Health and Social Care Update

Debate between Kim Johnson and Matt Hancock

Thursday 18th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

We have set out the road map based on clinical advice. I am delighted to say that, because of the success of the vaccination programme so far, we are able to proceed down that road map.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab) [V]]

I start by giving my unreserved support to the NHS for the massively successful roll-out of the vaccine programme, but can the Secretary of State assure the House today that, given the unpredictability of supply, all of those due their second dose will receive it within the specified 12-week time period?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Kim Johnson and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 9th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I am very grateful for my right hon. Friend’s support in the way that he puts it. I have been talking to my Australian counterparts about the approach that they take, not least because their hotel quarantine has now been in place for some time. The central point that he makes is that once we get cases down through both the measures now, and then the vaccine to keep them down, a tough borders policy can help to keep us free domestically. That is a very important part of this consideration.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab) [V]]

I pay tribute to all organisations in Liverpool working on the frontline to manage this pandemic. Does the Secretary of State believe that the Government are following their own guidance in making over 2,000 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency workers physically attend the workplace for non-essential work processing provisional licence applications when driving lessons are not possible under current restrictions? Does he agree that no one is safe until we are all safe?

[Matt Hancock]

My right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary has looked into the issue about DVLA that the hon. Lady raises, and Public Health Wales has been involved in advising DVLA, which is of course based in Swansea.

Mental Health Act Reform

Debate between Kim Johnson and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 13th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I would very much like to pay tribute to those who bravely put forward their testimony of their lived experience of what it was like to be a service user under the existing Act, which formed so much of the evidence for what we need to do to make it better.

I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend. She was the Minister responsible for mental health during much of the framing of the review, and the initial turning of that review into this White Paper. She did that with such sensitivity, thought, and—crucially—by actively listening to what people want when they are at some of the most vulnerable points of their lives. It is not easy to do that; it requires skill and compassion, and my hon. Friend has both of those in spades.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab) [V]]

I welcome the changes being proposed today because as the Mental Health Act currently stands, black people are four times more likely to be detained, and more than 10 times more likely to be subject to a community treatment order. Evidence from my constituency of Liverpool, Riverside echoes that, and my office deals with multiple requests for support from constituents from our diverse communities. Will the Minister confirm that the steps being proposed will ensure that care is accessible, culturally appropriate, and free from the levels of discrimination currently experienced?

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Kim Johnson and Matt Hancock

Monday 21st September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Of course we support businesses and others who want to get tests outside the NHS Test and Trace system; last week we published a paper on how they can go about doing that, and we encourage businesses to do that for their employees. The critical thing is that if people test positive, that data must, by law, flow to Public Health England so that we can do the necessary contact tracing and enforce the isolation that is going to be mandatory from next Monday. We strongly support that sort of action, whether it is taken by employers or, indeed, the University of Cambridge, which proposes to do the same for its students.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab)]

Liverpool incidence rates have increased quickly and we are now on the precipice of local lockdown. There has been an increase of 247 cases on the previous week’s figures and the latest weekly rate in Liverpool is now 120 per 100,000, as the Secretary of State mentioned. What additional resources does the Secretary of State plan to provide to Liverpool and other local authorities to assist them in dealing with further localised outbreaks?

[Matt Hancock]

The hon. Lady asks an important question. We are putting more testing into Liverpool, notwithstanding the challenges in testing capacity, because it is exactly the sort of place where we need to put that testing. We are also bringing in £500 of support for everybody on a low income who has to self-isolate, whether they have tested positive themselves or are a contact of somebody who has tested positive and have been contacted through NHS Test and Trace. I support the hon. Lady in her work as the local representative to explain to her constituents in Liverpool, Riverside how important it is to follow the rules.