Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Mark Menzies

Tuesday 24th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

That is absolutely right. What is said by everyone who has been wrestling with this problem about why our survival rates are not as good as we want them to be is that early diagnosis and access to the latest drugs are the two critical things. My hon. Friend will be pleased that 9,000 people in his region have accessed the cancer drugs fund and that, in his constituency, 300 more people every year are now being treated for cancer than was the case four years ago.

[Mark Menzies]

The excellent progress made in cancer survival rates is great news across the UK and in my constituency in Fylde. A lot of that is down to the increase in availability of diagnostic tests. Statistics from Blackpool’s NHS trust show that just under 33,000 more diagnostic tests were carried out in 2014 compared with 2010. With that in mind, will my right hon. Friend commit to increasing the availability of diagnostic tests?

[Mr Hunt]

We absolutely can. In fact, we are carrying out about half a million more diagnostic tests for cancer every year than we were four years ago. The result is that, over the course of this Parliament, 700,000 more people are being admitted for cancer treatment in our hospitals than was the case in the previous Parliament, saving 12,000 lives every year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Mark Menzies

Tuesday 14th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

12. What steps his Department has taken to ease the short and long-term effects of winter pressures on the NHS.

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

In the short term, a record £400 million has been assigned to help the NHS through this winter, with £250 million announced in August, much earlier than before. For the long term, we are restoring the link between GPs and vulnerable older patients by bringing back named GPs for all over-75s—something that was broken in 2004.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mark Menzies]

My constituency has a high proportion of elderly people. What steps is the Secretary of State taking to reduce admissions of elderly people to hospital this winter?

[Mr Hunt]

We are doing a very great deal and the £400 million announced to help the NHS through the winter is a record amount. My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that a lot of that money is being spent not inside A and E departments but in the community to help GP practices, and to try to recognise properly that for many older people—particularly vulnerable people with dementia —a busy A and E department is not the best place to go when something goes wrong, and if we possibly can we should avoid it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Mark Menzies

Tuesday 26th November 2013 Commons Chamber

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

Improving the quality of out-of-hospital care is the biggest strategic long-term change that we need to make in the NHS. It will help to make the NHS sustainable. Reforming the GP contract is the first step, but we also need to make major progress on integrating the health and social care systems.

[Mark Menzies]

I welcome the Government’s announcement of named GPs for older people. What does the Secretary of State envisage that will mean for my older constituents?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is not the only person to welcome that change. After months of telling the House that this was nothing to do with the A and E problems, the shadow Health Secretary said on the “Today” programme that he welcomed the change and that it would make a difference to A and E. So I welcome the return of the prodigal son with great pride and pleasure. For my hon. Friend’s constituents, this will mean that there will be someone in the NHS who is responsible for ensuring that they get the care package that they need. That is incredibly important, because when people are discharged from hospitals, the hospitals worry about whose care they will be under. This change will provide that crucial link and make a real difference.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Mark Menzies

Tuesday 16th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

6. What steps his Department plans to take to improve dementia diagnosis rates and to reduce regional variations in such diagnoses.

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

Dementia diagnosis rates vary across the country, from 75% in the best areas to a shocking 31% in the worst areas. That is totally unacceptable, given the difference that we know a diagnosis and a good care plan can make to people who have dementia.

[Mark Menzies]

What steps is my right hon. Friend’s Department taking to ensure that GPs are adequately supported, so that his ambitious targets for dementia diagnosis are met?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. There is a misconception among some GPs that a dementia diagnosis is pointless and cannot make a difference, when we know that in fact the correct medicines can help between one in three and one in four of those who have the condition. However, some GPs also have a point when they are concerned that it is difficult to access good services for people who have dementia. The way we will change GPs’ minds is for them to appreciate that something will change if someone gets a dementia diagnosis. That is the big challenge that this ministerial team has set the Department.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Mark Menzies

Monday 26th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We will do everything we can to avoid that digital divide. The importance of superfast broadband is not just economic; it is social. The reason for that is that every year 7 million jobs are advertised on line, and 90% require internet skills. So for remote, rural and deprived areas it is incredibly important that they are part of the revolution. That is why we are committed to tackling rural broadband provision at the same time as broadband provision in our cities.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

15. What recent discussions he has had on the legacy for the north-west of the London 2012 Olympics.