Oral Answers to Questions
Karl Turner Excerpts(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
Touché, Sir. In response to the hon. Lady’s question, I will say this. The opening up and the return of our freedoms is only possible because of the UK vaccination effort. In the six months to the day since we first vaccinated across these islands—yes, in Coventry, but also in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—we have delivered 68 million vaccines across the whole UK and saved thousands of lives, and the whole United Kingdom has been set fair on the road to recovery thanks to the UK Government’s vaccination effort. I am very grateful to everybody in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England who has played their part in delivering it. That shows the benefit of the United Kingdom Union saving lives and working together for everybody on these islands.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)
The Minister for Care (Helen Whately)
I am hugely ambitious about social care reform. I want a sustainable care system that meets people’s needs and aspirations and gives them the care and support they need to live life to the full. We are working on proposals for reform and will bring those forward later this year.
Karl Turner [V]
This Government are responsible for over 40,000 needless deaths from covid-19 in care homes. A plan to fix social care in this country is long overdue. This crisis is not new—people are routinely forced to sell the family home to pay for care. The workers are paid peanuts, while the 13 million unpaid carers are left to pick up the pieces. Does the Minister agree that we have had far too many vague promises and that unpaid carers cannot wait a minute longer?
Vaccine Roll-out
Karl Turner Excerpts(3 years, 10 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
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Matt Hancock
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the rate-limiting step is the amount of supply. We are working closely with the two companies, which are doing a terrific job. We talk to them all the time, in trying to ensure that any blockages are removed. They are going as fast as they can in producing the vaccine, whether that is the Oxford vaccine, produced here in this country, or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, produced in Belgium and supplied to us. Everybody is working as fast as we can, and I am delighted that the NHS is champing at the bit for more supply in order to deliver it.
Across Derbyshire there have been more 70,000 vaccinations—70,332, according to the latest data I have, as of 17 January. Derbyshire has vaccinated 65% of its over-80s, which is almost exactly the national average of 67%. Derbyshire is doing a great job; I congratulate those in the NHS in Derbyshire, and thank them for their efforts and their work. There is still a lot further to go, but almost two thirds of Derbyshire’s over-80s have been vaccinated. We have to keep at it and keep working hard to make sure that all the vulnerable are protected, and then move on to the rest of us.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab) [V]
After questioning the Prime Minister last week, I am delighted that the first community pharmacies are now taking part in the vaccine roll-out, but just a few hundred of approximately 11,000 community pharmacies just does not seem enough—it is a tiny proportion, leaving vast potential untapped. Will the Secretary of State commit to ensuring that all General Pharmaceutical Council-registered technicians will be allowed to administer vaccines, so that they are available where they are most needed, on every high street, in every community such as mine in east Hull? Witham pharmacy is ready and willing to start vaccinating now—let us get on with it.
Matt Hancock [V]
At heart, I agree with the instincts of the hon. Gentleman. The challenge is that we need to do this at scale. As supply is the rate-limiting factor, it is very important that any vaccination site can get enough people through to be able to use the vaccine in time—we do not want to leave stocks in the fridge. Pharmacists are experienced at vaccinating and pharmacy technicians can vaccinate, and they are a very important part of the programme. With pharmacies, we have started with the bigger sites that are able to achieve a higher throughput. It is because supply is the rate-limiting factor that we need to make sure that all supply is used up quickly from the point at which it is distributed. That is why we have taken that approach. I am thrilled that so many pharmacies are now coming on stream; there is lots more to do.
Covid-19 Update
Karl Turner Excerpts(4 years ago)
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Matt Hancock
The people of North Somerset, who my right hon. Friend represents, and those of nearby Weston-super-Mare have done a remarkable job of bringing the case rates down to 120 for every 100,000. I am very pleased that we are able to take North Somerset out of tier 3 into tier 2. I would also say to everybody that the point about personal responsibility that my hon. Friend stressed and that I strongly agree with still applies. Coming out of a tier makes life easier, of course—we do not want the tiers in place any longer than absolutely necessary—but it is still on everyone in North Somerset, as well as in Bristol and Herefordshire, which have also come down, to do their bit and keep those case rates down.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab) [V]
The lead-up to Christmas is the busiest period for hospitality businesses, with some pubs in my constituency making up to a quarter of their annual profits, which are now lost. If measures to control the virus are to be effective, they must go hand in hand with proper business support. To protect lives and livelihoods, what will the Secretary of State do to ensure that businesses forming the backbone of my communities in Hull get the financial support they desperately need?
Matt Hancock
I feel gratitude to everyone in Hull for the work they have done to get case rates down as far as they have. Hull has done well, along with the rest of the Humber area, but we are not quite there yet. We are providing the support that comes with being part of tier 3, and we have put record sums in to support hospitality, but I appreciate that this is tough, especially in the run-up to Christmas. I can commit to keep working with the hon. Gentleman and other colleagues across Hull, the Humber and other areas in tier 3 to do everything we can to get hospitality open again.
Oral Answers to Questions
Karl Turner Excerpts(4 years, 2 months ago)
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Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) (Lab)
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
Helen Whately
I thank the hon. Member for her question. I am sure she will know that local authorities received £400 million to support them with local outbreak management. It is really important to have this coming together of the national system and the local system, where local authorities are indeed playing an important part, using their local knowledge to follow up with contact tracing, particularly for some of the contacts that are proving harder to reach.
Karl Turner [V]
Schools in my constituency are having to close, disrupting children’s education and the work of their parents. Serco’s test and trace has been an unmitigated disaster. It is more than an extraordinary waste of public money; it is a public health crisis. To make matters worse, Ministers signed off on a wholly inappropriate Excel spreadsheet, blowing billions and leaving thousands of contacts untraced. When I asked the Secretary of State last week when he was going to take personal responsibility, he simply boasted that the system was working brilliantly. When does the Minister think her boss, the Secretary of State, will begin to take personal responsibility for this fiasco?
Helen Whately
There was quite a lot in that question. One thing I will say on schools is that enabling our children to continue to go to school is very much part of the whole strategy that we are using to tackle and suppress coronavirus, because education is so important. On the specific test and trace system to which the hon. Member refers, the Secretary of State spent an hour and a half in the Chamber yesterday answering colleagues’ questions about the performance of that system.
Covid-19 Update and Hospitality Curfew
Karl Turner Excerpts(4 years, 2 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
Yes, of course we will, and I take my hon. Friend’s point about wet-led pubs. He is right that the 10 pm curfew is far better than the closure of hospitality—not that we want to do that, but we do need to take measures to suppress the virus. He is wise in his description of why we have had to take these decisions, because we cannot will the ends of suppressing the virus without also willing the means, and some of those means are difficult.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab) [V]
Over six months into the pandemic, people in my constituency still see no sign of the world-beating test and trace system that they were promised. Does the Secretary of State feel any personal responsibility for the utter chaos that is putting lives and livelihoods at risk in my constituency and across the country?
Oral Answers to Questions
Karl Turner Excerpts(4 years, 10 months ago)
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Ms Dorries
I very much agree, and that is where the Government are directing their efforts. My hon. Friend mentioned screening; we have put extra resources into screening and scanners, including in Peterborough. We are absolutely attacking on screening programmes and on obesity and tobacco—all those issues that we know affect life expectancy and cause harms. The Government have made those issues their top priority.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Jo Churchill)
We are determined to address the long-standing inequalities that exist in many areas, be they in access, outcomes or people’s experience of their local health service. Our world-leading childhood obesity plan, NHS health checks, the tobacco control plan and the diabetes prevention programme all see us leading the way, but there is undoubtedly more targeted work to do on this complex issue, particularly in areas of high need.
Karl Turner
The recent mental health prevention Green Paper recognised the link between deprivation and poor mental health outcomes. Along with the proper funding of frontline and early intervention services, mental health inequality needs urgent action, so when will the Minister get to work to sort out this mess? People in east Hull desperately need access to services that are currently not available.
Jo Churchill
I agree with the hon. Member. I and my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Ms Dorries), who has responsibility for the mental health element of the portfolio, are working hand in glove on this. Often, it is the dual toxicity of addiction—be it substance or alcohol abuse—and mental ill health that drives health inequalities. We are targeting the matter and working together on access to make sure that we drive down these health inequalities.
Cystic Fibrosis Drugs: Orkambi
Karl Turner Excerpts(5 years, 6 months ago)
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Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Hanson. I am grateful to be called to speak in this incredibly important debate on behalf of my young constituent, Oliver Ward, who is seven years of age. I raised the issue in Prime Minister’s questions last week, and I intend, if I get the opportunity, to raise it with the Prime Minister again before she leaves No. 10 Downing Street.
I want to pay tribute to Oliver and to his mum, Emma Gadie, who has campaigned tirelessly on CF. In particular, she has raised the issue of the battle with Vertex for Orkambi. She says her little boy is her hero, and has described his daily routine, which includes taking up to 23 pills a day, and having incredibly rigorous physio just to be as normal as he can be during the day.
It seems to me that the situation is a perfect example of predatory capitalism. Vertex has a turnover of $45 billion, and the chief executive rakes in something of the order of £15 million a year—I think I am right in saying that he has £100 million in share sales to his name—and yet he is holding the NHS to ransom. People are literally dying while the business behaves in an intolerable way. I saw a tweet recently in which Vertex was celebrating its 30th birthday, but some sufferers do not make it beyond 31. It is utterly despicable. I try to be non-partisan and non-party political about it, but it is about time the Secretary of State got into a room with Vertex, NHS England and NICE and sorted it out.
The Prime Minister said on 16 May last year that she expected a “speedy resolution” to the situation. Frankly, the Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for West Suffolk (Matt Hancock), should spend more time sorting out this incredibly important issue than travelling around the country trying to ingratiate himself with Tory party members in order to get himself into 10 Downing Street. This is appalling. It is not going away—hon. Members on both sides of this House are not going to let it go away—and the Minister must take action following this debate.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Seema Kennedy)
It is always a particular pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hanson. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully) for opening the debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee. I pay tribute to the more than 100,000 people who signed the petition, and I thank all right hon. and hon. Members who have spoken in the debate; I am sure that they will be rushing back for the wind-ups.
I have been very touched by the stories that we have heard today and the compassion shown by my hon. Friend and all hon. Members in speaking about cystic fibrosis and its physical effects, emotional effects and effects on mental health for those who live with it and for their families. It is a debilitating condition, and I know how absolutely desperate sufferers and families are for access to treatments.
I recognise the great work undertaken by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and its strong voice in supporting families and bringing cystic fibrosis to the attention of parliamentarians. I also pay tribute to my young constituent Lucy Baxter, who was on “BBC Breakfast” this morning and who lives with cystic fibrosis. She spoke to me very soon after I became a Member of Parliament and is an absolute inspiration to me and to the whole cystic fibrosis community.
Today’s debate has been heartfelt and passionate. The stories that we have heard clearly make the case that Orkambi and other drugs for people with cystic fibrosis should be available on the NHS at a price that is fair and affordable. The Government and I share that view. As the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, the hon. Member for Totnes (Dr Wollaston), set out so clearly, we must remember that the NHS must use its budget fairly for the good of all patients. That is why we rightly have a system whereby experts, not politicians, determine the fair price for medicines, based on robust evidence. That system has helped many thousands of patients to benefit from rapid access to effective new medicines.
Karl Turner
Forgive me, but I genuinely do not know the answer to this—I find it completely confusing. If the Republic of Ireland and Scotland can get an interim agreement, why cannot we sort this out for patients here in England?
Seema Kennedy
I will talk about the interim measures, but I think the more important thing that we need to grip is having a permanent solution for everybody living with cystic fibrosis.
Throughout the negotiations, which are rightly being led by NHS England, the Government have been crystal clear that Vertex must re-engage with the NICE process. I know that hon. Members have questions about that process, and I will try to address some of the points that have been raised. The hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) raised more detailed points for me to consider; if I do not address them, I will write to her with more detail, but there are some points about the NICE process that I will address later in my remarks.
Oral Answers to Questions
Karl Turner Excerpts(9 years, 9 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr Daniel Poulter)
I am very happy to look into that issue and to do what we can to support our NHS work force to move as freely as possible between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. GP numbers in England have increased because we have protected the NHS budget, unlike in Wales, where it has been cut by the Labour Administration.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
T2. A recent Ashcroft poll shows that only 15% of the public think that this Government have the best approach to running the NHS. Will the Secretary of State stand up at the Dispatch Box and apologise for his top-down reorganisation of the NHS and his Tory privatising Health and Social Care Act, and accept that the public will never trust the Tories with the NHS?
Mr Jeremy Hunt
I will tell the hon. Gentleman what the public think about the NHS: last year, under this Government, dissatisfaction was at its lowest ever level and satisfaction jumped the highest among Labour voters. And where did satisfaction go down? In Wales.
NHS (Five Year Forward View)
Karl Turner Excerpts(10 years ago)
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Mr Hunt
The trouble with a mansion tax is that, in the end, it will apply not to mansions but to homes, flats and people on low incomes. That is why it is the wrong way to put more funding into the NHS. The right way to do it is to have a strong economy, and only this Government can deliver that.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
Up until her retirement, my mother was a very proud and committed nurse in the NHS. The Secretary of State wears a lapel badge pretending his love for the NHS. Today, my mother asked why, if the Secretary of State had £700 million in his Department, could he not have afforded the measly 1% pay rise for our committed nurses in the NHS, which would have cost £200 million.
Mr Hunt
It really demeans debate in this House to go on about some phoney argument that one side of the House cares about the NHS while the other does not. We have shown our commitment to the NHS by announcing today £2 billion of additional funding. That is a big deal and it shows our commitment. We have also given all nurses a 1% pay rise.
Oral Answers to Questions
Karl Turner Excerpts(10 years, 1 month ago)
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Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
8. How many patients waited longer than four hours in A and E departments in 2013-14.
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt)
Of the 21.7 million attendances at all A and E departments in England in 2013-14, 939,000 were not seen and treated within four hours, meaning that 95.7%—0.7% above the national target—were. I am pleased to inform the House that hospitals will have an extra 260 A and E doctors this winter, bringing emergency medics in the NHS to a record high.
Mr Hunt
I am happy to look at the point that the hon. Gentleman raises. I have visited the Northwick Park A and E department, where the clinicians on the front line are working incredibly hard. As he knows, the funding formula is decided independently—at arm’s length from politicians—but we have ensured that everyone gets a real-terms rise.
Karl Turner
Data published last Friday show that A and Es have missed their waiting targets for 64 weeks on the bounce. They are in a worse state now than they were last winter. What is going on?
Mr Hunt
First, I caution the hon. Gentleman on his use of statistics, because he is referring to a subset of A and Es, not all of them. Last year we hit our A and E target. I say gently to Labour Members that they need to be careful if they try to politicise operational issues, because people will note that in every year of this Parliament we have hit our A and E targets in England and Labour has missed its targets in Wales.