Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Sarah Green and Maria Caulfield(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Maria Caulfield
I am very sorry to hear about the experience of my hon. Friend’s constituent. That level of care is absolutely unacceptable. I know he has raised this particular issue with the Patient Safety Commissioner, Henrietta Hughes, but I am very happy to meet with my hon. Friend and his constituent to discuss those complaints, because that care is not acceptable.
Sarah Green (Chesham and Amersham) (LD)
Cumberlege Report
Debate between Sarah Green and Maria Caulfield(2 years, 2 months ago)
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Maria Caulfield
I take the hon. Lady’s point, but the vast majority of claims that come through NHS Resolution are settled out of court. We want to make sure that patients get the redress that they are entitled to. There are mechanisms other than going to court in place right now.
Sarah Green
My constituent has approached several legal firms who will not take on her case because the two surgeons who operated on her also work for the law firms advising them on whether such cases will be successful, so that option is not open to her.
Maria Caulfield
If the hon. Lady writes to me about that specific case, I am happy to look at it.
The Government published their response to the review in July last year and accepted the majority of the recommendations for improvement. I want to update Members on those because we are absolutely committed to making rapid progress in all the areas in our response. We have committed to publishing an update on the progress of all the recommendations that we accepted, and we aim to publish that in the summer. If colleagues want to hold my feet to the fire, they will certainly get a formal update in the summer.
We have made strong progress on some of the changes.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Sarah Green and Maria Caulfield(2 years, 3 months ago)
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Sarah Green (Chesham and Amersham) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)
At the present time, no decision has been made to increase the upper age exemption for free prescriptions.
Sarah Green
Such a policy change would hit a vulnerable age bracket who are more likely to have one or more long-term illnesses requiring medication. A constituent of mine has told me of his concern at the cost of paying for his wife’s Parkinson’s medication, should such a change be introduced. Given that the millions facing a new charge will also be hit by a rise in living costs, will the Secretary of State shelve such proposals and review the list of conditions that qualify for a medical exemption certificate?
Maria Caulfield
Can I just reinforce the answer I have just given? There is no decision to increase the upper age exemption for free prescriptions, and the rumour circulating that the Government are removing free prescriptions for pensioners is completely false. The Government are absolutely committed to maintaining free prescriptions for pensioners.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Sarah Green and Maria Caulfield(2 years, 5 months ago)
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Sarah Green (Chesham and Amersham) (LD)
Women across the country have lost jobs and life savings as a result of chronic pain and disability caused by complications after the use of medical mesh. Many, including one of my constituents, have had to pay for corrective surgery overseas. The Government have so far refused to set up agencies to provide financial redress, as was recommended in the Cumberlege report. Will the Secretary of State revisit the Cumberlege report, and in particular the need for financial redress?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)
Women who have suffered are being helped and supported through the difficult choices that they are having to make. The Government have set up eight specialist mesh centres across the country to provide them with the specialist treatment that they need. Our priority is patient safety, preventing anything like this from happening again, and supporting women who have been affected. There is no evidence that a redress system would improve patient safety or improve the outcome for those women.