Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Tuesday 26th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Norman Lamb]

My hon. Friend deserves credit for that one. Of course I would be happy to have a chat with him. He makes a point about integrated care records. We should be focusing on ensuring that we do much more to keep frail and elderly people out of hospital in the first place. The system that we have inherited is dysfunctional, and the shift towards integrated care is exactly what needs to be done.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

6. What progress his Department has made on improving out-of-hospital care for frail elderly people.

[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

13. What progress his Department has made on improving out-of-hospital care for frail elderly people.

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

Improving the quality of out-of-hospital care is the biggest strategic long-term change that we need to make in the NHS. It will help to make the NHS sustainable. Reforming the GP contract is the first step, but we also need to make major progress on integrating the health and social care systems.

[Mark Menzies]

I welcome the Government’s announcement of named GPs for older people. What does the Secretary of State envisage that will mean for my older constituents?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is not the only person to welcome that change. After months of telling the House that this was nothing to do with the A and E problems, the shadow Health Secretary said on the “Today” programme that he welcomed the change and that it would make a difference to A and E. So I welcome the return of the prodigal son with great pride and pleasure. For my hon. Friend’s constituents, this will mean that there will be someone in the NHS who is responsible for ensuring that they get the care package that they need. That is incredibly important, because when people are discharged from hospitals, the hospitals worry about whose care they will be under. This change will provide that crucial link and make a real difference.