NHS Update

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Wednesday 21st July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

The hon. Lady refers to the importance of making sure that only those who really benefit from in-patient treatment should be in in-patient units. We know that is often not the case for autistic people, and sometimes those with learning disabilities, who are in-patients. We are working through our “building the right support” programme to reduce the number of in-patients, and we will continue to do so.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con) [V]]

Local services, businesses and schools across my Colne Valley constituency have been severely impacted by absences as a result of staff being pinged. We already know that, from mid-August, those who have been double jabbed will not have to isolate when pinged, but with such a successful roll-out of vaccinations in my part of Yorkshire, why can it not happen now?

[Helen Whately]

I appreciate my hon. Friend’s point, but the fact is that isolation is an important part of our defences against this virus. At the moment, therefore, we have to ask people who are pinged by the Test and Trace app to isolate in order to break the chains of infection.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Tuesday 13th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Wendy Chamberlain is not here, so I call Jason McCartney.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

I have been contacted by a number of my Colne Valley constituents who have had operations and medical procedures cancelled or postponed at short notice. With coronavirus cases still on the rise, what is the strategy to tackle the backlog in operations and medical procedures?

[The Minister for Health (Edward Argar)]

My hon. Friend rightly raises an issue that I know will be a concern for constituents of all Members of this House. The backlog of treatment—the waiting list—is over 5 million. However, we are making rapid progress with that, and so is the NHS. We are looking at a variety of ways to do that—not just providing the funding needed to do it, but through innovation, accelerator hubs and diagnostic hubs, all designed to get the waiting list down and to get people the treatment they need when they need it. I would be very happy to discuss the specifics of my hon. Friend’s local situation with him outside this place.

Covid-19 Update

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Monday 28th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I was not aware of this issue. I am glad that the hon. Gentleman has brought it to my attention, and I will certainly raise it with my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con) [V]]

I welcome my right hon. Friend to his challenging new role. One of the big challenges in my area is parents, grandparents and guardians having to deal with children and students from local schools and colleges who have to isolate for sometimes a third or fourth time in the past couple of months as a result of having been a close contact of a positive case. This is having a huge impact on education, mental health and wellbeing, so what extra PCR testing, and what new approach to isolating, can be introduced to help to support local families and children?

[Sajid Javid]

This is another very important issue. My hon. Friend is right to highlight the impact of the isolation that is demanded of children—understandably so, but it is having an impact on their education, their mental health and in so many other detrimental ways. That is exactly why I have asked for fresh advice on this. I want to see if there is anything more that we can do—any more flexibilities. I am aware that there is a pilot programme in place at the moment that certain local authorities are using whereby tests can be used in lieu of isolation, but I want to see if we can go further, and I will be happy to discuss that further with my hon. Friend.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Tuesday 8th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The hon. Lady is quite right, and if she was in the Chamber earlier, she would have heard the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill), say that we are going to delay the deadline for this programme, including the opt-out, which is currently scheduled to end on 23 June. That has already been welcomed, while we have been in here, by the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association, and then we will work through these issues. Everybody agrees that data saves lives. We have to make progress in this area, and it is very important that we do it in a way that brings people with us and resolves exactly the sorts of issues that she raises.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

Although covid cases remain above the national average across Kirklees, thankfully hospitalisations and deaths remain low. Locally, my constituents are getting vaccinated and tested. Can the Health Secretary please confirm that he will not reintroduce local restrictions?

[Matt Hancock]

I am really glad to say that in Bolton and other parts of the country where we have sent in a big package of support, including surge testing—as we have done in Kirklees—we have seen a capping-out of the increase in rates without a local lockdown thanks to the enthusiasm of people locally and, of course, the vaccination programme. That is our goal. Our goal is that England moves together. That is what we are putting these programmes in place to do, and we are seeing them work.

Covid-19

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Tuesday 25th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I hope the hon. Lady agrees that the vaccination programme has given us a way out of non-pharmaceutical interventions, which were the only thing we had at our disposal to try to slow down the pandemic and the virus. As we transition from pandemic to endemic, we are planning for a booster shot in the autumn to protect the most vulnerable or all people in phase 1—that clinical decision has yet to be made. We are already making plans for next year to deal with covid, as we deal with seasonal flu, through annual vaccination programmes. By next year, this country will be able to manufacture 700 million doses of vaccine, not just for the UK but to help the rest of the world.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

My constituency is in Kirklees. I could ask about how the new travel advice for Kirklees was communicated to my constituents, but instead I want to clarify three things with the Minister. The first is travel advice. It is half-term next week, and families will be visiting and going on short breaks. Should they now cancel those trips? Secondly, hotels, bed and breakfasts, and restaurants are getting cancellations. What support will hospitality get? Finally, my constituents can see the data on where the hotspots are. When will we start using granular data to tackle the outbreaks, rather than lumping whole council areas into these advised restrictions?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

Let me take those questions in reverse. On granular data, we already have the capability in the vaccination programme to see by postcode area where the uptake is at. That is how we can focus our resources to turbocharge the programme, as we have done and will continue to do, including in Kirklees.

On pubs and hospitality, indoor areas and hospitality venues can continue to serve seated clientele, diners and drinkers, as I described earlier. If people have booked visits to their families, they are absolutely able to have them as long as they follow social distancing guidelines and common sense.

We need to make sure that we are vigilant, because the B1617.2 variant is concerning, and we have to bring it under control by turbocharging vaccinations, surge testing, isolating and genome sequencing.

Health and Social Care Update

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Thursday 18th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

No. What everybody in Salford and around the country needs to do is make sure that every last effort is made to reach every last person in groups 1 to 9, because they are the most vulnerable. Only in exceptional circumstances should people under the age of 50 who are not in groups 1 to 9 be invited for vaccination. The message is incredibly clear and I speak very directly to the whole team, including in Salford: please put all your efforts in the forthcoming weeks into delivering vaccines for groups 1 to 9.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con) [V]]

As I am over 50, I will get my Oxford-AstraZeneca jab later today at my local Honley village vaccination centre, which has now delivered over 10,000 vaccinations. Will the Health and Social Care Secretary join me in thanking our wonderful local NHS, the pharmacy involved and all the volunteers there, and confirm once again that we are still on track to vaccinate all over-50s and deliver the second doses as planned?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, absolutely. It is wonderful to see the joy on my hon. Friend’s face in anticipation of his jab. I hope that he gets the opportunity to change into a short-sleeved shirt, because some colleagues have inadvertently had to undo an awful lot of buttons in order to be vaccinated. Although I imagine that some of their more enthusiastic constituents may have enjoyed the sight, I think it is best if we gents wear a short-sleeved shirt so that we do not have to bear our hairy chests.

Covid-19 Update

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

We did consider this question and asked our clinical advisers, the JCVI, to look into it. It found that notwithstanding the different risks that different occupations face, the overriding determinant of risk is age. Therefore, we are proceeding on the basis of that advice across the UK.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con) [V]]

More than 40% of the adult population of my constituency have now received a vaccination, which is a truly magnificent effort, but across Kirklees there was an uptick in covid cases last week. What message can the Health Secretary send to my constituents so that we can stay on track with the road map out of lockdown?

[Matt Hancock]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for asking that question because we have seen, in a minority of areas, a small increase in the number of cases and that does include Kirklees. We have seen this in just under one in five local authority areas. My message to everybody in Kirklees is that this is not over yet. We have a road map out but it is not a road map for Government alone; it is a road map for all of us to walk down together. That means following the rules, and that means, for now, staying at home, but by doing that, we can all then move on the dates that are set out, and instead of “not before” dates they will become the dates that we can make the next step. But it is on all of us, and so I would urge everybody to continue. I know it has been a difficult winter and the sun is starting to shine a bit brighter, but we must all stick at this. We can see the way out and I hope that we can get there together.

Covid-19 Update

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I absolutely understand the point that the hon. Gentleman makes and I join him in what he says. I understand why people who are delivering the vaccine on the ground want to know those forecasts. The challenge is that the supply schedule is lumpy. We do not want to give certainty inaccurately: we do not want to imply that there is certainty where there is no certainty. There is certainty, though, in the fact that we have a high degree of confidence that the second doses will be available and, of course, will be distributed according to need, with the right vaccine for the right second dose going to the right place—we have a full record of that. The second dosing starts in earnest in a couple of months’ time—obviously, 12 weeks on from 4 January, when we shifted the dosing on to a 12-week schedule. We have the logistics under way to ensure that people get access to the right dose to match the first dose that they had. I am very happy to talk to him further if he has any more questions about the logistics of getting this sorted.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con) [V]]

More than 400 people were vaccinated at the new pharmacy-led vaccination centre at Honley village hall yesterday. The new vaccination centre at John Smith’s Stadium in Huddersfield is also open, as Yorkshire continues to lead the way with the vaccine roll-out. Will my right hon. Friend join me in thanking our NHS, the independent community pharmacy involved, and our wonderful community volunteers, who are all part of this great national effort?

Oral Answers to Questions

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Tuesday 12th January 2021 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

What progress his Department has made on rolling out covid-19 vaccines.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

What progress his Department has made on rolling out covid-19 vaccines.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jason McCartney [V]]

Thousands of elderly and vulnerable people across Kirklees have already been vaccinated, but some of my constituents are rightly worried that they may have to travel to large vaccination centres in other parts of the country to get their jabs. Will the Secretary of State please confirm that all my constituents will be able to get their jabs locally? When will the new vaccination centre at Huddersfield’s John Smith’s stadium be opening?

[Matt Hancock]

Everybody will be able to get a jab locally. We are committed to ensuring that across England a local vaccination centre will be available within 10 miles of where everyone lives. For the vast majority of people—over 95%—this will be a fixed, permanent site. For some of the most rural parts—more rural than my hon. Friend’s constituency—there will be mobile units. If people get called to a mass vaccination centre and they feel it is too far for them to travel, they will be able to get a vaccine locally through one of the local GP services. I am delighted that the centre at the John Smith’s stadium in Huddersfield is going to be opening in the next couple of weeks.

Covid-19 Update

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Thursday 17th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

I accepted Kirklees being in tier 3 when we had some of the highest covid rates in the country, but cases have now plummeted and hospitalisations are down. The case rate in Kirklees is about 167—below the English average—and in my Colne Valley constituency the case rates are actually under 100 per 100,000, and therefore I really thought we had a strong case to be brought down into tier 2. I appreciate that the Secretary of State wants to be cautious, but can he tell me when will the next review be, and what more do my constituents need to do to come out of tier 3?

[Matt Hancock]

Legally, there is a review every two weeks, but in practice we review every week, and I will not wait a week longer than necessary to get places out of tier 3 if we can safely do that. To people across Colne Valley I would say, first, that the reduction in rates has been impressive, but we are not there yet. The pressure on the NHS has reduced, but is still significant. I would also say to everybody in Colne Valley that they have a Member of Parliament who probably makes his case to me more than any other. It is not for want of effort from the local MP, but this decision is based on the epidemiology, and I really hope we can get there soon.