Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Bridget Phillipson

Tuesday 4th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)]

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

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

Yesterday I updated the House on the action that we are taking to address delayed discharges from hospitals in advance of the winter. Since February, there has been a record decrease in delayed discharges, but faster progress is still needed to free up beds for the sickest patients and to reduce pressure on A&Es. Yesterday we therefore set out further measures to support the NHS and local government to reduce delays, including specific reductions required in all local areas, a prospective review of next year’s social care funding for poorly performing local authorities, and immediate CQC reviews in the worst-performing areas.

[Bridget Phillipson]

The latest figures from the British Medical Association show a huge rise in the number of patients with mental health conditions who are being sent hundreds of miles away from home for treatment. Is not any talk of parity of esteem meaningless unless and until patients can access the support they need close to home?

[Mr Hunt]

I completely agree with the hon. Lady that that is a very important issue. It is particularly important because people with mental health conditions need regular visits from their friends and family to help them to get over a crisis. Indeed, their chances of getting discharged and being able to go home are much higher when they are nearer home. She will be aware that we have a commitment to eliminate all out-of-area placements for children by 2020, and we are making big efforts with adults as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Bridget Phillipson

Tuesday 7th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)]

2. What recent estimate he has made of the proportion of patients who waited for at least one week for a GP appointment in the past 12 months.

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

While we do not record the proportion of patients waiting a week for their GP appointment, the latest GP patient survey results show that 85% of patients reported that they were able to get an appointment to see or speak to someone, and only a very small percentage ended up not speaking to or seeing someone.

[Bridget Phillipson]

Unfortunately, many of my constituents would not recognise the picture that the Secretary of State seeks to paint. The British Medical Association recently said that waits of one to two weeks were becoming the norm for patients. Why is it becoming harder, on his watch, to get a GP appointment?

[Mr Hunt]

If I may gently say so, the under-investment in general practice has been going on for decades, according to the BMA and the Royal College of GPs. We have announced that we are putting that right with our plans to recruit 5,000 more GPs during this Parliament. That is the biggest increase in the number of GPs in the history of the NHS, with £1 billion going to upgrade GP and primary care premises, and 18 million people by the end of this financial year benefiting from evening and weekend appointments. That is a big, positive change, and I hope the hon. Lady would welcome it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Bridget Phillipson

Tuesday 24th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

I am absolutely happy to do that. Overall, we have 1,000 avoidable deaths every month by some estimates, and a number of those are from sepsis. We have launched a big campaign to prevent those deaths. Indeed, we will shortly have the results of the Morecambe Bay inquiry, from which I think we will hear more about the issue. I want to thank my hon. Friend for her campaigning and her work with the all-party group on sepsis to raise awareness of this very important issue.

[Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)]

GPs across the north-east say that they are facing a work force crisis, with falling numbers of family doctors. Does the Secretary of State not recognise the connection between people being unable to get an appointment to see their GP and the rising and major pressure on our A and E department?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Bridget Phillipson

Tuesday 13th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

The Government have provided an extra £50 million of funding to ambulance services as part of our record package of support for the NHS this winter.

[Bridget Phillipson]

Notwithstanding what the Secretary of State has just said, the North East ambulance service has warned that it is under severe pressure caused by delayed ambulance turnaround times at hospitals such as Sunderland Royal. When Ministers embarked on their top-down reorganisation of the NHS, were they warned at any point that chaos would ensue in A and E departments?

[Mr Hunt]

The reforms the hon. Lady mentions mean that we have 9,000 more doctors, 3,000 more nurses and 2,000 more paramedics in the ambulance service. The point is that those reforms are putting money on to the front line, which means that the NHS is better equipped to deal with winter pressures than ever before.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Bridget Phillipson

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Let me reassure my hon. Friend. First, I thank her for her assiduous campaigning for her local hospital, which is recognised on both sides of the House. I am expecting that report on Friday, and as the House knows, when it comes to issues of hospital reconfigurations, I want to make decisions as quickly as I can. I will want to consider it very carefully, but I think everyone would like the certainty of knowing what will happen, so I will report to the House as soon as I am able to make a decision.

[Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)]

Hospitals across the north-east, as in many parts of the country, are facing considerable pressure on their A and E departments. Will the Secretary of State set out in more detail the rationale used to allocate the funding? I notice that not a single NHS trust in the north-east appears on his list.

[Mr Hunt]

The decision on which 53 areas to concentrate the resources was not made by me; it was made by NHS England, talking to Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority, on the basis of where, in their professional assessment, the highest-risk areas are. That is a sign that hospitals in the north-east are performing extremely well. In the past few months I have visited Newcastle, and I thought the hospital was absolutely fantastic; I did a stint on the front line there. There are some outstanding hospitals across the country, and there is very good NHS provision in the north-east. That is probably the reason.