Southern Cross Healthcare
Debate between Emma Reynolds and Paul Burstow(13 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
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Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)
There is concern among Members on both sides of the House that 31,000 of the most vulnerable people in our country face having to move care home, with all the risks to their health that that involves. The Minister should not introduce a White Paper but sense the urgency of the matter. He should introduce regulations to ensure that the sector is more tightly regulated, and that such a situation does not happen again.
Paul Burstow
I understand the desire of all hon. Members for urgent action and a rapid resolution that secures the interests of residents, but I did not hear the hon. Lady suggest what those changes to regulation should be. When she cares to offer such suggestions, we can look at them.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Emma Reynolds and Paul Burstow(14 years, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)
2. What account he took of arrangements for the provision of mental health services in developing his proposals for GP commissioning.
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Paul Burstow)
GPs play a crucial role in co-ordinating patient care and committing NHS resources through daily clinical decisions. Our new model of commissioning builds on the regular contact that GPs have with patients and their understanding of patients’ wider health care needs. Our proposals will create an effective dialogue across all health and social care, with professionals putting in place the conditions for a more integrated and personalised approach to both physical and mental health.
Emma Reynolds
I thank the Minister for his answer. According to a recent survey by the leading mental health charity Rethink, 58% of GPs questioned said that they did not feel they had the level of expertise required to commission mental health services. Given that, what specific measures will the Government take to ensure that GPs have the skills and expertise needed to commission those highly specialised services?
Mr Burstow
I do not accept that that is the case, and from the consultation and engagement that the Department and I have already had with GPs and others, it is quite clear that there is huge enthusiasm for the reforms that we propose in the White Paper and a real desire both to see patients put at the heart of the NHS and for GPs to have real control over commissioning again, to ensure that services really meet patients’ needs. When it comes to specialist commissioning, we have said in the White Paper that there will be opportunities for charities, other providers and local authorities to access support to harness those skills.