The National Health Service

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this important debate.

With the rising number of patients—particularly frail elderly people—the cost of treatments increasing, and also, very importantly, the severe lack of funding, our much loved health service is under truly severe pressure. I pay tribute to NHS staff for the vital work they do despite that enormous pressure. I would very much like to record my appreciation for them tonight.

I will address three issues: first, the scale of the challenge in health; secondly, the Government’s damaging approach; and thirdly, the need for real change. It is no exaggeration to say that the scale of the challenge facing our health service is quite simply enormous. This is partly because of the considerable changes taking place as our population gets older and people live longer. It is a very good thing that life expectancy is increasing, and we are all obviously grateful for that. However, a growing number of frail older people need appropriate care and support, and that care must be properly funded. In addition, medical science is advancing very rapidly, offering wonderful new and life-changing treatments, but again, those new treatments need to be supported by the necessary level of funding.

There are additional local challenges in some parts of the country. For example, in my constituency of Reading East we face particularly intense pressure in terms of staff recruitment and retention because of the high cost of housing and as more people move into our part of the Thames valley. NHS staff in our area face higher than average living costs—arguably similar to costs for people living in outer London, but with no London weighting. I want to return to that important point about resources.

Secondly, I am afraid that the Government are quite simply failing to respond to the scale of the challenge. Ministers have offered warm words, but fundamentally, they are failing to provide the necessary investment. My hon. Friend the Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth) is right when he talks about the crisis in the NHS and the fact that every single measure of NHS performance is going the wrong way. For example, in my seat, A&E waits have risen dramatically—and they are A&E waits of more than 12 hours; I am not even going into waits that breached the four-hour target. In the Royal Berkshire Hospital, those waits increased by around five times in one year, between 2016-17 and 2017-18, which are the latest recorded figures. Conveniently for the Government, Ministers have decided to move the target rather than measure it.

We have also lost two GP surgeries, which is the tip of a very big iceberg in primary care in our area and across the country. These are surgeries where GPs are retiring, and there is a lack of new GPs coming on stream to replace them. In one case, local residents have had to move to a GP surgery in a different county, several miles away. Others have had to move to surgeries across our town. For frail, elderly people, that can involve a change of bus routes, difficulties in getting to see their GP and considerable additional problems in accessing primary care.

On top of that, many other services are under enormous pressure. To make things even worse, there is a deeply damaging privatisation agenda, which I heard about from my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds), affecting Reading and many neighbouring towns in our area. To make matters even worse than that, we have a ridiculous situation where the Government are pressing ahead with a hard Brexit—or something that resembles it closely—which is driving away highly skilled NHS staff. Around 14% of the staff at my local hospital are from the EU. Can anyone imagine how difficult recruitment could be in a very short space of time?

Thirdly, we need real change. That means significant long-term increases in investment, not just warm words and playing with statistics to create a misleading impression about the level of funding. If the Government really believe in the NHS, they need to demonstrate that with their actions and policy choices, rather than just making vague promises that they are unlikely to deliver.

[Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Ind)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Matt Rodda]

I am afraid I am pushed for time.

Other Members have highlighted many of the changes needed, but I want to pick up on a few crucial points. First and foremost, the Government must ensure that the NHS responds to the needs of patients and staff on the ground, and not just spout management jargon about changes that sounds convincing. That means a much greater focus from Ministers and officials on the needs of local communities. In high-cost areas such as Berkshire, it means looking at new measures to support recruitment and retention, including the cost of living. Ministers should consider proposals for increasing overall pay in the three counties in the Thames valley, with increased weighting for other high-cost areas, to help recruit and retain staff in towns such as Reading and Woodley.

To sum up, the NHS remains one of our most precious institutions. Staff are obviously working tirelessly in a very difficult and trying situation, yet their dedication is not being matched remotely by Government funding. What is needed now is a complete and utter rethink of Government health policy. We need real change, and only Labour will deliver that change, through the funding and support that we desperately need for our NHS.

Health

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Tuesday 14th May 2019 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Ashworth]

It most certainly does. We are seeing a huge rise in the number of children living in poverty and an explosion not just in food bank use but in so-called baby banks, where parents arrive to pick up toys, nappies, and so on—even milk. It really is quite shameful.

We are also seeing an increase in the prevalence of mental health conditions among the poorest. Children and adults in the poorest areas are three times more likely to suffer mental health problems. We are also now seeing an increase in so-called “deaths of despair” for those in middle age, that is, deaths from suicide, drug and alcohol overdose, and alcohol liver disease. They are rising—[Interruption.] The Secretary of State says that that is not true, but it is in the report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies today.

Rates of premature mortality, including deaths linked to heart disease, lung cancers, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, are two times higher in the most deprived areas of England compared with the most affluent. Growing up and living in poverty means people get sick quicker and die sooner. It is shameful.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

I find the picture that my hon. Friend paints deeply disturbing. In my area in Reading, there is exactly the position that has been described by other colleagues; there is a 10-year gap in life expectancy in one town in the south of England between areas that are only two or three miles apart. Does he agree that it is now time for the Government to listen and take urgent action to address these serious problems that are linked to their own policies?

Services for People with Autism

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Thursday 21st March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that it would be helpful to many families and indeed professionals who are challenged by these circumstances if the Government were able to put more resources specifically into initial teacher training and in-service training to help staff in schools to understand autism better and to better support children with autistic spectrum issues?

[Stephen Twigg]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and I shall refer later in my speech to the Abbotts Lea special school in Liverpool, which is a shining example of the very best practice that exists in our education system.

Delays in diagnosing autism mean that many autistic people do not receive the support that they need, which can really harm their life chances. For too many families, securing the right support for their child at school is a hugely difficult task, and can become an all-consuming battle. The passport to receiving this extra support is an education, health and care—or EHC—plan, which is intended to bring together a child’s different needs in education, health and social care. Autism is the most common type of special need for school pupils who have an EHC plan. However, as budgets have been reduced, local councils often struggle to respond to demand, leading to EHC plans being refused or delayed well beyond the 20-week cut-off date by which a decision on whether to approve an EHC plan should be made.

Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Monday 18th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)]

I am pleased to have an opportunity to make a short contribution to the debate.

It is ironic, given that one of the main Brexit campaign slogans, on the side of a bus, promised £350 million for the NHS, that one of the most serious problems we are having to consider is the problem of medicine shortages in the event of Brexit. The Minister has still not made clear the extent to which those shortages are related to Brexit. Common sense suggests that this is a Brexit statutory instrument, and I am assuming that it went through the usual Brexit process of being dealt with by the European Statutory Instruments Committee, but the Minister has not made clear why we are having these shortages in medicines, which are happening already. I have a constituent with a child with epilepsy who is finding it difficult to get their child’s prescription. If this is not Brexit-related, how come all these shortages are suddenly happening now, at a time when the pharmaceutical industry is being told it needs to stockpile?

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

I wholeheartedly support the points my hon. Friend is making and the concern she is raising about the potential link to Brexit, which would seem to many Members to be an obvious connection. Does she agree that Brexit is not only threatening the NHS through these potential shortages of medicines, but threatening the staffing of our NHS? I represent a seat where 13% of the staff at the local hospital come from EU countries, and many are leaving and going home, which is of deep concern to our residents.

[Helen Goodman]

Of course what my hon. Friend says about staff shortages and Brexit is absolutely right.

I was going on to say that I have a GlaxoSmithKline factory in my constituency, and obviously I have discussed this issue with it. It is extremely underwhelmed by the Government’s no-deal planning, and extremely under- whelmed by the fact that it is having to pay for these extra stockpiles. All these Brexit costs that are being put on to the industrialists mean that there is less money for research and development, investment, job creation and all the things we would all like to see.

It is notable that there are very high numbers of people with the conditions most likely to be affected. There are 4 million people in this country with diabetes, 500,000 people with epilepsy, and 250,000 people whose allergies are so serious that they need an EpiPen. Given that we clearly have 5 million, 6 million or perhaps 10 million people whose health is likely to be at risk if there are medicine shortages, I would have thought that the Government would have not just done a full risk and impact assessment but produced for us today, alongside the statutory instrument, the protocols. The Minister knows which drugs and conditions we are talking about; surely, given all the problems we have had with the industry, doctors and patient groups not being properly consulted, it would have been sensible to make those protocols at this moment, so we could look at them alongside the statutory instrument. I hope the Minister will come to the Dispatch Box and answer some of these points. She is shaking her head.

NHS 10-Year Plan

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Tuesday 19th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Ashworth]

My hon. Friend makes a good point, and I will come on to discuss the workforce in a few moments. First, let me pick up the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Louise Haigh).

There is recognition in the plan that widening health inequalities are becoming a more important issue, which we need to confront. There is much in the document about widening health inequalities. After years of austerity, with poverty rates increasing and child poverty at 4.1 million, we now see life expectancy in this country stalling for the first time in a hundred years, and actually going backward in the poorest parts of the country. Child mortality rates for children born into the most deprived of circumstances have increased. The truth is that poorer people get sick quicker and die earlier. For me, as a socialist and a Labour politician, that is shameful. We should be creating conditions in which people live longer, healthier, happier lives, which is why we need to end austerity across the board. The focus on health inequalities is therefore welcome, and that includes the stark recognition that inequalities are costing the NHS £4.8 billion a year in admissions—a remarkable figure.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

I concur on the benefits of our Labour health policy and how the Government should do much more to fund healthcare in this country. Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a particular problem of retaining public sector workers in many high-cost areas? In areas such as Reading and Oxford—my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) is sitting in front of me—there is severe pressure on the NHS because of the relatively low pay of many skilled staff.

[Jonathan Ashworth]

Absolutely. I will come on to the workforce in a second.

Overall, there are welcome commitments in the long-term plan. We have counted up to 60 commitments to improve, expand or establish new services, but sadly there is no detail on how they will be delivered. There are commitments to expanding access to general practice, but where is the plan to recruit the workforce we need in the national health service?

When the previous Secretary of State came to the House last June, he said that there would be a full workforce plan—not an interim plan shared by Dido Harding, but a full workforce plan to coincide with this long-term plan.

Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Bill

Matt Rodda Excerpts

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 23rd February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Hodgson]

Excellent. I am really grateful to my hon. Friend for updating us all on the situation in Scotland because, as I said, I was not aware of it. I commend that Bill and hope that our SNP friends up in Scotland will act on and progress it as soon as possible.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

I pay tribute to colleagues in Wales, my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry North West (Mr Robinson) and colleagues from across the country. We heard very moving stories from colleagues from North Devon and other parts. We as a House have demonstrated the ability to work together today, and that is so important. One of the great strengths of the debate has been the way that we have focused on families and listened to their stories. For me, that has been a deeply moving experience. I commend to colleagues the importance of continuing to listen to families as the campaign goes forward.

[Mrs Hodgson]

Families are at the heart of this, as my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry North West, who is promoting the Bill, made clear, and I am sure that the Minister will as well. It is important that families’ voices are taken into consideration when these discussions take place.

I know that I am not alone in this House in carrying a donor card and being on the register. Like many other organ donors, I signed myself up because of a direct family experience. My Aunty Ella, who is sadly no longer with us, was one of the first patients to receive a kidney transplant at the fantastic Freeman Hospital in Newcastle way back in 1967. It was pioneering surgery back then, and it is great to hear my fellow Sunderland MP, my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central, also commending the work of the fantastic renal team at the Freeman Hospital who are currently treating and supporting her daughter Rebecca so well. My Aunty Ella lived a full life because of her transplant. In those days, it was perhaps not as long as she would have liked, but she was able to see her children Norman and Stephen —my cousins—grow up to get married. All she wanted to do was to see them grow up, but she lived on to see them give her grandchildren. That is what organ donation is all about: it gives people a future. Just one donor can save up to nine people—as we heard, Keira Ball saved four—and it can give those nine people a future with their loved ones, which is why it is so important.

Of course, there are some concerns among some religious communities. We heard about that earlier from the hon. Member for Hendon (Dr Offord), and I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth), the shadow Secretary of State for Health, has met representatives of one particular Jewish community to discuss their concerns. There are also concerns among black and minority-ethnic communities, as we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr Sharma). Although they are more susceptible to illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension and even heart disease, only 35% of black and Asian people in the UK—where the population average is 63%—agreed to organ donation last year.

Junk Food Advertising and Childhood Obesity

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Tuesday 16th January 2018 Westminster Hall

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

I echo the points made by the hon. Member for Erewash (Maggie Throup) and by my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Louise Haigh) in her intervention.

The effect of diet on children’s health is a serious and substantial problem facing our country. If unchecked, poor diet could undermine the health of millions of children. I believe that it risks setting back the historic advances made in children’s health in recent decades, including since world war two.

Child ill health is such a significant problem. It is notable in my constituency, where there is a higher than average rate of child obesity, and there are also significant differences in life expectancy between different parts of the constituency. That is in a relatively typical town in the south-east of England.

Other issues related to health inequality include a growth in the consumption of unhealthy food, which is a particular challenge to families, who are struggling with this issue. Better information and less pressure on parents and children could make a significant difference, as was mentioned earlier.

It is my experience that parents are inundated—I do not say that word lightly—with advertising material on a very wide range of media. Messages about fast and unhealthy food are everywhere—on television, on billboards, on takeaway hoardings, on shopfronts, in newspapers, and in shops and supermarkets when people are purchasing food. They are literally everywhere in my constituency. In contrast, factual information from the NHS or from responsible manufacturers is scarce and hard to find.

I commend those manufacturers and retailers who have taken steps in that regard. My hon. Friend the Member for St Helens North (Conor McGinn) mentioned a company in his constituency and there are many others. I believe that the Co-op shops have a very effective system of colour-coded labelling, warning of the problems of high levels of salt and sugar, and many other retailers and manufacturers are trying that system. I commend them for their efforts in supporting what should be a national effort to help families on this matter. I hope that the industry will do more to promote that approach and that it will work with parents, schools, the NHS, and central and local Government.

However, the contrast between advertising and sensible advice is enormous. To put it in simple terms, a child or parent in my constituency is likely to see junk food advertising when they get up on TV before they go to school, on the way to school, when they come home from school and in the evening. That is simply an overwhelming set of messages that drives people in one direction. Sadly, the messages in the other direction are tiny in comparison and there is limited public money to support them, as was mentioned earlier.

That all adds up to something that is really quite substantial, and in addition we have to take into account the fact that families have also been under the severe pressure of rising food bills. We should take into account the additional problem that many people face, as their incomes have fallen in real terms in recent years, particularly since 2010, while food prices have gone up substantially —I think it may be by 3% at the moment.

Taking all that into account—the power of advertising, the substantial imbalance in information and the pressure on family budgets—I believe that action is urgently needed and I ask hon. Members to support the motion today and call on the Government to listen to this debate, to understand and acknowledge the serious concerns that are being raised, and to take—as was said earlier—bold and brave action to address this issue.