Francis Report: Update and Response

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Wednesday 11th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I think it is very simple—there is a lot of agreement between us about what needs to happen. I recognise that the shadow Secretary of State is not personally responsible for what happens in Wales, but his party is, and a Keogh review of high mortality hospitals, a chief inspector of hospitals for Wales and a commitment to the whistleblowing measures announced today would do a lot to allay the concerns of my hon. Friend’s constituents that the lessons about openness are not being learned across the border.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State recall that the Care Quality Commission found that in East Kent hospitals senior management and the front line were disconnected, there were problems with bullying and harassment, and people would not say how things could be improved, including in terms of clinical risk? Does that not indicate that this is not just about whistleblowers, but that it is important that management sets a culture of openness, and listens and hears the staff voice?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I thank him for his interest in his local hospitals and his campaign for them. In the end, culture comes from the top. When people start a job they look at the values of their direct line manager and they copy them, because they think that is what it takes to get on, and the line manager looks to the chief executive and the chief executive in the end looks up to the Secretary of State, so it is very important—[Interruption.] I grant that that may not be the best thing. It is important that right from the top we set the right example about these issues.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Tuesday 13th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

6. What assessment he has made of the level of improvement made by East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust since it was put into special measures.

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

I am pleased to report that East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust has started to make good progress since it was placed in special measures last August. That includes improved incident reporting rates, a revised policy enabling staff to raise concerns, and the creation of a cultural change programme.

[Charlie Elphicke]

Does not the Secretary of State’s answer highlight the fact that the best way of dealing with long-term and deep-set problems is to put patients first and ensure that there is a culture of transparency? Does that not contrast sharply with the denial and cover-ups that we have seen too often in the past?

[Mr Hunt]

Absolutely. I think that what shocks people is Labour trying to make political capital out of winter pressures in the NHS, and then sweeping the poor care that happened on its watch under the carpet. We are making great progress at East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust: there are 82 more nurses, and more than 100 more doctors. That is because we are facing up to the problems, not running away from them.

A and E and Ambulance Services

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Thursday 18th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We are doing a number of things. I have spoken to people in the Bristol area about what we need to do to improve the situation there and I assure the hon. Lady that we are focusing on it. It is partly why we are putting in £700 million this year to help hospitals to cope with those pressures. We have a brand-new hospital in Bristol as well, and it has had some teething problems, but I am confident that the staff there are working incredibly hard to turn the situation around.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

In Dover, we are looking at ways of reducing the pressure on A and E through the Prime Minister’s “8 till 8” challenge fund, and at upgrading the minor injuries unit to create a local emergency centre. Is that not a more fruitful thing to do than simply revelling in the winter problems in the NHS, as the Opposition have been doing?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is right. The NHS wants to know that it has a Government who have a long-term plan for the NHS, who are prepared to fund that plan and who have thought about the long-term solutions. Better access to GPs is one of the key things, as is access to a GP who actually knows about the patient and their condition. Sadly, we lost named GPs following the changes to the GP contract in 2004, but I am proud to say that, from next April, we will be bringing them back.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Tuesday 25th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

T8. After all the cover-ups of the past, what is being done to ensure that the culture of the NHS is always improving, particularly in that patients are treated with dignity and respect and always have the highest standards of safety?

[Mr Hunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. After the Francis report, we now have 5,000 more nurses on our hospital wards. The scores that patients themselves are giving for whether they are treated with dignity and respect are up by 10%. We want to put poor care behind us and behind the NHS. It is time that Labour got on board with this agenda instead of constantly saying that we are running down the NHS by sorting out poor care.

Five Year Forward View

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Thursday 23rd October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am very happy to look into that. I recognise that all clinical commissioning groups face very real financial challenges to balance their books. That is why the report is so important, because it says that we cannot go on like this for ever and we have to look at changing the model decisively. It addresses the three things that could give hope to the hon. Gentleman’s CCG: increased real-terms funding based on a strong economy; more imagination in looking for efficiencies; and innovation and technology. We are absolutely committed to doing those things.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

In my constituency Deal hospital was left under threat of closure. It has now been safeguarded. Our acute hospitals had a Care Quality Commission inspection to identify problems, which have been dealt with; they were not covered up. Dover hospital, which was wrecked, is now being rebuilt. Will my right hon. Friend take a forward view of his diary and consider reopening that hospital at the opening ceremony in the spring?

[Mr Hunt]

If I possibly can, I will be delighted to do so. This is the pattern in many parts of the NHS that we do not hear from the Opposition Benches—where there have been problems in care year after year, they are finally being addressed. In my hon. Friend’s constituency and the hospitals that serve it he will be seeing more nurses and more doctors being employed and giving a higher standard of care, particularly to vulnerable older people. That is the kind of NHS that we should all welcome wholeheartedly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Tuesday 21st October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. I just say to the Labour party that the time people wait to be seen at A and Es has reduced while the number of people going to A and Es has increased, but in the end it will not be sustainable unless we invest in out-of-hospital care, which is why we need more personal care by GPs. That is why we have brought back named GPs and why we have 1,000 more GPs than we did four years ago.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

May I welcome the outstanding treatment provided at the A and E at the William Harvey hospital—part of East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust—which I attended on a family emergency during the summer, and note that the Care Quality Commission is getting striking improvements in East Kent, rather than the sort of cover-ups we used to see in the past?

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[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

T6. Can the Secretary of State confirm to the House whether there are any plans to sell off the NHS and will the NHS remain free at the point of delivery?

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

I can confirm that there are no such plans and it will remain free at the point of delivery. Nor do we have any plans to pay private providers 11% more than NHS providers, as happened under the previous Labour Government.

Immigrants (NHS Treatment)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Monday 25th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I explained where the figure of £20 million came from, and why I believe that it is probably the tip of the iceberg. If the hon. Lady really wants to know the answer, we do not know the full extent of the abuse of NHS services because the previous Government left them in such an appalling mess.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

I understand that under the European health insurance card scheme the UK paid out about £1.7 billion for Brits abroad, but claimed only £125 million back. Is that also receiving attention?

[Mr Hunt]

Yes it is. We are always likely to pay out more than we receive under that scheme because we have a number of pensioners who decide to retire to slightly sunnier climes and there is a cost to the UK under EU treaty law with those decisions. My hon. Friend is right to point out that just as inadequate as our failure to charge people from outside the EU when we should is our failure to collect money from inside the EU when we are able to, and we must also look at that.

Social Care Funding

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Monday 11th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Absolutely. There was a time when the Labour party would have considered a package that will be worth £1 billion a year by the end of the next Parliament to be a significant investment, but after its free spending ways of a billion here and a billion there, we are now talking real money.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

May I congratulate my right hon. Friend on a meaningful step forward in the social care debate, with a proper settlement? The shadow Health Secretary made a spending commitment of a £35,000 cap; for the record, how much would that spending commitment cost the country?

[Mr Hunt]

What the shadow Secretary of State said this morning would have cost the country an extra £2.4 billion on top of the proposals that we are outlining today. Labour Members need to say whether they would pay for that by increasing taxes or by reducing spending, but perhaps they are thinking of adding to the deficit.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Tuesday 23rd October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I would not necessarily expect the hon. Gentleman to follow announcements that are made at the Conservative party conference, but we did make the big announcement that access to radiotherapy will be transformed, making it available to everyone for whom it is clinically necessary and cost-effective. Improving mortality rates is extremely important. As I have set out, one of my key priorities is to transform the NHS so that we have the best mortality rates in Europe. I hope that that is welcome news for his constituents.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that there will be less budget pressure on the NHS if we do better with long-term conditions, get better at integrated care and use data better to predict ill health? To that end, will he come and see the work of the Kent Health Commission on those issues?

[Mr Hunt]

I would be delighted to see the innovative things that are happening at the Kent Health Commission. Looking at how we deal with people with long-term conditions—that is 30% of the population, and the proportion is growing with the ageing population—will be a vital priority for the NHS over the coming years.

Leveson Inquiry

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

I congratulate the Secretary of State on his statement. Under this Government we have seen action on phone hacking, action with the Leveson inquiry, action on media regulation reform, and importantly, the Secretary of State tells us, no action in favour of the Murdoch empire in all the decisions that he made. Does he agree that that is in sharp contrast to all the actions of the previous Government which allowed the bent and dysfunctional media culture to be perpetuated in this country?

[Mr Hunt]

That is absolutely right, and that is why we are trying to draw a line under what happened under previous Governments of all colours, and trying to sort this problem out. I think it is time that Labour Members took a responsible attitude, because this is an opportunity to do something about this problem and we are trying to do so honestly and conscientiously.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Thursday 15th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. It is part of our commitment—and, indeed, his party’s commitment—to make sure that next year benefits the whole country and not just big cities like London. We have announced that next year we will have the biggest ever campaign to boost the domestic tourism industry, including a nationwide promotion of a 20.12% discount for hotel rooms booked in 2012. I urge him to encourage hotels and attractions in Halton to take part in that promotion, which is a big way to get people to take a holiday at home, as there is so much to see here next year.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

I thank Ministers for their visits to Dover to promote the castle, the white cliffs and the fine view we have of France. Should it not be a particular priority that we promote tourism in our coastal towns?

[Mr Hunt]

Absolutely. There is the Olympic torch visit to Dover next year, and it is a way to ensure that many other major coastal tourist attractions will get into not just the national but the global spotlight next year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Thursday 3rd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

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

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to inform the House that on Monday we will be announcing the route of the torch relay for next year’s Olympics. The torch arrives on 18 May. It will be travelling for 70 days, going through 1,000 communities. Unfortunately, it will not go through every hon. Member’s constituency, but I can assure the House that 99% of the population will be within 20 miles of the torch route.

[Charlie Elphicke]

People often think of DCMS as the Ministry of Fun. Does the Secretary of State just have fun or is there a serious side to his Department in terms of the growth agenda and getting our country doing well in future years?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. We focus heavily on growth through our broadband agenda, our tourism agenda and the economic boost of the Olympics next year, but I would not want to deceive him by saying that it is not fun as well. He could be part of that fun by coming along regularly to DCMS questions.

Phone Hacking and the Media

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Monday 11th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

Between 2003 and 2010, successive reports set out that there were serious problems. Can the inquiry cover the relationship between the media and the Government to look at why action was not taken before now?

[Mr Hunt]

Yes.

BSkyB

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Thursday 30th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

No, they did not. I could have accepted the original undertakings published on 3 March. I have chosen not to, which is why there is now a further consultation to make the undertakings even more robust.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State confirm that under the Enterprise Act 2002, his decision is quasi-judicial and he can take into account only relevant considerations, not irrelevant considerations such as whether one thinks that Murdoch is brilliant or like Gaddafi, or one’s personal view on the organisation as a whole?

[Mr Hunt]

I can absolutely confirm that. To strengthen public confidence that that is the way in which I have approached the decision, I have taken independent advice at every stage and I have published it so that people can take their own view on how I have come to this conclusion.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Thursday 16th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

Is it not the case that the development of the media market in this country is such that newsprint, internet, TV and, indeed, mobile platforms are coming together? Such common ownership will become more obvious, as reflected in the drift of policy. Would it not be wrong to hold that policy back and oppose that sort of development just because of the Labour party’s hatred of a single individual?

[Mr Hunt]

We absolutely want media policies that allow convergence. In fact, our local TV policy is a precise example of that, as we want to encourage local newspaper groups to get into other platforms. This particular issue, however, is about media plurality. It is about making sure that no one has too much power in any one part of our media. That is the prism through which we have to look at the issue, and that is what we are doing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Monday 29th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

We have announced radical plans to secure the future of the local newspaper industry, and have ambitious hopes to turn this country from one of the least well served by local television to one of the best served.

[Charlie Elphicke]

Many local newspapers have struggled with the recession, but the East Kent Mercury and the Dover Express in my constituency have done really well. Do Ministers think it right to praise successful local newspaper groups?

[Mr Hunt]

Yes, especially when they are in one’s own constituency. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The best way in which we can help local newspaper groups is by making it commercially viable for them to turn into multi-media operations which offer their news product over radio, television, iPods, iPads and mobiles. I do not know what the broadcast footprint of Dover television might be, but I have no doubt that it would extend my hon. Friend’s reputation as a campaigning Member of Parliament across the channel to the north coast of France.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Charlie Elphicke

Monday 21st June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We are strongly in favour of supporters’ trusts being set up and represented on the boards of football teams, and of the presence of a football element in the legacy of the 2012 stadium. Most of all, however, we want to ensure that there is a sporting legacy that touches every school in the country, whether or not it is within travelling distance of the big Olympic venues.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

A strong start can lead to the greatest of legacies. May I ask the Secretary of State whether the torch can come to Britain via Dover?

[Mr Hunt]

I welcome my hon. Friend to the House. He makes a powerful case, and I am sure that he will continue to do so.