Liam Fox
Main Page: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)Department Debates - View all Liam Fox's debates with the Department for Education
Paediatric First Aid
Liam Fox Excerpts(10 years ago)
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Mark Hunter
I could not agree more. That is one reason why it is long overdue for the Government to take this issue seriously and why they should make provision for a change in the regulations that will require this to happen in future. Hon. Members will be shocked to hear that in some respects the capacity of the regulations to help in a situation such as this has, in my view, been reduced; they have been weakened rather than strengthened. I am sure that that is the result of the law of unintended consequences, but that is what has happened and it will be a cause of great concern to all of us.
Dr Liam Fox (North Somerset) (Con)
I was a divisional surgeon with St John Ambulance and I also lectured in emergency medicine. The hon. Gentleman makes a good, specific case about what happens in nurseries, but very many more people are parents than nursery workers. Does it not seem absurd that, at the beginning of the 21st century, we spend so much money both on the National Health Service and on education, yet future parents can go through both systems without ever learning some of the most basic life-saving skills, which are readily available—they would not dream of not teaching their children to swim—but are not taught nearly widely enough in our society?
Mark Hunter
The right hon. Gentleman makes a pertinent point. In fact, Millie’s Trust—the legacy set up in the child’s memory—provides paediatric first aid training free of charge to interested parents. As hon. Members can imagine, a great number of interested parents have been stepping up, wanting to take advantage of that. The training courses are also provided at cost to commercial organisations, such as nurseries. Again, as hon. Members can imagine, as a consequence of this case and other tragic cases there has been a great deal of interest in that. However, it is pertinent to say that parents themselves might also want to make themselves aware of the correct practices and procedures, should such unfortunate circumstances come about.