Oral Answers to Questions

Danny Kinahan Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Nicola Blackwood]

The UK is a world leader in tobacco control and we have a proven record in reducing the harm caused by tobacco. We should be proud of the fact that smoking rates among adults and young people are at the lowest ever level, but my hon. Friend is right to push for the tobacco control plan because there is unacceptable variation. We are working on developing that plan, which we will be publishing shortly.

[Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)]

In Northern Ireland in 2014-15, 870 deaths were due to the cold weather. Will the Minister engage with other Ministers to ensure that fuel poverty is looked at by all Departments, so that the pensioners who raised this in Parliament do not suffer from the health matters that are killing them off?

[Mr Dunne]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for making that point. We do of course have the cold weather payment system in force across the UK, and later this week I will attend a meeting with other Government Ministers to look at winter preparedness across the board.

Oral Answers to Questions

Danny Kinahan Excerpts

Tuesday 11th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

I am very happy to do that. My hon. Friend is right to highlight the fact that the provision of mental health services to children is one of the biggest weak spots in NHS provision today. It is an area that we are putting a big focus on. I would be happy to talk to her about the situation in her constituency.

[Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)]

T3. I know that this is a devolved matter, but I look forward to the Union working together on it. In Northern Ireland, the health service is in crisis. To give cancer as an example, 6.7% of those with breast cancer are called in to be checked within 14 days—not 100%—and yet we have 392,000 people on the waiting list. Will the Secretary of State or his officials meet us to find a better way forward, so that we can all work together?

[David Mowat]

I have made it clear that we should all be working together to defeat cancer. We know that the best way of doing so is early diagnosis. We have made a lot of progress on that in England over the past few years but have a lot further to go. We are of course willing to talk to the devolved Administration about what they can learn from us—and perhaps vice versa.

Carers

Danny Kinahan Excerpts

Thursday 9th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)]

I am very pleased to speak on this subject, which covers so many areas. I am especially pleased to support the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Mims Davies) in this debate, which I thank her for bringing forward. I also support her call for a young carers day, which is essential, and I congratulate her on that idea.

I was never involved in this field in my time as a councillor and in the Northern Ireland Assembly, so all I have learned about it has been through the casework in my constituency offices. I thank all my staff, who have dealt with everything and pulled this together. They are just a small group of all those who work every day in our offices to help everyone concerned.

In learning on the job, I have also learned about the policy changes. In Northern Ireland, two policy changes have suddenly thrown up different things. One was the closure of residential homes. It seemed right to move people to be looked after at home, but at the same time it actually took away some people’s chances of respite when their loved ones stayed in a residential home. At times, we need to rethink what we are doing. The other involved the mental health hospital that kept trying to send home one person who was having great difficulties. His family could not cope, however, and he eventually drowned himself after putting on his waders and walking into the local reservoir.

We all need to be aware—this week has been quite fantastic in making people aware—of how hard everyone is working in the caring industry. I have been hugely impressed by those, whether the families, the neighbours, the community or all the organisations in our constituencies, who are pulling together to provide help. I have been horrified just as much, however, by the stories I have read this week and heard about at other times through my offices. There are stories about those who have very little support, and about the sacrifices they have had to make in using their savings, selling their house, losing their job and all the awful things that go just because they are doing what is absolutely right in looking after their loved ones.

In Northern Ireland, there are some 220,000 carers—that figure has gone up nearly 20% in the past 10 years—which is one in eight of the population. Some 30,000 people care for more than one person, and some 26% of carers provide more than 50 hours of care a week. I am sure the figures are no different in all the other constituencies, but this debate today, and this week, is for getting across our points about the importance of carers. In 2016, it is estimated that carers in Northern Ireland save the state £4.6 billion. A massive amount is going on—I will not steal all the statistics from my colleague, the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who I know has many more to cite—but I want to congratulate and salute all those involved.

From what I have learned this week, I believe that if we are to adopt the national strategy for carers, it needs to be pulled together into a longer-term strategy in the same way as happened with pensions. Caring covers many other fields, so a strategy needs to be worked out with those fields so that everything is joined up and they all work together. My age-old point is that it is phenomenally important to get all the countries in the United Kingdom working together.

One thing was really brought home to me during the particularly cold spell in Northern Ireland some five years ago when I was working with Home-Start to help families in Antrim. I think it was 18° below, and it came down to a heat or eat choice for some families so, by pulling together with local businesses, we helped to get food for people. The next day, those who delivered it said that two of the families broke down in tears when the food was brought to their doors because they had been pushed right to the limit. That is the sort of story we should take away from today.

There are so many points to mention, including about helping carers to be recognised by everyone and getting employers to be more flexible in looking after them with, for example, a tapering pay limit. So many things are now coming out, and this week has been fantastic in teaching all of us, so I congratulate everyone involved. I thank hon. Members for listening to me.

HPV Vaccinations for MSM

Danny Kinahan Excerpts

Tuesday 7th June 2016 Westminster Hall

[Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)]

I am glad to be speaking today, and particularly glad that the hon. Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Mike Freer) has secured the debate. I started as a new boy in Parliament last year and this issue came across my desk in September. The one simple thing that really shocked me was that we were only immunising girls. I could not believe that we had chosen to go for just one side. The debate is therefore necessary.

I knew nothing about the subject, so we put forward an early-day motion, but I was shocked to find that a whole mass of people here do not sign such motions. We should all support that motion, so I send a message to people to please look through and sign early-day motions, not just ignore them as a policy. The more I looked into HPV, the more I was appalled by how horrific the diseases were. I went to the pop-up drop-in meeting and was shown photographs of genital warts and other unpleasant diseases. They are quite horrific. We should be helping everyone with such diseases, whatever the cost, and we must find the most important and economic way of doing so.

I was glad to see that my colleagues in Northern Ireland from every party had signed the early-day motion. That shows that although we are a part of the world that is sometimes known for avoiding this sort of subject or avoiding difficult things, we can lead. I was glad to hear the update from the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) on where we have got to, and I too will ensure that we push for everyone in Northern Ireland to be looked after and vaccinated. I ask the Minister to look at how we can get a vaccination programme in place as quickly and economically as possible, so that 400,000 boys a year can be vaccinated, the disease does not build up and get worse, and the vaccination is there for all people of every type. That is the message that I want to get across.

Junior Doctors Contract

Danny Kinahan Excerpts

Thursday 19th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Let’s hope that Mummy Howlett is satisfied. If not, I dare say that we shall hear about it.

[Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)]

I congratulate the Government and everyone involved on getting this deal in place. It will have a knock-on effect in my constituency in Northern Ireland. When I went around Antrim Area hospital, the concern was to do with the number of doctors, which we have heard about from other Members, and how to get seven-days-a-week cover from everything else that needs to go into the health service. Will the Secretary of State comment on how we will deal with that, and how we will work with the devolved Parliaments?

[Mr Hunt]

I agree. We need more doctors and we need more nurses. By the end of this Parliament, we will have over a million more over-70s in England alone, and I know that the demographic effects in Northern Ireland will be equivalent. We have a global shortage of about 7 million doctors, so we need to train more. We are training an extra 11,420 doctors over this Parliament as part of the spending review. The training is done on a UK-wide basis, so we will need to work closely with all the devolved regions on it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Danny Kinahan Excerpts

Tuesday 10th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[George Freeman]

I am very grateful for that acknowledgment. We have put £1 billion into the cancer drugs fund, and we are completely committed to increasing the pace at which we bring cancer drugs through. It is true that cancer outcomes have improved quickly since 2010; in 2014-15, over 645,000 more patients with suspected cancers were seen. That is an increase of 71%. Almost 40,000 more patients were treated for cancer—an increase of 17%. We have announced funding of up to £300 million a year by 2020 to increase diagnostic capacity, so that we can meet the new target, which is that patients will be given a definitive cancer diagnosis or the all-clear within 28 days of being referred by a GP.

[Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)]

We are very grateful for all the work that is going on, and for how we are pulling together and working as a United Kingdom, but is there any way of helping those people who cannot afford to travel to the specialists to get the treatment? That is a huge chunk out of a devolved budget, and it is something that we should be working on together.

[George Freeman]

I will happily look at that as part of the discussions with the council that I just touched on. We are determined to make sure that this life science revolution is not just in the Oxford-Cambridge-London triangle, but goes out across all the devolved areas, which of course are leading on much of the science. That is why we are committed, through the National Institute for Health Research and the NHS, to creating hubs across the country, so that everybody can benefit.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

Danny Kinahan Excerpts

Tuesday 12th April 2016 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the hon. Lady for a valuable intervention.

Carers UK estimates that, of the 6.5 million carers in the UK, 670,000 people care for friends or relatives with dementia. It is estimated that the NHS saves some £11.6 billion each year because of those unsung heroes; their contribution as volunteer carers is very valuable. Carers may end up providing more than 100 hours of care per week, and all too often the outside world is completely oblivious to their efforts—even those who know the carers might be oblivious, because they do not know what is happening. Anyone who has lived with someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s, or knows a person who does, knows the problems. People with dementia can often unknowingly become agitated, even violent, and night-time wandering and shouting can have a serious impact on carers’ sleep patterns, let alone sufferers’.

[Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. Talking about awareness and carers, does he agree with me that a large number of carers might not even be aware of, but need to be taught, how to help and look after? We need an awareness campaign.

[Jim Shannon]

We do need an awareness campaign—perhaps it starts with this debate today, working its way through to our constituencies and the people we represent.

Too often, carers are left to suffer in silence. The existing services on offer are not publicised enough and are not up to standard. The main social security benefit available to carers is the carer’s allowance. Those providing more than 35 hours of care a week are entitled to only £62.10. Further to that, carers may incur sanctions on how much they can earn on top of the allowance. Dementia carers save the NHS more than £11 billion every year, but they get only £62.10 per week for giving up their lives for someone less fortunate. I know the Minister’s Department is not responsible for that but, with respect, it is not a good reflection on Government given the hours spent by carers. Times are tough for the public finances, but it must be highly insulting to carers for them to see some of the things happening in the news when they are getting only £62.10 a week.

Cancer Drugs

Danny Kinahan Excerpts

Tuesday 19th January 2016 Westminster Hall

[Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)]

I too thank the hon. Member for Mid Derbyshire (Pauline Latham) for obtaining the debate. I feel that I am the most inexperienced of the Members present on this subject, having never been on a health committee, but having been lobbied hard; but I lost my sister some 25 years ago, and I know that everyone has either lost a family member to cancer or knows someone who won, and was cured.

There is a key thing to get across today. Every MP needs to realise the limitations on funding and what we are learning, so that we can all lobby, and help to find a better way forward. I was particularly impressed when President Obama said he wanted all cancers to be cured. I am not sure that that will always be possible, but it is the right aim with which to go forward.

As I have been trying to learn about, and get myself briefed on, the topic, I have realised that we need a more dynamic and flexible approach to what we are doing. It is right to have a fund that allows everyone to get to it, but we must find a way in which everyone does get to it—to the drugs. Taking drugs off the list seems to be the wrong way forward. Can we look for some form of flexibility, so that with drugs that have been removed there is perhaps a different way of getting at them, one step back?

I had two main reasons for wanting to speak today. One, which has been touched on by my colleagues, is the difficulty that comes from Northern Ireland being treated as a devolved country with its own cancer. As we have heard, only £1.5 million is being put forward and the cost of cancer is a phenomenal chunk out of a small budget. People often have to travel elsewhere in the UK to get the drugs and the cures they need.

One such case is this. I was sitting on a train once—before I ended up here—listening to two Northern Irish people speaking loudly about how useless all politicians were, not just here but also in Northern Ireland, because no one had helped them with their cancer. I interrupted them, and it turned out that a politician from the Social Democratic and Labour party was the only person who had, in fact, helped them. One of them had had to sell his house and use all his savings to get the cure he needed, which was available only here in London. My main point is that we have to find a more joined-up way of doing this, so that the drugs are available for everyone, everywhere. Can we consider an approach that includes all four countries?

We have heard from others that we have an extremely good Queen’s University link-up with Almac and with other countries, and we also have, in my patch, Randox. We have fantastic pharmaceutical companies leading the way in Northern Ireland. However, it was from a meeting with one of those companies that a story we have touched on today emerged. The company tried to sell the diagnostic system to our local NHS, but it could not. It sold it to a company in America, which repackaged it, and the Northern Ireland health service then bought it from that company for an extra few million. We have heard about the difference in costs between Spain and Britain. There must be a system for looking at the procurement process, to ensure that we are more dynamic in how we buy things, so that the drugs are there and available to everyone.

Those are the two main points I wanted to make. Let us work it all together and get a better use of drugs. I am glad that we have had the debate today, and I am thankful for having had the chance to speak.

[Mr Gary Streeter (in the Chair)]

Thank you, colleagues, for your co-operation. We now turn to our winding-up speeches, and it is a pleasure to call first, for the Scottish National party, Marion Fellows.

Oral Answers to Questions

Danny Kinahan Excerpts

Tuesday 5th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Jane Ellison]

I am happy to look into that and get back to my hon. Friend. With regard to the 51 recommendations made in the UK rare diseases strategy, he will be pleased to know that the first report on that will be in spring. I will take up the other issue with him after questions.

[Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)]

Health is a devolved matter, but devolved Governments may choose not to spend when it comes to expensive rare diseases and diagnoses. What more can Westminster do to help my constituents?