Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 25th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

May I say gently to the hon. Gentleman that the cause of the problems is that destabilising activity by Iran has continued even after the JCPOA? It has had success in restraining Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and that is why we continue to support it, but we are not going to get proper peace in the middle east unless we end those thoroughly destabilising activities.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

6. What steps he is taking to protect the rights and freedoms of journalists throughout the world.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hunt]

I utterly deplore what Katie Hopkins said—I condemn it in the roundest terms—but I also support the view of the President of the United States that the Mayor of London needs to do more about knife crime.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

T5. Over the weekend, the chief of the general staff of the Ethiopian army, the president of the Amhara region and several other high-ranking Ethiopian citizens were murdered. Will my right hon. Friend join me in sending condolences to the people of Ethiopia and to its excellent Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed? He is trying to secure reform in that great country, but clearly there are those who are trying to oppose him.

Sri Lanka

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 23rd April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I entirely understand why the hon. Gentleman raises that issue. I reassure him that we support freedom of all religious belief; it is just that we think that Christianity has been slightly left behind for various reasons. More Christians are persecuted than those of any other faith, so we want to ensure that we are giving that the proper attention it deserves without excluding any other faith from our concerns.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

I also thank the Foreign Secretary and the shadow Foreign Secretary for what they said and the way in which they said it, and the same goes for all colleagues. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the people of Sri Lanka deserve immense praise for the fact that there is freedom of belief in their country? We have already heard mention of Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and others who are able to practise their beliefs. Indeed, this atrocity was possible only because Christians were freely able to worship together on Easter Sunday, which is not possible in so many other countries.

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes a profoundly important point, and I totally agree with him. The perpetrators of this evil attack were trying to stop freedom of religious belief, and we must ensure that they are not successful.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 26th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

The UK has long championed freedom of religion, but I am concerned that we could do more for the 240 million Christians estimated to be facing persecution for their faith around the world. I have therefore asked the Bishop of Truro to conduct an independent review into what more the FCO can do. Last week, I agreed the terms of reference for his review.

[Jeremy Lefroy]

I thank the Foreign Secretary for that review. When I meet Christians from countries where they are under pressure or persecuted, I see loyal citizens who contribute enormously to those countries, whether in health, education, business or so much else. Why do those countries persecute their citizens for their faith?

[Mr Hunt]

It is often because they are in the grip of totally misguided ideologies. I thank my hon. Friend for his long championing of this issue. It is a little known fact that around 80% of the people who suffer persecution for their faith are Christians, often in some of the poorest countries in the world—and particularly in the middle east, which 100 years ago had a population that was about 20% Christian. Now that is down to 5%.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 4th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

As I said earlier, we have achieved a large part of what we wanted to achieve. The question is whether by accepting this deal we can go on and achieve everything that we want, and I believe that we can.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

What assessment has the Minister for Africa made of the preparations for the forthcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are so vital?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 4th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

What we want is no physical infrastructure, because we want to defend the Good Friday agreement, and that is what our current proposals do.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

I welcome the Foreign Secretary to his post. Given the greater importance of bilateral relations after the United Kingdom has left the European Union, what steps is he taking to increase British diplomatic representation, not only in the 27 other EU countries and the four states in the European economic area, but in the countries in which we are currently represented largely through an EU office, and in which we do not have our own mission?

[Mr Hunt]

My predecessor has already increased the budget for our representation throughout the European Union as a response to Brexit and the need to raise our game when it comes to diplomacy inside the EU. When it comes to diplomacy outside the EU, I hope that it will sometimes be possible for the co-operative arrangements that we have now to continue—because I think that that works to the benefit of both sides—but we shall have to see whether the other countries are still up for that.

NHS Long-Term Plan

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Monday 18th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

This is, as the hon. Gentleman knows, a devolved matter, but I would say that England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all on the same journey when it comes to the NHS. We are all moving to integrated out-of-hospital care built around the person and focused on prevention. In one respect, Northern Ireland has gone further faster than anywhere in the UK: I refer to the integration of the health and social care systems. There is plenty we can learn from them and they from us.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

I congratulate the Secretary of State on this very welcome announcement and reiterate what others have said about the importance of prevention and public health. Since this is a long-term settlement, may I ask him to ensure that the disparities between various parts of England are narrowed over the coming years? They are too great, with some getting £300 or £400 a year per person less than other areas. That is just too much of a difference.

[Mr Hunt]

I totally take on board what my hon. Friend says. I am happy to engage with him and with NHS England. As he knows, we have taken the politics out of that particular process by giving it to NHS England, which I think is the right thing to do. I know NHS England would be happy to engage with him on that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 8th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

Five years on from the Francis report, how does my right hon. Friend assess patient safety in the NHS?

[Mr Hunt]

There are still many things to tackle when it comes to patient safety, but I think the NHS has risen magnificently to the challenges in the report. There are nearly 45,000 more doctors and nurses across the system. Although there is more to be done, much credit should go to the NHS.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 4th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

7. What steps he has to secure the future of accident and emergency departments.

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

Last year our A&Es saw 1,800 more people every day within the four-hour target than they did in 2010. We also have nearly 1,500 more emergency care doctors and over 600 more emergency care consultants.

[Jeremy Lefroy]

A&E departments and associated acute care services at district hospitals such as Stafford and Burton are a critical part of the regional emergency infrastructure, enabling the large city-based departments to deal with major trauma specialist cases as well as day-to-day emergencies. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that that vital emergency infrastructure is protected, enhanced and funded?

[Mr Hunt]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that an emergency care network that works well for his constituents is essential. As he fully understands, that will mean relying on a network of hospitals. I recognise the concern at his own local hospital, for which he campaigns extremely vigorously, and I assure him that I shall be watching very carefully what happens there.

NHS Shared Business Services

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 27th June 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I did not come to that conclusion. The hon. Lady is right, as a doctor, to say that patients’ trust in the way we hold their records is very important. In this case, the correspondence concerning patients was not forwarded, but it was not lost either. It was held securely, so no patient data were put at risk, but it should have been forwarded to another part of the NHS, and it was not; it was effectively stockpiled. That is what caused the concerns. We have been going through the high-priority cases. So far, the vast majority of cases have had two clinical reviews, and the ones we are still concerned about are having a third clinical review. We are taking this extremely seriously.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

The Secretary of State mentioned Mid Staffordshire and patient safety, which is absolutely critical, but may I point out that the County hospital in Stafford now has an excellent record? It is currently seeing 27 patients in A&E with a waiting time of not much more than one hour, according to the app that I have on my phone. Will he confirm that the situation has been transformed because of the fantastic work of the staff in that hospital?

NHS Shared Business Services

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Monday 27th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I would like to reflect on the hon. Gentleman’s question in a bit more detail rather than giving an instant answer, because, to date, no one has brought to my notice particular issues about staff safety, but that is always something we take extremely seriously. We are aware of the extra administrative pressure on staff caused by needing to go through records where there is a higher risk of harm to patients—indeed, we have given GP surgeries extra resources to cover that additional time—but I will look into the issue the hon. Gentleman raises.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

Since at least 2015, it has been a statutory requirement to use a unique and consistent identifier on health and social care records. Given that that would, as the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford) said, help with putting data electronically on health and social care systems, will the Secretary of State update the House on the issue?

[Mr Hunt]

I am very happy to do so. Clearly, when we are all able to access our health records electronically, there are potentially huge benefits for patients. In particular, people with long-term conditions who use the NHS a lot would be able to take more control of what happens and also to spot mistakes, which sometimes happen in medical records—that is one of the big findings from the US, where people have had more widespread access to electronic records for longer. The issue is the security with which people access those records online, and we are looking very closely at the systems used by banks, for example. Those are pretty robust, but we are looking at whether we can have systems that are even more robust, because it is very important that patients have confidence that only they and those they give permission to can access those records.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 20th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

With the greatest respect, I do not think it is passing the buck to put £1.3 billion more into the NHS this year than the hon. Gentleman was proposing at the last election. A lot of actions are being taken in Cheshire and Merseyside; a local accident and emergency delivery board was set up, which is doing very important work, and the emergency care improvement programme is working very well at his local trust.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

There is great pressure on emergency services throughout Staffordshire at the moment. There would be even more without the accident and emergency centres in Stafford and Burton, yet the sustainability and transformation plan proposes to reduce one of them, so there will only be two left in the county. Will the Secretary of State speak to the authors of the STP to make it clear that this is totally unacceptable given the current situation?

[Mr Hunt]

No one fights harder and more eloquently than my hon. Friend for the needs of the people of Stafford. I always look with concern at proposals to change emergency services given the huge pressures that exist, so I shall happily look at the plan as he suggests.

Junior Doctors Contracts

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Monday 25th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We are constantly monitoring what will happen with the new contract, and we want to make sure that we get it absolutely right. If the hon. Lady makes such a plea to me, she should also talk to the BMA and say that the way to make sure we implement this contract correctly is to sit down with the Government and talk about how to make it successful, rather than to refuse to talk to us, which is what is happening at Hull Royal infirmary and many other hospitals.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

I briefly attended a medical conference over the weekend, where doctors said they were hugely concerned about the impact on the vast majority of junior doctors who neither wish to strike nor believe that the contract is satisfactory, for the reason given by my hon. Friend the Member for St Albans (Mrs Main), when she was in the Chamber. They are being put in an impossible position. I really urge the BMA to withdraw the threat of strike action and the Secretary of State to make it quite clear that he will do whatever it takes in sitting down to resolve this issue for the sake of all our patients and their safety.

[Mr Hunt]

I am absolutely prepared to talk about anything that could be improved in the contract that will be introduced and, indeed, extra-contractual things such as the way in which rota gaps are filled and the training process. However, at the moment we do not have such a dialogue, and that has been the problem. The imposition of a new contract is the last thing in the world that we wanted as a Government. It followed 75 meetings—it was a totally exhaustive process—but in the end we found that our counterparty was not interested in sitting down to talk about this; it just wanted a political win. We had to make an absolutely invidious choice about doing the right thing to make patients safer. I wish we had not got to that point. We have got to it and we need to carry on, but the door is always open for further talks and discussions.

NHS: Learning from Mistakes

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Wednesday 9th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend speaks very wisely. Let me say that one thing that has been a mistake of successive Governments is a short-termist approach to NHS managers. We ourselves have looked for a scapegoat when something has gone wrong—an A&E target missed or whatever—and not backed people making long-term transformations. That is something we need to think hard about.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and for all the work he has done on this. I pay tribute to all those who have campaigned to bring patient safety to the fore, many from tragic experiences that they have had. What work is being done to ensure that medical schools and nursing schools have patient safety right there on the curriculum?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 9th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

It is stretching things a bit to call that an austerity-driven problem when, next year, we are putting in the sixth biggest increase in funding for the NHS in its entire 70-year history. There are some severe problems at Barts, but we will tackle the deficit. We also need to ensure that we improve patient safety and patient care.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

The staff of the University Hospitals of North Midlands to whom my right hon. Friend entrusted the care of County Hospital in Stafford and the Royal Stoke University Hospital have done a great job both in improving the quality of care and in bringing down the deficit. Will he ensure that a long-term approach is taken to the finances of that trust so that we do not make rapid decisions that could result in difficult situations in the future?

[Mr Hunt]

As ever, my hon. Friend speaks very wisely. When we are reducing these deficits and costs, the trick is to take a strategic approach and not to make short-term sacrifices that harm patients. That is why, at the weekend, we announced a £4.2 billion IT investment programme, which will mean that doctors and nurses spend less time filling out forms and more time with their patients.

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Thursday 10th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. The 30% figure was for people with mental health conditions, not for all adults, but I question why we are investigating only 30%—the highest figure at Southern Health NHS Trust—of unexpected deaths. These were not just deaths; they were unexpected deaths, and it is the duty of medical directors in every trust to satisfy themselves that they have thought about every unexpected death. We must reflect on these serious matters.

The hon. Lady is right about the need to systematise processes when there is an unexpected death, so that we do not have a big variation between trusts. The exercise that Sir Bruce Keogh is doing, going around all the trusts, is about trying to establish a standardised way of understanding when a death is or is not preventable. The hon. Lady has been a practising clinician, so I am sure she will understand that at the heart of this issue is the need to get the culture right. Clinicians should not feel that a trust will take the easy route and blame it all on them, rather than trying to understand the system-wide problems that may have caused a clinician to make a mistake in an individual instance, and that is what we must think about.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

Behind each statistic is a person and a family, and the Secretary of State is right to say that finger-pointing should not be directed at clinicians alone; it is more important to consider the whole system and the culture in a trust. Will he encourage all trusts, and all medical and nursing schools, to make the Francis report on Mid Staffordshire compulsory reading? There is so much in there that could prevent such occurrences in future.

[Mr Hunt]

No one knows more about the Francis report than my hon. Friend, because of the direct impact that it had on his local hospital, and he is right to talk about that culture change. There is an interesting comparison with the airline industry: when it investigates accidents, the vast majority of times, those investigations point to systemic failure. When the NHS investigates clinical accidents, the vast majority of times we point to individual failure. It is therefore not surprising that clinicians feel somewhat intimidated about speaking out. People become a doctor or nurse because they want to do the right thing for patients, and we must support them in making that possible.

Junior Doctors Contract

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Monday 30th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My attitude is very straightforward: I need to do the things that will make patients in the NHS safer, and I want to negotiate reasonably with anyone where there is a contractual issue that needs to be resolved. I think that the Government’s position has been reasonable. The vast majority of doctors will see their pay go up, and the pay for everyone else working legal contracted hours will be protected. This is a very reasonable offer that does a better job for patients, but it has been difficult to get through to the BMA. I urge the hon. Gentleman to talk to his friends at the BMA and to urge them to be reasonable and talk to the Government, whereby we could have avoided some of the problems.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

I thank the Secretary of State and the BMA for their work over the past few days in bringing this matter—I hope—to a resolution, and encourage that spirit in moving forward. May I suggest that the main way in which morale can be restored is to see that both sides are acting in the interests of patients and, in particular, patient safety, which is so vital to doctors and to all of us?

[Mr Hunt]

No one knows more about campaigning for patients than my hon. Friend, as he has done in his constituency, and I congratulate him on that. He is right. There does not need to be an argument on a matter such as this, because it unites the Government in what we want to do to make the NHS the provider of the safest care in the world with what doctors themselves want to do. The best way forward is to put aside suspicion and for both sides to recognise that we are trying to do the right thing for patients, for doctors, and for the NHS.

Junior Doctors’ Contracts

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Wednesday 28th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Yes, and I agree with that, but it would be equally rash and misleading to say there are no avoidable deaths. Professor Keogh was saying that lives could be saved if we tackled this. All these studies are saying that 15% more people die than we would expect if we had the same level of cover at weekends as we have during the week. Therefore, as he says, the moral case for action is unanswerable.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

The hospital to which my right hon. Friend referred earlier is in my constituency. The accident and emergency department has improved hugely over the past few years—well over 95% of patients are seen within four hours—and one reason for that is that it has consultant cover all the time. It is not open 24/7—we want it to be—but for the 14 hours a day that it is open, it has consultant cover all the time.

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The fact is that this is a package designed to ensure that we eliminate the weekend effect, and it involves both junior doctors and consultants, because they both have their part to play.

NHS Reform

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Thursday 16th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Of course. The hon. Gentleman has liaised very closely with the Morecambe Bay families over the period of the inquiry. I am happy to give him the assurance that they will remain closely involved.

I am very pleased that the hon. Gentleman says he does not want his party to be the mouthpiece of the BMA, but if that is the case, it needs to get behind the proposals that the Government are making today and say it supports them. We have not heard that from his party and that is what the public want to hear.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

The trust or place that has probably learned the most from Mid Staffordshire is Mid Staffordshire, or, as it now is, County Hospital, Stafford. Quality of care and performance has increased dramatically, with 98% and more patients seen within four hours at A&E. That is why we need a 24/7 A&E. May I urge the Secretary of State to ensure that the new independent patient safety investigation service is truly independent, despite being housed in the Monitor-Trust Development Authority building?

[Mr Hunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for the amazing work he has done in supporting County Hospital through the most unimaginably difficult circumstances. I put on record my thanks to the doctors and nurses working in that hospital who are doing a fantastic job. They have improved care. Many of them were working at the old Mid Staffs hospital and, even during the period of those problems, they were working incredibly hard and doing a very good job for patients. They did not want to be associated with any of the bad things that happened. They are a shining example to all of us. Yes, the independent patient safety investigation service needs to be independent, but I think trusts will welcome this measure. It will mean that a trust has a body, which is completely independent of anyone working in the trust, that it can call in. In a no-blame way, it can find out exactly what happened—a bit like a French juge d’instruction; that kind of principle. I think that will be really welcomed in the NHS, but independence is vital.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 2nd June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

3. What progress he has made on the implementation of the trust special administrators’ proposals following the dissolution of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.

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

We are putting the terrible tragedy of the old Mid Staffs behind us, and I congratulate my hon. Friend and the staff at the hospital on their superb efforts under a great deal of pressure. We are also investing over £300 million in the Staffordshire health economy, and the local trust and commissioners are making good progress on implementing the recommendations made by the trust special administrators.

[Jeremy Lefroy]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his reply. He will have seen the reports over the weekend on the severe pressure on accident and emergency services at the Royal Stoke University hospital, while Stafford’s County hospital A&E often meets the 95% four-hour target. The trust special administrators assured us that the Royal Stoke would have the capacity to cope with additional patients from Stoke and Stafford. Given that that is not the case, will the Secretary of State ensure that A&E in Stafford is reopened to operate 24/7 as soon as is clinically possible?

[Mr Hunt]

I share my hon. Friend’s concern about what is happening at the Royal Stoke. Some of the care there was totally unacceptable; there should be no 12-hour trolley waits anywhere in the NHS. I have said that I support a full 24/7 A&E service at County hospital as soon as we can find a way of doing it that is clinically safe, and I will certainly work hard to do everything I can to make that happen.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 24th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am happy to look into that issue and get back to the hon. Lady.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

In addition to the work that Monitor does on tariffs for individual pathways, what work has it done to assess the base funding that acute hospitals need to maintain core services, which are so interdependent?

[Mr Hunt]

Monitor has done extensive work on this issue, but my hon. Friend is absolutely right to talk about it. If we are to meet the financial challenge that the NHS faces over the next five years, we need to have a very sensible discussion about what realistic efficiency gains need to be made, and I am sure that he will engage in those discussions.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 13th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am very happy to look at that issue.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

T5. The recent extraordinary pressures on A and E in the north midlands underlined for me and my constituents the importance of returning the A and E at Stafford County hospital from 14 to 24-hour opening. Given that consultant-led maternity is due to transfer from Stafford to Stoke this week and the remaining serious emergency surgery next month, will my right hon. Friend set out what steps have been taken to ensure that the safety of my constituents and other users of the services is the top priority, and advise me whether he is confident in them?

UK Ebola Preparedness

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Monday 5th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising that point; he has done so on a number of occasions. It is very important that there is not a weak link in the chain. We have been relatively satisfied with the screening procedures at Casablanca, which we have obviously inquired into in great detail because of the fact that Pauline came through Casablanca, but I will ask Public Health England to reassure me that it is satisfied with those screening procedures, and, if not, if there is any assistance we can provide to the Moroccan authorities.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for paying tribute not only to the British defence, NHS, Public Health England and DFID workers, but to the immense courage of Sierra Leonean, Liberian, Guinean and Nigerian health workers, as well as many others. As he said, several hundred have paid the ultimate price for their devotion to their patients. The right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham) mentioned the health system in Sierra Leone. Will the Secretary of State, along with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development, ensure that as much help as possible is given to the Sierra Leonean Government to strengthen their health system and avoid a collapse that could pose a great risk to the UK?

[Mr Hunt]

I can reassure my hon. Friend that my right hon. Friend the International Development Secretary has spoken to the President of Sierra Leone about that very issue. One of the big learning points from the relative success of Nigeria, which we discussed earlier, in combating Ebola compared with Sierra Leone has been about the strength of the local health system. One particular challenge is that the entire health system in Sierra Leone is now focused on Ebola, raising the risk of other diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV, killing more people even than Ebola. Strong local health care systems are an important long-term insurance policy to ensure that countries can deal with infectious diseases.

A and E and Ambulance Services

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Thursday 18th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Lady is right, and there is particular pressure in the ambulance service across the country. We are putting in £50 million of winter-pressures money to help address those issues. Where there are unavoidable delays because of other emergencies at the same time, it is important to get the communication right, and I do not think we do that as well as we should. There are times when we could give more specific information about the likely arrival times of ambulances, according to the algorithms used by 999 and 111 call-handlers. That would keep the public better informed. That is something we are looking at.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

West midlands ambulance paramedics and staff do a brilliant job under great pressure at the moment, but one thing that the head of the ambulance service has mentioned to me is the difficulty in planning ahead to provide more vehicles and staff because some of the funding—not particularly the winter-pressures funding, but funding around Stafford hospital—is on a short-term recurring, rather than a long-term, basis. Might the Secretary of State look into that and see how it could be made long term, so that instead of paying lots of overtime, we could recruit and train more paramedics?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to that issue. One issue that has been debated often in this House is the money we waste in the NHS on locum staff, who are much more expensive than full-time staff. One of the ways we can deal with that is through something I announced in my response to the extra money in the autumn statement on our long-term plan for the NHS, which is to give multi-year commissioning contracts and multi-year tariffs to trusts, so that they can have a longer-term horizon. Too often the planning horizon is just for the next year. Indeed, I think there is a discussion to be had about whether this winter pressures money we put in every year to help could be better integrated in NHS core budgets, as a way of making sure we get the best use of that money.

Special Measures Regime

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Wednesday 16th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

First, let me reassure the hon. Gentleman on the last point. The trust has made it absolutely clear that the change in A and E will not happen until it is safe. It is very unlikely that it will happen in the near or medium term. The reason I did not mention his trust is that the statement was about the 11 trusts that were put into special measures exactly a year ago and his trust was not put into special measures until just before Christmas. It, too, is making progress. It has employed 31 additional nurses, it has an excellent chief nurse, whom I have met on a number of occasions, it has had a new chief executive since April and there is an increase in patient satisfaction. However, there is still a long way to go because it is a very challenged trust with some deep-seated problems. We need to support it at every step of the way.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

Today’s statement and the appointment of the chief inspector of hospitals arise from the Francis report on Mid Staffs in my constituency. I am sure my right hon. Friend acknowledges the great improvements that have been made at Mid Staffs thanks to the hard work of staff and others, but he will also acknowledge that the situation remains fragile. Will he ensure that both Stafford and the University Hospital of North Staffordshire are given the full support they need to come together and implement the recommendations of the trust special administrators in full, as a minimum?

[Mr Hunt]

I pay tribute to the staff in Stafford hospital. I also make the point that, even through the four years when those terrible examples of care happened in the hospital, much excellent care was happening, too, and the hospital had dedicated and hard-working staff. This has probably been tougher for them than for anyone else in the whole NHS. I thank my hon. Friend for the way in which he has campaigned for his local hospital. No one could have done more for their local services. I agree with him that we must implement the very detailed recommendations of the TSAs quickly and in full, and ensure that we give every bit of support necessary to both Stafford and UHNS to ensure that that merger works.

Patient Safety

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 24th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I do commend that, and it is excellent to see CCGs taking responsibility, because they control the NHS budgets. I think that is an excellent initiative, and I hope that other CCGs follow suit.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

May I commend my right hon. Friend on the work he has done on patient safety, while gently suggesting that perhaps the long-term, or even medium-term, aim should be to eliminate avoidable harm, rather than just halve it? In my case, in Stafford, we have seen huge improvements in patient safety since the very difficult times a few years ago, but I ask my right hon. Friend to bear in mind the hospital’s current situation, which is fragile, and to ensure that it is not left to its own devices, but that all the support necessary to maintain patient services during this difficult transition is given.

[Mr Hunt]

No Member of this House has done more for their local hospital than my hon. Friend, and I commend him on what he has done. We certainly will not leave that hospital to its own devices; we are following very closely what is happening. I want to pay tribute to him, too, on the issue of safety, because when the Francis report came out, he was one of the earliest voices saying, “Yes, this is about compassionate care, but it is also about safety.” I do not at all rule out the aspiration of zero harm and zero avoidable deaths, but that is a point we will have to get to step by step, and I am very proud that we are taking the steps that we are today.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 19th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Let me take the right hon. Gentleman’s points in turn. First, he will know, because this is what happened after the Bristol inquiry and the Shipman inquiry under the previous Government, that Governments do not always accept every single recommendation. What I have said today is that we accept all the principles behind every single one of Robert Francis’s recommendations. We are implementing 204 in full, and in respect of the 86 that we are not implementing exactly as he said, we are doing everything we can to make sure that we implement the spirit behind them, but we need to make sure that everything we do is workable in practice. Francis himself has said that it is a “carefully considered” response that is a “comprehensive collection of measures”.

On staffing numbers, which is an essential part of what we have to consider, if the right hon. Gentleman looks at the nursing hours per bed, he will find that they have gone up since 2010, not down. We recognise the crucial importance of front-line staff, which is why I gently say to him that we made some reforms to the NHS that meant that there are 5,500 more doctors on the front line and 8,000 fewer managers. What we also need is more nurses. That is why it is so encouraging that in response to what Robert Francis has said and the recognition throughout the NHS of the importance of compassionate care, we are getting a reaction from NHS trusts—not as a result of a direct ministerial decision, but because trusts themselves are recognising the importance of compassionate care. We think that is a very encouraging sign.

With respect to whether staffing levels should be mandatory, we agree that there are minimum recommended staffing levels, but they are not the same for every ward in every hospital. The minimum level might be one in six for an acute medical unit, one in four for a general medical unit, and one on one for intensive care. We took extensive advice on whether it would be appropriate to set a national minimum mandatory number. Not only is the chief nurse and leading nurses from across the country against this; the King’s Fund and the British Medical Association are against it. The BMA said something today in a statement which I never thought I would read in my lifetime—it said that the “Government is right” on this issue.

The right hon. Gentleman also opposed mandatory staffing levels back in 2011, although it is fair to say that in the House his position on this has changed. The important thing is that we allow local discretion to make sure that nursing levels are adequate, and that where they are not, that is exposed quickly so that there is no repetition of what happened at Mid Staffs.

On the regulation of health care assistants, every health care assistant will have to have a care certificate. Effectively, there will be a database which allows employers to check whether someone has such a certificate. That is a kind of register. The other reason for people talking about the regulation of health care assistants is that they want to make sure that if someone fails in their duty of care, they are not able to appear somewhere else in the country. That is why we have a vetting and barring scheme to make sure that that does not happen.

On the individual duty of candour, let us be clear: we want total candour about all avoidable harm, at every stage that it happens, anywhere in the NHS. We decided after much discussion that extending the statutory duty of candour to individual front-line clinicians would be likely to create a huge amount of bureaucracy and damage the culture of openness that we are trying to create, because everyone would constantly be worried about whether or not they were breaking the law. We decided that the right way to achieve the objective is through a professional duty of candour, which is much stronger than the current professional duty states. Critically—this is a key change—we decided to make sure that, just as airline pilots have protection if they speak out, if front-line NHS employees speak out, they too will get protection if there is a professional conduct case, and that openness at an early stage will be treated as a mitigating factor. That is really important in terms of changing the culture.

Finally, we absolutely do need to resolve the issue of death certificates. It is important that we have an independent view to certify deaths. It is a question of finding a practical way to make sure that we do that, but we very much accept the spirit of what Robert Francis said.

Today I hope that we will find a way forward on all the problems that Robert Francis addressed in his response and that we have been thinking hard about. I urge the shadow Secretary of State to join Government Members in saying that this is a moment when the NHS can once again reach forward and aim to be the very best in the world, because the kind of measures that we are talking about are not happening anywhere else, and that is something of which we can all be very proud.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for his statement and commitment. A culture of compassionate and safe care for all in the NHS must be the legacy of the Francis inquiry. It is the least that those who suffered from dreadful neglect, and their loved ones who campaigned for justice, deserve. Staff throughout Mid Staffordshire trust have made firm strides since then in improving that culture with clear results in patient care, but will my right hon. Friend be the patients champion and ensure that the NHS puts patients first and foremost?

[Mr Hunt]

That is the central change in culture that we need throughout the NHS. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend in particular, because he has had a more difficult challenge with respect to his local hospital than any hon. Member. He has campaigned for the people who use that hospital and for the staff there with great integrity and courage, which I commend.

I have never believed that there is a conflict or a choice between putting NHS staff first and putting the patient first. I have never met a doctor or nurse who does not want to put the patient first. The trouble is that we have created structures and incentives that make it difficult for front-line staff to do what they joined the NHS to do, which is to care for patients with dignity, compassion and respect. That is what we are trying to do in the changes today.

Urgent and Emergency Care Review

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 12th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The hon. Member for Lewisham East (Heidi Alexander) will know that her constituents have some of the best stroke survival rates in England because we reduced the number of hospitals in London offering stroke services from 32 to eight. I am not going to stand in the way of those changes if they save lives.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

I very much look forward to the review, which is urgent. Given that accident and emergency departments do not operate in isolation, will the Secretary of State assure me that the review will consider the whole system, including support services, critical care units and the availability of specialist consultants—particularly those in paediatrics—who need to be available for an A and E to function effectively?

[Mr Hunt]

No one has campaigned more assiduously than my hon. Friend for his local hospital, despite the incredible tragedies and difficulties that it has been through and the pressures that has created for the people of Stafford. He is absolutely right: if we are going to solve the problem, we must consider the system holistically and consider how different A and E departments can specialise services. We need much more of a hub-and-spoke system, rather than one where every A and E has to offer exactly the same menu of services. If we do that, we will save more lives and that has to be the right thing to do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

I hope that I can reassure the hon. Lady, because the conditions for accessing that £3.8 billion fund are absolutely clear. Local authorities will not be able to access it unless they can promise to maintain services at their current levels. They are allowed to make financial efficiencies, as is the NHS, and everyone needs to look at that, but not if it means a deterioration in services.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

Being able to be visited frequently by one’s loved ones is a vital part of improving care for vulnerable older people in acute settings. How is closeness to home being taken into account in any service changes proposed by Monitor or the NHS Trust Development Authority?

[Mr Hunt]

First, I congratulate my hon. Friend on the admirable way he sticks up for his constituents in Stafford in incredibly difficult circumstances. I think that the whole House recognises what he has done. Secondly, in answer to his question, there is always a balance to be found, because we all recognise that, all things being equal, people would rather be treated nearer to where they live for exactly the reasons he gave. We also need to ensure that people get the best care when they arrive at hospital, which is why it is very important to go through these difficult processes to work out where that balance lies.

Hospital Mortality Rates

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

It is funny how Labour Members like to accuse Government Members of making party political points, but then misrepresent the reality that there are 8,000 more clinical staff throughout the NHS than when their Government were in power.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

As my right hon. Friend says, transparency is vital. Stafford hospital has improved substantially since the spotlight was shone on it, although we are not complacent at all. One of the real problems we face is that good clinicians avoid management positions. What plans does he have to encourage young clinicians to undertake professional management training so that they can move into senior management positions in the course of their careers?

[Mr Hunt]

As ever, my hon. Friend speaks wisely, because we know a key point is that we need more good clinicians to go into management positions throughout the NHS. I am in close discussions with the NHS leadership academy, which this Government set up, to determine what more can be done to guarantee that able clinicians who pass muster and go into management can get a job at the end of that process. In addition, we have to encourage people to go into challenging trusts, rather than always being attracted to the best trusts. Such a change has been managed in the schools system, so we need to achieve that in health as well.

A and E Departments

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 21st May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Once again, the Labour party opposes every single cut made by this Government then tries to pretend that it is serious about getting the deficit under control. On this point, I remind the hon. Lady that the NHS is giving £7.2 billion of support to the social care system for health-related needs, precisely in order to ensure that services are not compromised. Where they have been compromised, we are looking into it and we are disappointed about it, but we continue to monitor the situation and to urge local authorities to ensure that they discharge their responsibilities properly.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

As my hon. Friend the Member for St Ives (Andrew George) said, we cannot divorce emergency care from the provision of acute beds. The Secretary of State mentioned the fact that an increasing number of patients with acute illnesses are going into hospital. May I urge him to look carefully at any proposals to reduce the number of acute beds anywhere in the country, because I believe that we shall need them all?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. I commend him for the extremely responsible and committed way in which he has been keeping an eye on what is happening in his local hospital. He is absolutely right to suggest that, before implementing any big reconfiguration, we need to be certain that what we are doing will improve patient care and not damage it. I will continue to ensure that that is the case.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 26th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

If the right hon. Gentleman had listened to what I have said, he would know that the number of clinical staff has gone up by 6,000 since the last election, which would not have been possible had we cut the NHS budget, which is what Labour Front Benchers want. It is important to ensure that we have the right numbers in wards to care for people. That is exactly what the new chief inspector will look at. There is evidence that hospitals that have the highest and most respected standards of care ensure they have adequate numbers not just of nurses, but of health care assistants. The whole NHS needs to learn the lesson that it must not cut corners when it comes to care.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend’s welcome statement shows just how important the inquiry was, and how vital its lessons will be for patient care and safety. The royal colleges have a great responsibility. Will he call them together on a regular basis to discuss how they are checking and raising standards in their professions to ensure first-class care for patients?

[Mr Hunt]

First, I thank my hon. Friend for his extraordinarily tireless work and for the extremely measured and mature attitude he has taken to the problems in the hospital, which is on his patch. Hon. Members on both sides of the House welcome that. He is right about the role of the royal colleges. There are some challenging suggestions in the Francis report for some of those colleges, but when we are seeking to raise standards, it is important that setting up that scorecard for the new chief inspector happens with the help of the royal colleges, whose business it is to raise standards in the NHS.

NHS Commissioning Board (Mandate)

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 13th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Some will be, some won’t be, but the hon. Lady should not underestimate the computer literacy of people who are adopting the internet at breakneck speed, including the 40% of pensioners who now do their banking online.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s objectives, particularly on the quality of care and—I would add—patient safety, which is so important. With an ageing population—a 50% increase in the number of over-60s by 2045 has been predicted—equality of access will require most clinical services to be close at hand. How does he expect to hold the board to account over its duty to reduce inequalities of access?

[Mr Hunt]

The waiting time targets are among the board’s responsibilities under the mandate. Having care close to home is a key priority for many patients, often because they think that the quality of care will be better, if it is at a local hospital or—even better—in their own home. One major change resulting from the increased role for GPs under the mandate will be much better support for domiciliary care, which will enable people to live at home for longer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Lefroy and Jeremy Hunt

Thursday 3rd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I gently remind the hon. Lady that we have quadrupled the amount of money available for superfast broadband; we have brought forward the roll-out of superfast broadband from the next Parliament, which was and still is Labour’s policy, to this Parliament; and in October the Chancellor announced £150 million to get rid of mobile coverage gaps and increase mobile coverage to 99% of the population. I think that our record is pretty good.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

4. What steps he is taking to encourage inbound tourism from other EU member states.