Oral Answers to Questions

Jane Ellison Excerpts

Tuesday 24th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

14. What support the Government are giving to people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Jane Ellison)]

The Government acknowledge the challenge posed in supporting patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which encompasses a complex range of conditions with a wide variety of symptoms. Diagnosis and investigation of suspected EDS takes place in dedicated regional genetics clinics, with specialist clinics, as my hon. Friend will know, at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and London North West Healthcare NHS Trust.

[Andrew Griffiths]

People in Burton have raised £130,000 to pay for a life-saving operation that is not available in the UK for Nina Parsons, my constituent, who suffers from EDS. I have another constituent, Sarah Pugh, who is having to pay for vital physiotherapy and an MRI scan. Will my hon. Friend look at what more can be done to help people suffering the misery of EDS, and will she agree to meet some sufferers to discuss the matter further?

[Jane Ellison]

I am certainly very happy to talk to my hon. Friend about his particular constituents. I am aware of the work that he has done in his local area. He will be interested to know that in 2013 the Government published “The UK Strategy for Rare Diseases” precisely to address such issues and the complexities around them, and aspects of that strategy speak directly to the challenges that he has just outlined. May I also take this opportunity to mention that there is an event tomorrow in Parliament organised by Rare Disease UK to mark rare disease day, at which the Under-Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, my hon. Friend the Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson), will be speaking?

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

15. What estimate he has made of the number of admissions to A & E in the last three years for patients with palliative care needs in (a) areas with a 24-hour palliative care helpline or palliative co-ordination centre and (b) areas that do not offer such services; and if he will make a statement.

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[Mr Andrew Robathan (South Leicestershire) (Con)]

18. With reference to the recent Francis report, if he will investigate (a) the case of Meirion Thomas at the Royal Marsden hospital and (b) cases where staff have been disciplined or required to sign confidentiality agreements.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Jane Ellison)]

The Government welcome any individual who has the courage to shine a light on malpractice, wrongdoing or patient safety issues in the NHS, and the House will be well aware that that is something the Secretary of State has very much championed. Professor Thomas has a right to express his views on the health service and on wider issues, and I understand that the trust has confirmed that. The Department is not responsible for investigating cases involving individual members of staff, but I want to be clear that confidentiality agreements cannot be used to prevent individuals from making a protected disclosure in the public interest.

[Mr Robathan]

I am glad to hear that, and I note that the Secretary of State has had dealings with Professor Thomas. However, I think it is very important that this is looked at closely in the light of the Francis report. If it is the case, as is said in media reports, that Professor Thomas has been forced to sign a confidentiality agreement—a so-called gagging order—I think that is disgraceful and shows a very dire state in the NHS in the Royal Marsden. Perhaps the Minister would like to comment on that.

[Jane Ellison]

I can only reiterate this Government’s complete commitment to openness when it comes to patient safety and say again that confidentiality agreements cannot be used to prevent individuals from making a protected disclosure in the public interest.

[Mr Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)]

22. What plans he has for the NHS in west London.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Jane Ellison)]

Clinicians in west London are leading a process that is very much aimed at improving services for people in west London. As the hon. Gentleman is well aware, the local NHS is pressing ahead with the implementation of service improvements as part of the clinically led reconfiguration programme, “Shaping a healthier future”.

[Mr Slaughter]

The Minister does not sound very convinced by that herself. I wonder whether she saw the comments from the College of Emergency Medicine yesterday, which said that attempts to dissuade people from going to A and E have been a dismal failure and that what we should do is locate primary care services alongside A and E. That is the model we have at Charing Cross hospital and in the rest of west London, and it is succeeding. What is failing is the closure of emergency departments, which is creating an intolerable strain. Will the Government look again at the issue? Will you stop closing A and Es in west London?

[Jane Ellison]

I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman has a dismal track record of campaigning on this issue. We have all seen the leaflets being put out in west London. I can only say to his constituents that in the run-up to the election they would glean more from reading their tea leaves than from reading his leaflets if they want to know the truth about the NHS in west London.

[Sir Nick Harvey (North Devon) (LD)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

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[Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)]

A constituent of mine has pointed out that, despite it being a long-term condition, drugs for cystic fibrosis are not subject to an exemption from prescription charges, apparently because, when it was first diagnosed, it was considered to be only a children’s disease. Will Ministers look into this anomaly?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Jane Ellison)]

This issue came up in a debate on cystic fibrosis last year and I am very happy to look at it again. I looked at it subsequent to that debate, in response to an inquiry from, I think, the hon. Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell), but I am happy to look at it again and get back to my hon. Friend the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton).

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

T8. When I asked the Minister last June what guarantees he would give to GP practices at risk because of the withdrawal of the minimum practice income guarantee, I was told that NHS England would ensure threatened practices “get to the right place.”—[Official Report, 10 June 2014; Vol. 582, c. 400.]Over the past seven months, those discussions have not alleviated the threat to two highly regarded practices in my constituency that face closure. Will the Minister agree to meet me and representatives of the practices to discuss what is really happening, and to consider what can be done to save them?