Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julie Cooper and Steve Brine

Tuesday 20th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Steve Brine]

I will not pre-empt what the NHS in Yorkshire and the Humber will say to my hon. Friend or to the hon. Lady, because this is a local decision, but I will say that the 13 Starting Well areas—the programme was a manifesto commitment for us—were selected nationally based on overall need and using a wide range of data including access to NHS dental services.

[Julie Cooper (Burnley) (Lab)]

The Minister seems to be in denial. The British Dental Association reports that almost half of all NHS dentists are not accepting new patients—either adults or children. In several regions right across the country, from Yorkshire to Salisbury, patients are having to rely on the third world dental charity, Dentaid, with its now-famous wheelie bin dental surgeries. Does he think that that is an acceptable state of affairs? Will he outline what action he intends to take to improve access to NHS dentists?

[Steve Brine]

It is interesting that the hon. Lady should raise this; it is one of the things that we might be discussing shortly. According to the GP patient survey for January to March last year, whose results were published later last year, 59% of the adults questioned had tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the past two years, and of those, 95% were successful. Those are not bad figures.

Draft Pharmacy (Preparation and Dispensing Errors - Registered Pharmacies) Order 2018

Debate between Julie Cooper and Steve Brine

Monday 4th December 2017 General Committees

[Steve Brine]

I thank my shadow, the hon. Member for Burnley, and the hon. Members for Central Ayrshire and for Newport West for their contributions and their support for this measure.

I am well aware that the hon. Member for Burnley has in-depth understanding and knowledge of this issue from her previous life supporting her partner, a community pharmacist. She is absolutely right to highlight the wide portfolio that community pharmacists hold. I sometimes think it is even wider than mine, and I have said in the House, and will say again now, that community pharmacists are absolutely central to me and to the primary care objectives that I hold in this job for primary care and for the public health and prevention agenda. Primary care and public health are pulled together under my portfolio for a reason, and community pharmacists sit together as a hub in the middle of those two bits of my work.

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to say that the order will be welcomed—I think alongside the hashtag #abouttime. For many people in the community pharmacy sector, the changes are long overdue. I spoke to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s conference in the summer—I suspect she was there—and I said that this was long overdue and that I would sort it. I have tried to remain true to my word, and I have.

I think the defences in the order strike the right balance, which the hon. Lady outlined coherently, while not leaving the door wide open. We still have to make sure that patient safety is protected—the current Secretary of State above all would say that—but I do believe that it strikes the right balance. I note her request for early work in respect of hospital pharmacists, and I am very amenable to that. I do not want that to drag on for many years; I want it sorted quickly, and officials know that.

On read and write access to patient records, many pharmacists already have read access and some already have write access. I am interested in making the change, and I am exploring more with officials how to make it happen; it is of some frustration to me that it seems to be an IT issue as much as anything else. If pharmacists are to be integrated within our primary care system as much as I want them to be, I suggest that that is very important.

[Julie Cooper]

This all centres on acknowledging that pharmacists are the experts when it comes to medication. I think that most GPs who work alongside pharmacists day in, day out will hold their hands up and say that. GPs used to be regularly on the phones to us saying, “Can I just ask you about this? I am thinking of prescribing this, but I am not sure. Is this best, or would it be better with something else?” That is good teamwork between people who are specialists in their areas.

In the light of that, it is quite ridiculous that pharmacies cannot record their advice and intervention on a patient record for other health professionals to see. It would be entirely in the patient interest, and in the interests of making sure that patients do not fall through the gaps between the different health professionals.

I will make one further point about recognising that expertise, if you will allow me to, Mr Brady. Pharmacists could be used to do more, as I have said many times in the House. When he talked about protections, my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West reminded me of the work that is happening on antibiotics and a recent Westminster Hall debate on their overuse and the development of antimicrobial resistance. Pharmacists could lead on that in the interests of wider patient wellbeing and safety.

[Steve Brine]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. Pharmacists have been absolutely brilliant, focused and motivated supporters of the “Keep Antibiotics Working” campaign. I responded to that Westminster Hall debate on antibiotics, as she knows.

On the hon. Lady’s wider point, I believe, and I believe the evidence backs me up, that in the best health economies, the three planks—secondary care, primary care and pre-primary care, which is where we could see a community pharmacy as being—work hand in hand. The sustainability and transformation partnerships are supposed to be a one-NHS solution for different areas and different health economies to help the population achieve good health when they become unwell, but also to practise good preventive health. I absolutely agree with her that pharmacists know their patients and customers, and that they spot things because they see those patients much more regularly than GPs do. That is why they are absolutely central.

On the point about the obligation to report, which was mentioned by the hon. Members for Central Ayrshire and for Burnley, I said in my opening speech that the Government are already working with the regulators and professional bodies to ensure that pharmacy professionals are supported in the implementation of the order. An absolutely critical part of that is making sure that they report errors, because if they do not, this will all be somewhat wasted. There are a huge number of examples that I could give; maybe I can write to the hon. Member for Burnley with the details. The national reporting and learning systems were established in England to collect data and report on safety incidents. The health service safety investigations Bill, which is in draft and undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny at the moment, also adds power to this argument.

I think that, with this order, we have something of a rare gem in Committee Room 9: it is something that we all agree is needed. We are delivering it as a Government, as I promised we would. It will add further impetus to the work already under way to reduce medical errors across the health service and will provide much-needed assurance to pharmacy professionals that they can do their job with confidence. I know they have that confidence, but there has been this little niggling thing undermining them. I hope the order addresses that.

As the Whip next to me coughs—I am sure that was purely accidental, as opposed to a hint—I will finish by saying that, should both Houses approve the order, commencement orders will be drafted to enact the changes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I thank hon. Members for their attentiveness, their interest and their contributions, and I commend the draft order to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julie Cooper and Steve Brine

Tuesday 14th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Steve Brine)]

Sustainability and transformation plan footprints were determined as a result of discussions between local areas, NHS England and NHS Improvement. They reflect a number of factors including patient flow, the location of different organisations in the local health economy and natural geographies. We stated in the next steps of the “Five Year Forward View” that adjusting STP boundaries is open to discussions between us and NHS England when that is collectively requested by local organisations, and we mean that.

[Julie Cooper (Burnley) (Lab)]

Last month, Lloyds announced the closure of 190 community pharmacies. The company’s managing director was very clear that this action was a result of recent cuts to pharmacy budgets. Does the Minister have any idea how many community pharmacies are at risk of closure as a result of Government cuts, and what assessment has he made of the likely impact of these closures directly on patients and the wider NHS? Will he join me in asking the Chancellor adequately to fund this vital service?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julie Cooper and Steve Brine

Tuesday 4th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Steve Brine]

The Government have committed £50 million of official development assistance towards setting up the global antimicrobial resistance innovation fund. We are one of the world leaders on this subject. I am meeting my hon. Friend and my hon. Friends the Members for Stafford (Jeremy Lefroy) and for York Outer (Julian Sturdy) shortly, when we can take this forward.

[Julie Cooper (Burnley) (Lab)]

I spoke to one GP last week who told me that because he has been unable to recruit help he has only been able to take one week’s leave in three years. That is clearly not sustainable. The morale of GPs is at an all-time low, the number of GPs continues to fall, surgeries are closing, and patients are finding it harder and harder to get an appointment. The Secretary of State promised an extra 5,000 GPs by 2020, but given that it takes 10 years to train a GP will the Minister tell the House how exactly he is going to deliver on that promise?

[Steve Brine]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question and I look forward to engaging with her on such matters. The “General Practice Forward View” is a landmark document, which was published in April last year. As she knows, it sets out extra investment that GPs have been calling for for years: £2.5 billion a year for GP services. That means investment is rising. The good news, as the Secretary of State said, is that more people are coming into general practice. We want to continue to encourage that, but we also have to take action to prevent early retirements and to bring people back to general practice. We are indeed doing that.