Jimmy Savile (NHS Investigations)

Sarah Wollaston Excerpts

Thursday 26th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I did want to give a full response to the shadow Health Secretary, but I am happy to address any other concerns he has at a later stage.

[Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes) (Con)]

The Secretary of State has set out in the starkest terms the extent of the vile abuse perpetrated by Savile. It is also chilling to note in Kate Lampard’s excellent report that between 60% and 90% of child abuse is still going unreported. Those who perpetrate it are adept at adapting their mechanisms, and recommendation 9 in the report mentions the extent to which abusers use social media to abuse children on hospital sites. Can the Secretary of State tell the House whether he is going to implement recommendation 9, and if so, how that will happen?

[Mr Hunt]

Yes, we are; that is very important. We absolutely accept the principle that all hospitals must have explicit policies on the use of social media. We must do everything we can. It is difficult to stop people going on to Facebook, for example, but when it comes to internet access by children, there are things that we can do, and we will absolutely be implementing that recommendation.