Covid-19 Update

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Tuesday 9th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes. We are working with GPs, with community parts of the NHS and also with local authorities to do this. As my hon. Friend may have seen, the Home Office has stated that the most important thing is that we vaccinate everybody who is present here, whatever their status or paperwork.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

I am very glad to hear that exchange, because this is a considerable issue in Glasgow, with our large asylum-seeking population. Will the Secretary of State also tell us how his announcements about quarantining will be applied to people who arrive in this country seeking asylum and who probably do not have £1,750 in their back pocket? How will new arrivals be supported in the quarantine process?

[Matt Hancock]

A new arrival to the UK who has been in a red-list country in the past 10 days and who is not a resident of the United Kingdom or Ireland or a UK citizen will be denied entry and held in hotel quarantine until they can return to the country from which they arrived.

Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Tuesday 6th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, of course I would. I would underline some news announced by the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill), which is that the breast screening backlog from the first peak, which was 450,000, is now down to just over 50,000. I pay tribute to the NHS and all those involved in screening who have done so much work to bring that backlog down, and I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this subject.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

The pharmaceutical industry has highlighted supply difficulties due to covid-19 as a challenge to recreating stockpiles before the end of the transition period in December. How will the Secretary of State ensure that there are no drug shortages, particularly of medicines such as insulin, which is not produced in the UK?

[Matt Hancock]

A huge amount of work is under way to ensure that we are fully prepared for all eventualities this winter. It is an important piece of work across the Department.

Covid-19 Update

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Monday 5th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

My hon. Friend raises a very important question, which I know is exercising people who live in north Wales and on the border. I am not going to criticise the Welsh Government, with whom we work closely, but what I will say is that, in England, when we choose to bring in measures restricting travel, we do it with strong guidance at the moment rather than within the law. That is partly because there are all sorts of reasons why people might need to undertake a journey, so even where we advise people to minimise unnecessary travel, we do so with guidance and, in large part, people follow it.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

The First Minister said on Friday that work was under way to improve the interoperability of the two test and trace apps. As they do not both work at the same time, as I experienced for myself, I wonder whether the Secretary of State can say a little bit more about how discussions between the Scottish and UK Governments are progressing and whether there is some sort of timescale for allowing the two apps to work together.

[Matt Hancock]

I am delighted to have the chance to agree wholeheartedly with the First Minister of Scotland. We have been working closely together to ensure that the apps work together and interoperate in different parts of the United Kingdom. That upgrade is expected in the coming weeks. The two Governments are working very hard and very constructively on it.

Covid-19

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Monday 28th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

I think the fact that the Government have made this time available for scrutiny is welcome. I want to start, as others have done, by thanking all the care workers, NHS staff, support staff and council staff who have responded so courageously to the pandemic in Glasgow North.

I particularly want to express my solidarity with and send my best wishes to many of the new constituents in Glasgow North who have been affected by the outbreak at the University of Glasgow and have found themselves confined to their halls of residence. I am grateful to the principal of the university, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, for taking the time this morning to speak to me and my MSP colleagues Bob Doris and Sandra White about the situation and the steps the university is taking to support students who have found themselves in difficulty. I know, Madam Deputy Speaker, that you take a particular interest in the University of Glasgow and the wellbeing of its students.

The pandemic is going to bring flare-ups and flashpoints, and some of them will be easier to see than others, but, as others have said, nobody is to blame for this. Catching the virus is not something wrong or in itself a breach of the regulations. It is not a question of blame, but there is a question of responsibility and where the duty of care lies, and that is what I want to look at in my short contribution.

That is particularly important, in Glasgow North, for people who are in the creative sector and who are self-employed. They are literally the heart and soul of our city. Creativity means so many different things: it is the musicians, the artists, the sound and light engineers who support them, the pop-up shops, the artisan producers, the wedding dress makers, and the event organisers and co-ordinators. These are individual self-employed self-starters, and they have been left behind by this Government. I thought the Tories were supposed to celebrate and support entrepreneurs, and instead they find themselves excluded, but it does not have to be that way.

This comes back to the question of responsibility, and that was the point I was making to the Prime Minister last Wednesday. The costs and the consequences of covid are unavoidable. Somebody has to meet them, and that somebody has to be and can only be the state—the Government. The Government have already had to borrow an unimaginable amount of money. Governments around the world have had to do that, and an independent Scotland would be able to do that.

The question is how the money is used to the best effect. The Government can either pay through job retention schemes, through income guarantees and through investment in preventive healthcare and support for people’s mental wellbeing, or they can pay through long-term mass unemployment and through the social security system, with the costs that come with that—from the health service to social work, the police and all the rest. That is why we have to see this moment as a chance to do things differently and to set a different path, whether that is a universal basic income in whatever shape or form it might take, or prioritising green, sustainable alternatives to working practices, transport and service delivery.

However, the Government’s vision seems to be a return to the rat race and a return to trickle-down economics—that we will know we have beaten the virus when things go back to the way they were before. They already want to take us back to some notion of empire with their Brexit obsession, and now they are harking back to the days of Thatcher, where mass unemployment is fine so long as some people get to be filthy rich. They should not think that we are not wise to the idea that the disaster of a no-deal Brexit can be hidden behind the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic. That might suit some of the Tories, but it is not what people in Glasgow North want to see. They and we in the SNP want “Build back better” to be not just a slogan, but a genuine direction of travel.

In reality, we cannot go back and we will not go back. There is not going to be a light-bulb moment, even in this Chamber, when suddenly we stop washing our hands, keeping our distance and wearing masks, and we all just pile back into offices instead of working from home. We are moving to a new kind of normal and to a different way of how society and the economy will work in future. If that direction does not come from Westminster, then people in Scotland will seek it and find it elsewhere. The virus will not be defeated by grandiose rhetoric about moonshots and world-leading apps; it will be defeated by everyone working together, by making careful judgments based on the best scientific advice and by admitting—as the Scottish Government and the First Minister have done from the start—that mistakes will be made and learning from them for the future. Ultimately, of course, the future for Scotland will be in Scotland’s hands. It always is.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

I call Chris Bryant.

Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Tuesday 1st September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

As I have just explained, the test and trace system at the national level makes the immediate and rapid first attempt at contact. If no contact is made, the local teams can then go in. It is the combination of the two that works best. I really think that the Opposition —especially coming from the Front-Bench team—are making a mistake in trying to divide people between public and private. Actually, everybody is working very hard together to deliver the control of this virus.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that the (a) NHS and (b) social care sector are adequately resourced during winter 2020-21.

[The Minister for Care (Helen Whately)]

We recognise that there will be increased pressures on the NHS and social care during winter, and substantial preparations have been and are being made. The NHS has already published its winter plan, and we will shortly publish the winter plan for social care.

[Patrick Grady]

That is exactly why there is a need for significant additional funding to prepare for a surge this winter, and that has to include a fully funded pay rise for health and care staff. At the height of the crisis, the Secretary of State was saying, “Now is not the time to consider a pay rise.” When will the time be? Is it now or some time in the future?

[Helen Whately]

As I expect the hon. Gentleman knows, we have announced £3 billion of additional NHS funding for the winter and are continually looking at additional funding needs for social care.

Coronavirus

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Tuesday 7th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes. My right hon. Friend raises an incredibly important point. I pay tribute to those care homes, in Scarborough and across the country, that have done the right thing and are tackling outbreaks when they find them, including some that go to extraordinary lengths to protect their residents, not least because we know that care home residents are among some of the most vulnerable to coronavirus. But at the same time, we must ensure that the level of care remains high, and the CQC does have an incredibly important role in that.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

Professor Michael Baker, who formulated New Zealand’s world-leading elimination strategy, has told the UK:

“You have all the tools you need to pursue containment and elimination if you choose to. The alternative is going in and out of lockdown for months, if not years.”

Does the Secretary of State agree with that, and will he therefore confirm whether the UK Government’s strategy for covid-19 is going to be centred on elimination rather than suppression?

[Matt Hancock]

We are absolutely bringing the case rate right down, and the fact that across the UK as a whole there were only 352 positive cases in the last 24 hour period, which is the lowest since before lockdown, demonstrates that that action is happening. It is because of this action that we have been able to allow people more freedom to enjoy the things they enjoy, and I am glad to say that that strategy has been followed by all four Governments in the UK. There may be differences in detail and differences of a few days in a few bits of the timing, but essentially this has been a UK-wide strategy, followed both by the Labour Welsh Government and by the SNP Government in Scotland.

Health and Social Care Workers: Recognition and Reward

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Thursday 25th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

I congratulate the Petitions Committee and the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) on opening the debate and securing the time for it. I also congratulate the Members who made thoughtful and, in some cases, personal speeches. One hundred and forty five of my constituents signed the main petition that is being discussed today and a proportionate number signed the others. It is important that they have the opportunity to hear that their voices have been heard. They and all of us joined in the 10 weeks of the clapping for carers, but all recognised, as others have said, that clapping is not enough and that there must be action and they demonstrated that by signing these petitions.

I would just note that there was another petition during lockdown that achieved 1.2 million signatures, but, because it did not come through the e-petition site, it is not available to be debated in the House in quite the same format, but I know that many Members would want to have the behaviour of the Prime Minister’s special adviser discussed on the Floor of the House.

When this crisis is over, the UK Government must find a way of honouring the amazing heroes in our NHS and care sector who are continuing to work tirelessly to help us all to defeat the coronavirus. The Scottish Government—the SNP Government—remain committed to passing on all Barnett consequentials for health spending to the NHS in Scotland. Throughout this time, and for many years now, all NHS staff in Scotland have been paid the real living wage, not the pretendy living wage implemented by the Tory Government. Nurses across all bands are paid better in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK, and the Scottish Government are delivering the highest pay rise for NHS agenda for change staff anywhere in the UK. Employees will receive at least a 9% pay rise for the three years from 2019.

The Scottish Government spend about £130 per head more on social care than is spent in England, and they are the only Government in the UK to fund free personal care. Also, as my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson) said earlier, they have already brought forward a 3% pay rise for social care workers in recognition of the work that they are doing at this time. Recognising the particular challenges presented by covid19, the Scottish Government, with cross-party support in Holyrood, are working to establish a sick pay fund as a matter of urgency to ensure that care workers whose employer terms and conditions fall short and who test positive for covid-19 receive sick pay above the current statutory level of £95.85 a week. As we know, that is one of the worst sick pay legal frameworks anywhere in Europe.

The Scottish Government were also the first in the United Kingdom to announce a death in service provision for covid-19 deaths among NHS staff. That benefit mirrors what is available in the NHS pension scheme: a lump sum and ongoing survivor’s benefit. However, it is unacceptable that some social care workers’ contracts of employment offer no cover for death in service, so the Scottish Government are putting in place that kind of cover for when any social care worker dies without death in service cover in their contracted pension arrangements. The Scottish Government will provide a one-off payment of £60,000 to a named survivor, and this will be retrospective. That is important because, as of 23 June, the Scottish Government have been informed by health boards or the Care Inspectorate of seven deaths of health care workers and 12 deaths of social care workers related to covid-19.

I have some experience of this. The Wyndford Locks care home in Maryhill was one of the first in Scotland to experience the death of a staff member due to covid-19. Also, one of my constituents, Christine Gallagher, lost her beloved son Michael to the disease. He was providing frontline care, employed by an agency, in central Scotland. His loss is keenly felt by his family. Too many families across the country are feeling such losses. His mother told me that she could not attend his funeral because of public health restrictions. She had to stay at home with a photograph of her son and light a candle. I want to pay tribute to Michael for the love and support that he showed to so many in his care, and express my condolences to his family and all the other families who have experienced tragic losses due to covid-19. May they all rest in peace.

This is why it is so important that the healthcare and social care workers, whether in the NHS or private sector, have the pay and benefits that they and their families deserve for the work they do to keep us all safe. That includes healthcare workers who have made their home in Scotland, even if they began their lives or careers elsewhere. So, while we welcome the principle of scrapping the NHS surcharge, it does not appear to have happened in practice yet. Perhaps the Minister can tell us when it will come into effect, because we are still hearing of healthcare workers being told by the Home Office that the surcharge is still payable and there is no guarantee of a refund.

In too many cases, the hostile environment continues despite all these warm words. Even in the middle of the pandemic, we see cases of NHS staff being told that they are no longer welcome. I have a constituent, Jessica Forsyth, an Australian national on a youth mobility visa. Her visa expires at the end of July and she has been told by UK Visas and Immigration that she cannot apply because she is deemed unskilled and earns below the £30,000 threshold, even though she is providing essential services to the NHS. She has made Scotland her home and built her life here, and I hope the Minister can help me to solicit the reply I am waiting for from the Home Office about her case.

It is clear that, while all this work has been taking place, we also have to ensure that we are planning for the next phase. We must learn the lessons and use the coming months to ensure that PPE is fully stockpiled, that supply lines are in place and that procedures are changed where necessary, so that as the second wave hits, there will be a vastly improved level of preparation. As we open up the health service to wider services, that must be done using an evidence-based, cautious and phased approach, for the sake of both staff and patients.

I think that many in the NHS and social care would echo the words of the declaration of Arbroath—it is not for glory, nor honours, nor riches that they fight. But that does not mean that they do not deserve them, and when all this is over we have to make sure that they are properly rewarded and recognised.

Medicines and Medical Devices Bill

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Report stage & 3rd reading & 3rd reading: House of Commons & Report stage: House of Commons
Tuesday 23rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Jo Churchill]

I am most grateful to hon. Friends and hon. Members for their contributions. This is not a stop-gap Bill to get us through the transition; it is a proportionate approach to regulating an industry that moves quickly, with regulators that want to take effective action but are renowned for working with the industry in the best interests of patients. It is about setting a new direction and making clear what the UK wants after the end of the transition period.

Let me turn to the points that hon. Members made. I reiterate to the hon. Member for Nottingham North the commitment to consult when the Cumberlege report is published. We are keen to take account of its recommendations and ensure we are taking the necessary steps to protect patients, as patient safety is paramount to the future of medicines and medical devices regulation. We have of course had routine engagement with the review team, as would be expected, to ensure it is adequately supported and resourced to conduct its review.

I believe that the situation for pharmacies is quite the contrary to what the shadow Minister outlined. For hub-and-spoke dispensing, we intend to give smaller community pharmacies the same opportunity that large pharmacy businesses already enjoy. We will support them, and remove the legal barrier that allows such an arrangement only when the spoke pharmacy and the central dispensing hub are part of the same retail pharmacy business. That would level the playing field for smaller community pharmacies, rather than put them under threat. As I outlined in Committee, particularly during covid, all 11,600 of our community pharmacies have gone above and beyond. They have kept their doors open and have been there every single day for our constituents. I thank them once again. We have committed to consulting before making regulations, and that applies to any changes to rules on pharmacy registration. It means that no changes can be made without first undertaking proper consultation.

I understand the passion of the hon. Member for St Helens South and Whiston (Ms Rimmer) on the subject she raised. As the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) alluded to, we are talking about a thoroughly abhorrent process. As I indicated, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office regularly raises concerns with China, including on the extensive use of the death penalty, and on the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities, which sit at the heart of this. I look forward to having a conversation with her after she has had that meeting, in order to understand what was discussed and to continue the conversation further.

I thank the hon. Member for Strangford for his kind words and for highlighting that we have a unique ecosystem here; we have brilliant academics, such as those he mentioned from Queen’s and others from right across the UK. We have a world-leading life science industry, employing some 240,000 people, and they are working to bring the best products to patients. We want to ensure that in and around clinical trials we have a regulatory system that maintains and enhances the UK as a site for global co-operation in research and allows us flexibility to achieve what is best for patients.

On clinical trials, the Government value the strong, collaborative partnerships we have across Europe in the areas of science, research and innovation, and we want to continue to support those opportunities. We are committed to ensuring that the UK maintains its position as a global science superpower and continues to collaborate with Europe on scientific research. The Prime Minister has made it clear that the UK sits ready to consider a relationship in line with non-EU member states’ participation in Horizon Europe, provided that that represents value for money and is in the UK’s interest.

The Bill, as drafted, does not breach the Northern Ireland protocol and the powers in the Bill are capable of being exercised compatibly with the protocol. We will ensure that that is the case. We are clear that the protocol provides that where a GB authority currently approves goods for sale, it will continue to be able to do so, in order to have that free-flowing movement.

To the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), who never misses an opportunity to remind me that he would like more services close to his constituents, I say: I hear you, again. Following Health oral questions this morning, I can say that I know we both share that commitment to drive patient access to radiotherapy and treatments together. Many hon. Members know that that is dear to my heart, having had cancer on more than one occasion. I came here to try to get more cancer nurse specialists and to make sure that on their journey those who have metastatic cancer, which is rarely spoken about in this place, are treated as people who still have full lives to live. Living with and beyond cancer is something we should embrace. The next round of negotiations with the EU will start shortly and we will continue to explore with the EU what future relationship arrangements can look like.

In conclusion, I would like to thank everyone for their efforts in getting us to this place.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

I was not in the Chamber earlier, but just before the Minister comes to a conclusion, I wish to thank her for her comments about the engagement she has had with my hon. Friend the Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford), who has not been able to participate in person in the process of this Bill. I know, however, that my hon. Friend has been grateful for the engagement on a cross-party basis, for the comments the Minister made about the amendments tabled by the Scottish National party in Committee, for the commitments the Government made in response to them and for their engagement with the Scottish Government. I just want to place on the record our thanks for all that and my sympathy with the amendment tabled by the hon. Member for St Helens South and Whiston (Ms Rimmer). A number of my constituents, like those of several other Members, have raised concerns about these issues of forced organ harvesting, and I hope some of that can be considered as well.

[Jo Churchill]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his contribution. These are unusual times, so it was my pleasure to work with the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford) to do what we could to ensure that the Bill proceeded with a degree of consensus, as it was to work with her on access to off-licence drugs some years ago.

Our consideration of the Bill has been led by good sense and common ground, and by general understanding and consensus about its purpose. I am grateful to everyone who contributed along the way. I think the themes we heard today and in Committee—the paramount importance of patients; the need to ensure that we carefully consider and scrutinise legislation and that it is made after consultation; and the use of data to underpin better regulation and improve safety—were the right ones for us to consider. Although it is not necessarily part of regulatory scrutiny, I am grateful to the hon. Member for St Helens South and Whiston for raising the important issue of the UK’s continued promotion of human rights and ethics.

I am grateful to the Clerks for their help; these are unusual circumstances, but I have felt no less supported and, working towards ensuring that we can make progress in the other place, we will continue to use imagination. The Bill is a framework for where we want to go. It will allow us to ensure that the regulation that governs critical areas that matter for us all and are likely to affect us all indirectly is up to date and supports the thriving life sciences sector and patients. To that end, I commend the Bill to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

New clause 1 accordingly read a Second time, and added to the Bill.

Clause 14

Fees, information, offences

Amendment made: 1, page 8, line 35, leave out “efficacy” and insert

“performance, including the clinical effectiveness,”.—(Jo Churchill.)

This amendment clarifies the matters relating to medical devices the recording of information about which may be the subject of provision in regulations under Clause 12(1).

Clause 35

Offence relating to information

Amendments made: 2, page 18, line 36, at end insert—

“(2) A person to whom information is disclosed under regulations under section (Information systems) commits an offence if the person uses or discloses that information in contravention of those regulations.”

This amendment and Amendment 3 provide that a person who discloses information in breach of regulations made under the new clause inserted by NC1 commits a criminal offence.

Amendment 3, page 18, line 37, after “subsection (1)” insert “or (2)”.—(Jo Churchill.)

See the explanatory statement for Amendment 2.

Clause 38

Power to make consequential etc provision

Amendment made: 4, page 21, line 41, leave out “and 12(1)” and insert

“, 12(1) and (Information systems)(1)”.—(Jo Churchill.)

This amendment enables regulations made under the new clause inserted by NC1 to make consequential and other provision.

Clause 40

Consultation

Amendments made: 5, page 22, line 11, leave out

“sections 1(1), 8(1) or 12(1), or paragraph 9 of Schedule 1”

and insert

“a provision of Part 1, 2 or 3”.

This amendment and Amendment 6 have the effect that the Secretary of State is required to consult before making regulations under the new clause inserted by NC1.

Amendment 6, page 22, line 29, after “section 12(1)” insert

“or (Information systems)(1),”.—(Jo Churchill.)

See the explanatory statement for Amendment 5.

Clause 41

Procedure

Amendments made: 7, page 22, line 32, leave out

“section 1(1), 8(1) or 12(1), or paragraph 9 of Schedule 1,”

and insert

“a provision of Part 1, 2 or 3”.

This amendment has the effect that regulations made under the new clause inserted by NC1 are to be made by statutory instrument.

Amendment 8, page 22, line 42, leave out

“section 1(1), 8(1) or 12(1)”

and insert

“a provision of Part 1, 2 or 3”.

This amendment and Amendments 9 to 17 enable regulations under powers in the Bill which are subject to negative procedure to be combined in a single statutory instrument with regulations under powers which are subject to affirmative procedure, or with regulations under powers in other legislation which are subject to negative procedure.

Amendment 9, page 23, line 12, leave out

“to which subsection (9) applies”.

See the explanatory statement for Amendment 8.

Amendment 10, page 23, line 13, at end insert

“if the only regulations under a provision of Part 1, 2 or 3 that it contains are regulations to which subsection (9) applies”.

See the explanatory statement for Amendment 8.

Amendment 11, page 23, line 14, leave out

“to which subsection (9) applies”.

See the explanatory statement for Amendment 8.

Amendment 12, page 23, line 16, at end insert

“if the only regulations under section 1(1) or 8(1) that they contain are regulations to which subsection (9) applies”.

See the explanatory statement for Amendment 8.

Amendment 13, page 23, line 18, leave out

“to which subsection (9) applies”.

See the explanatory statement for Amendment 8.

Amendment 14, page 23, line 23, at end insert—

“, if the only regulations under a provision of Part 1, 2 or 3 that it contains are regulations to which subsection (9) applies”.

See the explanatory statement for Amendment 8.

Amendment 15, page 23, line 24, after “to” insert

“—

(a) ”.

See the explanatory statement for Amendment 8.

Amendment 16, page 23, line 36, at end insert

“, and

(b) regulations under paragraph 9 of Schedule 1”.

See the explanatory statement for Amendment 8.

Amendment 17, page 23, line 37, leave out subsection (10).—(Jo Churchill.)

See the explanatory statement for Amendment 8.

Clause 43

Commencement

Amendment made: 18, page 24, line 15, at end insert

“, and

(d) section (Information systems)”.—(Jo Churchill.)

This amendment provides for the new clause inserted by NC1 to come into force two months after the Bill is passed.

Bill read the Third time and passed.

Covid-19 Response

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

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

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

I join all the tributes to the public health workers in my constituency who are helping to fight the virus. We hear the Secretary of State sing the praises of public and private partnership. I hope he will not be using the crisis as an opportunity to increase privatisation and profiteering in the NHS through the back door. If it is proving such a success, will he explain why the Deloitte regional test centre results are still not being provided to the local public health authorities?

Covid-19 Response

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

That is an incredibly important question. We have put in place a helpline for all frontline workers in the NHS to ensure that they have the support they need. Working with my hon. Friend and others, I will make sure that that support stays in place long after this crisis is over.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP) [V]]

Will the Secretary of State join me in welcoming the extraordinary effort by all those involved in getting NHS Louisa Jordan in Glasgow ready to receive patients, if needed? Will he outline what discussions he has had with his Scottish Government counterpart about the different operating model of NHS Louisa Jordan from NHS Nightingale in London? Will he outline what steps he is taking to address the long-term nursing shortages in England, especially given the flight of nurses from the European Union that reports suggest is impacting on the operation of NHS Nightingale?

[Matt Hancock]

I am terribly sorry, I do not recognise those reports at all. There is no impact at all from Brexit on our coronavirus response. The good news is that thousands of nurses and other clinicians have come back into service since the crisis started.