Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Steve Barclay

Monday 30th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

I do not think it has been hiding. Flu seasons are not uncommon in the NHS and come round on a periodic basis, and that is why we anticipated it through the flu vaccine. On the hon. Gentleman’s wider point, it is also recognised that as a consequence of covid some resistance to flu may have been lowered, but we have had flu pressures on the NHS in past years.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

Would the Secretary of State consider more use of existing urgent care centres, such as that at St Cross in Rugby? Our nearest full A&E is 12 miles away at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, in Coventry, which means that 83% of my constituents are more than 15 minutes’ drive from an A&E. The hospital at Coventry serves a population of 600,000, which is twice the national average. Does he agree that extending provision at St Cross would go a long way towards reducing pressure at the hospital in Coventry?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend is right that not every patient accessing an emergency department needs a tier 1 A&E facility. This is about right place, right treatment for the patient, and making better use of urgent care centres. How those centres can better triage patients who can be treated there is a key part of the plan we have set out.

NHS Winter Pressures

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Steve Barclay

Monday 9th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that many of those who will need to be admitted to hospital in the coming weeks will have reason to welcome the fact that this Government, unlike the Labour party, do not have a prejudice against making use of facilities from within the independent sector?

[Steve Barclay]

I agree; I think that it is important that we maximise capacity in the independent sector. That is what we are committed to doing, and I very much agree with my hon. Friend.

Ambulance Pressures

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Steve Barclay

Monday 18th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

I know the hon. Gentleman is co-chairing, with the Minister for Care and Mental Health, a strategy board looking at these issues, and I would be very keen to explore that with him in due course. There is an opportunity—not just from a health perspective, but from a levelling up perspective—to look at the pockets where there are gaps in the way he sets out, and to see how we can get better coverage geographically as well as address the very real health needs he identifies.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

My constituents attribute the deteriorating response times in Rugby to the decision of the West Midlands ambulance service to close our community ambulance station at the Hospital of St Cross—a decision taken without reference to doctors, councillors, residents or the local MP. Does the Secretary of State agree that decisions of that nature should be made only after consultation and with the support of local stakeholders?

[Steve Barclay]

I do not know the specific circumstances of the case my hon. Friend highlights, but in general good consultation and engagement with stakeholders will of course lead to better and more informed decision making. Where decisions have been taken and the outcomes proceed in a sub-optimal way, I know from my knowledge of my hon. Friend that he will make such a case in the strongest terms.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Steve Barclay

Monday 18th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend raises an important point, which is why we have allocated a further £617 million of support to local authorities for discretionary payments for cases such as the one that she highlights. Local authorities are free to focus those payments in line with local need.

[Mark Pawsey [V]]

District councils are the level of local government closest to residents, and I know that they very much appreciated the support that the Government have provided, but responding to the virus has incurred both additional expenditure and a loss of revenue—they have had less income from things such as car parking and leisure services. How can the Minister ensure that district councils are able not only to meet their short-term demands, but to ensure a long-term, sustainable future?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend is right to point to the particular pressures on lower-tier councils, which is why councils such as Rugby have benefited from more than £1 million of additional funding. Seventy per cent of district councils have received more than £1 million, which is why the profile for the second allocation of £1.6 billion was changed to recognise the points that he highlights.

Checks on Goods: Northern Ireland and Great Britain

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Steve Barclay

Thursday 24th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Barclay]

I visited the port of Rotterdam to discuss the arrangements that it is making. For goods coming from Rotterdam to, say, Northern Ireland and then on to Great Britain, any requirements are within the control of Great Britain and the UK; there are no requirements on that in the protocol. The hon. Gentleman knows that most of the time—this is what I was discussing with the port of Rotterdam—these issues are intelligence-led in any event. That is the case now and that will be the case in the future.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

On a very practical level, PTI Express Ltd is a haulage company based in my constituency, transporting goods to and from both Northern Ireland and the Republic, and it was very concerned about the threat to its business—about the prospect of no deal. Of course, that threat to its business has now been abated as a consequence of the vote in the House earlier in the week, but what arrangements should it put in place for future circumstances?

[Stephen Barclay]

I agree with my hon. Friend in part, in that I think the central concern of many businesses, as with those in his constituency, has been around no deal; but because of the decision that the House took on the programme motion, I would not say that has been abated. That is why my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has had to step up our no-deal preparation, Yellowhammer. The sooner we can reach a deal, the sooner we can address fully the concerns of my hon. Friend’s constituents, because he is quite right: many members of the business community are concerned about no deal. That is why they want this deal done and they want us to move forward.