Covid-19 Update
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(3 years ago)
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Matt Hancock
Yes, of course, I will give that matter consideration. I also make the case that while, as we open up, there may be more transmission, I very much hope that that does not lead—in fact we know from the data that that is highly unlikely to lead—to the same impact in terms of hospitalisations and deaths, because we know that the vaccine is incredibly effective against the variants that are at large here in this country. That is another reason to be cautious against the incursion of new variants for which we cannot give that assurance.
Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)
Lateral flow testing is really important in our continued fight against the pandemic. I am really pleased that many of my constituents have been able to access asymptomatic testing since Friday of last week, but, for residents in Wales, these tests are not yet available to order online through the gov.uk portal. Will my right hon. Friend confirm whether that will be the case shortly?
Matt Hancock
We are working closely with the Welsh Government to ensure that the testing offer in Wales is as rich and as easily accessible as the testing offer in England. Testing has been a UK-wide programme, but, of course, the more we get it into local communities, the more it must be delivered through the NHS locally—for instance, through pharmacies, as announced today. That needs to be done by the Welsh Government. We are working closely together to try to make sure that people can get access to these tests as easily as saying “Jack rabbit”, wherever they live in the United Kingdom.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(3 years ago)
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Matt Hancock
Yesterday the Government announced a review into this matter, and I will of course participate in that in full. It is important that Governments engage with external stakeholders and businesses and, as was raised in the previous question, it is important that that happens, and happens in an appropriate way within the rules, which is what happened in this case.
Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)
Matt Hancock
Yes. I think that through the pandemic we have seen an improvement in our ability to see what is happening in the NHS right across the UK, and that helps us all work together better to deliver for patients. One example of that is the vaccine programme. That is a UK-wide programme with UK-wide metrics but it is delivered, of course, by the local NHS wherever people are in the UK. There are lessons we can learn from that.
Future of Health and Care
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
I do not understand the logic of the hon. Lady’s question. I have not seen the sorts of concerns that she raises about integrated care systems, which, in the UK, have provided the joined-up care that people have been looking for for so long. I am happy to look at the details she raises on the provision of data, but the White Paper is about NHS provision, not the provision of healthcare through insurance, other than the national insurance that we come together as a society to pay in order to provide healthcare free at the point of use. That is a belief that I hold dear and is shared by the vast majority in the House and the country. I am happy to reaffirm that and reassure the hon. Lady.
Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con) [V]
As an officer of the all-party parliamentary group on obesity, I welcome this statement, particularly its promises relating to obesity policy, including limitations on unhealthy food advertising and new requirements for calorie information on food packaging. Will my right hon. Friend outline the likely timescales for the associated legislation and, in the interests of fairness and efficacy, will he ensure that there is a level playing field between advertising via British television broadcasters and advertising on often overseas online services, in terms of statutory extent and date of commencement?
Matt Hancock
Yes, these are very important measures and I am glad that they have my hon. Friend’s support, not least because of his extensive knowledge as a practising GP who has done so much during the crisis—the whole House is grateful for his commitment and work. On the timing of legislation, unfortunately I am not permitted to go into any further detail ahead of Her Majesty’s next visit to the other place, but the White Paper sets out the reforms that we hope to have in place by April 2022, and I hope that he can take from that some indication of our sense of pace.
Covid-19 Update
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
I am very happy for either me or one of my team to meet the hon. Lady to discuss this issue and make sure that it is looked into properly.
Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con) [V]
The development, production and roll-out of vaccines in Britain is increasingly envied across the world, and the Wockhardt factory in north Wales is playing its part in that process. What plans does my right hon. Friend have to increase the production of vaccines in the UK further, both to meet our own needs and to allow us to assist our friends in the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere?
Matt Hancock
The onshoring of vaccine manufacturing is an incredibly important part of our strategy. We were previously very, very good at the research and at the regulation of vaccines, but onshore manufacturing was sparse. We have built that manufacturing capability, including at Wockhardt on the Wrexham industrial estate, as my hon. Friend mentioned, and also now with production in Scotland, Teesside and elsewhere, with more to come. It is a strategic choice that this country should make that we should bring onshore the manufacturing in critical industries and of critical products such as vaccines, not least because there is not going to be a global glut of vaccine manufacturing capability for a long time to come. We are at the forefront of the science, and we should be at the forefront of the manufacturing and production.
Coronavirus Vaccine
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(3 years, 4 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
Yes, of course. GPs, pharmacists, and hospital hubs and vaccination centres are the three routes to getting a vaccine. We will do it through the primary care networks, which are groups of GPs, and we will ensure that it is equitable right across the country. It is so important—not only between England and the devolved nations, but within England—to make the roll-out fair right across the land.
Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)
Today’s vaccination announcement certainly is extremely good news. My right hon. Friend has already outlined that there will be equitable provision of the vaccine across the United Kingdom. Will he do the same for community mass testing, and will he outline the logistics involved in getting the vaccines and the community mass testing kits to Wales?
Matt Hancock
My hon. Friend, as a GP, understands this subject more than most. We are working with the Welsh Administration to try to get community testing throughout Wales. We are working in Merthyr Tydfil right now to get the case rates down there. I am very happy to work with him, the Welsh Administration and local councils to ensure that we get the case rates down wherever we can.
Covid-19 Update
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
I half agree with the hon. Gentleman; it is important that we put more testing resources into the areas where case levels are high, and it is very important that we continue to strengthen the local engagement with the national system—I was talking to the Mayor of Greater Manchester about this only this morning. The challenge is that we also need the scale of the national system, so that where there is an outbreak we can bring huge amounts of resources to bear and make sure that we can really target the support, for instance, for contact tracing. So it is the combination of the local and the national that will get us through this.
Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)
Since last Thursday and the Welsh Government’s local lockdown measures, half a million people in north Wales have not been allowed to cross often meaningless county council boundaries without a good reason to do so. That is causing huge disruption to livelihoods and wellbeing, so will my right hon. Friend outline his understanding of the scientific evidence for restrictions on travel such as this?
Matt Hancock
My hon. Friend raises a very important question, which I know is exercising people who live in north Wales and on the border. I am not going to criticise the Welsh Government, with whom we work closely, but what I will say is that, in England, when we choose to bring in measures restricting travel, we do it with strong guidance at the moment rather than within the law. That is partly because there are all sorts of reasons why people might need to undertake a journey, so even where we advise people to minimise unnecessary travel, we do so with guidance and, in large part, people follow it.
Covid-19 Update
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
Of course I am working to exactly that end. If somebody has the symptoms of coronavirus, they should self-isolate even if they cannot get a test. I understand how frustrating that is, and I am working as hard as I can to try to get those turnaround times as fast as possible.
Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)
The self-isolation support payment of £500 comes into force next Monday for those on lower incomes who cannot work from home and stand to lose income. Of course, it is being distributed through local councils in England. Given that local government is a devolved matter, has my right hon. Friend had conversations with the Welsh Government about replicating the policy in Wales?
Coronavirus Response
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(3 years, 9 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
Yes, I like the new Barry—he is like the old Barry, before he got very cross with me over Brexit. Welcome back; it is really nice to see you. If I may, I will make this clinical point, which I normally avoid: it is also really good for your blood pressure.
We have been working really hard with Huddersfield and the local authorities in the hon. Gentleman’s part of the world to bring the virus under control. It has been a real team effort and an example of how things should be done working together. I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s words on that. I hope that the whole local team will see that this is a big cross-party effort and that there is not some sort of fake attempt to create division. This is everybody working together to try to tackle this virus, and that is how it should be.
On the latter point, I agree with the hon. Gentleman very strongly about tackling the anti-vax movement, and he is right to raise that. He is also right that this is not just about the covid vaccine, but the flu vaccine too. We are moving to make sure that a far higher proportion of people in the NHS get the flu vaccine. This winter, the expectation will be that every single person who works in the NHS will get the flu vaccine, unless there is a very good, essentially clinical, reason. Making that happen is a big part of the work I am doing with Simon Stevens and the NHS leadership, to drive that through.
Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)
I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. He referred to an additional £3 billion for the NHS to help keep the temporary Nightingale hospitals open over the winter, should they be needed, and to keep non-covid sites available for routine healthcare. Will he confirm how that funding relates to Wales?
Coronavirus Update
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(3 years, 9 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
We are looking at all the evidence and take very seriously all the academic, professional and medical studies into the pandemic and the response to it, both here and around the world.
Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)
Further to today’s announcement regarding the mandatory wearing of face masks in shops, is it anticipated that similar may yet need to apply in pubs and bars?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(3 years, 10 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
Obviously, as soon as possible. I agree very strongly with the hon. Lady about the importance of contact tracing—the Test and Trace programme is one of the largest of its kind—to ensure that, as we manage to lift national measures, which we can because the disease is clearly under control and the number of cases is coming down, we can then respond through local action.
Dr James Davies
NHS Test and Trace will play an important part in our continued fight against covid-19, but efficient co-ordination across Great Britain will be vital to its success. What steps has my right hon. Friend taken to ensure effective joint working between England, Wales and Scotland?
Matt Hancock
That is an incredibly important question. Of course, I would add Northern Ireland to that group. We have regular meetings. I have a weekly call with my counterparts in the devolved Governments. Of course, the devolved Governments have a huge role to play in this. I will give whatever support I can to help the Welsh Government to make sure that they can deliver contact tracing, and indeed the wider testing programme, as well as possible.
Covid-19 Response
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(3 years, 11 months ago)
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Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con) [V]
It is widely believed that the impact of covid-19 in the UK has been greater because of high levels of obesity. Does my right hon. Friend agree that we must do more to tackle the causes of obesity in our society?
Matt Hancock
Yes. It is true that the early evidence shows that obesity is a major factor in covid-19’s impact on an individual. One early study by Dr Ben Goldacre implied that serious obesity is one of the greatest factors, after age. We must make sure that we tackle obesity across the nation, and I very much look forward to working with the Prime Minister to bring forward plans to tackle obesity.
If I may, cheekily, Mr Speaker, I wish to thank all community first responders for the work that they are doing, because I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) wanted to ask about them.
Covid-19 Response
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(3 years, 12 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
The development of testing has been at pace throughout this crisis, entirely contrary to the story told by the right hon. Gentleman. We were one of the first countries in the world to develop a test. We rapidly increased the number of tests, from 2,000 at the start of March to 10,000 during March—a fivefold increase—and it is now going up further. This is an area where we had our foot on the gas all the way through, because it is incredibly important.
Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con) [V]
I am grateful to the Secretary of State for his statement. Would he kindly update the House on the provision of a new covid testing site in north Wales and on the UK Government’s role in delivering it, in the context of devolution?
Matt Hancock
Testing is an area with UK and devolved responsibilities. The drive-through testing sites are being provided right across the UK under a programme being driven by the UK Government with the support of the devolved authorities. It is incredibly important that we make testing available in north Wales, as it is right across the country, so that people can access those tests, as my hon. Friend said. I should also mention the home testing, which will be available through the post. Especially in more rural areas, such as his constituency, that might be one of the most effective ways of people accessing testing.
Wuhan Coronavirus
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(4 years, 2 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
That is a very good point. People should follow the clinical advice for the symptoms they have, with there being, of course, a much higher risk if they have travelled to one of the affected areas. In that case, they should call 111 and present, and have the test. The testing is available precisely to distinguish the difference, because it is not reasonable to ask ordinary members of the public to know the difference between an old coronavirus and the novel coronavirus, or indeed, between flu and coronavirus.
Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)
Will my right hon. Friend provide an update on the likely timescales for the development of a vaccine for Wuhan coronavirus, and on Britain’s contribution to that?
Matt Hancock
We have put £40 million into the global and domestic efforts to find a vaccine, and the work got under way fast. That work is progressing, but it takes time not just to develop a vaccine, but to ensure that it is assured and safe to use. It is in the nature of these things—because of incubation periods and the nature of the science—that it does take time.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between James Davies and Matt Hancock(4 years, 2 months ago)
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Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)
Matt Hancock
I worry about the delivery of health services to people in Wales. Although this issue is devolved, I am the UK Health Minister, and my hon. Friend is right to raise that issue for his constituents. The number of people waiting more than one year in Wales is over 4,000. In England, despite the much larger population, it is only just over 1,000. The Welsh NHS, frankly, is an advert for why people should not want the Labour party running the NHS.