Vaccine Roll-out

Debate between Richard Fuller and Matt Hancock

Thursday 21st January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

We are very much open to the vaccination of teachers, and school staff more broadly, whom the hon. Gentleman mentioned, once we have got through those who are clinically most vulnerable. The vaccine programme has to be used to save lives, first and foremost; I think everybody agrees with that. Of course we look at all available data and information in forming that view.

[Richard Fuller (North East Bedfordshire) (Con) [V]]

I welcome the opening today of the Weatherley Centre in Biggleswade, which fills a gap in delivery across Bedfordshire, but I wish to raise with the Minister another question that has arisen in Biggleswade and get some policy advice from him. Penrose Court, a residential care home in Biggleswade, has recorded positive cases among residents. The home was advised that there would therefore be a delay in the vaccinations. Today, I understand from the clinical commissioning group that those vaccinations are back on track, but can the Minister advise the House what the policy is on vaccination of residents in care homes where a recent positive case has been recorded?

[Matt Hancock]

That is a really important question. For the most part, even when there is an outbreak, a care home can offer vaccinations with its local primary care network to those residents who do not have covid. Of course, when this is done, very scrupulous infection control needs to be in place. For instance, many care homes have vaccinated in a garden hub to make sure that the vaccination is outside, which is, of course, so much safer if there is an ongoing outbreak. Sometimes, an outbreak in a care home is so significant that it has to wait, and that has happened in a couple of cases, but all these decisions should be based on the local clinical advice of the GPs who are in the lead on the roll-out of the vaccination to care homes. I am really glad that this situation has been resolved in Biggleswade, and, of course, I am delighted at the new pharmacy-led vaccination centre in Biggleswade, which, as my hon. Friend said, is plugging a gap. He will have heard colleagues across the House praising the roll-out of the vaccinations in Bedfordshire.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Richard Fuller and Matt Hancock

Thursday 17th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, I can. I am very sorry that that meeting has not happened yet and we will get right on to it for early January.

[Richard Fuller (North East Bedfordshire) (Con)]

The changes for Bedfordshire announced by my right hon. Friend will be disappointing to residents and businesses, but it will be helpful for them to understand that, in setting up the tier system, my right hon. Friend established clear criteria, and he is publishing the data and has said that he will be open to regular reviews. On those criteria, when it comes to the issue of hospitals and pressure on the NHS, that is not a data-driven criterion; it comes with statements that the NHS is under considerable pressure, which is very difficult for people to understand, because we always hear, during pre-covid times and now, that the hospitals are under pressure. So will he commit to producing projections of occupancy rates and acute bed occupancy rates across the NHS and, if possible, on a local hospital system basis?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, we are working exactly on how to demonstrate that in a numerical rather than a narrative form, not least for the reasons that my hon. Friend sets out. We have seen a very sharp rise in cases across Bedfordshire, especially in the more rural areas, including North East Bedfordshire, so it is so important that people across Bedfordshire take that personal responsibility and follow the new tier 3 rules. I hope that we can get the rate to come down as fast as it has gone up.

Coronavirus

Debate between Richard Fuller and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 17th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Nobody wants to see the sort of economic consequences that we have already seen—even if there are more to come—but we have to take these measures in order to tackle this pandemic. We have put extra support into mental health, and more is to come. It is a really important part of the solution.

[Richard Fuller (North East Bedfordshire) (Con)]

This is the first opportunity that I have had on the behalf of my constituents to thank publicly the Secretary of State, his ministerial team, the entire civil service team and all their families for what they have contributed in this national effort. I thank all those people through him.

Local authorities in Bedfordshire have the highest incidence rate of coronavirus across the east of England. The Secretary of State said in his statement that the processes are in place to escalate concerns if there needs to be a local lockdown, but there are local concerns about the availability of local data. What is the current state of localised data? What efforts is he making to improve its availability?

[Matt Hancock]

Localised data is available through the work of Public Health England and local directors of public health, including the director for Bedfordshire, and then through our survey data, although that is stronger at the national level than at the regional or local levels. Pulling all this data together, and then ensuring that it gets to the decision makers so that they can base their decisions on it, is the task of the joint biosecurity centre. I will ask its head to write to my hon. Friend with details of the data it has on Bedfordshire and what further data it is working on in order to answer the questions that my hon. Friend rightly asks.

Coronavirus

Debate between Richard Fuller and Matt Hancock

Monday 9th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

We are all in agreement that nobody, including those who are self-employed, should be penalised for doing the right thing. How we get that support to them is a different question, because SSP is paid by the employer and the self-employed do not have an employer. We will bring forward a solution to that particular policy conundrum.

[Richard Fuller (North East Bedfordshire) (Con)]

The Grand Princess cruise ship will finally dock in Oakland today, allowing 140 Britons, including at least four of my constituents, to disembark. My right hon. Friend mentioned a few messages about the support that will be given. A lot of the Brits on the ship feel that the UK has not responded as strongly as the Americans. Will he use this opportunity to say a little more, or will he perhaps get the Foreign Office to contact constituents on the ship directly?

[Matt Hancock]

The Foreign Office will be putting out more information, because it leads in that policy area. We will be repatriating the Brits and we are working with the Americans to ensure that we can get them home safely. We have full confidence that the American public health system will be able to help those individuals off the ship and on to planes to come home.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Richard Fuller and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 28th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

My hon. Friend is right to ask. It is incredibly important that we get the right number of GPs, not least to reduce the amount spent on locums, who can be very expensive and often do not know the local population as well as salaried GPs. Her local clinical commissioning group is developing a new-to-practice fellowship in Hastings for GPs starting out in practice in order to encourage more doctors into practice and then to support them. It is also working with primary care networks so that more can become GP trainers and take on students. We are expanding the numbers going into GP training—there were record numbers last year—but I want the numbers to go up again and to make sure that Hastings gets the GPs it needs.

[Richard Fuller]

As part of the council area with the second-largest population increase in the country, the people of Biggleswade, Sandy, Arlesey and Stotfold are at their wits’ end over access to GP appointments. What special attention will the Secretary of State pay to those areas of large population growth to make sure that increases in housing are matched by increased access to GPs?

[Matt Hancock]

That is an incredibly important point. We have a manifesto commitment to ensure that where there is new housing there is also new primary care. Just as a new housing estate will often require a new primary school and new transport links, so we need to put in the GPs as well.