Adult Social Care: Funding

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Thursday 16th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

As I said to the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, the Green Paper has a wide remit. It is trying to provide a comprehensive solution to social care funding, which has unfortunately eluded many Governments. In doing so, it naturally needs to look particularly at the interaction between health and social care. For many people now there is no particular distinction between those as they follow their journey, as it were, through the health and care system. The important thing is that the care is joined up and is of high quality.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that he does not need to go as far as Germany and Japan to find good examples of this? Could he go up to Scotland, in particular to Ayrshire, and talk to Ian Welsh, the chair of the NHS health and social care partnership? That is a very good example of two bodies working together under a joint budget and joint administration. If the Minister were to take a few days off and go up there, I think he would find it very valuable.

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

I will speak to the Chief Whip about taking a few days off. I thank the noble Lord for bringing that point to my attention. As he says, there are examples in the UK—in Scotland, England and Wales, and of course Northern Ireland has a joined-up system too—so clearly there are lessons to be learned from home.

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, this goes back to the culture of the trust. It is important that members of the public or Healthwatch have a right to go in and visit facilities, and that they are welcomed there, but that they do not go native at the same time—that they are truly independent, looking at it from the patients’ perspective. Healthwatch has an important part to play, and the relationship that it has locally with the CQC inspection team is very important.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab)]

My Lords, I am slightly perplexed. Why is it that, once again, it is only because an Urgent Question was tabled and agreed by the Speaker that Parliament knows all the details and is able to hold the Government to account? If, as the Minister says, the Government are so concerned about it, why did they not volunteer a Statement?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, the CQC report is in the public domain, as are all the CQC reports. To be honest with your Lordships, I am not technically sufficiently aware of the procedures of the House to know why it did not automatically come to the House but, as I say, I am here today.

Health: Adult Psychiatric Care

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Monday 22nd February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, that is a very hard question to answer. The talking therapies, for example, seem to be effective in about 50% of the cases, and whether they are effective is clearly a clinical decision. As for other standards, we tend to rely, as the noble Baroness will know, on proxies such as waiting times and the four-hour standard, which the noble Lord recommended in his report. We are considering the introduction of a four-hour waiting-time standard for people suffering from psychotic problems, in the same way as we have for physical health.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab)]

My Lords, can I give the Minister an easy question? What discussions has he or any of his colleagues in the Department of Health had with his counterparts in the Scottish Administration to exchange experience and ideas?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, I am not aware that we have had any discussions in the Scotland Office. However, there is no doubt that in Scotland they are approaching quality improvement extremely effectively. I had a recent meeting with people who have been involved in that, so I can assure the noble Lord that, at that level, if we can learn things from what they are doing in Scotland, we will do so.

Social Care and Support: Funding

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Monday 19th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

I think that the only word of comfort I can give is that in the long run we will have a well-funded social care sector and a well-funded NHS only if we have a successful and productive economy, and we will have a successful and productive economy only if we can get government borrowing back to where it needs to be and so can begin to eliminate the government deficit.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister not realise that he is not just a disinterested observer in this matter? He has admitted a 10% reduction, he has said that the sector is “fragile”, and then he says that we have to wait until the settlement in November. What are he and his colleagues doing about saying to the Treasury, “This is a fragile sector. This is a sector that needs more money. This is a sector that is alarming many, many Members of the House of Lords”, and getting those messages over to the Government?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

What we are saying is that we have to fundamentally transform the health and social care sector so that it is fit for the kinds of patients living in today’s society, not those living in, frankly, 1948.

NHS: GP Clinics

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Thursday 25th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

The noble Baroness—

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab)]

Has a very good point.

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

The main thrust of the legislation was to put GPs more in control of the delivery and structuring of local healthcare.