Paediatric First Aid

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Monday 15th December 2014 Westminster Hall

[Mark Hunter]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. She raises an issue that I hope to address in the rest of my speech. I am sure that we would all agree that parents should be able to walk into a nursery and see “Level 3 Paediatric First Aid” on a certificate and be satisfied that the nursery has followed platinum-standard guidelines. I will move on to why that is particularly relevant, as a couple of Members mentioned earlier.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

A few moments ago, the hon. Gentleman said that the current guidelines had in effect watered down the previous position. Has he been able to ascertain from Ministers before the debate why that is the case? What is the thinking behind that dilution of the position when this terrible tragedy occurred?

[Mark Hunter]

The short answer to the hon. Gentleman’s question is no, we have not been able to ascertain that, but I hope the Minister will address that in his response.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure, Mr Chope, to serve under your chairmanship. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on behalf of Her Majesty’s Opposition in this debate, but I do not intend to speak at great length. There may be an interruption to our proceedings, and we want to hear the Minister’s response.

I commend the hon. Member for Cheadle (Mark Hunter) who introduced the debate in a calm and measured way. He told us about Millie Thompson and the tragic circumstances of her death, and outlined the aims of the subsequent campaign that her parents instigated. He said that despite that, the Government may have watered down some of the regulations since that campaign started. Before the conclusion of this debate, we need to hear whether that is the case and, if so, why. I commend the hon. Member for Cheadle on leading this debate in such a measured, calm, careful and considered way.

I thank the hon. Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell), who told us that he has had tragedy in his own family and therefore brings his own experience to the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Sir Alan Meale) is no longer in his place, but he intervened earlier. I commend other hon. Members who have contributed, including the hon. Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) who made a short speech emphasising that the hon. Member for Cheadle had made a strong case.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate, and many others will be grateful that it is happening because more than 100,000 members of the public signed the petition that Millie Thompson’s parents started. It is absolutely right to take this opportunity to join in the tributes from other hon. Members to the tireless campaigning work undertaken by Joanne and Dan Thompson over the past two years since the tragic death of their nine-month-old daughter, Millie. Following their horrific loss, they have worked immensely hard to try to create something positive, launching Millie’s Trust last year to campaign for every nursery carer to be trained in paediatric first aid, and to provide courses to increase the number of nursery staff with first aid training. We should commend them on the practical training they have provided by setting up that trust.

The remarkable number of signatories that the parents’ petition has attracted demonstrates clearly that they have struck a chord with the public, and it is absolutely right that we consider carefully whether the current requirement for first aid training in nurseries is appropriate. What happened to Millie’s parents is something that every parent dreads: the sudden death of a perfectly healthy child whom they had dropped off at nursery on another ordinary working day. All of us who are parents can empathise with their sorrow and desire to understand what happened and why it happened to their daughter, but no one who has not experienced what they experienced can possibly understand the pain that they carry with them every day.

As we heard, Millie died after choking on mashed shepherd’s pie during her third day attending a nursery in Cheadle Hulme in October 2013. It is important to note, as hon. Members have done, what the coroner said about the case. He was concerned enough by what he heard during the inquest to raise serious questions about whether regulations on first aid training for nursery staff were set at the right level, and furthermore took the unusual step of announcing publicly that he would be writing to the then Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), to urge a move to first aid training for all nursery staff. The coroner described that

“as a matter of national importance”.

The hon. Member for Cheadle highlighted that.

The paediatric first aid certificate of the member of the nursery staff immediately to hand when Millie began choking had expired. Recognising the seriousness of the situation, they called for help from the staff member on duty with up-to-date training. Technically, the nursery was at that time, fulfilling its duty to ensure that at least one staff member trained in first aid was on duty. After looking at the circumstances of the case, the coroner’s verdict was death by misadventure, and the question arose of whether having that single member of staff available—we have heard more details from the hon. Member for Cheadle about what happened—was sufficient. As has been asked, what would happen if they were elsewhere in the building or engaged in a task that it would be dangerous for them to abandon immediately with other children in the nursery’s care? In serious medical situations involving the youngest children, any delay can mean the difference between life and death. We can genuinely understand the coroner’s concern regarding the regulations on first aid training and why he was moved to take the action that he did in writing to the Secretary of State.

Opposition Members and, I am sure, all hon. Members, are firm believers in securing high quality, affordable, flexible child care. We believe that at the heart of that mission is a continual drive to improve the standards and standing of child care staff. We are fortunate, as a nation, to have many highly-skilled, dedicated and hard-working people working on the front line in nurseries, children’s centres and as childminders. There is a real desire among the best practitioners for improved training, including ongoing retraining throughout an individual’s career in child care. They know that that route will lead to better care for children, as well as eventually improving pay and conditions for child care staff. As we move towards a child care sector where higher standards of training and professional development become the norm, improving the standard and quantity of staff trained in paediatric first aid must be at the heart of that.

The Minister may tell us that immediately to demand that every staff member must be fully trained would bring difficulties for the sector—it will be interesting to hear his response—but it is certainly right that that should be the goal. In larger child care settings in particular the requirement for a single first aid-trained staff member may not be sufficient. Rising professional standards in the child care sector ought to pave the way for parents and regulators to expect more in terms of the skills and training of staff. In this particular case, tougher regulations may not have made a difference, but the tireless work of Millie’s parents since her death has opened a serious and vital debate about whether the regulations that we have now are sufficient.

Everyone here today wants to do everything possible to prevent further tragedies of the sort that Joanne and Dan Thompson have suffered. To help us judge what is being done, we need to hear the Minister’s answers to a number of different points. Will he tell us what the previous Secretary of State’s response was to the coroner’s letter following the inquest and in what terms he responded to the coroner? I am sure the House would be very interested to know how he responded to that call from the coroner.

I have the Government’s response to the e-petition here, and it is quite brief and light in detail—I know that is often the case in the way that such things are set out. However, I and the rest of the House would be grateful if the Minister could tell us whether there is any kind of ongoing review of the suitability of required levels of paediatric first aid training in child care settings, and if so, what form that review is taking.

The Minister’s colleague, the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson), met Millie’s parents back in June. Further to what the hon. Member for Cheadle said, will this Minister tell us more about what actions arose as a result of that meeting? What follow-up actions were taken by the Department after that meeting? What were the new requirements that, as the hon. Gentleman mentioned, had been explained to the parents during the course of that meeting, and in particular, why have they not received an answer, as he reported, about who made the decision to remove the first aid requirements? If the Minister is not able to provide that answer directly to us here and now, will he commit on record today to providing it to the House in the very near future by writing to those Members present and to the Thompsons, and will he place a copy of that response in the House of Commons Library, so that it is available for all to see?

We would all like to know why, as the hon. Gentleman indicated, there has apparently been a watering-down of the regulations in this area since this terrible tragedy occurred. Does the Minister accept that that is the case? If not, will he explain why he does not accept that what has happened since constitutes a watering-down, and if he does accept that the regulations have been watered down since these tragic events, will he explain to the House why that has happened? What is the thinking behind it and what is he going to do about it, in the light of the strength of feeling that has been expressed across the House today and given the campaign that the Thompsons have launched and the e-petition with more than 100,000 signatures that has prompted today’s debate? I look forward very much to hearing the answers to those questions and to the issues raised by other hon. and right hon. Members during the course of this debate.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Gyimah]

My hon. Friend is fast bringing me to the end of my speech—I was going to address that right at the end. Yes, when we have a national review, we will look at making this mandatory.

[Kevin Brennan]

May I press the Minister on the nature of the review? Is he talking about an internal departmental review or about getting independent experts to look at the issue and come to a conclusion? Furthermore, on the timetable, he will be aware that we will be pressing up against all sorts of deadlines next year, if I can put it that way. The review will have to get under way quickly if he is to deliver on what he is promising the House, so when will it get under way?

[Mr Gyimah]

We have been looking at that since Mr and Mrs Thompson had their meeting with the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson). Once I have had a meeting with them, we will publish details of the nature of the national review, but that is not to say that the issue is not of great importance for us.

Let me turn to the points made by the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan), who focused on whether we have watered down the regulations. I touched on the point about local authorities. I would also like to reassure him that, at the heart of the increase in the skills and qualifications of the early years work force, we have emphasised the importance of paediatric first aid, which is included in professional child care qualifications, although that might not necessarily lead to a certificate that can be renewed every three years.

Our standards for early years teacher status mean that all early years teachers will know how to establish and sustain a safe environment and employ practices that promote children’s health and safety. Our early years educator criteria, which the hon. Gentleman is intimately familiar with, mean that all early years educators will understand how to respond to accidents and emergency situations.