Adult Social Care

Debate between Gillian Keegan and Derek Twigg

Wednesday 1st December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Gillian Keegan]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. More than 250 organisations worked with us to develop this White Paper, and I want to thank them for their input. Of course they welcome the steps that we are taking. I do not know how many Green Papers, White Papers and other papers they have tried to get some change from, but this one is finally starting on the road to deliver and transform the sector. He is right to say that the longer we can have some understanding of the settlement for funding, the better, and I am sure that my colleagues who are working on that will have heard his question.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

It is disappointing that the Minister does not take seriously our genuine concerns about the crisis in social care. She will have received a copy of the letter sent to MPs recently from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services. Why does she believe that it said that, in its professional judgment, these measures as they stand

“will not fix the crisis in social care”?

[Gillian Keegan]

What I have said is that this is a huge step forward. I do not think that I can stand here and say we will fix the whole crisis in social care overnight. As I have said, this is also something that countries all over the world are grappling with. I think that when that letter was written, the short-term funding of £162.5 million had not been sent out to local councils. I hope that they are using that money wisely to increase capacity and retention in the care sector.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Debate between Gillian Keegan and Derek Twigg

Wednesday 17th November 2021 Westminster Hall

[Gillian Keegan]

I will come to that, and I will also come to the questions about recovery and catch-up, which a number of people mentioned.

To increase access to pulmonary rehabilitation, a population management approach will be used in primary care to find eligible patients from existing COPD registers who have not previously been referred to rehabilitation. New models of providing rehabilitation to those with mild COPD, including digital tools, will be offered to give support to a wider group of patients with rehabilitation and self-management support.

The use of COPD discharge bundles, where appropriate, will also help to increase referrals to pulmonary rehabilitation, and the NHS long-term plan will build on a range of existing national initiatives focused on respiratory disease. The quality and outcomes framework, or QOF, ensures that all GP practices establish and maintain a register of patients with a COPD diagnosis, and the QOF for 2021-22 includes the improved respiratory indicator, including the recording of the number of exacerbations and assessments of breathlessness, and an offer of referral to PR.

NICE quality standards have been published, with the aim of raising the standard of care that those with COPD receive. The NHS RightCare Pathway for COPD is being rolled out nationally. This pathway defines the core components of an optimal service for people with COPD, and it includes timely access to PR as part of the optimal treatment pathway. It provides resources to support local health economies, and the pathway also concentrates improvement efforts on addressing variation and population health.

At the beginning of the pandemic, NICE published rapid guidance on COPD, which outlines how to communicate with, treat and care for patients suffering from COPD. It also outlines how healthcare workers should modify their usual care and service delivery during the pandemic.

[Derek Twigg]

I am listening carefully to what the Minister is saying, but one of the problems that I referred to briefly in my speech is that of being able to see a GP—not necessarily just for diagnosis, but when someone becomes ill. I wonder how she can square that circle in terms of what has been put in place, if people cannot get to see a GP in person in the first place.

[Gillian Keegan]

Of course, access to GPs’ services is a concern that all Members will have heard a number of their constituents raise. That is why we put in place £250 million to increase access to face-to-face GP appointments as part of the recovery plans, which are quite extensive for the NHS.

The guidelines I was talking about aim to highlight ways to support people with COPD, such as signposting charities and support groups for better health and wellbeing. They recommend using technology to reduce some in-person appointments, while making sure not to provide a service that would increase health inequalities through a lack of digital access—it is additional, not instead of—as well as offering advice on how to modify care during the pandemic.

A number of questions were raised about the recovery plan, and how to restore services for patients and restore the diagnostics to pre-pandemic levels, or above them. The 2021-22 priorities and operational planning guidance set the priorities for NHS England and NHS Improvement, and includes tackling the backlog for non-urgent treatment such as services for lung disease patients. That plan aims to stabilise total waiting lists, and eliminate waiting times of two years or more and the increase in waiting times of more than one year. We have made £1.5 billion available to assist local teams to increase their capacity and invest in other measures to achieve those priorities, and the 2021 spending review announced £2.3 billion to increase the volume of diagnostic activity and open community diagnostic centres to provide more clinical tests, including for patients with lung disease.

Targeted lung health checks are running in the parts of the country with the highest rates of mortality from lung cancer. However, those projects will not just identify more cancers, but pick up a range of other health conditions, including COPD. People aged between 55 and 74 who have ever smoked are now offered a free lung health check closer to where they live. They may then have a lung cancer screen scan if that check shows that they need one. A review undertaken by Professor Sir Mike Richards highlighted that patients with respiratory symptoms would benefit from community diagnostic centres, due to the number of diagnostic tests that will be made available. As well as supporting patients with COPD, the Government are committed to strategies that will help to prevent that condition, as a number of Members have mentioned.