(7 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberAs a direct answer to the hon. Lady’s question on the improved better care fund, let me tell her that it will be allocated in such a way that the combination of the fund and the precept will address real need. That is what we will be doing during the remainder of this Parliament, starting from April. We spend more on adult social care in this country than Germany, Canada and Italy, but it is very important that we spend it well.
It was good to hear my hon. Friend referring to the University of Kent’s research.
Under the guidance of the vanguards and the sustainability and transformation plan, NHS and social services in Kent are working closer together than ever before, although there is still further to go. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is vital that we overcome the barriers between social services and the NHS so that they operate more as one system, meaning that patients can get the sort of care they need in the right place, preferably at home?
My hon. Friend makes a good point about the success of the vanguard in Kent. Last week I visited the care home vanguard in Sutton, which has achieved a 20% reduction in A&E admissions due to better integration and the sort of things that she mentions as being successful in Kent.
(7 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberI do not wholly understand the thrust of that question. I assume that the hon. Gentleman, like others in this House, is welcoming the fact that we are rolling out a national system on ailments, delivered by pharmacists. As the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford) said, that is the future.
The Government are right to require pharmacies to make efficiencies, as the NHS is. I welcome the pharmacy access scheme, which I hope will help my local village pharmacies. I urge the Government and NHS England to press ahead with rolling out the minor ailments service, because it is important to make the most of the skills and capacity of pharmacies, in order to provide valuable services to patients and to relieve the burden on GPs.
I thank my hon. Friend for that comment, and I reinforce what I said earlier: NHS England plans to have this rolled out nationally by April 2018.