Mental Health Act: CQC Report

Richard Burden Excerpts

Tuesday 27th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. The increased prevalence of people with a black background being detained is very much part of Sir Simon’s review.

[Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab)]

Is the Minister also aware of the CQC report out today that rates as inadequate the child and adolescent mental health services in the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust? That is partly because of its vacancy rate of 27%, which the report says has

“impacted directly upon patient care resulting in poor patient handovers, cancellation of appointments, increasing waiting lists, patients waiting allocation of care coordinators, inconsistent care and low staff morale.”

Does not this indicate that, contrary to what she says, mental health services are not getting the resources they need, either in Birmingham or anywhere else?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I was not aware of that report, but the hon. Gentleman highlights the positive influence of CQC inspection. He has highlighted a provider for which things are not going so well, and that will enable an intervention to be made through the CQC to improve performance. In the meantime, the local commissioners in Birmingham can buy services from other providers.

Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Burden Excerpts

Tuesday 10th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We absolutely recognise that and we have legislated for it. The children and mental health Green Paper will take further steps in that direction.

[Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab)]

12. What progress has been made on the Bournville gardens health and community medical centre project in Birmingham.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Steve Brine)]

The building of the new health and wellbeing centre is supported by NHS England for funding in principle through the estates and technology transformation fund, subject to due diligence checks including a value for money exercise.

[Richard Burden]

That is fine, but is it not the case that although approval was given by the NHS technology and transformation fund last autumn, NHS England has spent the past 18 months negotiating new procedures for the premises cost directions? The delays in those procedures are jeopardising things such as that health and wellbeing centre. Is it not time that Ministers stepped in to ensure that projects on which everyone agrees can be approved under existing regulations and should not have to wait for the renegotiations?

[Steve Brine]

The hon. Gentleman is right that NHS England has been negotiating changes to the premises cost directions, which govern how we manage premises costs for general practitioners, but that is not the reason for the delay. We are working through the detail of the content of the scheme and it is not yet at the point of seeking approval. At the end of the day, this is public money and I think that the hon. Gentleman and everybody in this House would expect me to make sure that things are done properly.

Vaccine Damage Payments Act

Richard Burden Excerpts

Tuesday 24th March 2015 Westminster Hall

[Mr Brown]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his intervention. Those of us who know him realise that he is a champion for those less fortunate in society, and especially for the disabled. I recognise that he has a family member who was vaccine damaged as a child.

Why is the coverage of the scheme so patchy here in the UK? Adults are almost all excluded—why should that be? All seasonal flu vaccines and all hepatitis vaccines are excluded—why? That is not an effective safety net.

Recently, more than 70 people suffered narcolepsy as a result of the swine flu vaccine. That is a very serious condition, but the Department for Work and Pensions has refused to accept that it amounts to a 60% disability and has appealed against a tribunal finding that it is a severe disability. The Department should fight consumers less and support them more.

Awards of compensation for vaccine injury should be available—that is compensation measured by the amount of loss actually suffered, not an arbitrary amount. Reform could be a win-win, in that we could promote social justice and ensure an increase in the rate of vaccination that will benefit society as a whole.

[Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab)]

I also congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate and give my apologies because I, too, will have to leave before the end of the debate. Does he agree that some of the reluctance to reform the current procedures and the Act is similar to some of the reluctance that was there when we tried to uprate it in the first place? These things are complex and there are all sorts of aspects to them, but the first thing to do, surely, is sit down, work through where the problems are and work out what needs to be done. From my point of view, the important thing is that the Minister should meet the families to look at what is going on in practice and what can be done about it.

[Mr Brown]

My hon. Friend is exactly right. Today, we are looking at—it is in the debate’s long title—reform of this legislation. As will become clear as I progress through my contribution, we really need to reach a decision on whether this is about reform or about ripping it up, throwing it in the bin and starting again, because we have moved on significantly since 1979.

As I was saying, reform could be a win-win, in that we could promote social justice and ensure an increase in the rate of vaccination that would benefit society. I believe that vaccine manufacturers are strongly in favour of such a change and are willing to contribute to a fund—and, I hope, to discussions.

It is unconscionable to relegate so many people who are disabled to a battle over causation, and for justice, and it undermines rates of uptake of vaccines not to have an effective system. The numbers of those seriously injured are low, so the total cost of full compensation would be affordable and would be self-financed through the increase in vaccination and the reduction in the burden of disease in society.

Towards the end of last year, I met two parents down here in London. They related to me the stories of their daughters, who had both had a reaction to the human papilloma virus vaccine. We dedicated the last meeting of the all-party group, on 14 January, to hearing from some young women who were able to attend, but mainly from the parents of several young women who had had a severe reaction to the HPV vaccine. I think that it is safe to say that the majority of those cases centred on those young women now finding themselves profoundly affected by what can only be described as symptoms similar to those of ME—myalgic encephalomyelitis—or chronic fatigue syndrome. All those girls had been fit and healthy, were doing well academically and had the social life that we would expect any teenager to have.

Tobacco Packaging

Richard Burden Excerpts

Friday 12th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Anna Soubry]

I am answering the hon. Gentleman’s first question first, after which I will move on to the next one. That is the aim of the introduction of standardised packaging. If a good experiment is up and running that will produce evidence, what could be a more sensible thing for Government to do? As to the length of time, I cannot answer that question, because we have to wait and see the evidence as it emerges. I thought that we might see some sort of change quite quickly in Australia, but we have not seen it yet; I am surprised about that. I am afraid it is a case of “How long is a piece of string?” We have to wait and see how the evidence emerges.

[Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab)]

The Government’s own review found a solid case for standardised packaging, and the Minister says that she is personally persuaded of that case. The Government’s consultation finished not far short of a year ago, and now she says that their position has not changed. Does that mean that their position was always just to wait and see whether anybody else did it before making a decision? If not, what on earth was the point of the consultation and the statements she has made up until today?

[Anna Soubry]

I appreciate that the hon. Gentleman may have a problem with this, but we have had, and continue to have, an open mind. I have no difficulty with that. We had a consultation that closed in August last year. The Australians passed their legislation and it came into effect in December last year. It is absolutely right and reasonable to see the evidence as it emerges from Australia before making a final decision. That strikes me as responsible, grown-up government.

Breast Implants

Richard Burden Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Gentleman says that this body is entirely funded by the industry. It is true that in relation to pharmaceuticals the MHRA is funded by levies on the pharmaceutical industry, but much of the cost of the regulation of medical devices is actually met by the taxpayer. I regard the MHRA as operating in an independent fashion and its expert and scientific advice as independent from Ministers. None the less, as he says, the review that Earl Howe will lead will examine the lessons to be learned, including those about the effectiveness of regulatory surveillance and enforcement in this country, albeit that the regulatory failure occurred, in essence, in Germany, in the first instance, and in France.

[Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab)]

The uncertainty that many women face relates to not only the level of risk associated with PIP implants, but whether the implants they had fitted were PIP implants. I accept what other hon. Members have said about problems with record keeping in the private sector, and that needs to be taken up. The Secretary of State said that the estimated 3,000 NHS patients will be written to. If they are to receive such a letter, will he reassure them about when that will be?

[Mr Lansley]

The chief executive of the NHS wrote to the NHS bodies last week. As the hon. Gentleman will realise, the numbers concerned in each organisation will not be very large, so I am looking for what he describes to happen rapidly.

NHS Future Forum

Richard Burden Excerpts

Tuesday 14th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. That is indeed the message that came through to us from the NHS Future Forum and its extensive engagement with the NHS and beyond. I will not go down the path urged on us by the Opposition, which for the NHS seems to be spend less, do nothing and let the crisis happen when it will.

[Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State is still talking about the Bill as if it is a way of promoting localism and local accountability, but is it not still the fact that most of the extension of locality commissioning that that would involve could happen without the Bill? I refer the Secretary of State to the role of the national commissioning board. What is that, if not a massive and bureaucratic centralisation of power?

[Mr Lansley]

With respect, the hon. Gentleman misses the point entirely. Without the legislation we could not transfer out of the hands of a managerial top-down bureaucracy into the hands of clinicians and local people, but he is right—it is not just the localisation of decision making. There is also in the NHS a nationally funded service with an expectation of national standards, and many services that require high levels of national consistency in commissioning. There is a job for the national commissioning board, which we will establish. That in itself will inject a considerable level of consistency in standards and quality, and considerable efficiency in commissioning some services.