Mental Health and NHS Performance

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Neil Carmichael

Monday 9th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I actually agree with the hon. Lady’s broad point about the importance of the social care system and its interconnectedness with the NHS. As she well knows—her party’s manifesto reflected this as well—in 2010 we faced a very challenging economic situation, and both parties recognised the need for cuts in public spending. What changed in 2015, however, at least in the Conservative party’s manifesto, was the recognition that we needed to increase funding for the social care system, and with the changes announced by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in December, all local authorities can now increase funding for social care in real terms. I hope that we can start to turn things around.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

With the recent Education Committee report on children in care in mind, I welcome the Prime Minister’s refocus on mental health and the Secretary of State’s continued support for action. What practical steps does he have in mind, given our finding that local integration, effective relationships and the teaching of personal, social and health and economic education all help to produce good outcomes?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right—obviously his role on the Select Committee gives him a particular insight—but we do not want to rush to a solution, which is why we have said that we will produce a Green Paper before the end of the year. It is a complex area. Other hon. Members have alluded to the risk of medicalising problems, given that, as we know, all young people at school experience periods of stress, anxiety and worry that are not necessarily diagnosable mental health conditions and which we would not want to make out to be such. This is about thinking through a smart way to improve resilience training and self-help and to educate schools so that they can spot when something is just a temporary thing in the run-up to exams, or whatever, and when it could be something a lot more serious, such as obsessive compulsive disorder, an eating disorder or something else that needs more immediate help. We have today started a big education programme with schools, but we want to go further.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Neil Carmichael

Tuesday 2nd June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

7. What steps he is taking to increase access to GPs’ surgeries.

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

The Government have committed to make sure GPs can be accessed when needed seven days a week, ensuring that people are able to access primary medical care when they need to.

This is already being rolled out through the GP access fund, which will enable 18 million patients to benefit from improved access to their local GP, including extended hours, telephone or Skype consultations.

[Neil Carmichael]

Does the Secretary of State agree that the news he brings will be of great comfort to elderly people in particular, but in addition the signposting of people towards GPs rather than acute hospitals will be very important and a very useful addition to our policy?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. It is partly the availability of services seven days a week, which we need to provide because illnesses do not happen on only five days a week and we need to respond to changing consumer expectations; but it is also about the signposting. That is absolutely critical, so that people know where to go and do not overburden A&E departments, which should be there for real emergencies.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Neil Carmichael

Tuesday 21st October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

There is pressure throughout the NHS because there are nearly 1 million more over-65s than there were four years ago, which puts pressure on GPs, as it does on any department or hospital providing elective care. However, this is not just about getting an appointment; it is also about ensuring that GPs have personal responsibility for the patients on their list and are accountable for the care of some of the most vulnerable people. We have brought back named GPs with personal responsibility for over-75s, and I hope the hon. Gentleman welcomes our going further and bringing it back for everyone.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

T4. Meningitis Now, based in my constituency, is a keen supporter of the Men B vaccination for infants. Given the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s recommendation that it start, will the Minister update us on how the roll-out is progressing?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Neil Carmichael

Tuesday 26th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We will take no lessons in complacency from the party that did so little to sort out excess deaths in hospitals such as Mid Staffordshire, Morecambe bay, Basildon and Colchester, and many other hospitals. The truth is that, compared with when he was Health Secretary, we see nearly 2,000 more people every single day within the four-hour standard. We are doing much, much better: we have more A and E doctors, and the NHS is doing extremely well. I know that for him it is always politics first and patients second but, for once, he should be responsible and think about the people on the front line.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

T4. In contrast to the previous Government’s lack of focus, what have this Government done about hospital infection control, with particular reference to data management systems?

Accident and Emergency Departments

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Neil Carmichael

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that consultant cover is not as good as it needs to be, and not just in A and E departments, but across NHS hospitals, so I hope that he will support me in moving forward with a seven-day NHS, which is a very big change and might be opposed by people working in the NHS. I am delighted that I can be assured of his support.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that putting patients first is at the heart of this and that that means, in part, ensuring that they can navigate the system and go to places such as the excellent Vale community hospital in Dursley where appropriate?

[Mr Hunt]

I am delighted to hear about the excellent Vale community hospital in Dursley. On my hon. Friend’s general point, we have not been good at persuading the public that there is anything between GP surgeries and A and E departments. The NHS has tried repeatedly to come up with walk-in centres and urgent care centres. Some have been successful, and some have not. At the heart of the challenge is the fact that the public want a 24/7 service for accidents and emergencies and urgent care. We have to ensure that they have it and that they understand where it is.

Hospital Mortality Rates

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Neil Carmichael

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

It is important to recognise that even at the hospitals that we are talking about this afternoon, there is good care happening every single day. The way that we will reassure my hon. Friend’s constituents is by having an independent inspection system which has not existed before, where regulators are not leaned on by Ministers to say the right thing in the run-up to elections. It is only when his constituents have confidence in that regulatory system that they will know the truth about their own hospital, and we want them to get there as soon as possible.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

I welcome Sir Bruce’s report and the Secretary of State’s robust approach to it. Does my right hon. Friend agree that if we take away the right lessons from the statement and the questions on it, that will be the catalyst for a change of culture, enhancing transparency and accountability and introducing a new pace of response for the changes necessary to bring about higher standards in our hospitals?

[Mr Hunt]

We do need to draw those lessons, and the sad lesson from this afternoon is that that change in culture with respect to transparency and accountability does not extend to the Labour party. Voters will notice how unwilling Labour Members are to accept that things went wrong on their patch.

A and E Departments

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Neil Carmichael

Tuesday 21st May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We have not had the final recommendation from the special administrator appointed by Monitor for what will happen at Mid Staffordshire hospital, but we will make absolutely sure that any changes made improve patient safety and care.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that the new role that GPs will play in commissioning will greatly assist the production of better community services and more integration with social care, all of which has been championed so frequently by the King’s Fund?

[Mr Hunt]

I completely agree with that. I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley) for piloting those important reforms through the health service. I just hope that the Labour party, which claimed to support practice-based, clinically led commissioning, will see the error of its ways and understand that proper clinical commissioning holds the key to solving many of these problems.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Neil Carmichael

Tuesday 15th January 2013 Commons Chamber

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

Despite the huge improvements that have been made over the last decade in the outcomes for people with cardiovascular disease, it is still one of the biggest killers in England and the largest cause of disability. That is why we are developing a CVD outcomes strategy, which will set out where there is scope to make further improvements in patient outcomes in this area.

[Neil Carmichael]

I am chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on vascular disease, which recently produced a report highlighting the need for early diagnosis and intervention, and the additional risks associated with obesity and diabetes. Is the Secretary of State willing to meet me and some of my colleagues to consider how we can improve outcomes for sufferers of vascular disease?

[Mr Hunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent work with the all-party group and for the group’s constructive response to our consultation on the outcomes strategy. I am more than happy to meet him and other representatives of the all-party group. With an ageing population and rising levels of obesity, we cannot be complacent about cardiovascular disease and have much to do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Neil Carmichael

Thursday 15th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Because of the way the 2012 project has been constructed, with the progress of the torch relay across the whole country, including it spending a significant amount of time in Wales, and because of the cultural Olympiad, which is happening across the whole country, we are absolutely determined that next year will be a bumper year for tourism in all parts of the country. We have a big domestic tourism marketing campaign, which is fully supported by Visit Wales, and I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will encourage businesses in his constituency, which has some particularly beautiful scenery, to take part in that promotion to encourage more people to have a holiday at home next year.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

T5. In my constituency, we are busy pioneering the “Stroud Special” train, which is designed to take up the slack on the route from London and to encourage people to come and benefit from Stroud’s hugely impressive environment, pubs and all the rest. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is a good initiative, which certainly justifies infrastructure expenditure?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Neil Carmichael

Thursday 3rd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I welcome the right hon. and learned Lady to her position. I hope that she agrees with me that this is the best job in government and that it has some fun in it as well as the serious issues that she mentions. I agree with her entirely. [Interruption.] The hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) is making comments from a sedentary position. Let me remind him that 300 breaches of the Data Protection Act were brought to the attention of the previous Government by the Information Commissioner and they did nothing about that. We have had one, and we are overhauling the system of press regulation. We do not want to go too far in the opposite direction and stop the press being free, vibrant and robust. That is very important. The independent inquiry by Lord Justice Leveson will be reporting on press regulation and the relationship between the press and politicians by September next year, and we hope to be able to bring to the House a White Paper before the end of next year, which will include what we think should happen on the basis of his recommendations.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

T2. I welcome what the Government have already done to enhance super-fast broadband opportunities. Does my right hon. Friend agree that we need a clarion call to all businesses and communities, especially in rural areas such as Gloucestershire, to make sure that people understand that there is a strong demand for enhanced service?

[Mr Hunt]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend and thank him for his excellent work. I have been to Gloucestershire, where the county council is on fire with excitement, which I was not expecting, at the prospect of super-fast broadband getting to the most remote villages. It has a big role, he has a big role and we must do everything we can to bang the drum.