Jack Brereton
Main Page: Jack Brereton (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent South)Department Debates - View all Jack Brereton's debates with the Cabinet Office
(4 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Matt Hancock
Over the summer, we put in place a new regime for ensuring that people who test positive but need to go to a care home can get the support they need in a way that protects them and also protects other residents. That means nobody leaves hospital without a test and that those with a positive test who need to leave hospital must be isolated in a CQC-approved isolation facility. We, of course, need to support people who have tested positive and hospital is often not the best place for them, but we need to do that in a way that protects all other residents as well. At the same time, I am delighted that we are able to announce the expansion of the availability of testing for care homes, domiciliary care workers and care home visiting, which I know is hugely welcomed.
Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Con)
We have seen huge efforts across Stoke-on-Trent to get covid rates down. The city council has done an excellent job of rolling out testing and rates are now falling locally. Will my right hon. Friend do everything possible to ensure support continues to be given to local health and council services, so we do not exit lockdown at the highest tier?
Matt Hancock
I pay tribute to everybody in Stoke: the council, the Royal Stoke University Hospital, the wider NHS and our three colleagues in this House who represent Stoke, including my hon. Friend, who have worked so hard together to get high-quality public health messaging out. We can see the cases coming down in Stoke. As the Prime Minister set out, on Thursday we will announce decisions, taking into account the very latest data on which areas fall into which tiers.