NHS Funding

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Anne Main

Monday 31st October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Anne Main (St Albans) (Con)]

It is regrettable that the Chair of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Dr Wollaston), has led this attack on a Government who are doing so much. Will my right hon. Friend tell me what more is being done to recoup the money that should have been clawed back from those who had health insurance and who should not have used our system?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is right to point out that problem. For years, under the previous Government, there was a total resistance anywhere in the NHS to ensuring that the only people who received care free at the point of use were people paying for the NHS through the taxes that they or their families pay. That is something to which we will put a stop. There is much more work to be done. We have the second biggest aid budget in the world. That is the way that we help developing countries, but we cannot have an international health service.

Junior Doctors Contracts

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Anne Main

Monday 25th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Gentleman has made many memorable contributions in the House, but that was unworthy of his track record. Let me tell him exactly what the Government have been trying to do to solve the issue. We have been talking to the BMA for over three years. We have had three independent processes. We have had 75 meetings to try to resolve the issues. He may be interested to know that we made 74 concessions in those meetings. There has been a huge effort. It is about not just talking, but both sides compromising to reach a solution. The BMA’s junior doctors committee was not willing to have constructive discussions, which is why we face the tragic situation that we face now. When the hon. Gentleman says that it takes “two sides”, I hope he recognises that we need a counterparty with which we can have sensible negotiations. We have not had that this time.

[Mrs Anne Main (St Albans) (Con)]

I met some junior doctors on Saturday morning, and they said that they wanted to go back to talking, which perhaps means that the union is not representing doctors as well as it could—I do not know. They also said that they had genuine concerns about a couple of issues apart from pay. Will the Secretary of State look at concerns relating to rostering and timing and whether a daytime shift should finish at 1.30 am or 2 am with the next day continuing as normal? Some issues are open to discussion, and my doctors want those discussions to happen, so perhaps the union is not being as helpful as it could be.

[Mr Hunt]

I am afraid that junior doctors, who work incredibly hard and are the backbone of the NHS, have not been well represented by their union. The BMA is currently telling junior doctors not to co-operate with trusts in any discussions about the implementation of the new contract. The kinds of issues mentioned by my hon. Friend are exactly those that we want to sit down and talk to the BMA about. I wrote to Mark Porter, the chair of the BMA’s council—in fact, I talked to him earlier this afternoon—about the possibility of talks to go through all those extra-contractual issues and the contract itself to ensure that we implement it in the best possible way. That is the kind of dialogue that the Government are willing to have and that we would welcome, but we need another party to come to the table if we are to succeed in doing so.

A and E (Major Incidents)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Anne Main

Wednesday 7th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I have spoken to the hon. Member for Swansea West (Geraint Davies) about his Bill. Part of the long-term solution is to give people better information about sugar consumption. We will certainly look at what the Bill proposes.

[Mrs Anne Main (St Albans) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend will be aware that the Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims, my right hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning), and I were very unhappy that the A and E was closed and moved to Watford. Since then Watford hospital has had a turbulent time. This morning the chief executive resigned, having got part-way through a process of consultation. May I ask for the consultation to be put on hold until the new chief executive is in place and has their feet under the table? We do not need more turbulence in our hospitals in west Hertfordshire.

[Mr Hunt]

I am sorry to hear the news about the chief executive at Watford. I am aware of the pressures there and I agree with my hon. Friend about the need for stability in management as much as possible over the next few months.

NHS

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Anne Main

Wednesday 5th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I commend what is happening; it is very important that locally driven solutions are providing good alternatives to going to A and E. One of the most important things we can do for my hon. Friend’s constituents is make sure we have proper continuity of care so that for our most vulnerable patients there is a doctor who knows what is up with them at any time, whether they are in or out of hospital, and who can give them joined-up care and make sure they have a proper care plan wrapped around them. That is the kind of care we need to see.

[Mrs Anne Main (St Albans) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend is making a very pertinent point about transparency, because again what the Opposition refuse to acknowledge is how many patients were left off the books. It has been discovered in my hospital trust that a significant number of patients who were not discharged because there was not a link-up with social care were left off the books and so did not show in the statistics.

[Mr Hunt]

I think my hon. Friend is talking about the issues in West Hertfordshire trust, which I am extremely concerned about. The whole House will want to get behind the efforts of the outstanding chief executive there, who is sorting out those problems.

It is of course challenging when we read about these things in the media, but we have to remember that it is essential that poor care or cover-ups such as the ones that may have happened in that case are brought to the surface very quickly. That is the big change we want to make.