Future of Health and Care

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Thursday 11th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, these are very important measures and I am glad that they have my hon. Friend’s support, not least because of his extensive knowledge as a practising GP who has done so much during the crisis—the whole House is grateful for his commitment and work. On the timing of legislation, unfortunately I am not permitted to go into any further detail ahead of Her Majesty’s next visit to the other place, but the White Paper sets out the reforms that we hope to have in place by April 2022, and I hope that he can take from that some indication of our sense of pace.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab) [V]]

With one of the highest covid death rates in the world, and with NHS workers under such incredible pressure, this is hardly the best time to be talking about yet another NHS reorganisation. In his response to me two weeks ago, the Prime Minister committed to addressing the key underlying causes of the high and unequal covid death toll: primarily, socioeconomic inequalities driven by 10 years of austerity. He said that he would be implementing Professor Sir Michael Marmot’s recommendations, to “build back fairer.” How do the White Paper proposals address those inequalities and their impact on our declining life expectancy and on the highest excess mortality rate in Europe?

[Matt Hancock]

I gently say that I disagree entirely with the hon. Lady’s pessimism about the ability of improvements in the health service to assist in the closing of health inequalities and the provision of care. As a Greater Manchester MP, she will understand better than most the benefits that come from that sort of integration. The idea that we should fail to act on what the NHS has itself asked for because of the challenges it is facing is completely the wrong way round. I see it entirely the other way round; it is incumbent on us to act in order to deliver the improvements that the NHS is calling for.