Southern Cross Healthcare

Mary Glindon Excerpts

Thursday 16th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Paul Burstow]

I am grateful for that question because it allows me to make the point that Age UK was very welcoming of the Government’s proposition to look at Monitor’s role in the social care sector. We are in discussions with it and will continue to consider the idea.

[Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

I understand that the Department of Health was invited to yesterday’s meeting with Southern Cross. With 31,000 vulnerable people facing the possibility of losing their homes, why did no one from the Government attend?

[Paul Burstow]

The character of the meeting has changed significantly over the past couple of days. The meeting is now focused on reaching a clear agreement between the lenders, the landlord and Southern Cross. We wanted to ensure that they were focused on that, which is why no representatives of the Department of Health were at the meeting.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mary Glindon Excerpts

Tuesday 7th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear today, we continue to believe that we can achieve more integrated services for patients, and we are determined to do so. That must be at the heart of the way in which reform and modernisation of the NHS deliver improving outcomes for patients. For patients, the results of care, and indeed their experience of it, will be greatly enhanced if it is designed and integrated to meet their needs. We know that that is effective, we know that it works for patients, and we are determined to make it happen. My hon. Friend has given just one example, and an important one, of the way in which hospital and community services can be integrated.

[Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has stated this afternoon that competition will be an integral part of patient choice. How will the Secretary of State ensure that all patients are able to make a fully informed choice of treatment when market forces fully exist?

[Mr Lansley]

I do not accept the hon. Lady’s premise. We do not intend that there should be an unrestricted market—or a free market, as she described it—in the NHS. It is a regulated, social market with powerful regulations governing how the participants in the provision of care meet their responsibilities. We are very clear that competition is a means to an end. It is not an end in itself; it is there to support the integration and delivery of services in the best interests of patients, but it does include giving patients choice. The hon. Lady highlights an important point. In our consultation earlier this year on the information revolution in the NHS, we set out how we felt we could empower patients, including those for whom in the past the NHS has provided a rather impenetrable route to getting the best treatment. I hope that when we respond to that consultation, we will demonstrate how we will make that better for all patients.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mary Glindon Excerpts

Tuesday 7th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burns]

Yes, I can certainly give my hon. Friend that assurance. The money will be ring-fenced to ensure that local communities can enhance the quality of public health for all constituents both in Gloucestershire and throughout the country.

[Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

T4. The north of England cancer network has been working since 2007 to improve cancer commissioning across primary and secondary care and to improve standards of cancer care for my constituents. Can the Secretary of State confirm that it will continue to play that role after the introduction of GP commissioning?

[Paul Burstow]

In the not-too-distant future, we will publish the refresh of the cancer reform strategy. That will demonstrate how the Government will continue to build on past success while ensuring that we reduce and improve the survival rates for cancer. One of the real problems in this country is that we have some of the poorest survival rates for cancer. We will ensure that the networks’ expertise is incorporated into the way in which the reformed system will work.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mary Glindon Excerpts

Tuesday 29th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Anne Milton]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question, of which he gave our office prior warning. It is important that decisions made locally focus on outcomes for people, that they are about choice, that they have support from local clinicians and commissioners, and that they are based on sound clinical evidence. I would be happy to meet him to discuss this further.

[Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

T6. Every year in the north-east, 300 children are born with congenital heart disease. These very sick children receive expert treatment locally in the world-class cardiothoracic unit at Newcastle’s Freeman hospital. Can the Minister assure my constituents, who value this vital local service, that the findings of Sir Ian Kennedy’s review of children’s heart surgery centres will be implemented without financial constraint?

[Mr Lansley]

I should tell the hon. Lady that it is premature to make any commitment about the review, because we now need to have proper engagement with local people, patients and those who are responsible to focus on how we can make absolutely certain that the outcomes that we achieve for children requiring cardiac surgery are as good as we can possibly make them.