NHS Major Incidents

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Stephen Mosley

Wednesday 28th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I can confirm that there is no difference in any guidelines issued for hospitals in special measures and for hospitals not in special measures. This is a good example of a trust with deep, pronounced problems over many years. There was a terrible tragedy in 2007, I think, when someone gave birth sitting on a toilet seat. This Government have said that we are going to tackle those problems and put the trust into special measures. It has more doctors and nurses: 230 more hospital nurses in the past four years in that trust. We are making a real difference—we have a new management team—and I think that things are beginning to get better in that trust in a way that has not been the case for many years. I hope that the hon. Gentleman would welcome that.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

The shadow Secretary of State called on the Secretary of State to intervene to stop political interference in the NHS. May I ask my right hon. Friend to ignore such siren voices and rely instead on local doctors and local health professionals to make the best choices for our local NHS?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend eloquently points out the great irony in what we have heard from the Opposition Front Bench. We do not want an NHS in which every single operational decision is made from behind the Secretary of State’s desk. We want to trust people on the ground. Why do we want to do that?

A and E (Major Incidents)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Stephen Mosley

Wednesday 7th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

As I mentioned earlier, I have talked to the chief executive of South Western ambulance service about the particular pressures it has faced, such as the 25% increase in 999 calls. We are doing a lot of things, including helping to recruit more paramedics. We have 40 more paramedics starting for the London ambulance service this month, and we are doing what we can to help the South Western ambulance service as well.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

About a third of the patients attending A and E at the Countess of Chester hospital are from the Welsh side of the border. They choose to go there because they know they will get treated a lot quicker in England than they will in Wales. Why is that the case?

[Mr Hunt]

The main reason is that Labour in Wales chose to cut the NHS budget, whereas in England we chose to protect and increase it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Stephen Mosley

Tuesday 21st October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I will tell the hon. Gentleman exactly what we are doing. The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust has 350 additional nurses this Parliament, and it has got them because this Government took the difficult decision to protect and increase the NHS budget, because those of us on the Government Benches know that a strong NHS needs a strong economy. We are taking measures, but there is more to do. I recognise that the staff on the front line are working very hard, but I think that he should also give credit when things are starting to move in the right direction.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend will be aware of the strains placed on the budgets of the Countess of Chester NHS Trust because of the need to treat thousands of patients every year who are fleeing the disastrous management of Labour in Wales. What action is my right hon. Friend taking to ensure that hospitals on the English side of the border get a fair share of resources?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is right to talk about that intolerable pressure on hospitals on the England-Wales border. For every one English patient admitted for treatment in a Welsh hospital, five Welsh patients are admitted for treatment in an English hospital, which creates huge pressure for them. I have written to the Welsh Health Minister to say that the NHS is happy to treat more Welsh patients, but the trouble is that NHS Wales is not prepared to pay for it. That is why Welsh patients get a second-class health service. [Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Stephen Mosley

Tuesday 14th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

I am very happy to look into the issue that the hon. Lady raises. Obviously, some very big changes are happening in the Staffordshire health economy, and the purpose of those is to improve services for everyone, so if she gives me the details of her concerns, I will happily look at them.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

T3. At the end of last year, the Prime Minister hosted the very successful G8 summit on dementia. What plans does the Secretary of State have to continue, and indeed enhance, the UK’s global leadership on tackling dementia in 2014?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is a critical job that we must do this year. The purpose of the G8 summit was to wake up the world to the huge threat posed by dementia, as the world woke up to the threat of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and the threat of cancer in the 1960s. We need to continue that work. Summits will be going on in America, Canada and Japan over the course of the next couple of years, and we need to keep up the momentum, because everyone agrees on the need to do such work.

Health Services (North-West)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Stephen Mosley

Thursday 11th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am keen to resolve that issue as soon as possible. Indeed, I think that it is really important, given what we heard this morning from NHS England about the big challenges facing the NHS, that we try to take these difficult decisions much more quickly than normally happens. When we have paralysis and decisions being put on hold, that creates uncertainty and the worries that the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green) talked about, so I want to ensure that we decide these things as quickly as possible.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

Dr Nigel Guest, chief clinical officer at Trafford clinical commissioning group, has said that making these changes to services at Trafford general hospital

“is vital to secure a long and vibrant future for the hospital.”

Can my right hon. Friend reassure the House that that will be the case?

[Mr Hunt]

Yes, and I hope that what we have announced today will give my hon. Friend that reassurance. We have announced a future for Trafford general hospital as a centre of excellence for elective orthopaedic work. We have also announced a significant increase in investment in community services, an extra £3.5 million that will pay for community matrons, community geriatricians, a 72-hour rapid response team and better support in A and Es for people with mental health needs. This is a very big step forward, but it is part of the country that has gone further and faster than many others in delivering integrated care. This announcement will take that further and will mean that it stands out as a beacon of what good care can look like in an ageing society.

Leveson Inquiry

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Stephen Mosley

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I will not confirm it because I do not think it was a process that was—[Hon. Members: “Answer.”] I am trying to answer the question, with the greatest respect to hon. Members. I do not think the process was me asking for certain people to play certain roles. It was a more fluid process than that, but the structures that we ended up with were ones of which the permanent secretary approved. That is the crucial point.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

The previous Government discussed in Cabinet whether to hold an inquiry into phone hacking. Why does the Secretary of State think they chose not to?

[Mr Hunt]

I am afraid the evidence is in black and white. They did not want to take on the Murdoch empire.