Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 10th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

Will the Minister abolish the patient penalty and scrap hospital car parking charges, which punish both the sick and hard-working NHS staff, as well as causing problems for residents living adjacent to NHS hospitals, such as Peterlee Community Hospital in my constituency?

[Mr Hunt]

I do understand the concerns raised, and all hospitals are under a responsibility to make sure that they have proper arrangements in place for people on low incomes and people who have to visit hospitals regularly.

Maternity Services (Morecambe Bay)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 3rd March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I think this is a time when the whole House needs to unite behind the staff in that trust, who are working very hard to turn the situation around; indeed, they have made great progress. I had to call Nicola Adam of The Visitor to reaffirm the point that there are absolutely no plans to close the hospital. I hope the whole House will recognise that statement for what it is and that hon. Members will reiterate it in all their communications with their constituents.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State and my right hon. Friend the Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham) for the tone of the statement and the Opposition’s response. I want to ask the Secretary of State about the point he made in his statement about the relationship between clinicians and midwives, which Dr Kirkup identified as having deteriorated over the last two or three years. He said that there was evidence of untoward incidents, with worryingly similar features to those that had previously occurred, as recently as last year. The Secretary of State mentioned extra numbers, but is he confident that the relationship between midwives and doctors is now resolved and that we have safe care at that hospital and elsewhere?

[Mr Hunt]

I think we can trust the CQC’s view that the care in the maternity unit is safe, but the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to draw attention to the issue of the barriers between doctors and midwives, which is striking. That goes back a very long time: there seemed to be a kind of macho culture among the midwives to do with not letting the doctors in, which probably led to babies needlessly dying, which is the great tragedy. Making sure that that culture is changed, so that the patient’s needs are always put first, is obviously a massive priority. I know that the trust has made great strides in that area, but we all understand too that it takes time to change culture, and we need to support it as it goes on that journey.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 24th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Absolutely. It was a fantastic development for Worcestershire Royal hospital. My hon. Friend campaigned very hard for it, and it is fantastic for his constituents. Cancer treatment is expensive, which is why we can only fund developments in cancer if we have a strong economy. That is what this Government are committed to doing for our NHS.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

May I draw the Secretary of State’s attention to an excellent debate we had in the Chamber on 5 February under the auspices of the all-party group on cancer? May I also draw his attention to the uncertainty surrounding the funding of the national cancer peer review group programme? That programme has recently been reviewed and the Minister had indicated that the funding would continue. Will he take the opportunity to give a commitment to funding that peer review group, because there seems to be some doubt among the 17 national cancer charities that support its work.

[Mr Hunt]

Let me reassure the hon. Gentleman that we are absolutely committed to furthering and improving peer review as a way of winning the battle against cancer. The NHS is committed to that programme, and it is just looking at how it can be improved. [Interruption.]

Francis Report: Update and Response

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Wednesday 11th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for his interest in the issue of culture change, including at his local hospital, which I visited last week and where I was pleased to see a change in culture happening, despite some very severe problems. It is excellent that PASC is doing this inquiry, and his suggestions sound very worth while. We will consider them as part of our consultation—in fact I would encourage his Committee to submit them formally, to ensure that we give meaning to these “freedom to speak up” guardians.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

I welcome the report by Sir Robert Francis and the Secretary of State’s commitment to changing the culture around the protection of whistleblowers—the Health Committee recently published a report making specific recommendations about such protections. May I draw the Secretary of State’s attention to the actions of the General Medical Council, which wrote to the employer of a whistleblower who gave evidence to the Committee after he had expressly stated that he was acting in a personal capacity in raising questions and providing evidence of financial inducements being paid by private health care companies to secure referrals?

[Mr Hunt]

I am happy to look into that case carefully, if the hon. Gentleman will supply me with the details.

NHS Major Incidents

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Wednesday 28th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I have spoken to the chief executive of Northamptonshire county council and I have heard about the excellent integration of services that is now starting to happen between the local authority and the local hospital. That is the way forward. The guidance simply says that trusts must pay attention to the impact on the local health economy before they make a local decision. It is time that Labour stopped playing politics with something that they know is a disgrace.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

Is the Secretary of State satisfied that the new guidance with its 17 criteria, to which my right hon. Friend referred, will not have the effect of making it less likely that NHS hospital trusts in the west midlands or in my region declare an emergency plan?

[Mr Hunt]

Declaring a major incident is the decision of the local hospital trusts, and that is right. But it is important that, before they make that decision, they should take proper account of the impact on the rest of the local health economy. That is what every responsible hospital wants to happen, and that applies to the hon. Gentleman’s area as well as everywhere else.

A and E (Major Incidents)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Wednesday 7th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

When we did the autumn statement last year, we asked Simon Stevens and NHS England how much they needed for their plan next year and they told us it was about £2 billion, so we made that commitment. We also said that that was a down payment on delivering the entire plan, not a one-off payment. I agree about the importance of long-term certainty over funding, but the most important thing in that regard is to have a strong economy that can deliver the money that will support our NHS. It is only Government Members who have shown that they are capable of delivering that strong economy rather than the instability that would come from disastrous economic policies.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State and Prime Minister accuse the Labour party of using the NHS as a political football and as a weapon. May I advise the Secretary of State that the NHS is a weapon—a very powerful one—for the treatment of illness and the relief of disease and suffering, and that it is being blunted by this Government and his Department under his stewardship? I met the chief executive of City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust about the NHS crisis and the A and E crisis, and one of the problems he identified was the lack of sufficient staff and the need to recruit locums. What is the Secretary of State doing about recruiting more staff and how many vacancies are being carried?

[Mr Hunt]

I agree that we need more staff, but the hon. Gentleman should welcome the fact that under this Government there are 9,000 more doctors and 3,000 more nurses. Such an increase was made possible by a reorganisation that took money away from bureaucracy and management and put it on to the front line. What is wrong is for the Leader of the Opposition to say that he wants to weaponise the NHS—turn it into a political weapon. The NHS is not a political weapon; it is there for patients. Labour should be ashamed of trying to turn it into a political football.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 25th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

3. What representations he has received on exemption of the NHS from the provisions of the transatlantic trade and investment partnership.

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

The Government will not allow TTIP negotiations to harm the NHS. Any suggestion to the contrary is both irresponsible and false. I am grateful to the former Labour shadow Health Secretary for confirming that.

[Grahame M. Morris]

That is an interesting answer but, without specific exemption from TTIP, how can the Secretary of State give any reassurance that predatory organisations such as the Hospital Corporation of America, which was prosecuted for fraud in the US, will not use the TTIP provisions to seek contracts in our NHS?

[Mr Hunt]

The best assurance I can give the hon. Gentleman is not what I have said, but what the EU Trade Commissioner, Karel De Gucht—I challenge colleagues in Hansard to spell that correctly without looking at my notes—has said. In an interview in September, he said:

“Public services are always exempted—”

from TTIP—

“there is no problem about exemption. The argument is abused in your country for political reasons but it has no grounds.”

Special Measures Regime

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Wednesday 16th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am happy to do so. The hospital has recruited 95 more nurses and nursing support staff since last July. It has appointed a director of nursing and a medical director and lead for patient safety, which strengthens clinical leadership. Some very important changes have been made, and I pay tribute to the hospital’s leadership for making that possible. I hope my hon. Friend understands that, under the new system we have set up, it is not for the Secretary of State or any Minister to say when a trust is ready to come out of special measures. We have deliberately given that judgment to an independent chief inspector, so that no one who has a vested interest or a hope that a hospital will come out of special measures, and no one who is involved in turning around a trust, is responsible for that important independent judgment. However, that means that, when hospitals come out of special measures, people can have confidence that the judgment has been correctly made.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

This is an important statement, but it is regrettable that the Health Secretary is implying that the care failures were all the fault of the previous Government. Will he confirm that Sir Bruce Keogh, who gave evidence to the Select Committee on Health yesterday, and not the Secretary of State, decided which hospitals would be placed in special measures? I understand that Sir Bruce’s decision was based on those hospitals being outliers for two consecutive years. According to my maths, that means that the failures described by the Secretary of State occurred on this Government’s watch. If he is apologising and feeling contrite, would he like to own up to that failure?

[Mr Hunt]

The examples of poor care I gave happened under this Government. I am therefore being absolutely clear that failures in care happened under both the previous Government and this one. The difference is that this Government are doing something about it. We are taking action and taking the difficult steps to get those trusts out of special measures. The public are beginning to have confidence that, when there are problems, they are not being swept under the carpet but being dealt with.

NHS Investigations (Jimmy Savile)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Thursday 26th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I commend my hon. Friend for his campaigning for vulnerable children over many years. The letter I sent to NHS England this morning asks it to make sure that all the lessons are learned from the reports, and it includes the very clear suggestion—I want the NHS to interpret my letter in this way—that it should ensure that it commissions the support needed for children in these circumstances so that they get the very support that is necessary. This is not just about encouraging people to speak out; it is about making sure that when they do, they feel listened to and supported.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and my right hon. Friend the shadow Secretary of State for his considered response. In relation to the scale of the abuse—with ages ranging from five to 75, and involving 28 hospitals—lessons need to be learned about the systematic failure not just within the NHS, but within other institutions. Will the Health Secretary have discussions with the Cabinet Office and others to make sure that appropriate lessons are learned?

[Mr Hunt]

Absolutely. I want to reassure the hon. Gentleman that we are taking a cross-Government approach—across a range of Departments, but particularly the Department for Education and the Home Office—and that the Government as a whole will draw the lessons from this whole horrific series of episodes to make sure that we have a joined-up approach.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 1st April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Last week I was in one of the safest hospitals in the world, Virginia Mason hospital in Seattle, which has cut litigation claims by three quarters since it introduced safer care. We have fantastic hospitals in this country too, such as Salford Royal. The truth is that safer care is better value for money: it means that more money can be spent on the front line, not on litigation.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State is not showing much compassion towards hard-working NHS staff, who have a 1% pay rise. One year on from the top-down reforms, what does he think of the survey showing that 69% of front-line staff think his reforms are damaging patient care?

--- Later in debate ---

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

T2. How does the Minister respond to a warning from the UK’s top cancer doctors that the planned closure of 18 specialist centres for treating the victims of brain cancer is putting patients’ lives at risk by delaying treatment? It is clearly at odds with the Prime Minister’s assurance about improving access. Those top brain surgeons say that it is appalling. Will the Secretary of State stop it and engage in a proper and meaningful review?

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

The review the hon. Gentleman refers to is a consultation by NHS England to ensure that we commission specialist services better. There has been a 23% increase in the number of cancer sufferers getting treatment under this Government. We want to improve on that record even more, which means having sensible discussions on how to improve specialised commissioning, and that is what is going on.

Accident and Emergency

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Wednesday 18th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Huge progress is being made on the ground to deal with the challenges, and under a lot of pressure, and that is why we need to use language responsibly, rather than using the kind of hyperbole we have heard this afternoon.

[Grahame M. Morris]

If the Government are doing so well in relation to targets, why have they downgraded the four-hour waiting target from 98% to 95%?

[Mr Hunt]

I will tell the hon. Gentleman why. It was done on clinical advice, for the good reason that there are some patients whom it is better to see, even if it takes longer than four hours, so that they can be discharged and sent home, rather than admitting them to the hospital, which is what was happening under the 98% target. Labour agrees with that, because it is following the same procedure in Wales.

Care Bill [Lords]

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Monday 16th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I recognise that the right hon. Lady campaigns hard for her constituents. The four tests set out by the Prime Minister were never designed to require unanimous support from local CCGs for necessary changes. If we had to secure that, it would be virtually impossible to make any major reconfigurations. Where there is a failing hospital, it is important to resolve and address situations. There are exceptional occasions when that cannot be done in an individual trust’s area. The change in the law will not apply retrospectively to Lewisham, but it is right to ensure that, if we are to learn one lesson from what has happened in recent years, we deal much more quickly with failing hospitals, and that applies to South London Healthcare NHS Trust as well. Governments and the NHS must never again sit on coasting or failing hospitals for year after year without doing what it takes to sort them out. That is why this year, for the first time, we have put 13 hospitals into special measures. How utterly inexplicable but sadly predictable it is that the Labour party, which failed to sort out those problems, is today refusing to back the changes that mean those mistakes can never be repeated.

Another lesson from the Francis inquiry is that we need to create a culture of openness in health and social care so that, rather than being bullied and intimidated, doctors and nurses feel they can speak out about problems. The Care Bill will introduce a duty of candour as a requirement for registering with a CQC. That means that honesty and openness must come as standard for every organisation. We are also introducing a new criminal offence that will apply to care providers that supply or publish false or misleading information. Directors and other senior staff involved in committing the offence will be held to account. In addition to the Bill, the professional regulators have agreed to place a new strengthened professional duty of candour on all doctors and nurses. The Government are on the side of openness and transparency in our health care system.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

I am sorry that the Secretary of State has not made any reference to part 1 of the Bill, which is about care and support. I hope he will come on to it, because it is so important. Perhaps he will also explain why Francis’s recommendations on a duty of care are being applied to organisations but not to individuals?

[Mr Hunt]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, we considered that matter carefully. We decided that the best way forward is to strengthen the professional duty of candour on individual doctors and nurses through their professional codes. After extensive consultation, which was supported by the medical profession, including the British Medical Association, we decided that that was a better way of ensuring that we had the right outcomes and did not create a legalistic culture that could lead to defensive medicine, which would not be in patients’ interests.

If supporting the Francis measures in the Bill is too awkward or embarrassing for Labour Members, can they not see the merits in the parts of the Bill that deal with out-of-hospital care? I am talking about not just vulnerable older people, but carers, for whom we need to do more. We need to do much more to remove the worry that people have about being forced to sell their own home to pay for their care.

Changes to Health Services in London

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Wednesday 30th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I would be more than happy to meet my hon. Friend and his local pharmacists. There is a lot that pharmacists can do. One change we are making that could make a big difference, where proper protections are in place for patients, is allowing pharmacists to access GP records so that they can give people the correct medicines, know about people’s allergies and things like that. There are lots of other things as well, though, and I look forward to the discussion.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

The statement has broader implications beyond London, although I accept that colleagues from Islington and Ealing want to ensure they have their A and E facilities. On smaller A and E facilities outside London, however, the Secretary of State said there would be no political fixes, yet when he announced additional moneys to deal with winter pressures on 53 NHS trusts, there were none in the north-east of England. What assurance can he give my constituents that hospitals in the north-east will have sufficient resources to meet the demands placed on them in winter?

Accident and Emergency Departments

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is right and staff recruitment is critical. We have already said that we want another 2,000 GPs and are considering whether that is enough. We recognise the fact that general practice is very stretched, that we need GPs to offer more services and that we need more people to do that. Professor Keogh’s review is considering A and E departments, and one thing we are asking is why we are one of the only countries in Europe to have an emergency medicine specialty. Other countries do not do that and ask all doctors to spend time in A and E. We are also considering what we need to do to make A and E a more attractive profession for people to go into, given the antisocial hours that come with the territory. That is not an easy problem to solve, but we recognise that it is incredibly important that we crack it.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

Has the Health Secretary had a chance to pause and reflect on the Government’s decision not to publish the risk register? If so, did the register warn that the reorganisation might have had an adverse effect on A and E performance?

[Mr Hunt]

As I recall, the risk register for that period found its way into the public domain. As for our publishing the risk register, we are following exactly the same policies as the hon. Gentleman’s Government followed in office. They refused to publish that register for the simple reason that officials need to be able to give Ministers frank advice in private if Ministers are to do their job properly. That is why we have not changed the policy.

Managing Risk in the NHS

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Wednesday 17th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

This is the appalling fact: we have inherited from the previous Government a system of compensation payments with no significant financial penalty on trusts that have to pay out litigation claims. The focus on patient safety, the biggest discipline of all that any trust should have is to reduce patient safety incidents, should be the thought of having to pay compensation. That disincentive was removed. Absolutely, we will look at that.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mr Hunt]

I am going to make some progress and I will give way more later.

Francis also talked about compassionate care. We are going to follow the advice of Camilla Cavendish’s study on training for health care assistants, so we can be sure that no one is giving basic care to our NHS patients without proper training on how to treat people with dignity and respect. We have also proposed that, subject to pilots that are starting in September, every student who wants to receive NHS funding for their nursing degree will first work for up to a year as a health care assistant, so that before they open the textbooks they learn real care and compassion at the coal face.

Hospital Mortality Rates

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

There were repeatedly high mortality rates in all these 14 hospitals, and it took the public inquiry that Labour did not want to demonstrate to the world just how important hospital standardised mortality ratios are. They are the smoke alarm that was ignored in the case of Mid Staffs, and which could have led to the prevention of thousands of tragedies if we had taken action earlier. That is why we immediately insisted on this review by Sir Bruce.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

I think there is widespread respect for Sir Bruce Keogh and his report and I certainly welcome it, but it is a cynical move by the Secretary of State to try to besmirch the reputation of my right hon. Friend the Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham). May I point out that on this Government’s watch clinical negligence claims are up 50%, A and E waits are at a nine-year high and “never events” have tripled? What is the Secretary of State going to do about them?

[Mr Hunt]

We spend more than £1 billion every year on clinical negligence because the hon. Gentleman’s Government changed the rules so that trusts suffer no financial penalty when they have to pay a clinical negligence claim. That is something we really need to look at, because it is removing one of the biggest possible incentives for trusts to treat people safely.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend has campaigned long and hard on issues of accountability, and I agree with her basic case, even if I do not agree with her about all the individuals she mentioned. One issue that will arise during today’s statement is that of how people are held accountable. That has been missing in our NHS, and we must put it right.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

There has been much talk about action plans and I am sorry that the Minister of State, Department of Health, the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb), is not in his place. Is the Health Secretary aware that Mencap has expressed concerns that the Government’s response to the “Six Lives” progress report by the Department of Health does not set goals or time scales for tackling the issues highlighted in that report?

[Mr Hunt]

I know that the care services Minister would have liked to be here but he is at his son’s graduation today. I will pass on the hon. Gentleman’s question and ensure that he receives a full response.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 26th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his previous answer. Comparative data are essential in compiling an evidence base on which to plan effective health interventions. Will he use the radiotherapy data sets that his Department publishes as a basis to inform planned investments in advanced radiotherapy systems, particularly in regions like mine which lack such equipment?

[Mr Hunt]

I know that the hon. Gentleman asks a lot of questions about radiotherapy. We use a strict evidence base before we make any investments. We also want to embrace innovation, but our absolute priority is to save as many lives as possible from cancer. He will know that we are in the lower half of the European league tables when it comes to cancer survival rates, and that is something that we are determined to put right.

Social Care Funding

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Monday 11th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I will certainly do that, and I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s comments. I would just say that it is in some of those areas with the highest proportion of older people that the impact of the current lottery in care provision is so dramatic and needs addressing so quickly. I therefore hope that her constituents will welcome the certainty in these proposals, but I will certainly look at and identify whether any particular issues are raised in rural areas.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

The Minister has concentrated on the impact on the frail elderly, but does he recognise the other care crisis highlighted recently in a report published by four leading disability charities? What will these proposals do to assist in providing social care to working-age disabled people, who make up about a third of social care recipients? The shortfall we have estimated is about £1.2 billion—that is the gap between social care budgets and needs.

[Mr Hunt]

These proposals will go some way to addressing that problem. First, children who reach adulthood— the age of 18—with care costs will continue to receive the support they need without any qualification at all. Adults who become disabled during their working life will have a cap, but it will be a lower one. So we will be able to offer very important support to both those groups.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 15th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am happy to inform my hon. Friend that 25,000 people have benefited to date from the cancer drugs fund, which the previous Government failed to introduce. On top of that, 53,000 more people every year are being admitted for chemotherapy and 219,000 more cancer treatments are happening every year than happened in any year under the last Labour Government.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

21. I have previously raised with the Secretary of State the opportunity cost—in terms of cost and effectiveness —of the proton beam therapy system. Given that expert opinion—in the form of the national radiotherapy advisory group—is divided, and given that the cost of the proton beam therapy system is 100 times more than other advanced radiotherapy systems that my region and others lack, why is he proposing to spend £125 million on it?

[Mr Hunt]

I recognise that the hon. Gentleman has a long-standing view on this matter. I am guided by clinical advice. Over the next two years, we will publish the cancer survival rates by multidisciplinary team across the country in all the major cancers for the very first time. That will give us a much better objective base from which we can work out what the most effective treatments are.

NHS Funding

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Wednesday 12th December 2012 Commons Chamber

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

We have heard a lot of bluster and nonsense today. At its heart is an extremely uncomfortable truth for the Opposition: this Government are spending more on the NHS than Labour would have spent. That spend has moved away from consultancy and the back office to the front line, so the NHS is now performing better—I know that it is uncomfortable, but it is true—than it ever did under Labour. That means more treatment—[Interruption.] This might not be what Opposition Members want to hear, but they might as well listen. That means more treatment, more care and more lives saved. The previous Government talked the talk on the NHS, but it is this Government who have delivered an NHS of which we can be immensely proud.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

Will the Secretary of State give way?

[Mr Hunt]

I will make a little progress before giving way.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hunt]

Let me say very gently to the right hon. Gentleman that he can hardly come to this House criticising us for an alleged cut in NHS spending if his own plans would have led not to higher but to lower NHS spending. We are increasing spending by £12.5 billion, and he thinks that that is irresponsible.

[Grahame M. Morris]

Will the Secretary of State at least acknowledge that the previous Labour Government increased resources in the NHS from £30 billion when we took office to over £100 billion when we left office in 2010?

[Mr Hunt]

I accept that. We wanted to increase spending even further, and the right hon. Member for Leigh said that that was irresponsible.

NHS Commissioning Board (Mandate)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 13th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am more than happy to do that, because when it comes to conditions such as dementia there is no one right solution, and doctors’ surgeries and hospitals will have different approaches in different parts of the country. We want everyone to take ownership of the problem. I hope that what is happening in Crawley will be noticed by other parts of the country, so that we can spread best practice everywhere. That is the point—we want to allow innovation to happen in a way that has never happened before.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

This is a hugely significant occasion. It is the one opportunity that Parliament will have to call the Secretary of State to account for the priorities that he sets for the NHS Commissioning Board, so may I refer him to his pledge to improve cancer outcomes? Given that he made a pledge to the House on 23 October to make available to anybody who required it innovative radiotherapy, how does that square with giving back to the Treasury £3,000 million that could otherwise be used to buy advanced and innovative radiotherapy equipment?

[Mr Hunt]

Let me remind the hon. Gentleman, as I reminded the right hon. Member for Leigh, that for the four years that preceded this Government, there were underspends, including when the right hon. Gentleman was Health Secretary, and in three of those four years the underspend was higher than it was in our first year in office. But we do want innovative cancer treatments to be available. That is why we introduced, among other things, the cancer drugs fund, which was not introduced by his Government and which has transformed the lives of thousands of cancer sufferers.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 23rd October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. Indeed, last week we announced that waiting times are at near-record lows. The number of hospital-acquired infections continues to go down and mixed-sex wards have been virtually eliminated. I am very pleased that my hon. Friend has an urgent care centre, and am sure that Mrs Bone will appreciate it even more than he does.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State recognise that the Office for National Statistics survey shows that the mortality rate in north-east England is 12% higher than that in the rest of the UK? Does he recognise the need to invest in more advanced radiotherapy equipment, bearing in mind that 70 of the 212 systems will need to be replaced by 2015?

[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.