Primary Care: Quality and Access Improvements Debate

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Lord Bird

Main Page: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)

Primary Care: Quality and Access Improvements

Lord Bird Excerpts
Thursday 21st July 2022

(1 year, 8 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Baroness Penn Portrait Baroness Penn (Con)
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My understanding is that the establishment of Select Committees is a question for Parliament, not the Government.

Lord Bird Portrait Lord Bird (CB)
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Is it possible to look at the fact that 50% of the people who present in the NHS are suffering from food poverty? Of those suffering from cardiac arrest, for example, 50% are to do with food poverty. When are we going to address the long-term overriding problem of poverty, which destroys our NHS?

Baroness Penn Portrait Baroness Penn (Con)
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I am not aware of the specific statistic that the noble Lord refers to but we are doing a huge amount to support people, particularly during this difficult economic time. People are facing increased costs, which is why we have put in £37 billion worth of support this year, focused on the most vulnerable and those on the lowest incomes.