Health and Wellbeing Services: East of England Debate

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Department: Department of Health and Social Care

Health and Wellbeing Services: East of England

Jim Shannon Excerpts
Wednesday 1st March 2023

(1 year, 2 months ago)

Westminster Hall
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Priti Patel Portrait Priti Patel
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I thank my hon. Friend for making that point. The British Dental Association has been pressing for reform probably for as long as I have been in Parliament, and I am very familiar with its case. My hon. Friend speaks very clearly about access and inflexibility. Importantly, if there is no flexibility in the system, there is no opportunity to provide services to meet local need accessibly and in a way that means people do not think they will be charged or subject to barriers to access.

Jim Shannon Portrait Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
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I commend the right hon. Lady. She was a very effective Home Secretary and it is good to see her just as active on the Back Benches—well done. This subject does not affect me personally, but I want to ask her about a similar issue: face-to-face GP appointments. It is vital for a GP to assess what they see as well as the words they hear. My constituents wish to have face-to-face appointments, but they seem to be restricted. Is the right hon. Lady experiencing the same problems? What would she suggest should be done to solve them?