Childhood Cancer Outcomes

Laura Trott Excerpts

Tuesday 26th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage) and congratulate her on securing this important debate. The courage and bravery of the children and their families about whom we have been hearing is deeply moving, and should on its own be enough to galvanise some change.

I want to use my speech to reflect on my very brave constituent Alice Wakeling. Unfortunately I never got to meet Alice, but I am honoured to say that her mother, Sara, has joined us today in the gallery. Having worked with Sara since becoming an MP in 2019, I have been truly inspired by her dedication, her resolve and her love, and I hope to do both her and her amazing daughter justice this afternoon in telling their story in the time that is available to me.

Alice was a healthy three-year-old when she began to develop a small lump on her neck. After eight weeks of diagnoses and tests, the family finally heard the news that anyone would dread. The lump, which had continued to grow and was now putting pressure on Alice’s airways, was a stage 4 fusion-positive alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. We heard about that condition earlier today, when we heard about Sophie.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare soft tissue sarcoma. It grows in the voluntary muscles of the body, such as the muscles that we use to move our arms or legs. In Alice’s case, the primary tumour was attached to a gland in her neck, and there was a small tumour in her lung. She was given a 50:50 chance of survival over five years. Let me remind you, Mr Deputy Speaker, that she was just three years old.

After 20 months of intensive chemotherapy at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Alice proudly rang the bell at the end of her treatment, but 15 months later the cancer came back. At the age of four, Alice saw her odds of survival drop to just 8%. Great Ormond Street suggested a procedure in Amsterdam known as AMORE. The treatment was incredibly gruelling for poor Alice, but she got through it, and once again she rang the bell. A few months later, however, the news that they had all dreaded: the cancer was back again. After an ultrasound, the doctors found a large mass in her abdomen, with similar masses forming around her bladder and pelvis. They said that there was nothing they could do, and I think that Alice had just had enough. In August 2019 she was taken home, under the care of the out-patient palliative team at Great Ormond Street, where she died peacefully two months later. She was seven years old.

Throughout her illness, Alice’s parents, Sara and David, became part of a worldwide network of medical professionals to help children undergoing cancer treatments. They now run Alice’s Arc, an amazing children’s charity for those suffering with cancer, and they campaign for more and new curative treatment options for children at relapse. We have heard today about the need for greater funding, for more training for GPs and more money for research. I think that all those things can and will be possible, and will be a fitting tribute to Alice and all the other children we have heard about today.

Health and Care Bill

Laura Trott Excerpts

Consideration of Lords amendments
Wednesday 30th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Alex Cunningham]

It is exactly that; I could not agree more. I am sure that Ministers will work hard to try to find ways in which we can make the polluter pay—that is a polluter who pollutes the bodies of our people.

Achieving the smokefree 2030 ambition is the most effective way to achieve the health missions in the Government’s levelling-up White Paper to reduce the gap in healthy life expectancy between top performing and other areas by 2030 and to increase healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035. Becoming smokefree will also improve my constituents’ employability by reducing levels of sickness, disease and disability.

I am pleased that tobacco control is not a party political issue, and I am pleased to work closely on it with the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman). We have very different political views on many things—he has heard me say this—but we are as one on this issue. It was a Conservative Government who committed to making England smokefree by 2030, but that ambition is shared by all political parties in Parliament. It is also supported by the public, but, like the all-party parliamentary group, they recognise that this ambition needs substantial funding to be delivered.

A survey of 13,000 people carried out last month for Action on Smoking and Health found that making tobacco manufacturers pay for measures to end smoking was supported by more than three quarters of the public, with little opposition—I think that 6% of people were opposed. Let us remember that, over the last 50 years, smoking has killed an average of 400 people a day year in, year out, which is far more than covid has or will. It is only right that big tobacco, which has lined its pockets from the human misery caused by polluting the bodies of our people, is forced to pay the price of ending this lethal epidemic. I urge the Government to accept the amendments as a step on the track to achieving the smokefree 2030 ambition that we all share.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Stockton North (Alex Cunningham). I will speak briefly to Lords amendment 84 and to the Government amendment in lieu of Lords amendment 92.

On Lords amendment 84, on the licensing of cosmetic procedures, I just want to thank the Government for putting this in. Non-surgical cosmetic interventions such as Botox and fillers are the wild west of the healthcare world. We do not expect something that we can easily and legally get done in the safety of our own home to be able to blind us, but that is the case. It is high time that this was sorted and it is a huge step forward for women’s health, so I thank the Government very much.

Ockenden Report

Laura Trott Excerpts

Wednesday 30th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Lady is right to talk about the importance of having the right workforce, and certainly more midwives. I can tell her than last year there were 30,185 acceptances for nursing and midwifery courses, the highest number in a decade. Recruitment is being supported by some of the extra funding that I have talked about today. The Government have established grants enabling students to take courses, and, where appropriate, are also focusing on international recruitment.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

This courageous report makes clear that keeping caesarean section rates artificially low contributed to babies dying. I am pleased that, following a recommendation from the cross-party Health and Social Care Committee, NHS trusts are no longer being assessed on performance for their caesarean rates, but will the Secretary of State go further? Will he ensure that we look at where caesarean section rates remain artificially low in trusts, so that this dangerous “normal births” ideology is eradicated from the NHS once and for all?

[Sajid Javid]

The answer is yes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Laura Trott Excerpts

Tuesday 1st March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Maria Caulfield]

I am happy to meet the hon. Lady. She raises a very important point that affects people who are desperate to try for children.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

T8. I thank the Secretary of State for the extremely welcome news that he will introduce a licensing regime for non-surgical cosmetic interventions. This is a huge step forward for women’s health, and one that I have campaigned for over many years, along with many across the House. I am absolutely delighted. Can he inform us how the proposed licensing regime will keep pace with the rapidly changing landscape of these treatments?

[Sajid Javid]

First, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend and to my right hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North (Caroline Nokes) for all the work they have done on this most important of issues. Over the past few months, we have all heard in this House some horrific examples of botched, non-cosmetic procedures scarring people for life. No longer will that be allowed. We will be introducing a licensing regime for such procedures. The details of the regime will be set out in regulations, meaning that it will be flexible, agile and change in response to changes in the cosmetics industry.

Children’s Mental Health

Laura Trott Excerpts

Tuesday 8th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson), who made a powerful speech.

I think we can all agree with the sentiment behind the motion. Indeed, it is similar to the 2017 Green Paper, similar to the NHS long-term plan, and, in fact, very similar to the report produced recently by the Health and Social Care Committee, of which I am a member. However, I listened carefully to what was said by the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Tooting (Dr Allin-Khan), and I heard a great deal about targets but very little about how Labour plans to achieve them.

We have put a huge amount of money into this space. Mental health funding has increased from £10 billion to £14 billion in a matter of years. The problem is, as we have all recognised today, that the numbers are rising exponentially, particularly in respect of eating disorders. As a number of Members have pointed out, we need to look at why this is happening. Why are we seeing a referral rate for eating disorders that has risen by, I think, 80%? It is extraordinary.

As well as pouring in even more money and trying to get more mental health support teams into schools, and more professionals, we need to focus on social media reform. My hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Tom Hunt) was right about that, as was the hon. Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (Dr Cameron). Today, at an event involving the Internet Watch Foundation, I heard four teenagers talk about the pressures that they felt online, and how difficult they found it to talk to people about what was happening and where to refer it. We must fix this, and I think that the Online Safety Bill will be the key to that.

I want to make some points about the care system. When our Committee was taking evidence about referrals, we heard that the Royal College of Psychiatrists was receiving ever more referrals from children in care. I think it is important for us to look into the training received by social workers, and to consider what more we can do to ensure that there is support for young people within the care system. The NHS has staffing problems; we know that that is true across all professions. Our support for those staff will be critical, because we all know about the pressure they have been under and how difficult they have found it. They have been into schools, and they are struggling to deal with the number of people coming forward.

The approach we have taken so far has increased the money available and the number of people doing this work, but we need to look at the causes, and I hope that that is what we will see Ministers doing.

Covid-19 Update

Laura Trott Excerpts

Monday 6th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. When it comes to genome sequencing, which is crucial to identifying new variants and any of the risks they may or may not bring, the UK is second only to the United States in our capability.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

Many of my constituents have been in touch to express concern that they cannot register the vaccination status of 12 to 15-year-olds on the NHS app. Can my right hon. Friend provide an update on when they will be able to do that?

[Sajid Javid]

Yes. That facility may not be in the app—it may be through a letter or a process—but it will still provide what is needed in terms of travel for that age group. That hopefully will start next week.

Covid-19 Update

Laura Trott Excerpts

Monday 29th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Lady is right to talk about the importance of in-country manufacturing in the developing world. She will know that India, for example, is one of the largest manufacturers of vaccines, including the covid-19 vaccine, but she rightly points out that this capacity needs to grow and become available in other countries, and it is right to look to see how we can support that.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

I welcome the acceleration of the booster programme, but may I ask the Secretary of State to do all he can accelerate the approval by the JCVI of the vaccine for the under-12s, particularly those who are clinically extremely vulnerable? I have a constituent who is seven and who is desperate to go to school without fear, and all his parents want is to be able to give him the jab.

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend is right to raise that, and I hope she will agree that the JCVI has acted very quickly since the emergence of this new variant. If there are other things that can be taken forward to help to vaccinate the population, we will certainly be looking at that with great interest.

Health and Care Bill

Laura Trott Excerpts

Report stage
Tuesday 23rd November 2021 Commons Chamber

Therefore, it is vital to ensure that the staff have that confidence. We will be asking them to talk about their part in an incident—what role did they play in something going wrong—if we are to understand how it could have been prevented. The principal aim is to ensure that shift from blaming to learning, to turn the NHS in England into a learning organisation. The end result of that would be greater patient safety. That is surely what all of us are trying to achieve.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

I will speak mainly to new clause 1, but I cannot start without paying tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for North West Durham (Mr Holden) for his work to ban virginity testing. It is an abhorrent practice and high time it was made illegal.

I speak to new clause 1 in the names of my right hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North (Caroline Nokes) and the right hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones), among others. The existing situation, absurdly, is that someone may walk into a clinic and easily and legally get a treatment that could blind them, and there is absolutely no regulation whatever. For some time, we have talked about fixing the issue, and my private Member’s Bill—now the Botulinum Toxin and Cosmetic Fillers (Children) Act 2021—which was passed with the support of many Members of the House, has been able to bring some regulation to this space. Under-18s are now able to get only non-cosmetic interventions, and that by legal practitioners alone.

For those over the age of 18, however, there is no protection. Save Face, a campaigning organisation, last year received 2,000 complaints from people. Those are complaints not about the clinics people were in being dirty, but practitioners being uninsured or unable to fix the problems created when patients were given injections or fillers. People had necrotic or rotting tissue, which individuals would have to pay for themselves to get fixed. It is unacceptable that we are in a situation where that can take place with no regulation by Government.

I am afraid that is a pattern over time, across many Governments, of issues that primarily affect women not having the attention that they deserve. I am hopeful that we make some progress today. I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North on tabling her amendment.

[Margaret Greenwood (Wirral West) (Lab)]

The Health and Care Bill allows for

“a profession currently regulated to be removed from statutory regulation when the profession no longer requires regulation for the purpose of the protection of the public.”

Labour voted against the relevant clause in Committee, but we were defeated by the Government. I therefore tabled amendment 57, which would remove clause 127 from the Bill and ensure that a profession currently regulated cannot be removed from statutory regulation, and that statutory regulatory bodies cannot be abolished. I am grateful that the amendment received cross-party support.

The removal of a profession from regulation is deeply concerning because, once a profession is deregulated, we can expect the level of expertise in that field to decline over time, and along with that the status and pay of those carrying out those important roles. It also brings with it serious long-term implications for the health and safety of patients. In the White Paper that preceded the Bill, the Government stated:

“This is not about deregulation—we expect the vast majority of professionals such as doctors, nurses, dentists and paramedics will always be subject to statutory regulation. But this recognises that over time and with changing technology the risk profile of a given profession may change and while regulation may be necessary now to protect the public, this may not be the case in the future.”

It is notable that the Government only “expect” that the vast majority of professionals will be subject to statutory regulation, but they give no guarantee. The fact is, if the Bill passes, Ministers will be able change their mind at any point and make changes through secondary legislation.

The Government appear to be arguing that technological advances may change roles to such a degree that the high level of professional expertise that currently serves the NHS will no longer be needed. I will make two points about that. First, if the work of an NHS profession has changed to such a degree that regulation is no longer needed, I would argue that it is a different profession and needs a new job title. Secondly, when deploying new technology, there is always a need for professional staff with a high level of expertise and understanding of not only the functionality of that new technology, but its shortcomings. Technology has the power to improve productivity, but it should not be used as an excuse to deregulate professions.

It is important to consider where the impetus for that proposal may be coming from. The recent lobbying scandal certainly gives us a clue when we consider the number of MPs on the Government Benches with private interests in medical technology—I do not want to elaborate on that today, but to make the point. Certainly, big business is keen on deregulation, because it allows them to pay lower salaries to staff.

During a seminar on wellbeing, development, retention, and delivering the NHS people plan and a workforce fit for the future, a representative of Virgin Care said:

“We should have flexible working for all. We should consider what that means. We should embrace what that means. Both of those things really push what has been quite a traditional work model across the NHS. We need to be more modern. We need to have a think about how we rip up the old rule book. But change in an area that is very risk averse because the nature of the work we do is really tricky, so we need our leaders and our workforce to embrace trying things”.

That was an alarming statement for her to make. I think we would all agree that healthcare professionals’ understanding of risk and the importance of mitigating risk is incredibly important. It is always a matter of concern when business says that it wants to “rip up” the rule book on employment rights and pay.

Yesterday, in the Minister’s summing up, he said that

“the Bill does not privatise the NHS.”—[Official Report, 22 November 2021; Vol. 704, c. 151.]

I have to say, however, that I disagree. ICBs—integrated care boards—will be able to delegate functions, including commissioning functions, down to provider collaboratives, and provider collaboratives can be made up of private companies. I do not understand what it is that the Minister does not understand about that.

Add to that the fact that the abolition of the national tariff will open up the opportunity for big business to undercut the NHS, this is a potent situation indeed, and one that will be exploited by big business if the Bill goes through. The late Kailash Chand, former honorary vice-president of the British Medical Association said:

“The core thrust of the new reforms is to deprofessionalise and down skill the practice of medicine in this country, so as to make staff more interchangeable, easier to fire, and services more biddable, and, above all, cheaper”.

The removal of professions from regulation is a part of that scenario he described.

I turn now to workforce planning. There is a workforce crisis in the NHS. In fact, that is probably an understatement. Earlier this year, I met members of the Royal College of Nursing in the north-west, who told me of the sheer exhaustion that they are experiencing because of staff shortages. I was struck by how, even at this point when they were describing how they are on their knees with exhaustion, their primary concern was patient safety. We owe it to them to address the matter. The British Medical Association highlighted:

“Burnout has led to significant numbers of medical professionals considering leaving the profession or reducing their working commitments”.

According to the latest figures, there are well over 90,000 full-time equivalent vacancies in England’s NHS providers. The best the Government can come up with is in this Bill is to require the Secretary of State to publish a report, at least once every five years, describing the system in place for assessing and meeting the workforce needs of the health service in England. That is woefully inadequate. The Royal College of Physicians says that this duty on the Secretary of State

“falls short of what is needed given the scale of the challenge facing the health and care system”.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is among those who have called for this duty to be strengthened in the Bill. I ask the Government to listen to the expertise of those bodies.

The Government’s plans to remove NHS professions from regulations is wholly unacceptable and it is particularly alarming at a time when there are such acute shortages of staff, right across NHS professions. We all value the NHS highly and respect the high level of professionalism in the service. Instead of looking to deregulate professions, the Government should be investing in the training of the next generation of professionals.

David Fuller Case

Laura Trott Excerpts

Monday 8th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. This will, of course, be a very difficult and distressing time for the local trust. I have already discussed the matter with my colleagues in NHS England, and it will be provided with the resources that it needs.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

I thank the Secretary of State for agreeing to the inquiry. For my constituents who have been affected, nothing will ever take away the pain and the trauma, but I hope that it will at least provide them with some comfort and assurance that this will never happen again.

When David Fuller was first employed, DBS checks did not exist. Subsequent checks failed to pick up his previous convictions. Can the Secretary of State assure us that that issue will be looked at as part of the inquiry? Will he look at the wider NHS and ensure that people with convictions do not have access to sensitive areas of NHS trusts?

[Sajid Javid]

Yes, I can absolutely give my hon. Friend that assurance. As other colleagues have done, she raises a very important point: it is clear from this case that the issue of employment checks, especially DBS checks—not just in hospital settings, but in mortuary and undertaker settings—needs to be looked at afresh. I do not want to pre-empt the outcome of the independent inquiry, but I can give my hon. Friend the assurance that the issue will absolutely be looked at.

Oral Answers to Questions

Laura Trott Excerpts

Tuesday 19th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

Our vaccination programme has been one of the most successful in the world, and the right hon. Gentleman may know that it has prevented 24 million infections, has prevented some 230,000 people from being hospitalised and saved 130,000 lives. I do not call that a failure; I call it a success.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

T2. Last week, a whistleblower told the American Congress that Facebook had repeatedly misled the public about the impact of its platform on children’s health. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is time for Facebook to be transparent about the impact of its platform, and to share with the public what it knows about the impact on children’s health?

[Sajid Javid]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and I thank her for raising this issue. I share those concerns. Over the past year, the number of young people being urgently referred for eating disorders has doubled. In the light of that, I was astonished to learn that one of Facebook’s own internal studies, which was brought to light by Ms Haugen, found that 17% of teen girls said that their eating disorders got worse after using Instagram. Facebook did not think it was appropriate to inform parents, healthcare professionals and legislators. I do think it is time for Facebook to do the right thing and publish what it knows.