NHS Dentistry

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

Tuesday 9th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

Surely in this day and age everybody should have the right to receive dental treatment when they need it. That was the fundamental principle of the national health service that we, the Labour party, founded all those glorious years ago. Unfortunately, as Labour Members know—it has been well documented throughout the debate so far—the principle behind national health service dentistry has been severely undermined and eroded in each one of the 14 years of this Tory Government. Today, quite astoundingly, I think the Secretary of State mentioned that at some stage, shortly, they will publish a long-term plan. Fourteen years on, they will publish some kind of long-term plan shortly, with no date. That is the state of chaos that this country is governed by at the moment. Meanwhile, 12 million people cannot get the dental treatment they need and deserve.

We all know a bit too well that 90% of dental practices in England are closed to NHS routine patients. That is essentially creating dental deserts all across the country, including, of course, in my constituency. It is something I see all too often in the Halton and the Cheshire West and Chester parts of my constituency. I see only too clearly how bleak and extreme the dentistry desert landscape has become.

I was recently contacted by my constituent Allan from Northwich, who had been registered with the local dentist for over 10 years. After a visit to a private hygienist, he was advised to book a dental check-up. When he tried to do so, he was told that he had been de-registered as an NHS patient because he had not had a check-up in over two years. That happened during the pandemic, and he was one of many people who could not have a check-up in that period. Again, that has been documented in the debate. He was told that the dentist was not taking any new NHS patients due to a lack of capacity, yet he could be offered a fully private paid check-up in just a few weeks’ time. Of course, if people do not have the money in their pocket and do not have the ability to pay, that is not possible, and that is the case for far too many of our constituents up and down the country. Why should Allan, and millions like him, not be able to get access to the NHS dental services they need if they cannot afford private care—unlike some in this country, and even some Members on the rather sparse Government Benches that I see at the moment?

Across Britain, too many people face the stark choice of having to pay for expensive payment plans in the private sector or going without dental treatment. The cases of people resorting to DIY treatment have been well documented, as has the additional strain on our NHS hospital services when people go for emergency dental treatment. The problem extends to all parts of my community. In a recent meeting with the joint headteachers of Leftwich Community Primary School, they raised the desperate attempts they have made to try to get NHS dental appointments for some of their primary schoolchildren. Of course that is not the teachers’ bread-and-butter issue, but they are going the extra mile to help some of the children most in need in my constituency—and again to no avail.

What have the Government done to ensure increased access to dentists across England, including in my patch in Cheshire and Merseyside? The short answer is not a lot, and the situation is getting worse. I and other Members of Parliament who represent Cheshire and Merseyside constituencies recently met the chief executive and chair of the integrated care board, who told us that they have been informed by the Department of Health and Social Care that the underspend that they had inherited to spend on local dentistry, which amounted to some £10 million, must now be de-ringfenced and used for what they classed “inflationary cost pressures”, not for NHS dentistry. That has come from the Department itself. I would be interested to hear a response from the Minister on that, because it is incredible that NHS England previously said that that money was ringfenced, yet now we have evidence from the integrated care board of direction from the Department of Health and Social Care saying, “No, you will spend it on other things.”

With my neighbouring MPs across Cheshire and Merseyside, we made strong representations to the chair and chief executive of the integrated care board, but, as outlined by my good colleague the shadow Secretary of State, this is happening up and down the country. It is happening everywhere, almost by design: running down NHS dentistry, making it a thing of the past so that the default position is private dentistry.

Building an NHS Fit for the Future

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

I pay tribute to our national health service and social care staff, be they in Cheshire, Merseyside or elsewhere across Britain. Of course, while many in Downing Street partied, those staff went above and beyond and sacrificed so much every day—we must not forget that; the public inquiry is certainly shining a light on it—and, importantly, they continue to do so.

It is no secret that our NHS is facing the worst crisis in history. Urgent action is needed to make our cherished healthcare system work again, but the Government provided no solution in the King’s Speech, with 21 Bills that were heavy in rhetoric but light in substance. Where was the Bill on mental health, which we have long awaited and the Government have promised time and again?

Bizarrely, after 13-plus years of failure, the Prime Minister is trying to paint himself as a vehicle of change, while recycling a failed Prime Minister from the past, whose only notable recent success was to get himself on the payroll of Greensill Capital, which came at a real human cost of 305 job losses in the Daresbury Park area of my constituency. This is a company—sorry, a failed company; a former company—that is now subject to an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. We are still dealing with that sorry affair, yet bizarrely, that individual is now appointed to the Government. To me and my constituents, it sounds like the same old entitled Tories time and time again, with no responsibility to anybody, putting arrogance above all. It is the same old Tories—the same old Etonians—and one of them is coming back.

The Conservatives have no answers on how to save the NHS. This Government are failing millions of patients and NHS staff across the country. Waiting lists are out of control, staff are burned out, and people are literally losing their lives. Too many of our constituents are waiting longer than ever for operations, in A&E, for ambulances, and when trying to get doctors’ appointments. The system is broken; the Government broke our NHS. We only need to look at their own figures: recent statistics show that the NHS backlog has hit a record high, at 7.8 million. That backlog is 600,000 larger than when the current Prime Minister made his pledge—one of his five pledges—in January.

We on the Labour Benches know that there is a plan. There is a sizeable pot of money available from non-doms, the very people who, bizarrely, the Prime Minister seems to want to protect. It is almost as though he has a vested interest in non-doms—I cannot imagine what that might be. That money could be used to power up the frontline resources that we need to get waiting lists down. Why not adopt the Labour plan? Go and steal our plan. Let us provide 2 million more appointments by paying staff extra to work evenings and weekends, paid for by abolishing the Prime Minister’s beloved status of non-dom. Just do it—steal it! Do the right thing. Of course, that is not going to happen.

The NHS shortfall affects a number of other areas across the health landscape, especially dentistry in my constituency and throughout England. We know that 90% of dental practices in England are closed to new NHS routine patients, creating dental deserts. That is certainly true in the Halton and the Cheshire West and Chester parts of my constituency. People who have a little bit of extra money in their pockets are forced to pay for expensive payment plans in the private sector, but as has been well documented across the Chamber today, many are resorting to DIY treatment. It is an absolute scandal; it is Dickensian. In this day and age, everyone should have the right to receive dental treatment when they need it. That is a fundamental principle of the NHS—the NHS that we founded, and that we will protect and save.

Just as it is very challenging to get a doctor’s appointment, unfortunately the principle behind NHS dentistry continues to be severely undermined. I recently visited Leftwich Community Primary School, a brilliant school in my constituency with great teachers and support staff. The joint headteachers raised the desperate attempts that are made to try to get NHS dentists for pupils at the school. The teachers are going the extra mile, trying to get NHS dental appointments for children in the local community. What will the Government do to make sure there are enough dentists across England, including in Cheshire and Merseyside? Why not adopt Labour’s plan for an additional 700,000 dental appointments—quite a significant number, although it seemed to be pooh-poohed by a Minister earlier in the debate—by closing private equity loopholes? That is another costed plan—steal it! Do the right thing. Of course, the Government will not.

In my constituency, we have hospitals that badly need to be upgraded and modernised. Our bid for a new Halton campus hospital was snubbed by another Health Secretary—third time unlucky—while Leighton Hospital, which serves the Northwich part of my constituency, was successful only because it is literally falling down. It is propped up by scaffolding; it is riddled with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. That is how it got on the programme for the 40 new hospital builds, which of course is a work of fiction in itself. I will be asking another Secretary of State for Health and Social Care—another one was announced today; I had forgotten about that—when the people of Halton can expect to hear some good news about that desperately needed hospital rebuild.

[Richard Foord]

I was interested to hear the hon. Member mention RAAC in his speech. I have heard that there is a hospital in Harrogate that needs £20 million of repairs because of RAAC, but the Government are requiring that hospital to bid for the funding, rather than just giving it the funding. Does the hon. Member think that is right?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mike Amesbury]

I certainly do not. It is a critical building safety issue, and funding should be given according to need, so that is a very well-made point.

The latest Tory gimmick—a dangerous one at that—is to introduce the so-called minimum service levels Bill. It is an attack on the fundamental right to strike, which of course is done as a last resort. It is a piece of legislation that will sack nurses and doctors, while at the moment the NHS has vacancies for 112,000 health workers. The Government have failed to meet minimum standards for patients on non-strike days for the past 13 years. The only people who the majority of my constituents—and, I am quite confident, the country—want to sack are sat on the Government Benches. They want to sack each and every one of those Tory Ministers. We do not just need the reshuffling of the deckchairs we have seen today, or the recycling of former Prime Ministers; we need the Government to go to the electorate, grow a spine, and let the people have their say. Let us rebuild our NHS and rebuild Britain with a Labour Government.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

After Steven Bonnar, I will impose a formal seven-minute time limit on speeches.

Countess of Chester Hospital Inquiry

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

Monday 4th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

I and my Cheshire West and Chester constituents are served by the Countess of Chester Hospital, so I welcome the inquiry’s having been put on a statutory footing, but like other hon. Members across the House, and, in particular, the families of the victims of this horrendous situation, I want to ensure that those managers who have somehow recycled themselves into leadership positions face stronger regulation and accountability. I look forward to the Secretary of State’s expanding on that.

[Steve Barclay]

It will not surprise the hon. Gentleman that a central concern of the families when I met them was the extent to which they felt fobbed off when concerns were raised and the ability of those managers either to continue in post or to move to new posts. I think that concern is shared across the House. It is very much central to some of the safeguards that have been put in place through the recommendations from Kark that have already been accepted. It also opens up questions about the role of boards and how we strengthen non-executive directors, the training and induction, and the other provisions that we can put in place. Of course, some of those issues are the reason we are having the inquiry, and through the statutory process, there will be the opportunity to call people to give evidence and for the judge-led inquiry to put questions on behalf of the families.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

Tuesday 11th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

Dr Alex George does a lot of fantastic work. I am due to meet him shortly in the coming days, and I look forward to that discussion. My hon. Friend is right to highlight the importance of getting more mental health support into the community, which is exactly what our additional funding is focused on delivering.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

Eighteen community pharmacists in my constituency are reporting challenges on medicine supplies. What more is the Minister going to do to get a grip of this situation?

[Steve Barclay]

We have a long-standing team in the Department focused on medical supplies, which are a continual issue; as a matter of routine business, there are often challenges in that area. If the hon. Gentleman has specific issues he wishes to raise, we would be happy to look at them, but we have a dedicated team in the Department that focuses on that exact point.

Oral Answers

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

Tuesday 25th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

The hon. Lady raises an important issue related to MS. I am happy to write to her with a more detailed answer about the capability and the plan. There is always a tendency within government to lurch to a strategy rather than to look at what is needed for immediate delivery. I will happily set out what steps we are taking now as part of our pandemic recovery in order to target the workforce within the constraints that she raises.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

14. What steps he is taking to improve access to in-home health and social care services.

[Dame Angela Eagle (Wallasey) (Lab)]

24. What steps he is taking to improve access to in-home health and social care services.

[The Minister for Social Care (Helen Whately)]

I want people to live independently in their own homes for longer with the care that they need. We are investing half a billion pounds annually through the disabled facilities grant to pay for housing adaptations, and supporting the home care workforce through our record social care funding increase and workforce reforms. Our new and expanded NHS virtual wards give people hospital-level care in their own homes.

[Mike Amesbury]

My constituent, Ewan, recently lost his grandfather. His grandfather would have liked to have spent more time at home in his last few days, but he could not because of resources—the people were not there. What are the Government doing about that? There is a real recruitment and retention crisis in the social care workforce.

[Helen Whately]

The hon. Member makes an important point about people spending their last days of life where they would like to spend them, which, more often than not, means at home. That comes down to supporting end-of-life care—hospices play a really important role in providing that care in people’s homes—and supporting the adult social care workforce. We are investing up to £7.5 billion in social care over the next two years and taking forward important reforms to support the adult social care workforce. As I mentioned a moment ago, we are increasing the amount of hospital-level care that people can get at home by expanding our virtual wards, which, by next winter, will mean that up to 50,000 people a month can be cared for to that level at home.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

T4. Last week, I visited Leftwich Community Primary School in my constituency. The joint head teachers raised the desperate attempts that are made to secure NHS dentists for children and families in the community. Aside from publishing a plan, will Ministers intervene and make sure that that happens in Cheshire and Merseyside, and throughout the country?

[Neil O’Brien]

Absolutely. We have already taken action to increase the provision of dentistry, and that has begun to have an effect. Activity—the number of people seen—is up by a fifth over the past year as a result of the reforms that we have begun to make by reforming the old contract, but we must go further.

NHS Strikes

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

Monday 6th February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

First, let me correct what the hon. Lady said about PPE. I was not a Health Minister at the time, but let us not forget that 97% of all PPE was usable. Despite being a Minister in another Department, I remember that those on the Opposition Front Bench rightly agitated on this issue, saying, “Do anything, strain every sinew and take a risk, but make sure you get PPE as quickly as possible.” It was the most desired global commodity, and Governments around the world were fighting for it.

Nevertheless, the hon. Lady raised a good point, and of course NHS staff got us through the pandemic. That is exactly why we accepted the independent pay review body recommendation in full. It is exactly why we accepted the recommendation last year of a 3% award when the wider public sector was frozen. Of course we value all those who work in our NHS, and that is exactly why have to get this right for the next independent pay review body. That is why we have to ensure that not just the Government but the unions, providers and others give evidence to that body.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

Just over two hours ago, I joined Lorraine and other colleagues from the Royal College of Nursing over the bridge at St Thomas’s Hospital. They do not want to be on strike and they do not want to be on a picket line, but they want a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. A key message from them to the Minister is to get round the negotiating table and give them a fair deal.

[Will Quince]

Opposition Members keep saying, “Get round the table and negotiate.” I encourage the next one who says that to tell me exactly where each block of 1%, each £700 million, will come from out of our NHS budget. [Interruption.] They point at me, but I remind the hon. Gentleman that we accepted the independent pay review body’s recommendations in full. We stand ready to look at the independent pay review body’s recommendations for next year, which of course is only two months away, because it starts in April. It is really important that we all engage with that process, so we can get it right and address many of the issues the hon. Gentleman and others raise.

Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

Monday 30th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

I recognise my hon. Friend’s point, not least as a rural constituency MP myself. I have talked to paramedics, as I am sure he has, and the principal cause of frustration of late has not been the issue of pay—important though that is. It has been frustration over long handover times, which has had a particularly damaging impact. I am happy to look at any specific issues in his area but he is right on the wider point about the pressures in rural areas.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

When can the people of Warrington, and indeed Halton, expect to hear about the new hospital campuses, which are much needed by both communities—with sufficient staff to resource them?

NHS: Long-term Strategy

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

I start, as many hon. Members have done, by thanking our NHS and social care staff. They go above and beyond every day and have sacrificed so much, especially over the past few years. However, it is no secret that they are struggling to cope. In fact, the NHS is not only on its knees but on its face, as the shadow Secretary of State has said in his recent powerful contributions in this place.

The NHS is facing the worst crisis in its history. Urgent action is needed to make our beloved health system work again, but the Government have failed yet again. They are failing millions of patients and NHS staff across the country, as has been evident from all the contributions to this debate—even those from Government Members who have championed the cause of their constituents. Waiting lists are out of control, staff are burned out and people are literally losing their lives, despite some of the denials from the Government Benches. Look at the stats published today by the Office for National Statistics: 50,000 additional people lost their lives last year. It is shameful.

Nationally, 7.1 million people are waiting months and even years for treatment. Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust serves the Northwich part of my constituency; more than 33,000 of its patients were waiting for care in October. Just 59% are seen within 18 weeks, which is well short of the NHS target of 92%. I have been told by people working on the frontline and certainly by my constituents that many of them are waiting, not only at A&E but in corridors and car parks, for hours on end—12 hours in some cases. I will take the House on a bit of a journey to Warrington and Halton, and then we will go on to the Countess of Chester and to Whiston, where it is the same. People are waiting 20 hours—it is simply unacceptable. People’s lives are on the line, and that is a direct result of 13 years of Tory mismanagement. It is nothing new.

[Sarah Atherton (Wrexham) (Con)]

rose—

[Mike Amesbury]

I will not give way. We do not have much time.

We have heard about covid and about flu. Those are facts, but let us take a journey through history to 2010, when waiting lists were substantially lower. In March 2020, when this shower of a Government were in place, the figure was more than 4 million. Now it is 7.1 million. It is shameful.

We must remember that these are not just statistics; these are real people. My constituent Tracey from Runcorn contacted me because her husband required life-saving surgery and it was postponed, as has happened for many constituents who have been spoken about today. Jonpaul was sadly diagnosed with prostate cancer, and was told that the cancer was trying to break free from his prostate. Thankfully, following an intervention from my office, he was able to have his surgery owing to a cancellation, but in many of the stories we have heard in the Chamber today, that has not been the case.

It is not just patients who are suffering; hard-working, dedicated NHS staff simply cannot cope with the current pressures, and now—as the Royal College of Nursing says, for the “first time in history”—they have resorted to strike action, with a very heavy heart. The clapping is long forgotten, and now they are threatened with the sack. That is not just unacceptable but absolutely disgraceful, and any Conservative Members who vote for it should be ashamed of themselves. They are culpable.

As the shadow Secretary of State pointed out, we do have a plan. There is a great big pot of money available from non-doms. I know that the Prime Minister is rather keen on non-dom status—I am not sure what the interest is there—but that money could be used to create not only health but resources, the frontline resources that we need to get waiting lists down. I say to the Government, “Step aside: it is time for Labour. It is time to save and rebuild the NHS.”

[Several hon. Members rose—]

NHS Workforce

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

Tuesday 6th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

I totally agree. We have had lots of perfectly good speeches from Conservative Prime Ministers over the past 12 years, and we have had more than our fair share of unbelievably bad Conservative Prime Ministers over the same period. One thing that each of those speeches has had in common is warm rhetoric and no delivery. We are not prepared to make the same mistake, so although it is not on today’s Order Paper, I am pleased to confirm that my right hon. and learned Friend the Leader of the Opposition has announced a mental health pledge that will mean 8,500 more mental health professionals being recruited. It will enable us to provide mental health hubs in every community, dedicated mental health support in every school and the aim of guaranteeing treatment within a month.

Our pledge will be transformational to mental health support in this country. It will particularly benefit young people, whose mental health and wellbeing have borne the brunt of the pandemic. It will really help to free up capacity for GPs and accident and emergency departments, which are increasingly seeing mental ill health cases coming through their door because the specialist support that people need is unavailable. Our plan, like our motion on today’s Order Paper, is fully costed and fully funded and will make a real difference to patients. Just as the Conservative party is welcome to steal Labour’s NHS workforce pledge, it is very welcome to steal our mental health plan too.

As well as recruiting the doctors, nurses and allied health professionals we need, we also need to keep the staff we have.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

Why does my hon. Friend think Government Members are so keen on protecting non-dom status? What is the interest there?

Ambulance and Emergency Department Waiting Times

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

Wednesday 6th July 2022 Westminster Hall

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship once again, Mr Stringer. Like everybody else, I thank the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) for her insightful contribution to the debate, which is giving us the opportunity to speak as we celebrate this very week the 74th birthday of the NHS.

The NHS was founded by a Labour Government to provide healthcare for all, free at the point of delivery, and it has been a life saver and a life changer—a marvel to this day throughout the world. Another Labour Government in 2010, which is some time ago now, left the NHS with the lowest waiting lists on record, reduced waiting times and the highest satisfaction rating in history.

What have we got now, 12 years later, in the dying days or dying weeks of this Conservative Government? We have an NHS and a care system cut back to the bone—well before covid, which has been referred to. That has left, in particular, elderly and disabled people without the care they have needed. That has been reflected in today’s debate, from all sides of the House.

We have a workforce crisis that has left the NHS with a shortage of 94,000 staff. There is a lack of beds caused by about 400,000 patients a month being unable to leave hospital because of care shortages, which have been acknowledged and debated here today. The social care precept, which the Minister might refer to, is nowhere near sufficient. He would probably agree with that, if he decided to leave his post in the not-too-distant future. That is a decision for him to make.

Nye Bevan will be turning in his grave at this crisis, which is perhaps most apparent when we look at emergency care provision. As is the case in the rest of the country, the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust is missing ambulance response targets by a country mile. For the most serious cases, in which there is an imminent risk to life, average response times are almost two minutes over target.

Category 2 cases are not the highest category of emergency response, but they include people who are having a stroke or a heart attack, or who are suffering from major burns or sepsis. Such cases should be responded to in 18 minutes on average, and 90% of calls should be responded to within 40 minutes, but last year, the service took, on average, 48 minutes to respond to a category 2 call, and responded to 90% of incidents within an hour and 45 minutes. That is 150% longer than it should have taken, and 10 minutes more than the national average.

It is so obvious that it should not need pointing out, but when it comes to strokes and heart attacks, every minute counts. The difference between 18 minutes and 48 minutes absolutely can mean the difference between life and death.

For cases considered less serious than the two higher categories—but still urgent—the targets state that 90% of the time ambulances should arrive within two hours. Instead, in the north-west, nine out of 10 times people can expect to see an ambulance within seven hours and 15 minutes. It is not hard to imagine how, within seven hours, an urgent case can become incredibly serious.

Non-urgent cases fair even worse. In the north-west the 90% target is missed by seven hours, meaning that some people who still need hospital treatment will be waiting 10 hours to get help. Just last year one of my constituents, Jim Rotherham, who is a veteran and 89 years of age, fell at home and broke his hip. He waited seven hours on the floor in utter agony for an ambulance. While that complaint was still live, weeks later, Jim fell again and had yet another long wait. It is simply not good enough, and I know that feeling will be shared across the House.

I am hugely grateful to everyone in my constituency, and indeed across the region, who works as a call handler, paramedic, doctor or nurse. They are working tirelessly, under pressure, but not with the resources they need, either for their own health and safety or for the health and safety of those they serve. They are being put in an impossible situation, they do not have the resources they need and the Government simply are not governing at the moment.

Some 40% of patients in my constituency covered by the Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust now face a wait greater than four hours to be seen in A&E, as do 30% covered by the Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust. A Halton resident, Josh, told me that it is impossible to see a doctor. That situation pushes people to urgent care centres, which he tried. He was told that he could not be seen by urgent care because there was not a doctor. He went along to A&E, but he could not be seen by A&E. The situation is putting pressure on beds, more pressure on ambulances, and really is risking lives.

Two days ago, the Warrington and Halton trust alerted the public to the fact that Warrington A&E was exceptionally busy and asked people to keep the service clear for the critically injured or sick. It is a story we have heard from many Members today and that we see in the media every single day.

On the 74th anniversary of the introduction of the NHS, let us hear it from the Government—let us hear it from the Minister, while he is still in his place: how are they going to relentlessly bring those waiting times down? How will they ensure that we have sufficient GPs trained, and staff training to support GP practices? After 12 years of the Conservatives in power, we need a national care service that is properly resourced.