Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and Jonathan Gullis

Tuesday 9th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes; we do not underestimate the impact of these measures on the travel and aviation industries. My right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary is leading the discussions, as he has done throughout, because it is incredibly important that people get the right level of support. It goes to the point made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), which is that we need to ensure that we go into these measures with a plan for how we come out of them into a set of secure international travel arrangements, so that people can get moving again.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

In Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove and Talke I have seen at first hand, while volunteering at the mass vaccination centre in Tunstall, the incredible effort of our local NHS heroes in getting jabs into the arms of up to 1,000 people each day. This is important, as the Royal Stoke University Hospital has been under tremendous pressure in critical care, dealing with capacity 220% above its usual averages. Will my right hon. Friend thank the local health and care heroes across Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove and Talke, and assure us that we will get increased vaccine doses as the supply increases?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, absolutely. The effort in Stoke has been absolutely magnificent. I follow it particularly closely because every time I come to this Chamber—it is normally at least once a week—I am grilled by a colleague from Stoke about performance in Stoke. I have been looking at it recently; across Stoke, the hospital, the GPs and the pharmacies have been doing a magnificent job in the vaccination effort. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his leadership locally in promoting uptake of the vaccine.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Matt Hancock and Jonathan Gullis

Tuesday 12th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

We have made that commitment and it is incredibly important that vaccinations are offered to everybody in care homes. The NHS is working hard to deliver on that with its colleagues in social care. Across the board, colleagues are working hard to deliver this life-saving vaccine. Of course, we are always open to further support for social care and it is something that we are working on right now to ensure that we can get the right support for testing, in particular to support the workforce, who are absolutely central to making this happen.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con) [V]]

In Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, we are excited to be the planned home of a mass vaccination centre. Stoke-on-Trent City Council is working around the clock, as it has done throughout the pandemic, to ensure that everything is ready from its end. Can my right hon. Friend give his assurances that the necessary equipment and staff will be ready to go on 25 January so that we can get more jabs into arms?

[Matt Hancock]

I am delighted that there is going to be a mass vaccination centre. I can give that assurance—we are working as hard as we possibly can to ensure that all the equipment is there. Everybody thinks about the vaccine—that is very important—but it is also about all the other things that are needed, such as the specialist syringes. The vaccine is so valuable that inside the syringe is a plunger that goes into the needle to squeeze the extra bit of liquid that would otherwise be left in the needle into someone’s arm to make sure that every last drop of vaccine is used. A whole series of other equipment is needed alongside the actual liquid of the vaccine. I will ensure that my hon. Friend the vaccine deployment Minister makes sure that the Stoke-on-Trent mass vaccination centre is up and running and ready for 25 January.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and Jonathan Gullis

Monday 14th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I am glad to say that thousands of people are receiving the payment. Of course it is aimed at those on the lowest incomes who need the financial support in order to isolate.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

Stoke-on-Trent has now seen our case rate drop to below 300 per 100,000 and boasts one of the highest testing rates in the west midlands. The additional lateral flow tests from the Government, added to the impressive work by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, mean that we can now test up to 25,000 people per week. Does my right hon. Friend agree that community testing will be hugely important in helping areas like Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, and can he confirm when mass vaccination sites in the city will appear?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes. Stoke-on-Trent has had a tough time recently, but the work by Stoke-on-Trent City Council and the community testing that is going on in Stoke-on-Trent is very impressive. All of us, as MPs, can lean into that and help to support the councils, the military and others in delivering testing in our communities. We have set out details of how we can all do that today so that every single one of us can play our part.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Matt Hancock and Jonathan Gullis

Tuesday 17th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I am happy to work with the hon. Lady and the director of public health in York, and obviously with NHS Test and Trace, to make sure that the link-up is as effective as possible.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend will be aware that nosocomial spread is high in the NHS and that transmission is sometimes via staff. In order to help the amazing teams at Royal Stoke University Hospital and the Hayward walk-in centre, will he give guidance that stops substantive staff working bank, agency and locum shifts in other hospitals, to help reduce transmissions?

[Matt Hancock]

I am very happy to look into that idea, while making sure, of course, that we also have the availability of staff, which is critical. We have just had two questions from Stoke-on-Trent. Let me say how much I appreciate the work of everybody at the Royal Stoke, who I know are doing so much. There are difficult circumstances there because of the second wave, which is quite significant in Stoke. I thank everybody at the Royal Stoke for all the work they are doing.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and Jonathan Gullis

Monday 5th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Quite the contrary; the UK-wide testing system delivers enormous numbers of tests to people in Scotland, and I know from having studied it that people in Scotland are really grateful for the fact that we work together, with the UK Government delivering testing in Scotland alongside the Scottish NHS delivering testing in Scotland. It is that sort of coming together that people look for during a time like this.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

In Stoke-on-Trent, we were delighted to come off the national watchlist as an area of concern after hard work from Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire County Council and, most importantly, the people of Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove and Talke adhering to the public health messaging. Additionally, we have the regional test centre that Councillor Abi Brown and I successfully lobbied my right hon. Friend for and two incoming walk-in test centres in Stoke-on-Trent. Will my right hon. Friend commit further by giving additional funding to help Stoke-on-Trent City Council and the Royal Stoke University Hospital to deliver increased testing capacity for the thousands of local health and social care workers across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire?

[Matt Hancock]

As well as the expansion of testing that my hon. Friend mentions, I can tell him that we are expanding NHS testing capacity within Stoke, and we are putting in the extra funding to deliver that. This man stands up for Stoke so strongly, and he has been making the case clearly and powerfully, so I am glad to be able to tell him that we can do that.

Covid-19 Response

Debate between Matt Hancock and Jonathan Gullis

Tuesday 2nd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to say that we must move cautiously and carefully. Those were not her exact words—I am putting them in her mouth—but she is nodding in agreement. We must not lose all the advantages and progress we have made. The number of people sadly dying from the disease is down to almost a tenth of what it was at the peak, but that is still far too high. Test and trace will be critical. The precise answer to the question she asks about testing is that if you are contacted by an NHS contact tracer and asked to self-isolate, you should do so. That period of two weeks of self-isolation is the time in which if you were going to get symptoms and pass on the disease, you would. Therefore, that is what breaks the chain. It is the isolation on instruction from the NHS that breaks the chain. That is the power of the NHS test and trace programme.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

I start by thanking my right hon. Friend for moving so swiftly to make the bet365 stadium in Stoke-on-Trent a regional testing centre, after hearing the case for it from Councillor Abi Brown, the leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, and myself. It will allow many of my constituents in Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke rapid and easy access to vital tests to help to drive down R further still. Will he confirm to the House that regional test sites will remain in place for as long as they are needed to ensure we remain able to continue an effective test and trace strategy?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, I can. The voice of Stoke-on-Trent is strong today.