Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mowat and Alistair Burt

Tuesday 20th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

He has finished his answer. Very well; I call Alistair Burt.

[Alistair Burt (North East Bedfordshire) (Con)]

To ensure not only that unnecessary costs are reduced, but that the best community pharmacy services are provided, will the Minister do all that he can to make sure that clinical commissioning groups engage as effectively as possible with pharmacies? Preferably, that would be by getting more people on CCG boards to ensure that the crucial connection between the provision of health services and pharmacy is absolutely at the heart of what we do.

[David Mowat]

My right hon. Friend is right; CCGs are variable in the extent to which they commission pharmacy services. However, we have set out the minor ailments scheme, it will be rolled out nationally by April 2018 and we expect every CCG to take a part in it.

Community Pharmacy in 2016-17 and Beyond

Debate between David Mowat and Alistair Burt

1st reading: House of Commons
Thursday 20th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[David Mowat]

The quality system that I have mentioned is about potentially investing more in prevention and linking the best pharmacies—the high quality pharmacies—more closely to local authorities, public health schemes and all that goes with that. I make the point again that there is a requirement for efficiency savings, but we do not believe that they will affect access overall. We do not believe that this will affect the public’s ability to use pharmacies as they do now. This will be part of modernising and digitising the service and providing resources for other parts of the NHS that need them very much.

[Alistair Burt (North East Bedfordshire) (Con)]

Bearing in mind my responsibility for the difficult equation that my hon. Friend has had to solve by coming to the House this morning, I should like to thank him and welcome his statement, which finally brings clarity to these long discussions. Will he repeat very clearly the Government’s absolute commitment to a strong community pharmacy network and to doing all they can to ensure that the NHS delivers on the essential commissioning of quality services? Looking ahead to the future, now that we have got past this, will he ensure that a good review of community pharmacy services is carried out, so that we can see what value they bring to the NHS? I am sure that, like me, he will find that sector extremely valuable to work with.

[David Mowat]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his fantastic work with the pharmacy sector. He makes the important point that we are trying to move the sector more into services and added value. The two announcements that I made two weeks ago are part of that, as is the work currently being done by Richard Murray from the King’s Fund. That will inform how we spend the integration money and enable the sector to move more quickly into the sorts of services that my right hon. Friend is talking about.

Sight Tests in Special Schools

Debate between David Mowat and Alistair Burt

Tuesday 3rd November 2015 Westminster Hall

[The Minister for Community and Social Care (Alistair Burt)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I thank the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh) not only for securing this debate but for the usual thorough and highly competent way in which she has presented her case, which was full of facts, information and understanding, and informed in particular by her visits. It will be slightly easier to respond to one or two of her requests than to others, but I will come to that in my remarks.

Before anything else, I acknowledge what everyone recognises, which is that, although all our senses are precious, sight is probably the one that we value most. Sight is the key way in which children learn about the world. Ultimately, as the hon. Lady said, undetected sight problems can lead to a reduced quality of life and unnecessary damage to the eyes, which we all wish to prevent. The risk is that the vision of children with learning disabilities can be overlooked and assumed to be just part of their overall condition and behaviour. There is no doubt about the background to the campaign she mentioned.

We all share the desire that all children should be able to access sight tests, especially that group of children for whom we know that visual impairment is much more possible. There are more than 100,000 pupils in special schools in England. New arrangements have been introduced for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities to develop more integrated approaches to meeting need. There is rather more variability than the hon. Lady suggests, and that variability is necessary to cope with the different conditions we are talking about.

A new framework was introduced in September 2014 that will see commissioners and local authorities working together to agree arrangements for meeting the needs of children with special educational needs. That includes publishing a local offer of services and ensuring that health and education professionals undertake a co-ordinated assessment of a child or young person’s needs that will inform an education, health and care plan. The plan has to consider the aims and aspirations of the young person and focus on the outcomes that will have the biggest impact. It has to include the needs of a child or young person with a visual impairment. That approach has tremendous potential for stimulating much more joined-up approaches in local care settings; meeting children’s needs; and helping health commissioners and local authorities to understand jointly how population needs can be supported by more flexible delivery methods.

The hon. Lady spoke about a postcode lottery, which is the term commonly used when anything that is provided in one area is not provided in another. I am slightly hesitant about using that term, because it suggests that nothing can be done and implies that it is an accident of fate, when in fact it is not. The difference in provision in different areas often depends on the ability of the leadership and management in an area to recognise a problem and the local determination to make a change. We get change around the country when somebody takes a lead and does things differently, often because they have been stimulated by changes at a national level and have taken the opportunity to do something differently. I recognise that, at its worst, the term “postcode lottery” implies that people get less of a service in one place than another. However, we lever up standards by pointing to what is done best. If we did not allow for some variation, we would not be able to learn. I take the hon. Lady’s point, but SeeAbility’s work in London demonstrates what can be done and shows others the way forward.

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

The Minister is right that the term “postcode lottery” can be pejorative. We need centres of excellence that can be spread out more widely. Warrington hospital is well-funded in that regard, and it considers itself a centre of excellence, at least in Cheshire. For that spreading out to happen more quickly, we need a national programme or some kind of national impetus, which is where the Minister might come in.

[Alistair Burt]

I am delighted to recognise the centre of excellence about which my hon. Friend speaks so powerfully. I will talk about the national side when I get to the conclusion of my remarks. I will illustrate how we are moving forward and what we are doing, which will address some of the concerns raised by the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden and my hon. Friend.

Let me turn to the issue of children with learning disabilities and problems with vision. It is widely recognised that children with learning disabilities have a greater risk of a wide range of eye problems, including refractive errors that require correction with glasses, squints, cataracts and glaucoma. All children under 16 and those between 16 and 18 in full-time education, including children with learning disabilities, are entitled to free NHS-funded sight tests. Sight tests are an extremely valuable heath check of the eye that can pick up a need for glasses and early signs of eye conditions, many of which can be treated if they are found early enough.

As the hon. Lady said, NHS England is responsible for commissioning the NHS sight testing service. I will come on to the work that NHS England is doing with SeeAbility in a moment. The hon. Lady said that she is concerned that an optical practice is not necessarily the best environment for undertaking a sight test on a child with learning disabilities. I agree, which is why we want greater use to be made of different ways of providing sight tests for children with learning disabilities. The NHS can contract with providers for mobile, funded sight tests for children, which can take place at special schools. We appreciate that that provides a familiar environment for the test, as the hon. Lady said, which best serves the child. Any provider can apply for a contract with NHS England to provide those services, provided they meet the conditions for holding a general ophthalmic services contract. I will come on to the point about payments in a moment.

However, I am aware that, even with current provision, the concern remains that children with learning disabilities may find it more difficult than other children to access services. SeeAbility has been doing valuable work in that area to develop evidence and promote awareness of the specific needs of children with learning disabilities. I am pleased to accept the invitation to meet SeeAbility and visit one of the schools in which such work has been going on. It will not be my first visit. I visited it when it was the Royal School for the Blind when I was Minister with responsibility for disabled people 20 years ago, and it will be nice to renew the acquaintance.

I am also aware of SeeAbility’s “Children in Focus” campaign, which seeks a nationally commissioned service to provide sight tests and glasses for that important group of people in special schools. In addition, I understand that SeeAbility has recently been awarded a contract by NHS England to provide eye care services at a number of special schools in London.

Reducing health inequalities is a key part of the five-year forward view and NHS England’s 2015-16 business plan. In that context, I know that NHS England recognises a growing body of evidence that suggests that access to sight tests and glasses is an issue for some children and that regular eye tests and the wearing of appropriate glasses make a vital contribution to those children’s health, educational progress and general quality of life.

As the hon. Lady said, NHS England has been in dialogue with SeeAbility about sight test provision for those pupils, and it has met Dr David Geddes, the head of primary care commissioning. I welcome the engagement between the NHS and patient groups. As I said, SeeAbility has recently been awarded a contract by NHS England to provide eye care services at a number of special schools in London. NHS England is keen to see how that work is going, so that it can consider what can be built on it and see whether the model of care that is right for that cohort of parents can be rolled out elsewhere. Some good early work has been done, but it is early days. It is appropriate that NHS England carries out some longer term work with SeeAbility to assess how that contract is working and see what can be done. Although we would all like to see rapid progress, it is early in the contractual relationship, and NHS England needs to develop the evidence base further.

The hon. Lady rightly spoke about fees. SeeAbility has pointed to a structure that is considerably higher than the current fee of £21.31 per test. We all recognise that the current financial stresses in the NHS mean that a robust case has to be built before further funding is committed. NHS England is happy to work with SeeAbility to understand better what financial model best contributes to those patients’ needs. Its view is that SeeAbility has done some very good early work, but it is only two months into the contractual relationship. We therefore need to take a little longer to find out what is actually happening and what more can be done. NHS England expects to have concluded that work by next spring, and it will be in a position to consider the need for changing the current arrangements and possible service developments.

I hope that gives the hon. Lady a sense of where this is going. First, we all recognise the scale of the problem. Secondly, because there is now more variability in the NHS’s ability to meet this need, some things are being tried out to see how they work—particularly through the contract with SeeAbility. I am keen to see how it works in practice, which is why I am happy to accept the invitation to see some of the work it is doing in schools. I will work with NHS England on how it is assessing the work and on the next steps.

In closing, I reiterate that I recognise the importance of properly considering the needs of children with learning disabilities in service planning. If children are to be given the best chance in life, it is important that any vision problems that could affect or impair their development are identified and addressed. I am pleased that NHS England is closely looking at this issue and is already in discussion with SeeAbility. I look forward to hearing about the outcomes of NHS England’s work in this area and its proposed way forward.

The early day motion that the hon. Lady mentioned states that, as a start, it

“encourages the Government and the NHS to work together to create a comprehensive national programme and a properly-funded system to make sight tests available in all special schools in England”.

In the spirit of encouraging the Government and NHS England to work together to see what can be done, the hon. Lady can be sure that that is indeed happening.

I look forward to meeting SeeAbility and NHS England to pursue this matter further. I am sure the House will have a further opportunity to discuss it in the future. Once again, I thank the hon. Lady for securing the debate and conducting it in her normal thorough and effective manner.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mowat and Alistair Burt

Tuesday 5th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Alistair Burt]

Following the end of the conflict towards the end of last year, there have been renewed efforts to ensure that Gaza progresses towards a normal economic situation and that the resources that are needed to rebuild the infrastructure can go into Gaza. The United Kingdom is clear that unless that happens, the divide between Gaza and Israel will remain. It is essential that that work proceeds and that the UK plays a full part in urging those changes.

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

T9. Twice in the past year, the UK has failed to vote at the UN to support the aspiration of Palestinians for their own state as part of a two-state solution. On each occasion, the reason given was that we did not wish to undermine a future US-led peace process. May we have an update on the time scale for that? When do Ministers think they might be able to vote in a different direction?

[Alistair Burt]

As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made clear in response to earlier questions, Secretary of State Kerry will visit Israel and Palestine shortly, as will President Obama. It is clear that there is a re-engagement all round with the issues that will affect the middle east peace process. We remain clear that this is a priority for the region and for the world, and we will give every assistance to that process.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mowat and Alistair Burt

Tuesday 4th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

3. What discussions his Department has had with the Libyan Government on reparations for previous victims of Libyan Semtex.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Alistair Burt)]

The Gaddafi regime left a terrible legacy, with many victims both in Libya and in the UK. My right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary and I have consistently raised Gaddafi’s relationship with the IRA when we have seen the Libyan authorities.

[David Mowat]

It is now accepted that Libya provided the Semtex used both at Lockerbie and at the Warrington bombing in 1993. The US Government are vigorously pursuing a claim on behalf of the Lockerbie victims, whereas the UK is more passive in its support for the equivalent McCue case. Will the Minister review our position and undertake to go the extra mile for the UK victims, including those living in Warrington?