Mental Health Act: CQC Report

Stella Creasy Excerpts
Tuesday 27th February 2018

(6 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Jackie Doyle-Price Portrait Jackie Doyle-Price
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We absolutely should do that. I often think that when we are challenging each other in this place about things that are poor, we end up talking our services down, but it remains the case that the NHS is the best health service in the world, and we should always celebrate that fact. Also, the fact that we are putting mental health services under such scrutiny is in itself driving an improvement in performance, because, as we all know, sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Stella Creasy Portrait Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
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Further to that response, the CQC says that it has seen limited or no improvement in the key concerns that it has raised in previous years. The problems are long-standing and they have been raised by the quality regulator in previous reports to Parliament. Does the Minister not understand, when she tries to tell us that sunlight is the best disinfectant, that all we are seeing in our mental health services right now is clouds?

Jackie Doyle-Price Portrait Jackie Doyle-Price
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I would say to the hon. Lady that this report represents sunlight, not clouds. It is very transparent, and these are exactly the things that I will be holding myself and NHS England to deliver to address these points.