Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Heaton-Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 18th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I am not going to let the SNP spokesman get away with this. Normally, she brings a thoughtful contribution to health debates, but she said that there is more spending in Scotland per head. The truth is this: the increase in spending in England over the last five years is 17.6%, but in Scotland the increase is only 13.1%. That represents half a billion pounds less: the increase in spending that we have seen in England that they have not seen in Scotland. She should recognise that fact.

[Peter Heaton-Jones (North Devon) (Con)]

5. What steps he is taking to ensure the long-term provision of adequate mental health services.

[David Warburton (Somerton and Frome) (Con)]

21. What steps he is taking to ensure the long-term provision of adequate mental health services.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Jackie Doyle-Price)]

Under the NHS long-term plan, there will be a comprehensive expansion of mental health services, with additional funding of £2.3 billion a year by 2023-24. That will give greater mental health support to an extra 345,000 children, at least 380,000 more adults, and 24,000 more new and expectant mothers.

[Peter Heaton-Jones]

Across the country there is a real challenge in recruiting qualified mental health nurses. Will the Minister work with me and the Devon Partnership NHS Trust to encourage as many qualified professionals as we can to come to work at the excellent in-patient wards at North Devon District Hospital?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend; it is important that we have the right workforce in place. That is a considerable challenge, but it is essential if we are to achieve the best outcomes. I am pleased that the Devon Partnership NHS Trust has seen an increase of 47 mental health nurses between February 2010 and February 2019, which shows that it is doing exactly as he says and going out of its way to recruit the best possible people. That work must continue, as is recognised in our “Interim NHS People Plan”