Oral Answers to Questions

Norman Lamb Excerpts

Tuesday 10th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Norman Lamb)]

Everyone will be protected against catastrophic costs by the insurance the cap provides from April 2016, in line with the Dilnot commission’s recommendations. We are working through the detail of how it will operate in partnership with stakeholders. We will publish draft regulations and guidance for consultation towards the end of the year.

[Andrew Bridgen]

I thank the Minister for that statement. I have constituents who are very concerned about how they will continue to fund ongoing care costs in the interim period, when the proceeds of an asset or house sale have dissipated. What reassurance can my hon. Friend give my constituents?

[Norman Lamb]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. Another reform that we are introducing is universal access to a deferred payment agreement for everyone who would otherwise be forced to sell their home to pay for care—something of which we should be very proud. That will be introduced in April 2015 and it will mean that no one has to sell their home during their lifetime to pay for their care.

[Meg Munn (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab/Co-op)]

For the avoidance of doubt, will the Minister list the care costs that will not be included?

[Norman Lamb]

The amount that will count towards the clock running to reach the cap will be based on what the local authority determines will be the cost of meeting a person’s eligible care needs. That is exactly the model that Andrew Dilnot recommended, and we are implementing it as he recommended.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

Last Thursday, the first ever care home diabetes audit was published. It showed a significant lack of support for the 37,000 people with diabetes who live in care homes. Will the Minister confirm that when a person in a care home has diabetes, there will be no lack of funding to help them?

[Norman Lamb]

I pay tribute to the right hon. Gentleman for his tireless campaigning on diabetes. He has played an essential role in ensuring that it is brought to public attention. It is critical that people who require care for diabetes get access to the care they need, whether they are living in a care home or in their own home.

[Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

4. What assessment he has made of the role of the comprehensive delivery dashboard in holding clinical commissioning groups accountable for their one-year cancer survival rates.

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[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

7. What discussions he has had with NHS England on the future of the cancer drugs fund.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Norman Lamb)]

We have committed to continuing the cancer drugs fund until the end of March 2016. We will consider carefully with NHS England how, in the longer term, we can support patients in accessing cancer drugs that could benefit them, at a cost that represents value to the NHS.

[Grahame M. Morris]

I thank the Minister for that answer, but is it not true that last year the cancer drugs fund was again underspent—funds that could be used to pay for advanced radio therapy? Every MP has received a letter from the England rugby legend Lawrence Dallaglio asking for a meeting to highlight this problem. Why is the Secretary of State refusing to meet Mr Dallaglio, along with top cancer clinicians in Cancer Research UK?

[Norman Lamb]

First, if only it was underspent. More than 50,000 patients have now benefited from the fund, which is fully spent. More than £1 billion will have been committed in the full period of the fund. I have confirmation from the Secretary of State that he has already met Lawrence Dallaglio. I hope that will reassure the hon. Gentleman.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to improve access to and standards of dental care.

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[Sir Alan Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (LD)]

13. If he will bring forward proposals to widen the range of services and treatments available in community hospitals in rural areas.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Norman Lamb)]

Responsibility for the commissioning of local NHS services lies with clinical commissioning groups. Community hospitals have an important role in achieving more integrated care across health and social care services in rural areas by providing better out-of-hospital care, particularly for frail older people and those with long-term conditions.

[Sir Alan Beith]

A new community hospital is to be built in Berwick, which is 50 miles from major hospitals. Will it be free to offer a wider range of services, along the lines envisaged by the NHS chief executive in his recent comments?

[Norman Lamb]

I know that my right hon. Friend has been campaigning for that hospital. I welcomed the comments of the chief executive of NHS England, who has argued for a much more flexible and adaptable NHS, and for ensuring that GPs locally, working with community services, can offer the maximum range of health services to the local community as close to them as possible.

[Sir Edward Garnier (Harborough) (Con)]

Two and a half years ago, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns), then Minister of State, opened the St Luke’s hospital day care unit in Market Harborough, which serves a large rural area in my constituency. During those two and a half years it has been open for only 131 days, which is a huge waste of public money. I wrote to the Secretary of State yesterday. He will not have had a chance to read my letter yet, but will my hon. Friend and his colleagues look into the matter, and ensure that we do not waste public money on opening hospitals that do not provide a service?

[Norman Lamb]

My hon. and learned Friend has raised an extremely important point. It is essential that the maximum possible use be made of investment. I know that the Secretary of State will look into this issue when he has received the letter, but we must ensure that all such facilities are properly used.

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

14. What steps he plans to take to improve the provision of health services in the east midlands.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Norman Lamb)]

Decisions about local services should be made as close to patients as possible, by those who are best placed to work with patients and the public to understand their needs. Clinical commissioning groups commission the majority of health services, working with health and care professionals to design services for local populations.

[Sir Edward Leigh]

In large rural areas like Lincolnshire, the air ambulance can make the difference between life and death, particularly for car crashes where roads are blocked. What plans does the Minister have to strengthen the services of the East Midlands air ambulance service?

[Norman Lamb]

I will be very happy to discuss the issue with my hon. Friend, if he would like to do so. I pay tribute to the extraordinary work the air ambulance services undertake across our country. I have witnessed that in my own community and I would be very happy to talk further about what more can be done to strengthen the work they do.

[Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

15. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of child and adolescent mental health services.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Norman Lamb)]

We know that there is a varied picture of services across the country, where decisions on spend and allocation of resources are made by local commissioners. NHS England is preparing to publish a report based on its recent analysis of tier 4 child and adolescent mental health services, along with a service improvement plan. We expect these to be published in the coming weeks.

[Heidi Alexander]

A recent survey conducted by the Royal College of Psychiatrists found that over a quarter of trainee psychiatrists have had to send a child or young person more than 200 miles away from their family in order to access an appropriate bed. What is the Minister going to do about this totally unacceptable situation?

[Norman Lamb]

I agree, and that is why NHS England undertook the work to analyse exactly what the position is across the country. In fact it is very varied. There are some regions where it is fine, and others where it is not acceptable. I think we would all agree that it is completely unacceptable for children to be sent sometimes hundreds of miles away from home. When it publishes its report, it—[Interruption.] If the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham) would just listen, when it publishes its report, it will be publishing an action plan of the steps it will take very soon to meet any shortfalls in provision.

[Dr Phillip Lee (Bracknell) (Con)]

Although I supported the Health and Social Care Bill at every stage, I have always harboured some concerns about the ability of GPs to commission mental health services. Mental health is a fast-growing problem and a challenge to the NHS for the future. What assurances can the Minister give me that GPs will receive the appropriate specialist guidance, if required?

[Norman Lamb]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question, and it is a legitimate one. A lot of work is being undertaken by NHS England and the national clinical director Geraldine Strathdee, a highly regarded individual, to strengthen the quality of commissioning of mental health services. It falls short in many areas at the moment and it is essential that it is improved.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Ministers say that they are committed to parity of esteem between mental and physical health, yet we have already learned from an NHS England report that three quarters of children with anxiety or a diagnosable depression are not receiving the treatment they need. This is plainly unacceptable. It would not happen to children presenting with a broken arm or asthma, so can the Minister please tell the House when he will translate his rhetoric into reality?

[Norman Lamb]

Absolutely, and we are doing it. One of the problems we are having to confront is that when the Labour Government introduced the 18-week waiting standard, unbelievably they left out mental health. When mental health is left out from a standard of that sort, that determines where the money goes, and ever since then mental health has lost out. We are committed to changing that.

[Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

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[Sir Alan Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (LD)]

T6. The new specialist emergency hospital is nearly 60 miles from Berwick. Given the serious delays in ambulance attendance in recent cases in Northumbria, how can we be sure that serious cases will get paramedic attendance and delivery to the hospital within the critical hour?

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Norman Lamb)]

My right hon. Friend is right to raise concern. The North East ambulance service has traditionally been a good performer, but any deterioration that has been identified needs to be addressed very speedily. I urge him to monitor this closely, and if he wants to talk about it further with me, I will be happy to do so.

[Mr Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)]

T10. Last October the Secretary of State said that Hammersmith accident and emergency would be closed when it was safe to do so. Imperial proposes to close it on 10 September, when on its own admission there is insufficient capacity at St Mary’s and it is not safe to do so. Will he keep his promise and ensure that Hammersmith A and E does not close, especially when there is not sufficient capacity in the system?

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[Sir Andrew Stunell (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

Stockport Mind reports that it takes on average 12 months to receive the first appointment for cognitive behavioural therapy after diagnosis. What action can be taken to improve that standard in Greater Manchester?

[Norman Lamb]

I mentioned earlier that when the last Labour Government introduced the 18-week waiting time standard they left out mental health. That is at the heart of the problem. We are committed to changing that and to introducing access standards in mental health, and we plan to start next year.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

The Stitch project in Bristol has contacted me with concerns about the number of overdoses by people on prescription medication and suggested that allowing medication to be dispensed in instalments would be a better way of handling those vulnerable patients. I was disappointed in the response that I got from the Department, and I urge the Minister to think again on this issue.

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[Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)]

The Minister said that he was dealing with the chronic shortage of staff who help vulnerable children and young people, who cannot get access to mental health services. Will he tell us when there will be enough staff delivering those services to that important group?

[Norman Lamb]

I mentioned that NHS England will very soon publish a report following its analysis of existing facilities across the country, so the hon. Gentleman will get the answer in the next few weeks.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

When will the public health Minister publish the regulations for the plain packaging of tobacco products, on which she proposes to consult?