Science and Technology Committee

Debate between Norman Lamb and Lindsay Hoyle

Thursday 5th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Norman Lamb]

That is really kind. It has been an enormous pleasure working with the hon. Gentleman and I thank him for taking a lead role in this vital report. I entirely agree with his comments. The Prime Minister has said that he wants the Government to be the greenest ever. We have heard that before, but there now must be substance to back up that statement. That requires key policies that provide the incentives and the regulatory framework to deliver that essential target by 2050.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Lindsay Hoyle)]

May I also wish you well? The tributes, which have come from all sides, show what a great man you are. We wish you well in your retirement. I am not quite sure that it is retirement, but we wish you well in whatever future venture you undertake.

Whistleblowing

Debate between Norman Lamb and Lindsay Hoyle

Wednesday 3rd July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Norman Lamb]

I will give way briefly, but I am nervous about the Deputy Speaker and overstaying my welcome.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Lindsay Hoyle)]

Let me just reassure you on that. I hope I do not make anybody nervous.

[Dr Johnson]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way, as he is being most generous with his time. He said that the doctor was feeling under pressure from the overwhelming firepower and the potential to incur the NHS’s substantial costs. What support did his union, perhaps the British Medical Association or defence unions such as the Medical Defence Union or Medical Protection Society, offer him on legal costs?

Dangerous Drugs

Debate between Norman Lamb and Lindsay Hoyle

Wednesday 3rd July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Norman Lamb]

I meant to mention the following case when I spoke earlier: a family in Norwich have just had to spend well over £1,000 on a private prescription for their young son who has epilepsy. They will not as a family be able to afford more than a few weeks’-worth of paying for this privately. It is ludicrous that that family, desperately in need of help for their young boy, cannot get it through the NHS; I think there have been only three prescriptions so far under the NHS.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Lindsay Hoyle)]

Order. I have allowed the debate to drift a little away from the scope of the debate, but I do not want it to drift too far. I ask Members to bear that in mind.

NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans

Debate between Norman Lamb and Lindsay Hoyle

Wednesday 14th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Norman Lamb]

I will give way very briefly to the hon. Gentleman—[Interruption.] I am being given a clear signal by Mr Deputy Speaker that I should not—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Order. You have only 30 seconds to go.

[Norman Lamb]

I take your point, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I am sorry for my ill discipline.

I will conclude by saying that this is the right approach but it will be undermined because of the rushed process which does not involve the public, because it does not take people with it on the journey and because there is not enough money to deliver the transformation that is required.

Carers

Debate between Norman Lamb and Lindsay Hoyle

Thursday 20th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Norman Lamb]

I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman was present when I said that we need to be much smarter about how we use the money available. One of the things we need to do—I think there is a degree of agreement here—is integrate health and care. It is a crazy silo situation that we face. We are not using the money effectively. We could achieve much better support if we combined the disparate parts of the system to provide support shaped around the needs of the individual and their family.

The last spending round provided local government with a challenging settlement. That is why we decided to provide extra funding to help local authorities maintain access to services. However, local authorities ultimately have discretion over how they use their resources. Improving care and support is not simply a case of more money. Local authorities must look at how they can transform care through innovation and new ways of working. As I said earlier, collaboration with the voluntary sector is critical to this. Many local authorities are successfully integrating health and care services to improve quality, and we are developing the concept of “pioneers” to act as exemplars to support the rapid dissemination and uptake of lessons learned across the country.

Some hon. Members talked about the role of doctors and other health care workers. I agree that much more needs to be done. We can look at incentives such as the GP survey mentioned in the exchange that I had with the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Leicester West, and we have provided funding for the Royal College of General Practitioners and others to encourage GPs to think about the role of carers, but what we see from examples around the country, such as Changing Lives in Cornwall, is that once GPs start to collaborate and work as a partnership—as a team—with carers and the family, they begin to see that their burden is relieved because others can help them in the role that they have to perform. That is the essential change that it is so important to achieve.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam referred to the £400 million funding over four years for carers’ breaks. It is deeply frustrating that that has not been used as intended in all parts of the country. There are some areas, including Surrey and many others, which have done good, innovative things as a result of that. The Department asked the policy research unit in economic evaluation in health and care intervention to conduct a survey of a number of PCTs to gain their views on the benefits of NHS support for carers’ breaks. The findings will be published shortly and will help inform our understanding of what has happened. The early indications are that there may be more good things happening than we sometimes recognise, but clearly there have been significant gaps and much more needs to be done.

I appreciate that time is almost up. I entirely agree with my right hon. Friend and many others about the importance of work. I make the point again that providing help and assistance to enable people to remain in work is in employers own self-interest, as they maintain the skills in the work force while enabling that person to continue their caring responsibilities.

This has been a good debate. There has been some informed discussion and I am very grateful to hon. Members for their contributions.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

I call Paul Burstow. We have about 40 seconds.

Mental Health

Debate between Norman Lamb and Lindsay Hoyle

Thursday 16th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Norman Lamb]

Yes, absolutely; I understand the importance of that. Incidentally, I visited children and adolescent services in Oxford and I was very impressed by the work under way there. I am getting a message that I am under some pressure from Mr Deputy Speaker to make some progress—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

I may be able to help the Minister there. It is not a question of pressure from me; it is a question of the Backbench Business Committee suggesting that Front-Bench contributions should be up to 15 minutes. If he looked at the clock, he would recognise that he has spoken for more than 20 minutes. He should not suggest that the Chair is interfering; it is the Backbench Business Committee.

[Norman Lamb]

I am sorry for putting the blame in the wrong place; I take full responsibility; I have tried to be responsive to Members as I have proceeded.

We are working with NHS England to decide how best to measure progress in these areas. Because, as we all know, words are not enough, we have to be certain that the objectives we have set out on paper actually translate into better, more accessible care for those who need it.

Thirdly, I mention the three outcome frameworks: for the NHS, adult social care, and public health. These frameworks will enable us to hold the health and care system to account for achieving what matters most—good outcomes for the people who use services and for the population as a whole. In the NHS outcomes framework, there are four measures that relate specifically to mental health and many others that include mental health just as much as physical health. The other outcomes frameworks contain other measures designed to ensure that we improve well-being and tackle the wider determinants of mental health, and that we provide the best possible care and support to those people with mental health problems who need it.

Finally, I want to mention our continuing commitment to the IAPT programme. Since the programme began, it has treated more than 1 million people with depression and anxiety, and as a result nearly 75,000 people have moved from benefits into work. Nevertheless, we need to do more. We are currently involved in a joint programme with the Department for Work and Pensions, which involves commissioning work to find a way of providing much speedier access to psychological therapies for people with mental health problems who are out of work. It seems crazy that we are spending money on benefits when giving those people access to therapy might help them to recover and return to work.