NHS Hysteroscopy Treatment

Baroness Laing of Elderslie Excerpts

Thursday 24th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Ms Dorries]

That is distressing to hear.

Women should also be advised that the procedure can be stopped at any time— but, although they are aware of that, that is an incredibly difficult decision to make. When we are in pain, we do not think rationally. It is important to put this on the record as women must be informed of their rights and have their voices heard. Finally, after the procedure, if the woman believes that there have been issues with the treatment that should be raised with the trust.

I want to talk about progress. NHS England advises that progress is being made through the implementation of clinical guidance. Within that, commissioners, and providers should advise service user feedback to be monitored to identify where the guidance is not being followed. As the hon. Member may be aware, women’s health is a personal priority of mine, and I have been looking at improving the experiences of women in the healthcare system since I arrived in the Department. As I recently set out in my statement to the House on the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, we cannot accept the status quo whereby it takes women so long to have their voices heard and for their concerns to be taken seriously. Whether we are talking about the Shipman or Paterson inquiries or the Cumberlege review or another maternity incident, it is sobering to reflect on the amount of inquiries that we have taking place that are about women-only issues. As I work with the team to evaluate every recommendation and every aspect of the Cumberlege review, I want to assure the hon. Member and the House that it remains an absolute priority of mine to tackle these issues.

I understand that the hon. Member has ongoing concerns with the best practice tariff. The aim of the best practice tariff is to encourage procedures in an out-patient setting where clinically appropriate. Out-patient procedures provide the patient with a quicker recovery, as well as allowing them to recuperate at home. I understand that NHS England and NHS Improvement will shortly be engaging with the sector on policy proposals for the 2021-22 national tariff. The tariff engagement document due for October publication will lay out NHS England and NHS Improvement’s initial proposals for the 2021-22 national tariff and will be followed by a statutory consultation. I understand, drawing on the momentum created by changes in the payments system this year due to covid-19, NHS England and NHS Improvement expect to propose an accelerated shift towards the use of a blended payment approach. This proposal would include the majority of services providing hysteroscopy. Blended payment would not differentiate between in-patient and out-patient procedures and, as such, the out-patient procedure’s best practice tariff would no longer be necessary. NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently planning to propose the removal of the best practice tariff from April 2021.

I hope the hon. Member will be pleased to hear this update, and I encourage her and patient groups to comment and contribute to NHS England and NHS Improvement’s proposals both in the tariff engagement document and the subsequent statutory consultation. I myself will be contributing to that consultation.

Once again, I thank the hon. Member for raising this important matter for discussion. She raised the issue of what was the women’s taskforce. I am not aware of any work that has taken place so far on hysteroscopies, but I will look into that. What I will say is that we have established something called the women’s health agenda, which has met this year. Sadly, it had to be stopped because of covid. We are already looking at restarting that agenda now and hysteroscopies will very definitely be on the table, as with all women’s procedures, when we are discussing the women’s health agenda. I really feel strongly that there is more we can do to ensure that we empower women to talk about their health, and I hope that we enjoy better outcomes as a result. Women are not listened to. They are not listened to in so many areas within health as a whole, and we have to change that. We have to ensure that a woman’s voice is heard throughout all the settings in the NHS.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

I have heard this debate before, and I am very, very glad to hear that progress is being made. Fifteen minutes is the time that the Minister took to speak, not two minutes. [Interruption.] No, I am not criticising the Minister. I am pointing out that being in pain for the whole of the Minister’s speech would not have been amusing.

[Ms Dorries]

Some people may.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

We were not in pain for that time.

Question put and agreed to.