Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Tuesday 17th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

My hon. Friend makes a powerful case, and I know how passionate and determined he is to deliver the new Thornbury health centre. I can assure him that my officials will continue to work closely with him, with the integrated care board and with the NHS to progress the scheme. We will be in contact in the coming days, following the meeting he had earlier today with Lord Markham.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

15. What recent steps his Department has taken to increase the availability of NHS dentistry services.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Neil O’Brien)]

We are making NHS work more attractive to dentists. We have started to reform the contracts and create more UDA bands. We have introduced the minimum UDA value to help sustain practices where values are lower, and we are allowing dentists to deliver 110% of their UDAs. We are also reforming the rules to empower both clinicians and commissioners, for example by enabling therapists to start delivering medicines such as anaesthetics. We are rebasing contract values where they are underperforming, and we are growing the workforce with a record commitment to grow the number of dentists in training by 40%—a commitment never made by the Opposition.

[Mark Menzies]

UDA rates, the sum paid to NHS dentists for each unit of dental work undertaken, have long been deemed insufficient. Being based on figures from 2005, there are huge differences in rates between practices, with some receiving less than the NHS charges patients for the service. A recent 5% uplift was based on the Government estimate of a 3% rise in costs, a figure that local dentists tell me is more like 10% to 15%, compounding the losses that NHS dentists are already making. What steps is my hon. Friend taking to reform the UDA system and to stop the flow of dentists leaving the NHS?

[Neil O’Brien]

That is exactly why we have started to reform the UDA system. As well as the introduction of the first ever minimum UDA rate, which will help constituencies such as my hon. Friend’s, we have changed the rules nationally so that commissioners can take UDAs away from dentists who are underperforming and give them to those who want to do more NHS work. As a result, nearly a quarter more NHS dentistry is being done than a year ago.

Covid-19 Update

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I will absolutely arrange a meeting between the vaccine roll-out Minister, the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Nadhim Zahawi), and the right hon. Gentleman to look into that case in particular. Around seven in 10 of the vaccines deployed so far have gone to those over 80. The rest have gone to NHS and care home staff, and to some residents in older persons’ care homes who are under the age of 80. We are deploying the Pfizer jab to older people right now, and we have to do that as fast as possible to make sure that, when there are cases such as the one he raises, we get it sorted.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con) [V]]

I begin by joining the Secretary of State in thanking those in the NHS for the work they are doing at this incredible time. I also recognise that he has never shirked from taking really tough decisions, and that has no doubt saved lives.

I have many care homes in Fylde, including lots of small care homes, family-run care homes and assisted-living homes. Can the Secretary of State assure me that work is being done to ensure that we can get the vaccine into those small care homes very quickly and speedily in the coming weeks?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, absolutely. My hon. Friend is kind in what he says, and I am grateful for his support for the approach that we have taken throughout the pandemic—I really appreciate it. As he says, it is precisely in order to save lives that we have taken the actions that we have. It has been harder to get the Pfizer jab to the smaller care homes because of the minus 70° storage requirements. That is much easier with the AstraZeneca vaccine, and today the NHS has written to GPs who are running the vaccines programme to stress the importance of getting the vaccine to care home residents and staff as soon as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Tuesday 1st September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Jo Churchill]

I thank the hon. Gentleman. I was really saddened to hear of the death of his constituent, and fully agree that we must protect people who are often so desperate to find something that will help them and give them hope of recovery. Under the Cancer Act 1939, all advertising of cancer services and treatments is prohibited wherever advertised—online or in the paper—including complementary or alternative services and treatments that purport to be able to cure cancer. We know the role that the internet can play in spreading harmful messages about alternative treatments. It is dangerous, and I have discussed the issue in its broadest sense with my Digital, Culture, Media and Sport colleagues. I give him an assurance that we are committed, across Government, to taking any further action needed. He knows that my door is always open, and I would be happy to continue this conversation at any point.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support the social care sector during the covid-19 outbreak.

[John Howell (Henley) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support the social care sector during the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Minister for Care (Helen Whately)]

We know that those who receive social care are among the most vulnerable in our society. The Department of Health and Social Care has strived to support the sector throughout this pandemic, providing it with a sense of guidance, extra funding, and emergency supplies of personal protective equipment, and prioritising access to testing.

[Mark Menzies]

May I express my very sincere thanks for all the help that social care services have provided throughout this ongoing crisis, but can the Minister assure me that we have learned all the lessons from the shielding programme and that the social care sector is adequately prepared for the coming winter months?

[Helen Whately]

I join my hon. Friend in thanking all those who work in social care for their commitment and compassion since the start of the pandemic. We have indeed carried out work to understand the impact of shielding on people’s health and we will shortly be publishing our winter plan for adult social care, setting out our preparations for the winter and in the event of a second wave.

Covid-19 Response

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes. I am from mining stock myself—in Nottinghamshire rather than south Wales—so I entirely understand the impact mining has on breathing and respiratory disease, and of course I understand the impact in turn of respiratory disease on the likelihood of having a bad response to coronavirus. I am happy to take up the point the hon. Gentleman makes, to contact those in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy who I believe are specifically responsible for redress for miners, and to write to him.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con) [V]]

In April, 16 residents of a care home in Fylde died. They represent about half of those in the home. Six of the remaining residents are displaying symptoms, but they are being told that they will have to wait until mid-June for further tests, following errors made by Randox a few weeks ago. Can the Secretary of State please investigate and work with me to resolve this important issue?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, of course I can. I will take that up immediately and we will try to get a resolution. Thankfully, we have the testing capacity to be able to resolve such problems.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Tuesday 29th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The NHS is not on the table in any trade deal. Medicine pricing and drugs pricing is not on the table in a trade deal. Let me bring the hon. Lady’s attention to this quotation from the former US trade general counsel, Stephen Vaughn, who said that if the UK really is determined to make no changes at all on pharmaceuticals, we can absolutely hold that position and that that has nothing to do with them. Quite right —we do hold that position; they are off the table.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

I welcome the announcement of Royal Preston Hospital being included in the hospital upgrades programme, but what plans does the Minister have for Blackpool Victoria Hospital, where services such as opthalmics are now over capacity and could do with some additional investment?

[The Minister for Health (Edward Argar)]

As Members will know, my hon. Friend spoke only last week about his local hospital in Blackpool and the challenges it faces. It is absolutely clear that we need not only to get leadership right there but to continue to invest in it. I believe that I am already meeting him to discuss exactly that.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Thursday 24th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Gordon Marsden]

I share those concerns, and I will show how they are inextricably linked to some of the shenanigans in the confirmation of the chief executive. It is all the more reason why staff might share the concerns and sense of grievance to which I will refer.

In the autumn and winter of last year and into this spring, as the trust’s chair settled into his new position, the problems of cuts, waiting times and cancelled operations, which still leave the trust with some of the worst mortality rates and waiting times in England, continued. A snap visit by the CQC in January found patients waiting on the floor of Blackpool Victoria Hospital, because of a lack of space, and triage delays of more than three hours. As Blackpool’s The Gazette said when the report finally came out, the CQC was demanding that

“bosses must improve the standards of care and staffing…in the emergency department”.

Unfortunately, by this time, the trust had a further shadow hanging over it, with a police probe into issues of alleged poisoning in the stroke unit. That situation remains unresolved and I do not intend to talk about it further. The then chief executive, Wendy Swift, had left fairly unexpectedly in April, and the chair was at pains to tell The Gazette that her departure was

“in no way related to the trust’s performance.”

But he struck a very different tone last month when he told governors that the trust had

“needed a leader with gravitas and experience who could lead a different type of engagement with our staff.”

That person was Kevin McGee, who was appointed as the interim temporary chief executive for the six months to 31 October. Naturally, when I heard of that, in May, I spoke to the chairman, who assured me that there would be a full and proper process for appointing a permanent chief executive in due course. I said in a subsequent letter to him, on 10 June, that it would be helpful to confirm when the process would begin, with details of the period between stakeholders being advised and of the closing period, and that this had been one of the issues in respect of his appointment as chair. I heard no more until 20 June, when the trust’s secretary sent me a note, which said that the post had been advertised on 9 June and the shortlisting process would take place at the remuneration committee on 27 June. I want to emphasise that that was an even more rushed deadline that the one that the Minister’s predecessor had criticised for the chairman’s own appointment. In effect, it blocked MP stakeholders from having any ability to inform other potentially suitable applicants.

I began to be concerned, but what I did not then know was that the timeline described in the note to governors on 16 September to rubber stamp Mr McGee’s appointment as the permanent chief executive without due process had been given the following rationale:

“On 27th June, the Remuneration Committee reviewed the shortlist provided by Odgers”—

the recruiters—

“and determined that the candidates presented did not demonstrate either the experience or the leadership…required for the post…The Non-Executive Directors and myself did not believe that re-advertising the post would result in a stronger field of applicants and this had been discussed with, and agreed by, the Regional Director of NHS Improvement, after a range of discussions with experienced Chief Executives across the sector.”

How cosy! It was very cosy, and I think that to any impartial outside observer it would look like a complete stitch-up by the great and good of the region. The only communication I had received from the trust between June and 16 September was a staff bulletin from Pearse Butler, in which he had confirmed the cancellation of interviews and said

“we will now take a few weeks to consider our options”.

In the meantime, my attention had been drawn to an article published on 9 August in the Health Service Journal headed “Chief executive makes bid to lead second trust”. The journalist, Lawrence Dunhill, had interviewed Mr McGee about creating chain models and shared leadership. Mr McGee was admirably concise about what he thought—they were a jolly good thing. He told Mr Dunhill:

“Take personalities out of it, just the ability to work together in a different way”.

When asked whether he wanted to lead both trusts permanently, he said:

“If we can look at working in a different way across Lancashire then it would be a really good thing to do and I’d be really interested in doing that.”

The article stated:

“As reported last month, former Salford Royal chief executive Sir David Dalton…has been brought in to help trusts in Lancashire look at options for closer collaboration.”

Incidentally, this was the same Sir David Dalton who had been the independent assessor for the process of Pearse Butler’s own appointment as chair, which the previous Minister referred to last year.

I want to make it clear that I am not making any judgment—certainly not yet—on whether Mr McGee will be a good, bad or indifferent chief executive. He comes with some reputation, but as he has not met me since his appointment in May, I cannot say more. What is very clear is that for the second part of this exercise, having got Mr McGee as an interim chief executive of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, in addition to his existing position as chief executive of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, there was a clear determination on the part of the chair at least to push through his confirmation without any attempt to reopen the selection process. We know that because of the answer to a parliamentary question that I received from the Minister on 8 October. I asked in what capacity NHS Improvement had given advice on discussing the possibility of mergers, and the reply said:

“The Chair at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Chair at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust sought the views of NHS England and NHS Improvement on the possibility of merging services and provision between the two Trusts.”

When the chairman had secured the agreement of the governors at the meeting to his proposal for Mr McGee, he finally decided to tell certainly me, and I think my parliamentary neighbour, the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard), of his news. This consisted of a rushed phone call to me, I think out in the countryside, just before he was about to go on holiday to Japan. I made it clear to him that I was surprised that he seemed to have learned nothing from the failings of process and transparency in his own appointment, that he was now preparing to foist a merger between the two trusts, that this was a major step and that there should be utmost clarity and transparency in the process. When I asked him why he had not taken that option in respect of Mr McGee, he dodged the question about putting him automatically on the shortlist and said that it would be a great move. When I said to him that it was effectively a merger, it said that it was not, saying that it was an alignment and that no decisions had been made about any merger. We know from the answer to the parliamentary question that that was incorrect. Perhaps the House will not be surprised that in the article in The Gazette entitled “More controversy at Blackpool Victoria Hospital”, I said that the process had been

“at best ambiguous and at worst evasive”

in respect of the merger and that we needed confirmation of what was proposed. I have no doubt that the chair will continue to try to muddy the waters but, to continue the analogy, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.

We now have clarity from the answer to a second parliamentary question that I received from the Minister that Mr McGee will receive a single salary, agreed by both remuneration committees, although the trust still refuses to tell us what it will be. I said to The Gazette that the situation “beggars belief” after last year’s debate, and I still believe it does. It appears I am not the only one. The smooth and slippery stakeholder brief that was put out by way of formal amendment for the trust talks of “strategies of collaboration” and extensive discussions with, among others, the governors at Blackpool foundation trust. I am reliably informed that that is not the case. At least one governor has said that they were called on 16 September simply to ratify McGee’s appointment and that nothing was said about the implications of a merger. I gather that others are asking for more clarification. The Gazette, which was initially fobbed off about the truth and timing of the appointment, told us the same story. It seems that a number of other non-executive directors have also been confirmed without further press or selection.

It has to be said that this is not the first time that Mr Butler has attracted controversy with governors. When he was chair of the Morecambe Bay trust and outsourced Barrow hospital’s out-patient services, the media reported governors as saying, “I do not believe you got any influence on this structure. You drove the decision and due process was not done.” Governors were not informed of what was happening until July. In this case, it was not only MPs who were not consulted, as is confirmed by the Minister’s answer to my parliamentary question, and nor was the chair of the clinical commissioning group, or the CCG itself. Sadly, in the “not good enough” CQC report on the June inspection that came out just last week, this is amply and damningly exposed.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

The hon. Gentleman refers to the CQC report, which sums up what is quite frankly a failing of management and senior administration at the hospital. We have a litany of records going missing—paper records like something from the 1950s—for months on end, and patients not being informed if their records have been found. Today, one of my constituents went to the hospital for an appointment only to be told that that appointment had been cancelled, although they had never been informed. This is not about money; it is about basic admin and basic management. Quite frankly, I say to the Minister that if these people cannot sort themselves out, the time is up. We should send in a taskforce, take these people in hand and sort it out. Our constituents demand better. We are putting the money in and we need to sort these people out if they cannot sort themselves out. My patience has worn out.

[Gordon Marsden]

The hon. Gentleman speaks very powerfully about the whole process, and I agree with him exactly. Sadly, in the “not good enough” CQC report about the inspection in June, which came out just last week, ample and damning concerns are exposed. There was a continuing series of “requiring improvements” for safety, effectiveness and responsiveness; and one “good” for caring, which speaks volumes for the staff. The biggest black mark went against leadership. When asked to judge whether the trust was well led, the CQC said that it was not and that it was “inadequate”. It gave chapter and verse on the issues. I cannot read all of it out, but I will give the Minister a selection:

“There was limited understanding of the importance of culture…Staff did not feel respected, valued, supported or appreciated by some members of the board…When something went wrong, people were not always told, did not consistently receive an apology…There were levels of bullying, harassment, discrimination and the organisation was not taking adequate action to reduce this…When staff raised concerns, they were not treated with respect, or the culture, policies and procedures did not provide adequate support for them to do so…We heard from several staff groups particularly those from a BME background.”

I have spoken to the CQC since the report came out and asked it to clarify exactly when it got these comments from staff and when it investigated them. It was confirmed that it was the period between March 2018 and June 2019, three quarters of which had been under Pearse Butler’s chairmanship. I asked whether there had been any discussion about the possibility of any future merger/collaboration, and was told that there had been discussions with NHSI and that it was likely—this was in June—that Mr McGee would be able to take that through. That is further evidence, if any more were needed, of this all being sorted out by the people in the bubble between June and August. There was very little evidence that they thought there was anything wrong, but of course there is something wrong—massively wrong. Let us add to this a small number of people in that bubble, in this case spearheaded by the chief executive. Yes, these decisions will affect all our constituents.

The fact of the matter is that the implications of this merger—because that is what it is—are massive. Will the two organisations fit? How will Mr McGee handle both? Why were the governors not given the full facts? East Lancashire, which is a good trust, covers Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, Clitheroe, Pendle, Colne and Darwen. They are all very different places in terms of geography, demographics and ethnicities. All are a very long way from some of the coastal concerns of this hospital trust. If the people of East Lancashire look to anywhere, proud inland communities though they are, they look— dare I say it?—to the Pennines or to Greater Manchester. The idea that this is going to work very easily is for the birds.

Foundation trusts were established under a quid pro quo system. They have wide powers of initiative, but in return, the public and external stakeholders have a right to be properly informed, consulted and assured that process is properly applied. In this case, that has not happened. What was needed was proper scrutiny, not winks and nods from a cosy clique within the bubble and nothing that would make the culture inadequate, as was so devastatingly laid out by the CQC. I have no doubt that some of these appointments may in themselves be good—I have met the new nursing director—but the culture over which Pearse Butler has presided over the past year has attracted these black marks.

I will conclude by saying that we really must make sure that we see a turnover from this catalogue of half-truths and evasions, and that there is a proper consultation, involving all stakeholders, about a process that is effectively a merger. Perhaps someone needs to say to the chair and some others in the trust the good words of Robbie Burns:

“Oh what a tangled web we weave,

When first we practice to deceive.”

Health Infrastructure Plan

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Monday 30th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

The hon. Gentleman made several points. I am pleased that he has been enjoying improving reading of Conservative party press releases. On his serious point about the Imperial trust, the seed funding will be for the trust to develop its plans as a trust and to put forward its proposals. I am happy, as I am in respect of other colleagues, to write to the hon. Gentleman to set out the process, how the money will be spent and how swiftly it can be allocated. There is always a need for the development of a business case when large sums of public money are involved, and I am sure he would expect one for any major investment in his trust. The seed funding will enable the trust to get going quickly and put together its case.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

I welcome the excellent announcement of the seed money for Royal Preston Hospital. This is indeed a great day for healthcare in Lancashire. Will the Minister assure us that he will work with right hon. and hon. Members to shape the health vision for this part of our county?

[Edward Argar]

Again, I am happy to welcome the positivity from my hon. Friend and the welcome for this money; the welcome for this massive additional investment into our NHS has been clear on the Conservative Benches. I am, of course, happy to give him the commitment that he wishes, which is to work with him and his colleagues to make sure that his constituents continue to get the healthcare that they need.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Tuesday 7th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Nicola Blackwood)]

I pay tribute to the work of the charity the hon. Gentleman mentioned, which does very important work, and have sympathy for the case he mentioned. The UK’s rare diseases strategy has 51 recommendations, which are driving changes through the NHS and improving the life chances of patients with rare diseases. Our genomics work is also bringing life-changing improvements to patients with rare diseases by diagnosing them faster and improving their chances of receiving treatment quicker.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

T6. People in Lancashire will be pleased that the emergency department in Chorley has reopened, providing access for people 12 hours a day. Will my hon. Friend welcome that good news and thank everyone involved?

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Philip Dunne)]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for recognising the work that went into reopening the A&E at Chorley last month. I am delighted, in particular, by the work that was done by the Deputy Speaker and my hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble (Seema Kennedy).

Maternity Units: Bereavement Care

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Monday 2nd November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury) (Con)]

It is a huge honour to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Will Quince) who has spoken with such courage about the experience that he and his wife had with the birth of their son. I know that there are many parents who will have had similar experiences, and it is a testament to the support that he received during his son’s birth and death, which he spoke about so movingly, that he has the strength to speak today.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for asking me to contribute to his debate. Certainly I would not be able to speak in this debate without the support that I received. The night my son died, I woke to find him not breathing. Arriving at hospital, after looking at a flat line in the ambulance for more than 20 minutes, a crash team was waiting for me, but it was too late. The consultant neonatologist was a calm and reassuring presence, and the nursing staff were patient. I readily agreed to a post mortem, as I wanted to know exactly what had happened. Staff at the hospital were wonderful, but I found myself in a plain room with questions being asked of me. I was told that I had to wait for the police. I had left in such a panic that I had left my telephone behind and I could not remember any telephone numbers, and I was there on my own. [Interruption.]

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way in what is a very, very powerful and emotional contribution. Does she agree that this Government are making great strides to help support parents who are at a very vulnerable point in their lives? I look forward to seeing her, during our time in this House, helping to move the debate forward.

[Antoinette Sandbach]

I certainly do agree with my hon. Friend, and I am very grateful to him for his intervention. That night, I was given a leaflet by the Chrysalis Trust, on which there were telephone numbers that gave me invaluable information about the help that I could access.

I arrived home later that morning to find police officers going through my house. Clearly, they had to investigate the death as it had been away from the hospital. I had to explain to my six-year-old what had happened. It was then that the advice in the leaflet came into its own, because it was made clear to me that I should not say that my son had gone to sleep. It was at that point that I realised that I would need additional help, as I did not know how to cope with what had happened. I called the number for the Chrysalis charity, and it organised counselling for me, which was a lifeline.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to John from the Alder Centre at Alder Hey hospital, as there was no counselling available in north Wales, and the counselling that was provided was funded through the Chrysalis charity with the aid of a small grant from the NHS trust. The grant was subsequently withdrawn, forcing the closure of that charity.

The two hospitals that serve my constituency, Leighton hospital and the Countess of Chester, both have specialist rooms for babies who are known to have limited life expectancy following birth, with one-to-one-care offered. The support of those staff is invaluable and Leighton, which has an award-winning maternity department, has a trained bereavement midwife. For parents who suffer loss, however, counselling services can be accessed only via a referral from their GP. The Countess of Chester has the newly equipped Lavender suite, with a cool cot that allows parents to spend time with their baby, but a parent presenting at A&E or through the child unit would not have access to that suite. There is a full-time counsellor at the trust, but the workload means that it can be several weeks before a parent can get support. Both hospitals refer to Sands, which has volunteers rather than trained counsellors.

Bliss outlines that 41% of neonatal units nationally say that parents have no access to a trained mental health worker, with 30% of neonatal units saying that parents have no access to any psychological support at all. The Alder Centre offers 24-hour bereavement support and, as the centre has said to me:

“It is important to slow down the decision making to give parents the space in which to make informed decisions, it is vital to have that talking support with someone who can say to you it is alright, take your time.”

Fifteen babies die a day, and there are five deaths a week due to sudden infant death syndrome. That figure has been the same for the past 20 years.

Charities working in this field, such as Sands, Bliss, Group B Strep Support, the Lullaby Trust and Tommy’s, need data so that they can target their research and consider potential common factors contributing to our high infant mortality rates. I urge the Minister to ensure that the British Association of Perinatal Medicine guidelines are followed and that psychological support is available for parents who suffer a perinatal, stillbirth or sudden infant death. I am aware that the Government have made a commitment to put mental health services on an equal footing to physical health services. This area clearly needs careful consideration and a greater degree of concentration by clinical commissioning groups and NHS trusts. I know that there is a national perinatal epidemiology unit at Oxford and would be grateful if the Minister updated us on that and on what has happened to the NHS England plan to support those with counselling needs, the report on which was due to be submitted in March 2015.

Support for parents is arguably just as important, if not more important, when the dreams and hopes of a new baby’s arrival are shattered. The national standards exist, but it is vital to ensure that they are complied with so that every parent has access to the help and support they need.

Contaminated Blood

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Monday 20th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Ben Gummer]

The hon. Lady is right to highlight that for some people this has been a fact of life for 30 years or more. Within a year of the publication of the Penrose report, we hope to provide a scheme that settles the concerns of many sufferers. That is a fast pace at which to move given the complexity of what is required, the five schemes already in existence and the many hundreds and thousands of voices that need to be heard in the short consultation we plan to hold.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

I know from first-hand experience that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary care passionately about this issue. We need to make sure that the people suffering from these diseases do not feel at the mercy of a clunky civil service-led process, and that it is being driven by people who know about the issue and want it sorted out to the benefit of those people.

[Ben Gummer]

In my discussions with officials, there has been a great sense of urgency and professional commitment to making sure this is dealt with as quickly as possible, and we are moving quickly. As my hon. Friend will understand, the Prime Minister has form on trying to address historical injustices. This is another he intends to address in a like manner.