Health and Social Care Leadership Review

Debate between Sajid Javid and Derek Twigg

Wednesday 8th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his support of the report. Of course he speaks with incredible experience. He is right to raise the issue of the importance of targets, and sometimes targets can have unintended consequences. The report does talk a bit about the importance of that issue. I can assure him that as we make changes and work with our colleagues in the NHS to make reforms, we will certainly be taking that into account.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

As the Secretary of State will have seen over his years as an MP and a Minister, there are managers and leaders who are excellent and outstanding and there are others who are not so good. Is not part of the problem, as the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) mentioned, the continual structural changes, which add to instability, the massive recruitment and retention problems and the record numbers of people using the hospitals? No matter what he does to improve leadership, it will not solve all those problems. Part of the problem is that we do not have enough people coming forward to take up leadership roles. At what point in the next five to 10 years does he expect to have solved the leadership crisis in the NHS?

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Gentleman is right to talk about the importance of recruitment in the NHS—bringing in the right people in the first place and then retaining them—but I hope that he will also recognise that good leadership plays an important part in that. This morning, I went to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, which is an outstanding and incredibly well run hospital, and heard from the leadership team about the important role that they play in attracting and retaining talent. I hope that he recognises that point as well.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Sajid Javid and Derek Twigg

Monday 13th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

First, I thank my right hon. Friend for being a vaccinator and for all the work he has done personally to help this country get through the pandemic. Of course there is a distinction—he is absolutely right. The NHS can offer an individual a jab—they might receive an email or a text saying, “Please come forward. Either book or walk in. You are eligible.”—but the individual has to come forward and take up that offer. That is why a huge amount of effort—even more effort than before—will go into persuading people to come forward.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

May I ask the Secretary of State why the Government have no coherent plan for dealing with delays to elective surgery and treatment? I say that because I asked some parliamentary questions about what impact the recently announced Government funding will have on waiting times over the next three years, but the answer said that no estimate has been made at this time. I then asked what assessment has been made about private sector capacity. Again, I was told that no estimate has been made. I ask the Secretary of State: where is the plan to deal with the huge backlog of elective treatment? Macmillan estimates that there are 50,000 missing cancer diagnoses in the UK and that 32,000 people are waiting for their first cancer treatment in England.

[Sajid Javid]

I remind the hon. Gentleman that the Government have already announced the biggest catch-up fund for electives that the country has ever seen in order to deal with that challenge.. There is an extra £2 billion for the second half of this year and a minimum of £8 billion over the next three years, and the NHS is working on a detailed plan which will be published as soon as it is ready.