NHS Winter Update

Robin Walker Excerpts

Monday 8th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

I am extremely grateful to the right hon. Lady, who will know that our constituencies, albeit not necessarily in the same region, nevertheless share similarities, being relatively close to each other. The work and the progress made on urgent and emergency care is precisely because we were concerned about, for example, ambulance response times and hospital discharges. We worked with NHSE to bring together the urgent and emergency care plan and, for example, bring about 800 new ambulances on to our roads and about 5,000 more core beds into the NHS to try to address those needs. Unfortunately, the strike action that we have seen over recent days has very much militated against those efforts. We all accept that winter is a very difficult time for the NHS, and through the urgent and emergency care plan we have worked with NHSE to try to meet the demands that she so rightly puts forward.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to reaching a fair and reasonable solution to the strikes. Worcester went into this winter with the delivery of a new emergency department and was able to deliver 21 beds-worth of extra capacity over the winter, but I have heard from the hospital today that it is still facing intense pressure. Will the Secretary of State join me in paying tribute to the staff who are working around the clock to meet that pressure, and will she support the South Warwickshire University NHS foundation trust as it works to address some of the key transport bottlenecks on its site, in the interests of patients and staff alike?

[Victoria Atkins]

My hon. Friend sets out clearly the many pressures and factors at play in running emergency departments and hospitals at the best of times, when we are not in the middle of winter and facing the pressures that it always brings on the healthcare system. I thank not only staff in his trust, but staff throughout the country for the work they have done over recent weeks to support the NHS and to bring treatment to patients. We are working hand in glove with NHSE regional and local leaders to see whether there are practical measures that can be taken to improve the flow through hospitals.

Building an NHS Fit for the Future

Robin Walker Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will do my very best.

I agree with one thing that the hon. Member for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery) said. He talked about the contaminated blood scandal, and I want to see that compensation moved forward as swiftly as possible.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Steve Tuckwell) on his excellent maiden speech and welcome him to his place. He is clearly a great local champion and I look forward to him delivering for his constituents. I apologise to colleagues if my speech slightly errs from the main topic of this debate on the NHS to focus on education, but as Chair of the Education Committee, there are important things I have to say and unfortunately we were in session while the education debate was taking place.

Touching on health, I welcome the focus in the Gracious Speech on supporting the NHS, cutting waiting lists and implementing the much-needed NHS workforce plans. In particular I welcome the change to that plan to allow the three newly approved medical schools to begin training doctors from next year rather than from 2025. That will make a huge difference in Worcester, and I am grateful to the Health Committee for having me as a guest when we were examining officials on that and pushing the case for it. I also raised it with the Prime Minister in the Liaison Committee. Allowing those doctors to train in Worcester will help with retention and recruitment, and it will support our local NHS.

I welcome more investment in mental health services, but I would observe from my work on the Education Committee that in child and adolescent mental health services that cannot come soon enough. I support the aim of creating a smoke-free generation, which I believe strikes a sensible balance between public health and individual freedoms. This Government have delivered a great deal for my local NHS, and a massive £15 million expansion of the emergency department at the Worcester Royal Hospital is only the latest stage of that investment, but we continue to suffer from a capacity challenge in our Worcestershire hospitals that has been in place since the last Labour Government closed Kidderminster A&E without properly planning for space in either Worcester or Redditch. I sincerely hope that the new emergency department, with its dedicated paediatric emergency department, will make a real difference alongside the pipeline of new and much-needed junior doctors through the medical school. The recent decision of the acute trust to declare a critical incident at the very start of winter pressures in November reflects the ongoing pressures that we face.

Turning to education, unlocking opportunity should be the very essence of any Government’s education and skills policy, and it is certainly a key mantra for the Education Committee, which I am privileged to chair. I welcome the commitment to apprenticeships in the Gracious Speech—I know that the Secretary of State and the Minister for Skills share my Committee’s passion for vocational learning and for people earning while they learn—and I am excited by the prospect of more detail on the advanced British standard, but I am concerned by the absence of long-promised and frankly overdue legislation on attendance. When I was schools Minister, the Department for Education accepted a recommendation from the Select Committee to implement a register of children not in school. When I discussed that with the chief inspector, the Children’s Commissioner, school leaders, multi-academy trusts, unions and councils, they were clear about both the urgency and the importance of this measure. I helped officials to draft legislation and to prepare handling for the register as part of the wider Schools Bill, and it was committed to both in the White Paper and in the House.

Although there have since been many—some would say too many—changes to personnel in the Department, I have been reassured by the excellent Minister for Schools, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Nick Gibb), who was both my predecessor and my successor and whose ministerial career sadly ended today, and by the Secretary of State that they support the measure. The Secretary of State told the Select Committee that it was a top legislative priority for the Department, which was simply seeking the right vehicle to deliver it. This is why the Committee recommended in two reports that the legislation should be brought forward even in the absence of the wider Schools Bill.

We heard in this Chamber from the Opposition Front Bench and from Conservative members of the Education Committee the strong cross-party support for such a measure. We heard in the Lords debates on the now defunct Schools Bill a cacophony of opposition to other elements of the Bill but near unanimity on the importance of a register. The Centre for Social Justice called it “overdue” and “necessary”, and in my many discussions with school leaders and councils, most have been exasperated that this mechanism is not already in place. In July, the Secretary of State replied to my question on the matter:

“my Department remains committed to legislating for statutory local authority registers of children not in school and will do so at the next suitable legislative opportunity”.—[Official Report, 17 July 2023; Vol. 736, c. 603.]

My hon. Friend the Member for Meon Valley (Mrs Drummond) brought forward a private Member’s Bill in the previous Session, with cross-party support, that would have delivered the statutory register as a stand-alone measure. I can see no reason why the Bill could not have been adopted at once by the Government. Indeed, we highlighted this in our report on persistent absence and made recommendations to the Government, including the specific recommendation that the register should be brought forward, on a cross-party basis, as part of the King’s Speech. I am disappointed that opportunity has been missed.

Nevertheless, the legislation has been drafted. We have repeatedly heard about the strong support it enjoys on both sides of the House, and in the other place it has been championed by Cross Benchers and noble Lords on both sides of the House. I therefore repeat the Education Committee’s recommendation that the Government should adopt a private Member’s Bill on this matter at the first available opportunity. I will do what I can to ensure any such Bill makes rapid progress, and I am happy to work with Members across the House to make sure it has a prominent place in the business of this Parliament.

There are other measures in the late Schools Bill that I would also have liked to see resurrected. Among them are the delivery of statutory guidance on attendance, which the Children’s Commissioner spoke about in Parliament today, and fairer funding for our schools—the next step in delivering the fairer funding formula. I have campaigned throughout my time in Parliament for fairer funding in education, and this is vital for our mainstream schools—there are important changes to the funding mechanisms that I hope the Government will consider bringing forward—but it is even more vital for the specialist and high-needs sectors.

It was great to hear my new hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip talk about wanting to champion SEND children in his constituency, and that is something we all want to do. The high-needs formula is not working properly, and every local authority has a deficit in that space. I joined 40 MPs from both sides of the House in signing a letter calling for more investment.

I am pleased to welcome the aspiration for the advanced British standard to deliver greater parity between vocational and academic qualifications. I look forward to hearing more on this from the Department in due course. The past 13 years have seen England rise up international league tables for academic achievement, becoming the best in the west for literacy and improving our performance in maths. There are great challenges in the recruitment and retention of specialist teachers, and I hope the Government will listen closely to the recommendations in the Committee’s upcoming report on those challenges.

The aspiration for more children to study maths to 18, and for there to be a better mix of vocational and academic subjects, is good. If we are to achieve the full potential, however, it is vital that we do not just focus on A-level equivalent qualifications; we must also deliver for those who do not currently achieve a pass at GCSE. The schools White Paper set out a worthy aspiration to reduce the so-called “forgotten third” by raising standards in English and maths by the end of primary school. Whatever changes there are in personnel, I hope Ministers will stand by that worthwhile and ambitious aim.

We also need to look at GCSE resits. It is a fundamental problem in our system that in order to progress, whether to university or to an apprenticeship, people need a pass in maths and English GCSEs, and only around a quarter of those who take resits ever succeed in getting that vital qualification to move forward. We need to offer a wider range of qualifications to people who do not get a pass the first time round, so that we can see real progression and the removal of barriers.

Finally, I will touch on the international situation. Like MPs on both sides of the House, I want to see progress towards peace in the middle east, I have heard from hundreds of constituents with deep concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and I share the solidarity with innocent civilians in the Palestinian territories that the Prime Minister, among others, has expressed.

I very much understand the concerns that have been raised by members of both the Jewish and Muslim communities in Worcester about the importance of protecting civilians. We all want to see an end to the fighting and progress towards a two-state solution, but I am as appalled as anyone by the brutality of Hamas’s attacks on Israeli civilians. I recognise that any country facing such an assault has a right to self-defence, but I urge colleagues in government to be critical and clear-sighted friends of Israel and champions of a two-state solution, and to remember the full wording of the Balfour declaration:

“it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.

We should continue to oppose antisemitism wherever it occurs, and we should continue to do all we can to get humanitarian aid to the innocent civilians in the Palestinian territories who are victims of Hamas’s atrocities as much as their intended targets.

In particular, as a key supporter and author of the millennium development goals, we should do all that we can to protect children. As I said the other day to the Development Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), if more humanitarian pauses or more humanitarian access and support can achieve this, I hope the UK will play a leading role in securing them.

Hospice Services: Support

Robin Walker Excerpts

Wednesday 14th June 2023 Westminster Hall

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Eastleigh (Paul Holmes) on securing this debate, and everyone who has spoken. We have heard some fantastic speeches.

Hospices provide a vital public service, but it is important to recognise that they are not, and do not want to be, part of the publicly funded NHS. Their flexibility as independent organisations helps them to meet the many and varied needs of people at the end of their life and with life-limiting conditions. They do a fantastic job of fundraising to support their activities so that they can deliver impact way beyond the value of the small public contributions they receive.

I am fortunate to have two brilliant hospices in my patch—St Richard’s Hospice and Acorns Children’s Hospice. I remember the first time I visited St Richard’s, and there was a sense of trepidation. It is a place where people go to die; would it not be a sad and depressing visit? Not a bit. I was amazed at how uplifting and positive it was. A few months later, I sadly got to know the hospice much better. Just a month after I was elected, my father was admitted to St Richard’s Hospice, and it provided amazing care and incredible support to my family. I echo the hon. Member for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi), who talked about people dying with dignity with their loved ones around them. That is what the work of adult hospices should be, and is, all about.

St Richard’s tells me that only about £700,000 of its £12 million income comes from the NHS and the public purse. It has been offered an uplift of 1.8% by our local ICB, which would be worth about £40,000. A 1% pay rise for its staff would cost about double that, and matching the NHS 5% increase would cost about 10 times as much. I will not ask Ministers to take over funding for hospices, or the NHS to take a much larger share of hospice funding, but it is fair to ask them to provide help when inflation and the Government’s own pay increases are driving up costs for hospices. The ask from Hospice UK is for £30 million of Government funding to offset the increase in energy bills and £102 million for hospices in England to help them to keep pace with NHS pay rises in the next year. That is not unreasonable.

Children’s hospices also do an amazing job. They are also uplifting and inspiring places, as we have heard from many Members. I am fortunate to have Acorns in my patch, which has already been mentioned by my right hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton). It has a new CEO and it is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary. I want that to be a successful moment, and certainty about the children’s hospice grant would be incredibly helpful in that respect. The grant has sustained children’s hospices—it has kept them going year after year—but its short-term nature has become a problem for them.

We recently saw some welcome news from the Government about sports funding in schools—they have finally provided a multi-year settlement after many years of not being able to do so—and I hope they consider doing the same for children’s hospices. A multi-year settlement would make a massive difference, and giving some certainty that the grant will be renewed is essential.

NHS Winter Pressures

Robin Walker Excerpts

Monday 9th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

It would have been welcome if, within that list, the hon. Lady had recognised the Government’s significant investment in Brighton’s new hospital. There are also more doctors and nurses in the NHS this year than there were last year.

The Chancellor announced the £500 million in his autumn statement partly in recognition of the pressure on the social care workforce, which is why the funding was prioritised, and Home Office colleagues have put social care workers on the shortage occupation list to enable us better to attract international talent.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend made many sensible points in his statement, but he will forgive me for focusing on the local pressures in Worcestershire, which remain acute. Our two A&Es saw 14,000 attendances in December, up from 12,500 in December 2021 and 10,600 in December 2020. The hospital trust tells me that, on any given day in December, around 100 patients in hospital beds could have been cared for somewhere else.

Today, I read my right hon. Friend’s press release on extra funding for neighbouring Warwickshire. Will he ensure that a significant amount of this £200-million funding package reaches Worcestershire hospitals? There is an acute need to upgrade our A&Es, which I understand is due to happen this year.

[Steve Barclay]

As my hon. Friend knows, I signed off those A&E upgrade plans when I was Chief Secretary to the Treasury, but they have been delayed by contractual disputes on the ground. I share his desire to see them expedited. The Government made that investment, and we want to see a consequent improvement in operational performance.

My hon. Friend is right that today’s announcement will enable ICBs, including those in his area, to accelerate their discharge plans. Plans were already in place because of the funding in the autumn statement, but today’s announcement allows ICBs to go further and quicker in releasing patients, which will in turn take pressure off A&E departments.

Oral Answers to Questions

Robin Walker Excerpts

Tuesday 1st November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. It is not something that has come across my desk in the two days I have had this portfolio, but I will of course meet local integrated care system leaders, and if it is something that they are calling for, I will look to see what we can do to assist.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

Worcestershire and Herefordshire are rural areas that suffer from a shortage of doctors at both primary and secondary levels. My hon. Friend is an excellent Minister: will he meet me to discuss the strong case for funding places at the Three Counties Medical School in Worcester—a ready-made solution to the problem—which has already seen 851 applications from home students?

[Will Quince]

I thank my hon. Friend for his compliment. He raises an important issue. I know that my predecessor not only agreed to meet him, but undertook to visit Worcester. I would be happy to make the same commitment.

Urgent and Emergency Care

Robin Walker Excerpts

Monday 5th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

Let me start with the areas where the hon. Gentleman and I agree. The David Wakeley case was shocking, and we accept that there have been severe pressures, particularly linked to certain trusts; just 10% of trusts account for 45% of ambulance handover delays. His second charge was about what the Government have been doing on this over the summer. We have had a 100-day sprint with NHS colleagues, a taskforce has been set up and I have met those troubled trusts, particularly Cornwall, to look at how we better support them.

Some of the factors affecting ambulance delays are within the trusts’ control. Those include understanding why delayed discharge is much lower at the weekend, and things that they can do within the emergency department. However, as the hon. Gentleman recognised, some factors are beyond the trusts’ control, whether that is variance in performance on conveyancing by ambulance trusts, differences in hear and treat or see and treat, or the challenges in social care. We recognise that, as I said in my opening remarks, the heatwave and a covid infection rate of one in 25, compared with one in 60 now, created significant pressure on the ambulance system.

In addition to the taskforce, we have enacted a whole range of other measures. NHS England has tasked the system with putting in place an additional 7,000-bed capacity for the winter. We have been expanding emergency department capacity. One thing we funded in spending review 2020, when I was in the Treasury, was additional funding for trusts where there are emergency department constraints.

The hon. Gentleman did not mention mental health, but I know he takes an interest in it, so he will be pleased to know that over the summer we have particularly targeted action that can be taken in emergency departments and across the hospital estate in support of mental health, led by Claire Murdoch in NHS England. We have increased staffing by 16% and there is an extra £2.3 billion going into mental health next year compared with 2016. There is additional funding and workforce, because we recognise the pressures.

There is also bespoke action with NHS colleagues. Sometimes, relatively low numbers of patients—for example, patients needing palliative care, patients with dementia and patients with Parkinson’s—are particularly challenging in terms of delayed discharge, and their discharge may be delayed for an extended period of time. Although the quantum of patients may be modest, that leads to delay.

The hon. Gentleman recognised other things we have been doing over the summer, such as the St John Ambulance contract that has been put in place to help with auxiliary ambulances, the work on international recruitment—I do not accept that people are being paid less; that is bringing people in to work in important roles in our care sector—and the consultation on retire and return.

Finally, the hon. Gentleman mentioned the cost of living. He will know that the new Prime Minister has made it clear that she will have further things to say on that over the next week, and I know there will be ample opportunity to debate that further in the House.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend knows that Worcestershire is at the sharp end of ambulance pressures; I understand that Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS trust is one of six trusts that he has met in recent days to discuss those pressures. Can he assure me that he will do everything he can to reduce delayed discharge and address capacity at our A&E, so that I no longer have to witness situations such as the one I saw earlier this summer, with more than 10 ambulances waiting at the door of the emergency department?

[Steve Barclay]

I know my hon. Friend is a strong champion for this issue; when I was Chief Secretary to the Treasury, I remember him lobbying me about how a bridge from one bit of the hospital estate to another could provide additional capacity to meet the pressures his trust has faced. That is partly why we have been working intensively with the trusts that have the most severe cases of ambulance delays, looking through the work of the taskforce at best practice and what works best in those settings, and ensuring that the trust chief execs have the right level of support. It is important to recognise that the problem does not always manifest where it is caused. Quite often, challenges on the social care side, or further upstream in the conveyancing rate, put pressure on an emergency department and on the trust.

Oral Answers to Questions

Robin Walker Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

Far from blaming anyone else—notwithstanding the fact I have been in post for less than two weeks—I have set out a range of things we need to do, because this is a shared challenge that affects all our constituents, and it is within the context of increased demand. The May figures show a significant increase in appointments—1.31 million appointments per working day this year compared with 1.24 million last year. There is increasing demand, and we need to harness GP time, the skills mix and better use of technology.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

We need more GPs and junior doctors in Worcestershire, and there is strong support from our local GPs, our acute trust and neighbouring trusts for the Three Counties Medical School in Worcester. Will my right hon. Friend meet me to discuss the case for providing funded places as swiftly as possible?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend will be aware that, through this Government’s funding, we have opened five new medical schools and, from memory, 1,500 additional undergraduate places. That is thanks to the work of the former Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Jeremy Hunt), who championed this specific initiative to address workforce pressure.

More widely, I am always happy to meet my hon. Friend the Member for Worcester (Mr Walker) to discuss issues in Worcester.

Support for Life-shortening Conditions

Robin Walker Excerpts

Tuesday 7th June 2016 Westminster Hall

[Stuart Andrew]

I absolutely agree. During the time I spent in the hospice movement, I learnt that those final few weeks are incredibly distressing. None of us can possibly imagine what it is like unless we have been through it. The support for the parents and the wider family is what makes much of what happens in the children’s hospice movement such a success.

The care must be age appropriate—suitable for a child’s particular stage of development—and administered by people who have the exact skills needed to get the person through their care pathway. A comprehensive local children’s palliative care service spans health, social care and education. Joint commissioning is vital and should be accessible 24/7, 365 days a year, from diagnosis to bereavement. As a result of the complexity and severity of patients’ needs, the transition from children or youth services to adult services can be particularly daunting.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for securing the debate and for the well-informed points he makes. Is it not the case that improvements in medical technology mean that more children with life-limiting conditions are transitioning into adulthood? Therefore, we have a real duty of care to ensure—as Acorns Children’s Hospice in my constituency is doing—that we find the best pathways to support those people into adulthood and to give them the best chance of living a quality life with the time that they have.

[Stuart Andrew]

My hon. Friend is right. I saw great advances throughout my time in the hospice movement. When I first joined Hope House, the life expectancy of the children who suffered from Duchenne muscular dystrophy was usually no longer than 18 or 19. By the time I had finished my career in the hospice movement, some were living into their late 20s and possible even their early 30s. Transition is incredibly important for them, because often the style of care provided is geared more towards the older generation than to young people.

Transition is incredibly important and centres such as Martin House, which I worked for, understand that. It built Whitby Lodge, a dedicated unit for teenagers and young people, which has state-of-the-art equipment designed to enable social interaction through things such as a mini nightclub—something that we all take for granted. As well as caring for children and young people in the hospices, members of the care team supported the family in their home. Even after a child has died, help is provided in the form of bereavement care for family members.

Transitioning to other services can sometimes present real difficulties. From dealing with new agencies and professionals, to transitioning to a completely different plan, the result can create quite severe gaps in service provision. The impact is, frankly, quite shocking, with 36% of families breaking down, 64% of mothers and 24% of fathers having to give up work entirely, and nearly 70% of siblings being bullied or feeling isolated at school.

All that can create a cocktail of problems that leads families into poverty. Therefore, at all times, it is vital that locally available, community-led children’s palliative care is at the heart of the service provision. These kinds of services are, thankfully, easier to find than they once were due to local offers and organisations such as Together for Short Lives, which provide directories of available services. That is just one example of how provision has changed since I began working in the hospice movement.

I will never forget seeing families, drained and exhausted, arriving straight from work or school on a Friday, the colour drained from their faces with no fight in them, dragging bulky equipment around in their car, when all they wanted to do was what we all like to do—go out for a simple meal on a Friday night. Great palliative care allows those families to have short respite breaks, the importance of which really cannot be overstated, because it provides support to everyone in the family. With the number of children and young people with life-shortening conditions increasing, it is becoming harder for the Government, the NHS and local councils to budget enough to meet those families’ needs, given that the number of people with such conditions is not being monitored, as the hon. Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds) mentioned. The complex care that such families need from multiple agencies and professionals is not joined up enough, and families have to fight with their last ounce of strength to get the services they need. I therefore ask my right hon. Friend the Minister what can be done to ensure that the number and needs of children and young people with life-shortening conditions are more accurately monitored.

Funding for voluntary sector providers of children’s palliative care is not being provided fairly or sustainably. It is limited to medical elements of care and does not include crucial non-clinical elements such as short breaks and bereavement support. Together for Short Lives expects to publish soon the results of a series of freedom of information requests it has made to clinical commissioning groups and local authorities. Those results will show the extent to which different elements of care are being commissioned, and I hope that colleagues from across the country will use those data to see how their own constituents’ care is performing.

Before that, I ask the Minister whether he can set long-term plans for funding children’s palliative care fairly, sustainably and in a way that reflects the growing demand for such services. Additionally, will he work with his colleagues to write to CCGs and local authorities to make it clear what their responsibilities are in commissioning palliative care? Local authorities have a duty to provide short breaks for disabled children. However, they are cutting funding for short breaks at a time when demand from seriously ill children is increasing. The Government and local authorities, of course, face a difficult situation in balancing budgets, and I fully understand the need for that to happen, but at the spending review the Government gave councils the ability to raise more money for adult social care through council tax. Children’s social care was left out and I struggle to understand why, so I would appreciate it if he expanded on that. Additionally, will he hold local authorities to greater account for the money they spend on short breaks for disabled children and ask them what action they are taking to secure access to such breaks?

As I have mentioned, without access to specialist adapted vehicles, which many families need and many of which I saw, families are unable to transport their seriously ill babies and young children to and from hospital. That often traps those babies and young children at home or in a hospital bed, preventing them from enjoying the things that we all take for granted. Children under three with life-shortening conditions are not currently eligible for the mobility component of disability living allowance, so will the Minister work with his colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions to change the eligibility criteria so that nought to three-year-old children with life-shortening conditions, whose lives will end without heavy and bulky medical equipment, can have access to such important vehicles?

--- Later in debate ---

[Jim Shannon]

My hon. Friend has hit on the kernel of the issue.

We need to exchange medical advances among all regions of the United Kingdom. We want to ensure that we in Northern Ireland have information about what is happening in London, Scotland, Cardiff or wherever it may be. I also want to put on the record my thanks to all the doctors, nurses and consultants involved, and to all the other people who genuinely, consistently, honestly and energetically give their time for the children affected. I have some constituents who have attended Great Ormond Street children’s hospital, not only for life-threatening conditions but for life-changing ones, and we thank everyone for what they do.

[Mr Robin Walker]

May I add to that list hospital chaplains, who play an important role in supporting bereaved relatives of all religions and of none?

World Autism Awareness Week

Robin Walker Excerpts

Thursday 28th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Gillan]

That is an astute observation. Later in my speech, I will come to the criminal justice system. I hope to set the scene across a range of areas, because there is not a part of government that autism does not touch. There are a range of implications, particularly in the criminal justice system, in which I believe people with autism are disproportionately represented in many areas.

For people and families who live with autism every day, improving understanding is fundamental to ensuring good levels of health and wellbeing and an ability to participate in society. The implications are all too real. The National Autistic Society survey that I mentioned found that 79% of autistic people feel socially isolated; half of autistic people and families sometimes do not go out because they are worried about how the public will react to them; and 28% of autistic people have been asked to leave a public space because of behaviour associated with their autism.

To help to address the lack of understanding and tackle social isolation, the NAS has, as many Members know, launched a three-year campaign called “Too Much Information”, during this year’s World Autism Awareness Week. I was glad to support the launch of that campaign in Parliament. The cornerstone of the campaign is a short film, shot from the point of view of a child with autism, which tries to give the viewer some sense of what it is like to live in the overwhelming world that someone with autism lives in every day. Many parliamentary colleagues joined me for the event, and I am glad to report—this is almost unbelievable, but it is a very good sign—that, to date, the video has been viewed online more than 50 million times. That film marks only the start of the campaign, however, and there is clearly much more that must be done to help tackle social isolation among the nearly 80% of people on the spectrum who say that they feel isolated.

Over the years, Government have shown huge leadership on the awareness of other issues, with more than £2.3 million spent on dementia awareness and £20 million on mental health awareness. [Interruption.] Thank you so much. I wish it was gin.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

rose—

[Mrs Gillan]

At last—the relief of Mafeking.

[Mr Walker]

While my right hon. Friend avails herself of a relieving glass of water, may I ask her whether she agrees that organisations, such as ASPIE in my constituency, that help people with Asperger’s and people on the spectrum to socialise play a really important role in helping to build their confidence and ensure they have the support they need to go into what can often be a very threatening world?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb), who made the point about the need for earlier diagnosis more powerfully than I possibly could; it is certainly one that I support in today’s motion. I also want to join in the many congratulations to my right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs Gillan) and all those from both sides of the House who were involved in securing the Autism Act 2009. It was the beginning of a journey that continues with today’s debate.

I echo the concerns that were powerfully raised by the hon. Member for Argyll and Bute (Brendan O’Hara) and my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill) about the risks of social isolation for people with autism, and I want to pay tribute to a couple of organisations in my constituency that have made great strides in reducing that isolation. The inspirational Monday Night Club was founded by Laura Gill, a constituent of mine with learning difficulties, and provides a forum for people with all sorts of learning difficulties, including a large number of people with autism, to come together, to socialise and to feel normal in a social setting.

Another organisation is ASPIE, the charity that I mentioned earlier, which was set up by Sarah Micklewright, an inspirational constituent who was on the autism spectrum. Tragically, and illustrating the point that my right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham made about the lower life expectancy of people on the spectrum, she died two years ago next week aged only 38, but she has left a remarkable legacy in Worcester. A house was bought by her parents for people on the spectrum to come together, socialise and share ideas. I have been privileged to visit on several occasions and have been teased for my neurotypical behaviour and for my inaccurate birthday cake-cutting, among other things. It is a fantastic organisation that has played a part in not only helping to reduce the risk of social isolation, but inspiring people to come together and believe in themselves and in their capacity to work and to create businesses for people on the spectrum.

Many hon. Members have made powerful points about the talents of people on the spectrum and the need to unleash them, and we heard about the evidence in the article in The Economist. I pay tribute to the founders of an organisation called Wits End Wizardry, a web design company that was launched out of ASPIE in Worcester and entirely staffed by people on the autism spectrum. It discovered that the software programming skills of people on the spectrum are incredibly powerful and that with the right guidance and support and with the right people working with them to provide front-end customer service, they can deliver fantastic websites for all types of businesses and charities. I believe that it has done some important work for various organisations, including Ambitious about Autism, which shows the contribution that people on the spectrum can make.

[Mrs Trevelyan]

Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to use these great talents—this concentration and extraordinary ability to see the world in different ways? In the north-east, a business called Autism Works is taking on mathematical PhD autistic young men—they are all men—to challenge the big boys in the provision of that scientific and tech support. I think this is the future for our country.

[Mr Walker]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about that, and I pay tribute to her for her fantastic speech earlier. She is on to something here; we are seeing this happening in the north-east and in the midlands, as our increasing cyber-security cluster is looking to take on more people with autism. We heard earlier about the incredible contribution of Bletchley Park, and many of the people who contributed to that work were probably on the spectrum. In cyber-security, businesses such as Titania in Worcester are actively going out to recruit people with autism. I want to see more businesses making that effort and creating opportunities for people. As Ambitious about Autism has shown, we need to do things differently. People cannot just be invited in for interview, because the whole process of interview is set up to work with neurotypical people. We need to create an autism-friendly job application process in order to make sure we are making the most of the talents of these people. I pay tribute to the businesses that are making the effort to do that.

I recently held a Disability Confident jobs fair in Worcester and I was very impressed to see Malvern Instruments, another major employer in our area, recruiting. One of the people representing it in its recruitment was somebody whom I had previously met at ASPIE and who is on the autism spectrum. I wish to pay tribute to Justin McKeon who will be running the Worcester 10k to raise funds for ASPIE, and if anyone in the Chamber wants to join me in supporting him after this debate, I would be delighted.

The Government have many programmes to help people to work. We are talking about halving the disability employment gap, and autism is a big area we should be hitting on to try to make sure that that happens. We also have the apprenticeships programme, many aspects of which can be tailored to support people with autism. I have spoken to my hon. Friend the Minister for Skills about this, and I know he answered a question about this during Education questions this week. I am delighted to hear that he is engaging in round-table meetings with the autism charities and organisations to make sure that we can tailor programmes within the apprenticeships programme to suit more people on the spectrum. There is much more work to be done on this and I would like this “A” badge I am wearing, with the “A” standing for apprenticeships, also to stand for ambition, aspiration and achievement for people with autism.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

NHS: Learning from Mistakes

Robin Walker Excerpts

Wednesday 9th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I hope that the hon. Lady is not quoting selectively from my reply to the person concerned, because when people raise issues of patient safety with me, I usually refer them to the CQC, which is able to give a proper reply. I would be very surprised if I had not done that in this case. Retrospective cases are particularly difficult, and much as we want to help, it is difficult constitutionally to unpick decisions made by courts. We are trying to separate employment grievances from safety grievances and make that the way that we solve these difficult situations.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

Like many MPs, I have come across cases where this approach would help enormously, and I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. The same CQC report that praised staff and clinicians at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust for their good and outstanding care, also raised concerns about the management and safety at the hospitals. That was partly a result of too many interim managers, and a lack of ability to address and learn from mistakes made. I urge the Secretary of State to do everything in his power to work with the relevant organisations to put long-term permanent management in place at that trust, so that we take things forward and make our patients safer.

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend speaks very wisely. Let me say that one thing that has been a mistake of successive Governments is a short-termist approach to NHS managers. We ourselves have looked for a scapegoat when something has gone wrong—an A&E target missed or whatever—and not backed people making long-term transformations. That is something we need to think hard about.