NHS Update
Debate between Helen Whately and Margaret Greenwood(3 years, 4 months ago)
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Helen Whately
My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the importance of people being able to access GPs and to get healthcare close to home. NHS England has been clear to GPs that they must ensure that they are offering face-to-face appointments as well as remote appointments. In general, practices are taking this approach, and we will continue to support GPs to provide that access over the months ahead.
Margaret Greenwood (Wirral West) (Lab) [V]
Last week, the Minister for Health, the hon. Member for Charnwood (Edward Argar), said in response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) that
“it is not the intention that ICBs”—
integrated care boards—
“depart from “Agenda for Change”.—[Official Report, 14 July 2021; Vol. 699, c. 474.]
However, given that the Health and Care Bill will revoke the national tariff and places a clear emphasis on a move to tariffs varying by area and other factors, coupled with strict financial controls for ICBs, is it not inevitable that it will undermine “Agenda for Change” and the pay and terms of conditions of over 1 million NHS workers in England?
Social Care Reform
Debate between Helen Whately and Margaret Greenwood(3 years, 5 months ago)
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Helen Whately
My hon. Friend is absolutely right; reform has been talked about by many Governments. One of the challenges is that people say, “Social care is broken and we must fix it”, but different people mean different things. Some are particularly concerned about what are called catastrophic costs, including the problem of people selling their home to pay for their care. Others are much more concerned about care—and rightly so—for working-age adults and the increasing costs for those of working age with disabilities. For other people, it is about questions of housing or technology. We are hugely ambitious about our social care reforms and want to bring this all together into a long-term plan for social care.
Margaret Greenwood (Wirral West) (Lab) [V]
Instead of bringing forward plans to fix the social care crisis as the Prime Minister has promised, the Government intend to put in place a legal framework for a discharge to assess model, whereby NHS continuing healthcare and NHS-funded nursing care assessments can take place after an individual has been discharged from acute care, instead of before. The Government have told me that an independent evaluation of the implementation of the hospital discharge policy is currently under way, and that it is due to report this autumn. Will the Minister tell us why the Government are pressing ahead with this policy, despite not yet fully understanding the impact that it is having on patients and unpaid carers?
Helen Whately
I would not see this as either/or. We have said that we will bring forward proposals for social care reform. To the hon. Lady’s point about discharge, it is well known at that, particularly for an older person, spending a long time in hospital can be harmful to their prospects of recovering and living a good quality of life. I have seen that in my own family as well as knowing that it is a long-standing challenge across our health and social care system. It is absolutely right that we should take steps to support people to be discharged from hospital to home when they are clinically ready.