Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Atherton and Steve Barclay

Tuesday 7th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Atherton (Wrexham) (Con)]

17. What steps he is taking to improve ambulance response times.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Steve Barclay)]

We published the urgent and emergency care recovery plan, which set out a number of measures to improve patient flow within hospitals, which has an impact on ambulance performance. In addition, we are purchasing 800 new ambulances, which will be on the road this year.

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the consequences of closures such as that, PFI or other issues that are still felt in communities such as Burnley. He will also know that it is for the integrated care board to look at commissioning decisions and I know that he will make his case powerfully to that board.

[Sarah Atherton]

The Welsh Labour Government have a service level agreement with the Welsh ambulance service to hand over patients to hospital within 15 minutes. At the Wrexham Maelor Hospital, this target is consistently missed, and a recent handover took eight hours 36 minutes. Does the Secretary of State agree that the Welsh Government need to stop playing the blame game and start working in partnership for the betterment of patients?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend raises an extremely powerful point. It is not only those targets in Wales that are being missed. She will know that people are almost twice as likely to be waiting for treatment in the Labour-run Welsh NHS than they are in England: 21.3% in Wales compared with 12.8% in England. She will also know that the number of two-year waits for operations in Wales, at over 50,000, is considerably higher than that in England, which is below 2,000.

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve Barclay]

I am very aware of the hon. Lady’s work as chair of the APPG, so I am not surprised that she asks about that important issue, which she has been assiduous in raising. I will flag up the follow-up with my ministerial colleague. I draw the hon. Lady’s attention to the fact that the National Institute for Health and Care Research remains open to research proposals in this area. I encourage her to ensure through her work on the APPG that bids are made to generate the evidence that the clinicians who make decisions on prescribing need.

[Sarah Atherton (Wrexham) (Con)]

T6.   Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was taken out of special measures in 2020 without any tangible improvements. Last week, the board walked out en masse because it no longer had faith in the Welsh Labour Government. The health service is now back in special measures. The Welsh Government run the NHS in Wales, so if the First Minister of Wales were to ask, would the UK Government step in to support them?

[Steve Barclay]

We are always happy to assist colleagues across the United Kingdom as part of our commitment to the Union. My hon. Friend is right to highlight current performance in Wales. As I have said, patients are waiting twice as long for hospital treatment in Wales as in England, and more than 50,000 people in Wales are waiting for more than two years for their operation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Atherton and Steve Barclay

Tuesday 24th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

The hon. Gentleman is right to say that it is a fundamental right that people are able to strike, and the legislation will balance that right, in the same way that other countries in Europe do, with minimum safe staffing levels. That is something that the French, the Italians and many other European countries have, and the Bill is simply bringing the NHS into line with other health systems.

[Sarah Atherton (Wrexham) (Con)]

T3. Wrexham Maelor Hospital was built in 1934 and is no longer fit for purpose. It has been divided and sub-divided with modular add-ons. It is a labyrinth of rooms, ageing departments and corridors. I trained there as a nurse in 1990 and returned during covid, and there has been little improvement. It is no longer fit for a new city. Healthcare is devolved in Wales. The Welsh Labour Government have received the largest funding settlement since devolution began, so will the Minister agree that Welsh Labour needs to listen to the people of Wrexham and build us a new hospital?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely powerful point. I hope the Labour-run NHS in Wales takes heed of her comments. She brings professional experience to this issue and is absolutely right that there needs to be investment in the NHS estate in Wales.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Atherton and Steve Barclay

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Steve Barclay)]

The hon. Lady is right to draw attention to the commitment the Government have made to infrastructure, including in the forthcoming integration infrastructure plan, but the levelling up is not just about rail, as the Chancellor said; it is also about the £4 billion levelling up fund and, most importantly, about the review of the Green Book. As Lord O’Neill and others have commented, that ensures that a whole range of projects better address the levelling up alongside the significant investment in rail and other transport infrastructure.

[Sarah Atherton (Wrexham) (Con)]

Wrexham is a town partly founded on brewing. It is home to four breweries and 64 pubs; the figure pre-covid. The industry supports nearly 1,700 jobs and generates £11 million in taxes. While hospitality businesses such as the Magic Dragon Brewery Tap tell me that the UK Government’s furlough scheme and wider support packages have been a lifeline, their future remains bleak as the pandemic rolls into a second year. Will my right hon. Friend the Chancellor in his forthcoming Budget consider deferring business rates and VAT payments even further, so pubs can have a fighting chance of pulling another pint and keeping the ales in Wales?