New Hospital Programme Review

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for highlighting the extent to which Leeds general infirmary was let down over 14 years of Conservative Government, with initial under-investment followed by total inactivity, apart from a big pile of dirt outside the hospital, which I went to see with the then shadow Chancellor. The Chancellor and I are both committed to the project: we know how important it is. We have had to phase the programme so we can say it is genuinely affordable, deliverable and credible on this timetable. I reassure my hon. Friend that pre-construction work will take place over 2030 to 2032, with construction due to start in 2033 to 2035. We would be delighted to receive representations from MPs from his city and across the region about the support we provide to the trust in the meantime.

[Robbie Moore (Keighley and Ilkley) (Con)]

Airedale hospital has some of the worst RAAC of all the hospitals on the new hospital programme. All the surveys have said that given the risk profile associated with RAAC, parts of the hospital will have no life expectancy beyond 2030, which is why the completion date of 2030 was so important. With funds having been allocated to the project for it to be delivered, it is disappointing to hear today that the start date will be between 2025 and 2030. When is it likely that the new, rebuilt Airedale hospital will open? Will the Health Secretary provide the trust with confidence that additional funds will be available to help with the mitigation that needs to take place before the new hospital can open, to keep the existing hospital operational?

[Wes Streeting]

If the hon. Gentleman is disappointed with this Government, he will be absolutely furious when he finds out who was in power before. In fact, he is a dead ringer for the guy I used to see on the Conservative Benches cheering on and voting for every calamitous decision the Conservative Government took, including crashing the economy and supporting the now Leader of the Opposition when she rejected appeals to fund RAAC hospitals. We are prioritising those hospitals and going as fast as we can. The rebuilding will happen under a Labour Government, but it did not happen under the Tories, did it?

Hospice Funding

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Thursday 19th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Karin Smyth]

I am happy to support my hon. Friend, who makes an excellent point, in his work with local providers. He congratulates me, but the work has been done mainly by the Minister for Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Aberafan Maesteg (Stephen Kinnock), and by the Secretary of State, who have personally taken on this issue. They are visiting hospices today, so they could not be here even though they wanted to. We are committed to supporting people throughout their life, from diagnosis to end of life.

[Robbie Moore (Keighley and Ilkley) (Con)]

I have been contacted by vast numbers of families and relatives of those who have been wonderfully cared for by Sue Ryder Manorlands hospice in Oxenhope in the Worth valley. They are all concerned about the impact that the rise in employer national insurance will have on them. Those at Manorlands are deeply concerned that it will cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds. In answering the urgent question, the Minister has announced additional funding, but can she confirm whether it will cover the cost of those rises to Sue Ryder Manorlands hospice in my constituency? Did the Government carry out an impact assessment of the negative impacts that the Budget would have on those in the charitable and hospice sectors?

[Karin Smyth]

The hon. Gentleman asks the same question again. Through the Budget, this Government have allocated more money to the health service than the previous Government—a record announcement—and we have announced money again this morning. To govern is to choose. The last Government neither governed well nor chose to support the health sector from diagnosis to end of life; this Government have, and will continue to do so.

National Insurance Contributions: Healthcare

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Thursday 14th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Karin Smyth]

I understand the concerns of the providers that have come to the hon. Gentleman, and he is right to raise them in this place. As he knows, health and social care is devolved to the Welsh Government, and there has been much benefit already from the Barnett consequentials of the Budget. We will continue to talk to the devolved regions—in, may I say, a much more co-operative way than the previous Government did—to ensure that we have a good system across the entire United Kingdom.

[Robbie Moore (Keighley and Ilkley) (Con)]

In a tweet to the Health Secretary, Caroline Rayment, who is the clinical lead for the Wharfedale and Silsden community partnership, said,

“you came to our practice in June and told us you wanted to support the family Dr. Costs for the NMW and NI will come to approx £50k—we are a small practice of 7000 patients—how is this helping us?”

Can the Minister answer Caroline’s question?

[Karin Smyth]

I am not abreast of all the Health Secretary’s tweets and the responses to them, but Caroline makes a point that has been made by many people in the Chamber today, as well as a number of providers. As I said in my opening statement, we understand the precarious situation that those providers have been put in because of the failures of the past 14 years and the £22 billion black hole that the Government have inherited. As my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) said, general practice has been put in a precarious situation over the past 14 years, with thousands of practices going bust and giving back their contracts. That is a situation that we promised the British public we would change, and we will do so.

Patient Choice

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Thursday 25th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Robbie Moore (Keighley) (Con)]

I commend my right hon. Friend for the statement, which will undoubtedly help waiting lists in my Keighley and Ilkley constituency. Can he confirm that this expansion will be available first to those who have been waiting longest?

[Steve Barclay]

I can confirm that, from October, we will roll this out to those who have been waiting more than 40 weeks, and we will look to bring down that threshold over time. We will focus first on the longest waits.

New Hospitals

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Thursday 25th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

Today’s announcement is transformative for healthcare in Norfolk, for the reasons my hon. Friend has set out: a new hospital at the James Paget and a new hospital in King’s Lynn. Of course, there will be further work from Government on the diagnostic centres and surgical hubs, about which there will be further discussion. In terms of the quality of the modular design, we are bringing the country’s leading experts together, as well as engaging with the market to finalise those designs so that we can have the best inputs as we standardise the design, and then roll that out as the template for schemes at King’s Lynn and James Paget. The quality of the scheme should be of a very high order.

[Robbie Moore (Keighley) (Con)]

After three and a half years of tireless campaigning—of constant lobbying of the Government, raising the high structural risk profile of Airedale hospital due to its aerated concrete construction—I am delighted to hear today’s announcement from the Dispatch Box that we will be getting a new Airedale hospital that is going to be fit for the future. I put on record my thanks to the Airedale NHS Foundation Trust for its hard work and to my neighbouring Members in this place, as well as to the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Health Secretary for listening to our concerns and taking them on board. Can my right hon. Friend come and visit the great team at Airedale hospital, and will he give reassurance to me that our new Airedale hospital will be built and open by 2030?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend has campaigned assiduously over the past three years to make a compelling case for Airedale. I very much look forward to having the opportunity to visit in due course, and the commitment in today’s statement is to ensure that that hospital is built to the 2030 timescale.

Reforms to NHS Dentistry

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Thursday 27th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Robbie Moore (Keighley) (Con)]

I am pleased that this Backbench Business debate has been allowed time; I thank the hon. Member for Bradford South (Judith Cummins) and my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous) for securing it. I almost feel that I am about to sum up all the issues that have been discussed, but I want to pick out some of the challenges that I have faced as a constituency MP.

I am sure that all in the House agree that toothache and tooth-related issues can be extremely painful—for our constituents, unfortunately, getting to see an NHS dentist can itself feel like pulling teeth. I am pleased that one of the Government’s immediate priorities is to deal with the backlog, but I cannot stress enough how important it is that we pick up the pace and go even faster. Like many in the House, I was pleased to welcome last year’s announcement that the Government would provide £50 million for up to 350 additional dentist appointments in England. I am also pleased that they are continuing to have talks with the British Dental Association and other stakeholders to reform dental contracts, increase the incentives for dental practices to take on more NHS work, and help get on top of the backlog in dental treatment.

As my hon. Friends the Members for Waveney and for Hartlepool (Jill Mortimer) identified, the contract originally established back in 2006 is the real nub of the issue that all our constituents are facing today: simply not enough NHS dental work is being carried out. That is a huge issue in my constituency.

Over the past year, there has been a significant increase in the number of constituents writing to me in frustration because they cannot secure an NHS dentist appointment. Only last week, one constituent had to make an appointment 50 miles away in Sheffield, as she could not get a local NHS appointment and could not afford a private one. Another constituent kindly contacted me, dismayed at the fact that they had been contacting local dentists listed on the NHS website as available and taking patients—it turned out that they were not. My constituent tried to contact another dentist, which was only accepting children. My constituent ended up having to pay up to £80 up front for them and their three-year-old to see a local dentist. That is not acceptable. I checked it out for myself. The NHS England website said that the dentist was accepting patients, but when I clicked on the link and followed it, it said that

“this dentist surgery has not given an update on whether they’re still taking NHS patients. Please contact them directly to ask.”

That is simply not acceptable, because it instilled a false sense of hope in my constituent who has dental pain and needs to see a dentist as soon as possible.

As we all do, I recently held a surgery. A lady came and explained that she had been an NHS patient all her life with a particular practice in Keighley, as had her partner and her children, only to receive a letter to say that it would now only accept private appointments for her family. Again, that is not acceptable.

The Government are well aware of the issues and the scenarios that we have put forward today, but I urge them to look at some key points. Demand is there, but we are not recruiting enough dentists and we are not allowing those dentists enough space to support the demand. As my hon. Friend the Member for North Devon (Selaine Saxby) said, it is important to focus on early prevention work, particularly for younger people. As my hon. Friend the Member for Broadland (Jerome Mayhew) said, recruitment, retention and training in the early years are incredibly important. I want to pick up on the point that all integrated care boards must have dentistry represented on them, to ensure on a geographical basis that contracts are awarded for NHS providers and can be delivered on the ground.

The big issue is the contract reform that must take place. As we have all identified, units of dental activity are not keeping up to speed with demand. That is my constituents’ No. 1 priority. I hope that the Minister will ensure that appropriate action is taken to alleviate the pressures on NHS dentists and the dental pain that my constituents are suffering.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I call the shadow Minister.

Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Tuesday 17th January 2023 Westminster Hall

[Robbie Moore (Keighley) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg, and I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne (Kwasi Kwarteng) for securing this really important debate, which will hopefully shine a little light on the sad topic of sudden unexplained death in childhood.

It is only right that I begin my contribution by telling the story of a family from Silsden in my constituency whom I had the pleasure of meeting just last Friday. Cheryl, a senior nurse in our local A&E department, and Darren, a local police officer, are incredibly loving parents to two wonderful children. On Christmas day, they put their loving, happy and fun-going little boy, Jack, who was only 16 months old, to bed, only for him not to wake the next morning. That is incredibly sad news, and it was undoubtably devastating for the family. One cannot pull together the words to express the deep sense of loss, anguish, grief and heartbreak that Cheryl and Darren will be feeling. Of course, this also has an impact on their older son, Louis, who has lost a brother he will now not be able to grow up with and share that unique brotherly bond with. Since Jack passed away only on Christmas day just past, the family have had no answers as to what has happened, and investigations are still ongoing.

Sudden unexplained death in childhood is the fourth leading category of death for children aged one to four years old in England and Wales. Approximately 40 children are affected by SUDC in the UK each year—that is one to two seemingly healthy children passing away every fortnight, often going to sleep and never waking again. As we have heard, SUDC affects not just young children under one year old; more one to nine-year-olds die of sudden unexplained death than die as a result of road traffic accidents, drowning or fires.

Published epidemiological data suggests a common profile for children affected by SUDC. Most commonly, they are one to two years old, they are male and, most worryingly, they are dying unwitnessed, alone as they sleep. The child’s development is usually normal and their vaccinations are up to date.

Of course, as all of us have said, awareness is absolutely key, because if a parent, family member or friend does not know why the death has occurred, they will constantly ask, “Why?” Over 13,000 research papers have been published on sudden infant deaths. That has helped to pioneer safer sleep advice, which has led to an 80% decline in infant deaths. However, only 55 research papers have been written on SUDC.

Last year, 8 December marked the publication of the groundbreaking report “Sudden and Unexpected Deaths in Infancy and Childhood” by the National Child Mortality Database—I have read it, and it is well worth reading, for those Members who wish to do so. It concludes that, of the sudden and unexpected deaths in 2020 that have been investigated and reviewed, 16% are still classified as unexplained. It provides greater awareness and accuracy around understanding exactly which of the many children who are affected by seizures are at risk. It helps to address some of the knowns but, as many of us have outlined, there are still many unknowns. That comes back to the issue of why research is so important. I ask the Minister what we are doing to increase that research, as well as awareness, training among medical professionals, and the public information out there.

This is undoubtably a difficult topic to talk about, but we must never forget that at the heart of all this is the sad loss of a child. They leave behind a heartbroken family—parents, brothers, sisters and grandparents—and friends. In Jack’s case, he leaves behind a loving mother, father and three-year-old brother, Louis. I would like to thank them for their time in sharing their story and for educating me in the meeting I had with them last Friday.

[Derek Twigg (in the Chair)]

I will call the Minister no later than 5.16 pm.

Oral Answers to Questions

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

I hope the hon. Gentleman will look at today’s announcement, because it shows that the Department has listened. That is why, for example, it will facilitate better contract management, better reflect the floor price for units of dental activity and reward complex treatment, which was one of the key concerns. Equally, I hope that the hon. Gentleman recognises that this Government, through the £1.7 billion of income protection during the pandemic, have done much to facilitate dentistry’s ability to bounce back.

[Robbie Moore (Keighley) (Con)]

2. What steps his Department is taking to help the NHS achieve net zero.

[The Minister of State, Department for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)]

We are committed to supporting the NHS to achieve net zero by 2040 for direct emissions, with the Government already investing £280 million through the public sector decarbonisation scheme to support that ambition.

[Robbie Moore]

The NHS plays a key role in our national attempts to achieve net zero. I was therefore delighted to see the Airedale NHS Foundation Trust submit its plans for a new Airedale Hospital in my constituency. Those plans of course deal with the severe structural risk associated with aerated concrete, but they are also designed to create Europe’s first ever carbon neutral hospital. Does my hon. Friend agree that these are extremely exciting plans and that they are another reason why we should try to achieve a new Airedale Hospital in my constituency?

[Maria Caulfield]

I thank my hon. Friend, who campaigns hard on this issue for Airedale Hospital. I absolutely understand the urgency around aerated concrete given the effect it is having, and of course I agree that the NHS has a vital role in supporting net zero. He will understand that I cannot commit to any one application. We are reviewing all applications and we aim to make a final decision later this year.

Draft Mental Health Bill

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Monday 27th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

Of course the hon. Lady should get the Bill and any other documentation she needs in large print, and I am sorry that she has not. I will take that up. I apologise to her, and she makes a very important point.

Support for children, even before the pandemic, was rightly a priority. Funding will increase to record levels by 2023, with an additional £2.3 billion in total so that an additional 345,000 children and young people can be seen. We put in an additional £79 million during the pandemic, and we will set out in our new 10-year mental health strategy exactly how we will do more.

[Robbie Moore (Keighley) (Con)]

I commend the Secretary of State for bringing forward this draft Mental Health Bill. I have met key individuals across Keighley in recent months who provide mental health and wellbeing support and advice, including Nick Smith, Ryan Anderton, Bill Graham and one of our hard-working GPs, Caroline Rayment. They are all passionate about this subject, and I am sure they will be pleased to see greater autonomy in providing personalised care. A key issue they have raised with me is that of adults and children with learning difficulties. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that the Bill will help those with learning difficulties to engage further with mental health and wellbeing services?

[Sajid Javid]

Yes, it will. I set out in my earlier answers some of the Bill’s changes for those with learning difficulties and autism. I think my hon. Friend will also welcome the publication of the new 10-year mental health plan.

Special Educational Needs and Children’s Mental Health Services

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Wednesday 9th February 2022 Westminster Hall

[Robbie Moore (Keighley) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Fovargue. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Laura Farris) for securing this debate, which, as many hon. Members have identified, is important for all present.

Identifying special educational needs and early diagnosis is a particular problem given the complexities surrounding this issue. Early diagnosis is absolutely key. I have heard from constituents many harrowing stories of people trying every channel and route possible, including schools and local GP services, to identify special educational needs at an early stage.

Children’s mental health and special educational needs are complex. Their conditions can often be misdiagnosed or not even identified at an early stage. The signs of autism, for example, can be put down to a child experiencing a dislike for something such as going to school. Of course, the recent challenges of the pandemic have not made things easier.

Early diagnosis is key, but the process of getting a formal diagnosis is far too inaccessible and long-winded for many of my constituents. One constituent told me that there was no point in even entertaining the process, because they would have to wait three or four years for their child to receive a diagnosis. That is completely unacceptable. Likewise, private companies that offer such services are currently working their way through a huge backlog that accumulated during the pandemic. Too many of my constituents also find themselves priced out of any private offering.

In spite of those difficulties, there are a number of fantastic groups across Keighley and Ilkley that support young people with special educational needs and mental health issues. Take Margaret Nash, Helen Millar and the rest of the team at AWARE—Airedale and Wharfedale Autism Resource—which provides support to families with children and young adults on the autistic spectrum, with no formal diagnosis required. My thanks also go to Lesley Brook and everyone at the Nebula Girls Group, a Keighley-based organisation that helps young girls in Keighley who suffer with special educational needs.

I want to emphasise the issues of appointments and referrals. Battling their way through the bureaucracy and red tape, parents and young children find that the challenges of navigating a complex diagnosis system are not easy at all. As many hon. Members have identified, the transition from primary to secondary school—and then into the job sector—is extremely difficult, whether or not a person has been diagnosed.

That is where I would like more emphasis from the Government. Emphasis should be put on not only funding and providing targeted support, but providing businesses with the support they need to help people with special educational needs beyond the education system and into the work environment.

I appreciate that this issue is not being ducked by the Government, and I recognise that the Department for Education will continue to increase funding for children and young people with the most complex needs. However, we cannot stop there. All hon. Members present have recognised that CAMHS is not fit for purpose—we must ensure that it is. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury, I call on the Minister to make sure that the SEND review is released at the earliest possibility so that we can try to get better mechanisms in place. There are some fantastic efforts being made at a local level, but we cannot rely on voluntary groups to sort this issue out. The Government, local authorities and CAMHS have got to do the utmost to make the whole process fit for purpose.