here, under the stewardship of Ambassador Adrian O’Neill. I am also delighted that new consulates have been established in Cardiff and Edinburgh and in the north of England.

The Irish in Britain, like everyone, feel an affinity and sense of solidarity with the Ukrainian people. We can have no idea of what they are suffering, but many in our community have at least a sense of what it is to leave home, to miss home and to love their country. That is why it was so moving to see the local Ukrainian community take part in a St Patrick’s day event with my hon. Friend the Member for Salford and Eccles (Rebecca Long Bailey) at the Irish world heritage centre in Manchester as our honoured guests. Our Ukrainian friends also helped to lead the St Patrick’s day parade in London. We will continue to be their strongest allies and supporters.

I conclude by saying what I said in my maiden speech some six years ago, which I feel still holds today despite all the ups and downs, challenges and changes. Where previously there was suspicion and mistrust, today there is friendship and co-operation between the United Kingdom and Ireland. There is no longer any contradiction in being Irish and British, or in having feelings of loyalty and affinity to both countries. The contribution made by the Irish in Britain to society here has helped to make that possible. It is valued and respected and it has helped to make this country the great nation it is. My home, head and heart are in Ireland and England, in south Armagh and St Helens. I am lucky, and all the better for it. Féile Pádraig sona daoibh go léir.

Tourette’s syndrome

Conor McGinn Excerpts

Tuesday 25th January 2022 Westminster Hall

[Judith Cummins (in the Chair)]

Before we begin, I remind Members that they are expected to wear face coverings when they are not speaking in the debate. This is in line with current Government guidance and that of the House of Commons Commission. I will call Conor McGinn to move the motion and then I will call the Minister to respond. There will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up, as is the convention for 30-minute debates.

[Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the treatment and study of Tourette’s syndrome.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Cummins. I am delighted to have secured this debate on Tourette’s syndrome and how a lack of provision for research, diagnosis and treatment is impacting on individuals and families across the United Kingdom.

First, it is worth explaining what Tourette’s syndrome is. In short, it is an inherited neurological condition that causes involuntary and uncontrollable motor and vocal tics. Tics usually start in childhood, around the age of six or seven, and can fluctuate in severity and frequency, potentially occurring in nearly any part of the body and in any muscle. This can be painful, as one might imagine, and of course very debilitating, even disabling. Tourette’s is not often experienced in isolation. Up to 85% of those with Tourette’s syndrome will also experience co-occurring conditions and features, which might include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, or obsessive compulsive disorder, OCD, and indeed anxiety. These can be equally challenging, if not in some cases more challenging to manage than tics.

By far the biggest misconception about Tourette’s is that it is a condition that simply makes people swear or say socially inappropriate things. Involuntary swearing is a symptom of Tourette’s syndrome, but it affects only a minority. Ninety per cent. of people with Tourette’s do not have this symptom. However, having secured this debate, in my experience it is the single factor that those I have spoken to—colleagues in this place and others—commonly think of as the defining characteristic of Tourette’s. That goes to the heart of the challenge that we have in addressing some of the misconceptions about this condition.

Despite Tourette’s syndrome affecting the quality of life of over 300,000 people here in the UK—including, figures indicate, approximately one school-age child in every 100, most of whom are undiagnosed—this is a condition that, although relatively prevalent, remains widely misunderstood. Indeed, it is often deeply stigmatised and mocked throughout society. The stigma cannot be overstated, and the impact of it is very real. A recent study published in the Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities in 2021 outlined just how many participants faced discrimination in numerous aspects of life: 75% in education, 71% in their social lives, 61% on public transport and 54% in employment. A 2017 study concluded that people with Tourette’s are over four times more likely than the general population to take their own lives.

The reason I applied for and am leading today’s debate is to support my constituent Emma McNally, a St Helens mum who first wrote to me in July 2020. Her son was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome aged nine and could access regular appointments under the care of an excellent neurologist at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Hospital, which I know is familiar to the Minister. The retirement of the specialist in March 2020 left a gaping hole in provision locally and Emma’s son was discharged, with no one able to take him on. Unacceptably, to this day he has been left without the care he needs.

Emma’s journey—from local St Helens mum, living in Parr in my constituency, who contacted her local MP—to national campaigner and now the chief executive of the national charity for Tourette’s has done a great deal to highlight and raise awareness of this condition. Her e-petition on Tourette’s, submitted through the mechanism we have in this House, secured 71,000 signatures, which reflects the clear strength of feeling across the country for better care and services. She is fighting tenaciously on behalf of families around the country. Although her petition sadly fell just short of the threshold required for automatic discussion in this House, I am glad that we are having today’s debate, which goes some way to doing justice to her brilliant work and the importance of this issue. I have been contacted by more than 30 colleagues from all parties across the House, from all parts of the United Kingdom, who have expressed their support. I want especially to mention the Minister’s colleague and the erstwhile Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care, the hon. Member for St Austell and Newquay (Steve Double), who has worked with me over the last year on this issue. He is prohibited from actively participating in this debate because he is now in the Government Whips Office.

The debate is long overdue. The last time the House met to debate Tourette’s syndrome was in 2010. Back then, the charity Tourettes Action held a list of 44 consultants in the UK with a special interest in Tourette’s syndrome. Now, there are only 17 who provide care in the NHS and will see children, and there are none in the north-west. I am sad to say that the picture for those living with this condition and their families has got worse over the last decade, and it should be getting better. We need to change this.

Families tell me that there is a significant and urgent need for specialist services and clinicians to bolster early diagnosis and rapid treatment. Early intervention in Tourette’s cases could reduce the more pernicious, longer-term strains on an individual’s mental and physical health and wellbeing, as well as on that of their friends, families, colleagues and teachers, by giving them a clear diagnosis and an idea of who to turn to.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

I congratulate the hon. Member on securing the debate. On the issue that he has explained—the much-misunderstood aspects of Tourette’s—would he agree with me that we need not only more finance and more professionals involved in treatment but a greater degree of research into the development of Tourette’s, to assure present and future generations that it can be seriously tackled?

--- Later in debate ---

[Conor McGinn]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support and his intervention. I will come to research; it is an absolutely critical part of a holistic approach that understands more about the condition, intervenes early and provides ongoing care. I thank him for his support for his constituents affected by Tourette’s.

I am sure that the Minister will agree that it is unacceptable that Emma McNally’s son has to travel to London from St Helens to have treatment for this condition. That is something that we need to change. Although there are specialist centres for Tourette’s, the problem for families is that many centres accept only local referrals, or those from local child and adolescent mental health services. If there is no Tourette’s specialist at a local CAMHS, or indeed in the clinical commissioning group area—and the CCG considers this outside its remit—the result is that care is inevitably denied. That produces a Catch-22 situation: care is not available locally at CCG level or further afield regionally—and only sparingly nationally.

Families want clearer referral pathways to help those with Tourette’s, as well as clearer referral guidelines for professionals. Despite their best efforts, many GPs simply do not know where to refer children or adults with tic disorders. Currently, many patients are experiencing long waiting times and the ping-pong of being referred back and forth from one service to another, which, as well as being incredibly frustrating for patients, wastes the time and resources of our professionals in the NHS.

Even clinicians in CAMHS and paediatrics lack clarity on how to treat tics. That needs fundamental improvement. A clearer process, with clearer guidelines, along with more professionals with a specialist interest in treating Tourette’s, would also go some way to reducing the number of patients who are diagnosed and discharged at the same appointment. For them, follow-up care is not a possibility. They then find themselves trapped in a spiral of referral and rejection.

As the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) has already alluded to, research is key for clinical and public understanding. The Government’s response to Emma McNally’s petition said:

“Funding has been committed to support research into Tourette’s syndrome.”

Research investment into this condition through the National Institute for Health Research plummeted by almost 50% between 2019-20 and 2020-21, from just under £670,000 to just over £362,000. I repeat:

“Funding has been committed to support research into Tourette’s syndrome.”

The Government also referenced a renewed focus on expanding Health Education England’s clinical psychology training intake to help adopt and develop services and respond to patients’ needs. When I asked Ministers what proportion of the wider clinical psychology intake had taken a specialist or, indeed, any interest in a Tourette’s placement, the Department said it did not possess that information. That will not provide much assurance to families listening today. I know the Minister is sympathetic, which is why I have deliberately made this debate about the issue and the policy, because it is one that we can work on together. Will she provide some clarity on that now, or if that is not possible today, can she take it away and write to me?

It is a question of fairness. Tourette’s has similar levels of prevalence in our society as autism and epilepsy, but where diagnosis and support, along with public awareness, for those conditions has improved in recent years, understanding and support for Tourette’s remains much more limited. Indeed, it is hard to imagine where many individuals and families would be without the fantastic work of charity and support groups in this area, such as Tourettes Action, The Brain Charity, the ADHD Foundation and others who do so much to support people.

In conclusion, I hope today’s debate will play a role in raising awareness of Tourette’s syndrome and the wider struggle that so many families across the country face in getting the support and treatment to which they should be entitled. The Minister has heard what I have had to say. Will she meet Emma and some of the other families to hear directly from them, if the opportunity arises? I know her intentions are good and I am sure that she will pledge to do her bit to work with me and others in this House who take an interest in this, as well as with the people who are directly affected. That way, we can try to transform the experience of those living with Tourette’s syndrome so they can get the support they need to live the happy and fulfilled lives that they very much deserve.

Public Health: Coronavirus Regulations

Conor McGinn Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Gentleman. I do not always agree with him, but he does always make me think. I hope to be able, on behalf of my constituents, to articulate their anxiety, their confusion and their frustration with today having been placed, along with the rest of the Liverpool city region, under tier 3 restrictions. The imposition of such stringent measures has come as a surprise to us. I want to make it clear that this decision, including the specificity on the businesses that are closing and the restrictions on movement and on people, has been made by the Government. There was an ad hoc process of discussion with local leaders, but there was no proper mechanism for consulting them about these measures which will have such a huge impact on the 1.6 million people across our city region. So for the Government to say that this was agreed is like me saying to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, that we have agreed that I will have only three minutes to speak in this debate.

That is important because it speaks to the heart of the lack of trust and public confidence in the Government, and I say that with a heavy heart. Businesses have played their part in my community: pubs, gyms, leisure centres, betting shops and casinos have all expended huge amounts of money and resources in getting themselves ready to reopen, only to have been let down by systemic failures on the part of the Government on test, trace and isolate. I am not opposed to restrictions where they are required and necessary, and let me say clearly that I am worried about the rising rate of infection in Merseyside and in St Helens, and about the increased incidence of hospitalisations, but if these restrictions are to be imposed, we need to see evidence for them and a measure of financial support. It speaks volumes that not only have the Government failed to provide that in a bespoke way for St Helens and Merseyside, but they have stopped local leaders using the £40 million unallocated from the first round of business support to help businesses that are now having to shut their doors, and they have asked for that money back. That is shameful and it is not a way for the Government to bring the public along with them.

This is fundamentally about the people who live in my constituency. We are a resilient people in St Helens and we have been through a lot, but resilience is not enough to get us through this. We need help from the Government. Our businesses need the resources to survive, and our NHS needs the tools and staff to get through a difficult number of months. I fail to see how imposing a tier 3 lockdown on one part of the country with diverse rates contained within its entity will do very much to mitigate this—the SAGE report said the same yesterday. It is time that everybody shared in the pain in a short break—a national lockdown for two weeks—to get this under control and for the Government to develop an exit strategy to get the whole country out of this mess.

The National Health Service

Conor McGinn Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Ashworth]

I am going to make a bit of progress. The Whips are looking slightly askance at me because of the number of Members who want to speak.

There is one Bill that will have a fundamental impact on staffing, and that is the proposed immigration Bill, which will end freedom of movement and introduce a points-based system. Does the Secretary of State recognise that freedom of movement has allowed thousands of staff from Europe—doctors, nurses, paramedics, care workers, hospital porters and cleaners—to come to the UK to care for our sick and elderly? Does he recognise that our NHS and care sector needs that ongoing flow of workers from the EU? How does he reconcile the need for the NHS to continue to recruit with the rhetoric and the proposed restrictive policies of the Home Secretary?

The Secretary of State will know that Conservative campaigners have lobbied for a salary threshold of £36,700. If that were applied, 60,000 current staff in the NHS who are not covered by the shortage occupation list would be affected. Is the Secretary of State really going to allow the Home Secretary to introduce a salary threshold of that order, which will have a huge impact on the ability of the national health service to fill vacancies and recruit, and therefore have an impact on patient care?

[Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend join me and, I am sure, all other Labour Members, in conveying our solidarity to NHS workers—Unison members—in St Helens and other parts of the country who are on strike this week? Despite doing the same job in the same place and wearing the same uniform, they are paid less than their colleagues because they work for an agency. Will my hon. Friend urge Compass to do the right thing and pay those workers properly, and will he commit a Labour Government to ensuring that there is equal pay for equal work in our NHS?

[Jonathan Ashworth]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is what happens when privatisation and outsourcing go wrong: workers are worse off. We should bring an end to it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Conor McGinn Excerpts

Tuesday 18th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Absolutely. Places like Caithness are a great example of where GP consultations that can be done over the phone or over a video conference can save people hours and hours. Of course they sometimes need to see their GP in person, but not always. We are driving this agenda hard in England, and I would be happy to work with the NHS in Scotland to ensure that that technology is taken up there, too.

[Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)]

3. What his Department’s strategy is to reduce the level of male suicides.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Jackie Doyle-Price)]

Men remain the group at the highest risk of suicide and continue to account for three quarters of all suicides. Clearly, targeting suicide in men must be the main thrust of our suicide prevention strategy. We are investing £25 million to support local suicide prevention plans in every local area, and that funding is testing different approaches and sharing best practice. We also announced £600,000 yesterday to support local authorities with exactly these processes.

[Conor McGinn]

It devastates me to have to tell the House that St Helens has the highest rate of suicide in the country, and three quarters of those who take their own lives are men. We know that working class men in deprived areas are 10 times more at risk than those in the most affluent areas, so will the Minister recognise class and community, and poverty and place, as key factors in male suicide and its causes? Will she come to St Helens to see and support the vital work that is being done to prevent the tragic crisis of suicide that is affecting more families in my community?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I agree with much of what the hon. Gentleman says, and I would be delighted to go to St Helens, not least because the more we can do to share good practice around combating male suicide, the more we can prevent it. Everybody in this space wants to do more to prevent suicide, and location is important, too, which is why a big part of my plan is to ensure that we are putting in good measures in the places that attract more suicides.

NHS Outsourcing and Privatisation

Conor McGinn Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Ashworth]

I thank my hon. Friend for her contribution. I know that she, as the relatively new Member for Lincoln, will be campaigning for the future of health provision in her constituency.

The response of the Prime Minister to those cancelled operations this winter was to shrug her shoulders and say, “Nothing is perfect,” but by the end of the winter reporting 185,000 patients, often elderly, vulnerable and in distress, had been left waiting in the back of an ambulance or treated in a corridor for more than 40 minutes. We do not have a crisis in our NHS just in winter; we have a crisis all year round. Since 2010, we have seen a reduction of about 16,000 beds, including more than 5,000 acute beds and nearly 6,000 mental health beds—that is almost 20% of them. Among equivalent wealthy countries, only Canada and Poland have fewer doctors per head, and only two countries have fewer beds per head.

A report today in The Guardian details how old and out of date the equipment is in hospitals because infrastructure budgets have been raided. According to the OECD, we are bottom of the league for the provision of CT and MRI scanners. Meanwhile, as my hon. Friend the Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) has pointed out, eight years of multi-billion cuts to social care provision have decimated the sector and have denied 400,000 people, often the elderly and the vulnerable, the support they would otherwise get.

Years of pay freeze, and failure to invest in and plan properly for the workforce, have meant vacancies for 100,000 staff, including vacancies for 40,000 nurses, 3,500 midwives and 11,000 doctors. In the past two years, we have lost more than 1,000 GPs. In our communities, we have seen district nurses cut by 45%. We have lost more than 2,000 health visitors in two years. We have lost nearly 700 school nurses. There are 5,862 fewer psychiatric nurses and 4,803 fewer community health nurses than in 2010, and the Prime Minister’s hostile environment has meant the Home Office has turned down visas for at least 400 staff.

[Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)]

In the St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the spending on agency nurses has quadrupled since 2011. Is it not a fact that under this Tory Government we have a retention, recruitment and resources crisis in our NHS?

[Jonathan Ashworth]

My hon. Friend has, with great eloquence, explained why failing to plan properly on the workforce is such a false economy. It means that trusts are spending more and more on locums and expensive agencies.

I trust that no Conservative Member will try to pretend in this debate that it is possible to reduce beds, reduce staff, cut social care and fail to invest while patient numbers are increasing without the quality of care suffering. If any Conservative Member does try to tell us the opposite, they should look at the latest performance standards. The lack of hospital capacity and staffing means that the waiting list has risen to more than 4 million. Simon Stevens, of NHS England, has warned that

“on the current funding outlook, the NHS waiting list will grow to five million people by 2021. That’s an extra million people on the waiting list. One in 10 of us waiting for an operation—the highest number ever.”

The blanket cancellation of elective operations has seen waiting lists rise by nearly 5% compared with last year, and we have waiting times up and performance against targets down. In overcrowded A&Es, in the past year, 2.5 million have waited more than four hours. Just 76.4% of patients needing urgent care were treated within four hours at hospital A&E units in England in March—that is the lowest proportion since records began in 2010.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Conor McGinn Excerpts

Thursday 8th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Steve Brine]

We talked about testing the four-week target in the Green Paper—it was one of its key pillars—and we hope to pilot the idea to test the impact of our additional investment on reducing waiting times. We will then assess the benefits and challenges and provide information on how the waiting time standard should be adapted to avoid perverse incentives—around thresholds, for instance.

[Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)]

The Minister’s description of mental health provision will not be recognised by anyone providing or using services. Does he think that cutting the funding for the north west boroughs partnership year on year since 2011 has led to improved services for young people in St Helens?

[Steve Brine]

I do not know about the issue in St Helens. I will look into it, or ask my colleague, the Under-Secretary of State for Health, to do so, and get her to write to the hon. Gentleman.

Woodlands Hospice, Aintree

Conor McGinn Excerpts

Wednesday 7th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dan Carden]

I absolutely agree. I hope that this debate will focus people’s eyes on the hospice sector across the UK and at Woodlands, where we need to ensure viable funding, and also funding that is longer term and better planned. Pressure needs to be taken off hospice managers as they plan the kind of care they provide for our constituents.

People who face progressive life-limiting illnesses require different levels of care. Apart from care and treatments specific to their conditions, they are likely to have what is often called palliative care, particularly as they approach the end of their lives. Death is a natural part of life. We will all die eventually, and most deaths—around three quarters—are expected, so the majority will require some form of palliative care, and everyone deserves to be able to end their life in comfort and dignity. That principle should be central to any civilised society.

There is, I am sure, agreement across the House on the importance of palliative care. It is not a bonus or extra, but an essential part of a good healthcare system. The hospice sector supports around 200,000 people with terminal and life-limiting conditions in the UK every year. This amounts to more than four in 10 of those estimated to need expert end-of-life care. Hospice care is free for everyone and provided for however long it is needed, be it days, weeks or even months. More than 40,000 people in the UK receive bereavement support from hospices each year.

Hospices support people with a wide range of conditions, including cancer, motor neurone disease, cardiovascular disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease—to name just a few—and they are increasingly supporting people with multiple life-limiting conditions. Most hospice care is provided while people are in their own home, but it can also be provided in a care home or at the hospice itself as an in-patient. It is a style of care rather than something that necessarily takes place just in one building. Hospices also aim to feel far more like a home than a hospital.

Outcomes are difficult to assess, and of course most patients do pass away, but it is worth remembering that many do not. A gentle, dignified, reflective and peaceful death with 24/7 expert care and surrounded by loved-ones is something that cannot be measured by traditional means, but we can measure the value in the appreciation and wellbeing of the patients and families helped through their bereavement. When I visited Woodlands, I was delighted to meet people who had long and happy associations with the hospice, had made friends there and still visited regularly for support with their health, but also to keep in touch with staff and friends.

It is also clear that NHS pressures mean increased pressures on hospices.

[Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way, and for outlining the work of the hospice movement. Does he agree that the values and ethos of the movement are deeply ingrained in communities throughout Merseyside? Willowbrook Hospice in St Helens, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, is a good example. But hospices should not have to rely on the generosity of our constituents: they need statutory funding, because they are an integral part of social care.

[Dan Carden]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s intervention.

Britain’s older population is set to increase sharply in the next few decades. The number of people aged 85 or over is expected to double in the next 20 years, and the number of people aged 100 or over is set to increase by more than eight times by 2035, to more than 100,000. The number of adults with life-limiting conditions is also on the rise. Everyone deserves high-quality, compassionate care at the end of their lives.

In recent months we have again witnessed the impact of severe winter pressures on the NHS, which has left hospitals buckling under unprecedented demand. Most people in the United Kingdom—just over half—currently die in hospital. Hospitals are amazing, life-saving places, and I pay tribute to all the staff who keep our NHS running at such difficult times. It is our country’s greatest achievement.

The hospice sector plays a vital role in providing care for those who no longer respond to curative treatment, so that patients who have no clinical need to be in a hospital bed can receive specialised and personalised care provided by a hospice multi-professional team. That also frees up hospital beds for those with acute care needs. A good hospice is a perfect example of good health and social care integration. We need a joined-up approach by the NHS, social care, the community and the voluntary sector. I welcome the Government’s decision to bring social care under a departmental umbrella, and I hope that the Minister will reassure me that hospices too will be recognised as a crucial part of the care system as a whole.

On average, adult hospices in the UK receive a third of their income from the Government, although the amount received by individual hospices varies widely. The rest comes from community fundraising, grant applications, hospice charity shops, lotteries and investments. According to Hospice UK, collectively charitable hospices in the UK need to raise about £1 billion a year from their local communities, which amounts to about £2.7 million per day. In a period of stagnant wages, and with national income distributed unevenly, that is a constant challenge, and the fact that it affects different areas and regions differently must be taken into account. Hospices rely on NHS funding contributions, and need assurances that those will continue even in the challenging financial climate that the NHS currently faces.

Some hospices have agreements in place for multi-year funding, but many are reliant on year-by-year decisions on funding levels, and that requires constant planning by hospice managers. NHS funding needs to be on a more committed and sustainable basis to allow for planning and development, and to enable staff to devote more of their time and energy to doing what needs to be done in relation to patient care. Of course, in more deprived areas, such as the communities in north Liverpool, the need for statutory funding is even greater. The fundraising opportunities that are available in the catchment areas of individual hospices can be very limited. Deprivation also means more complex health needs among the population that hospices serve. All too regularly, I see people dying younger, people dying from addictions, and people dying from diseases that are linked directly to poverty.

The complexity of funding for hospices creates further organisational difficulties for management and staff. Commissioning and contracting arrangements are still causing issues: nationally, a third of hospices are now working with four or more commissioners. Woodlands, for instance, covers a number of clinical commissioning groups, and requires each CCG to maintain or increase funding each year just to stand still. When funding decisions are made on a year-by-year basis, simply maintaining funding can take up much time and effort that should ideally be focused on patients and care.

I am sure I speak for the entire House when I say that we are all very grateful for the care that hospices deliver to people and communities across the country. They need ongoing recognition of the value that they provide to the healthcare economy as a whole. Specialist palliative care and end-of-life services need to be proactively included in transformation plans and service developments. The Government’s intentions were set out in July 2016, when they said that

“every person nearing the end of their life should receive attentive, high quality, compassionate care, so that their pain is eased, their spirits lifted and their wishes for their closing weeks, days and hours are respected.”

In order to realise those aims for every person in the UK, we must look at the funding framework as a whole to make it easier for hospices to receive sustainable NHS funding.

Can the Minister address two specific points: what guarantees are there that as pressures increase on NHS budgets, statutory funding to hospices, especially those in more deprived areas with the specific health problems affecting poorer communities, will be protected, and what is the Minister doing to encourage longer term funding models—multi-year agreements—so that hospices can plan better and care better? The people-centred care that responds to complex and changing needs provided by hospices like Woodlands is invaluable, and I believe every Member will want to do all we can to support the work they do across our constituencies.

I want to finish by paying tribute to the wonderful staff and amazing volunteers who make Woodlands the wonderful life-affirming place that it is, as well as thanking all those who give up their time to volunteer in hospices across the UK.

Junk Food Advertising and Childhood Obesity

Conor McGinn Excerpts

Tuesday 16th January 2018 Westminster Hall

[Maggie Throup]

My hon. Friend is right—his background makes him an expert in the field—that no one measure will solve the problem. The Health Committee has called for “bold and brave action”, but we are a long way from seeing that.

No one measure will successfully tackle childhood or adult obesity. It is more than just sugar—many different aspects of food are causing the obesity epidemic. The soft drinks industry levy will play its part, as will Public Health England’s message, which was well publicised over Christmas and new year, that children should have only two snacks a day. Tackling junk food advertising is an important part of the jigsaw.

[Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)]

When the sugar tax was introduced, Vimto, which has its headquarters in my constituency, would have avoided it on 60% of its products because they were already sugar free. That figure is now 100% because industry growth has been led by the fact that 70% of demand is for sugar-free drinks. In contrast, £200 million was taken from the public health budget in 2015-16, £85 million was taken in 2016-17, and 3.9% will be taken each year up to 2020. In some respects, the industry and the public are ahead of the Government.

[Maggie Throup]

There has been a step change in the industry. It has realised that if it does not take steps itself, more punitive measures may be imposed. Hopefully, debates such as this one will help the industry and other corporate bodies to take responsibility, which is a good way to address the issue.

It is well recognised that children and young people are particularly vulnerable to junk food advertising. Evidence shows a link between advertising and the types of food that that group prefer to buy and eat. Restrictions to advertising in or around programmes specifically made for children were introduced 10 years ago, but no Government since have made any effort to update the broadcast rules, despite widespread recognition of the health harms of junk food advertising. Anybody watching “Newsnight” last night will have seen that advertisers are finding ways to circumvent the rules, which is not what rules are there for.

By applying broadcast restrictions only to children’s programming, the pattern of TV viewing by children today is not taken into account.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kirstene Hair (Angus) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Dorries. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash (Maggie Throup) on securing this important debate. Childhood obesity is a stubborn problem in Scotland. Some 29% of Scottish children are at risk of being overweight or obese, and that figure has remained static since 1998. While recent years have seen a welcome decline in childhood obesity from 17% in 2014 to 14% in 2016, that figure is still no better than 20 years ago. As other Members have mentioned, obesity increases someone’s chances of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes, among other conditions.

Every child deserves the healthiest possible start to life, so it is vital that the UK Government and the Scottish Government continue to work across every channel to reduce childhood obesity. They should not simply tinker at the side lines, but introduce a number of radical reforms to extend life chances, reduce the pressure on the health service and create a healthier society overall. Our childhood obesity problem has many causes, and there are many things that the Government can do to help address it. One is the curtailing of the advertisement of unhealthy food in environments where children are likely to encounter it. Evidence shows that children’s exposure to food advertisements can have a major influence on a child’s diet and therefore their weight. Cutting their exposure to advertisements for unhealthy food is therefore a vital tool in the fight against childhood obesity.

I am pleased by the tough line already being taken on junk food advertisements. The total ban on advertising less healthy food during children’s TV programmes or on children’s TV channels is a common-sense restriction. None the less, TV is not everything. Children are spending less and less time watching TV and more and more time on the internet.

[Conor McGinn]

We are talking about TV, and we have heard a lot about advertising, but it is important to look at what happens between the adverts: the programming. Some 18 months ago, ITV launched a very good initiative called “I am Team GB”, where it switched off the channel for an hour. Some 2,500 sports clubs across the UK opened their doors and more than 4 million people were motivated to take part in sport. Research shows that food-related programming promoting a healthy lifestyle has as much if not more of an impact than advertising. In issuing charters, it is important that the Government also regulate that programming so that we see a joined-up approach with good programming that promotes healthy living.

[Ms Nadine Dorries (in the Chair)]

Order. I remind Members that interventions should be interventions and not speeches.

NHS Pay

Conor McGinn Excerpts

Wednesday 13th September 2017 Commons Chamber

[Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan) on an excellent maiden speech. Modesty prevented him from telling the House that he more than doubled the Labour vote, going from third to first and winning the seat for Labour for the first time since the seat’s creation in 1918. He has a bright future in the House, I think, and I look forward to him being joined by many, many more Labour MPs from the south of England after the next election.

I should declare an interest in speaking in this debate, not registerable but important none the less, which is that generations of my family have worked in the national health service. My grandmother, great-aunts, aunts and cousins were and are nurses and midwives, and my mother has worked in the NHS for over 30 years.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

Is modesty perhaps preventing my hon. Friend from mentioning that he himself has, at times, acted as a midwife?

[Conor McGinn]

I am very rarely accused of modesty, so I shall certainly take that compliment. I did have one occasion to act as midwife when our daughter arrived slightly more quickly than expected. As I said to her godmother, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Vicky Foxcroft), it is not something that I intend to repeat, and I certainly would not recommend it to the untrained.

It was in tribute to my own family’s NHS pedigree, but most importantly out of necessity to properly value the nurses and midwives of today, that I tabled an early-day motion to end the public sector pay cap in the NHS. I thank the 67 hon. Members from every Opposition party—and indeed from the Government party on the Opposition side of the House, represented by the hon. Member for Belfast South (Emma Little Pengelly)—who signed the motion to scrap the cap. I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth), who has relentlessly campaigned on the issue of fair pay for NHS staff, and who has brought this motion before the House today.

In my local NHS trust, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, there are over 1,000 nurses who do a magnificent job caring for patients in often incredibly difficult circumstances. I am very proud that the trust has been recognised as the best NHS acute trust in England in the latest patient-led assessments, achieving top marks in the country in every area of inspection.

The context in which NHS staff are showing such dedication and commitment to providing high-quality care makes it all the more remarkable. As we have heard, while working hard to meet increasing demands, nurses have seen seven years’ worth of frozen or capped pay. The rate of inflation has exceeded the pay cap of 1% in five of those seven years. That means less money at the end of the month for nurses—a 14% pay cut in real terms since 2010, according to the Royal College of Nursing, which has campaigned with great tenacity and passion on this issue, alongside many other organisations, including my colleagues in Unison.

For seven long years, Ministers have refused to introduce a fair pay package for nurses that reflects the skill set and dedication in the profession. They ignored the clarion call for the pay cap to be scrapped—until last night. In an act of cynicism, knowing they faced defeat in the House today, Ministers appear to have suddenly changed their minds—not because the Conservative party suddenly believed the pay cap was wrong, but because the Government might lose a vote in Parliament. What a morally and intellectually bankrupt Government this is, and what a disgraceful way to treat NHS staff—as a tool for seven years of ideologically driven austerity, and now as a tool of political expediency.

The announcement that the pay cap is to be scrapped is long overdue. Anyone in this House who believes that it should go needs to vote with us tonight, if indeed the Government decide to divide the House. But it is not enough: we need to see action. Thousands of nurses and NHS staff will be waiting eagerly to see what the Government offer above 1%, and millions more people across the country will be waiting to see when this Government are finally going to end their cuts to our public services and start properly funding our NHS.