Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Brine Excerpts

Tuesday 19th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby) (Lab)]

2. What steps he is taking to ensure that information on group B streptococcus is available to NHS patients.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Steve Brine)]

As the Secretary of State has set out, our ambition is for the NHS to be the safest place in the world to give birth. Information on prevention and the implications of a group B streptococcus infection is available on the NHS Choices website. Just today, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published a new patient information leaflet that, from the new year, will be given to all pregnant women for the first time. Because it is Christmas, I have a copy here for the hon. Lady. [Interruption.] I see she has one, too.

[Melanie Onn]

I thank the Minister—he has anticipated my question. I reassert that, on average, two babies die each month from complications relating to group B strep. Awareness of the effects of that infection is incredibly low. Will the Minister meet me and Group B Strep Support to discuss how we can get this leaflet to mums-to-be at the earliest possible stage?

[Steve Brine]

I know this is a subject about which the hon. Lady cares greatly. I would be very happy to meet her and to bring together the people I work with from Public Health England to see how we can make the best of this new leaflet and ensure it is the best and most important Christmas present.

[Mims Davies (Eastleigh) (Con)]

I welcome the Government’s focus on reducing stillbirths, and I welcome the maternity safety strategy. I particularly welcome this focus on group B strep. Will the Minister outline how he is working locally with hospitals such as Southampton to make sure they are aware of this new focus?

[Steve Brine]

I thank my parliamentary neighbour for that question. Public Health England is one of the most effective arm’s length bodies with which we work in government, and it will be working with commissioners and trusts across our country to make sure that this new information is out there with pregnant mums and the most at-risk groups. Members of Parliament have an important role to play with local commissioners and trusts, and I know my hon. Friend will play her part in that.

[Sir Greg Knight (East Yorkshire) (Con)]

3. What steps he is taking to increase the capacity and availability of GP services.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)]

9. What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of hospital admissions for malnutrition.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Steve Brine)]

Ensuring all our constituents—particularly the vulnerable and the elderly—are getting an adequate diet is critically important. That is why, for instance, we have given half a million pounds in funding to a special Age UK taskforce to reduce malnutrition among older people, and we will continue to train NHS staff so that early action can be taken.

[Ms Rimmer]

A merry Christmas to you, Mr Speaker, and to the Ministers on the Front Bench—maybe they will answer my letter soon.

In the world’s sixth largest economy, it is damning that, under this Government, we have seen a 122% increase in the overall numbers admitted to hospital with malnutrition. It is clear that more action is needed to ensure that we eradicate malnutrition in our society. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Health Department must work together so that, rather than introducing measures such as universal credit eligibility criteria, which will see at least 1 million children lose free school meals, we commit as a country to tackling this issue head on. Will the Minister use his power and influence to ensure that this issue is addressed immediately and that we see an end to this failure to axe malnutrition in the 21st century?

[Steve Brine]

Happy Christmas to St Helens as well. I agree that we need to work together. The Healthy Start programme, for which I am responsible, provides a nutritional safety net to hundreds of thousands of pregnant women and families with children under four. There is a slight increase in cases being reported in recent years. In part, that is due to much better diagnosis and detection. Some 1.1 million children get free school meals in England, and the Government are investing £26 million in breakfast clubs. Only last week, Kellogg’s was here with its breakfast club awards—an excellent innovation.

[Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab)]

That being said, it is disgraceful that under this Government’s watch we have seen a 54% increase in children admitted to hospital with malnutrition. Instead of seeing malnutrition rising, we really should be eradicating it. As the festive period is upon us and it is the season for good will and giving, will the Minister give this House an assurance that he will seriously address this matter to ensure that no child in this country ever experiences malnutrition?

[Steve Brine]

Of course we want no child in our country to experience malnutrition. I mentioned the Healthy Start scheme and the breakfast clubs. Healthy Start is an excellent programme run by Public Health England that encourages a healthy diet among hundreds of thousands of families with children under four. It is exactly that which is helping us to tackle this issue.

[Andrew Bowie (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (Con)]

10. What steps he is taking to support investment in life sciences for the development of new medical treatments.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Steve Brine)]

The recently announced life sciences sector deal draws significant investment into the sector from across the world, ensuring that the next wave of breakthrough treatments, innovative medical research and technologies—and highly skilled jobs, of course—are created right here in Great Britain.

[Andrew Bowie]

In Scotland today there are over 600 life sciences organisations employing more than 30,000 people, making Scotland one of the largest life sciences clusters in Europe, so they too will welcome the announcement the Minister mentions. Will he give the House some more detail on the sector deal and industry investments that could give even more strength to this world-leading industry across the United Kingdom?

[Steve Brine]

The sector’s commercial activity is very broadly spread across the whole of the UK—my hon. Friend’s concern. There are a number of strong emerging life sciences clusters. The deal highlights successes around the UK in Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Glasgow, south Wales, and the south-east, so it is a very broad spread.

[Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)]

Medical research charities play a key role in developing new medical treatments, yet the Charity Research Support Fund, which enables universities to unlock investment from the sector, has been frozen since 2010. Will the Minister heed the call from the Association of Medical Research Charities to enhance CRSF in real terms, in line with inflation and with charity investment?

[Steve Brine]

I can come back to the hon. Gentleman in more detail on that. As part of the life sciences sector deal, there is just over £210 million of industrial strategy challenge funding for early diagnosis. This includes funding to build on the UK’s leadership in genomics, where we are very strong, and to establish programmes in digital diagnostics and artificial intelligence in healthcare.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

11. How many mental health staff the NHS employed in (a) 2010 and (b) 2017.

--- Later in debate ---

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)]

T2. Research shows that breast density is a strong predictor of developing breast cancer, yet many women remain unaware of the risk. Will the Minister confirm what steps are being taken to educate women with this potentially life-saving information?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Steve Brine)]

My hon. Friend asks an important question. We have just commissioned Warwick University to investigate the links between breast density and breast cancer. If the findings suggest that there should be any changes to the national breast screening programme, the UK national screening committee will of course consider that, as it does with any new evidence that helps it to target screening appropriately and make women aware of any increased risk of breast cancer. I will be watching this like a hawk.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

T3. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of NHS funding for the 2018-19 financial year? Will it be sufficient to deliver the standards set out in the NHS constitution?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

T6. Public Health England has stated that e-cigarettes are at least 95% safer than tobacco products and are now the most popular way to stop smoking. What is being done to encourage smokers to quit using this method, and what steps are being taken to ensure that e-cigarette users are not forced to share their space with people who continue to smoke?

[Steve Brine]

The truth is that we do not yet know enough about e-cigarettes. I welcome the Science and Technology Committee’s investigation into them. We have asked Public Health England to include messages about the relative safety of e-cigarettes in its Quit Smoking campaign next month, but it is for local organisations and businesses to implement their own policies on e-cigarette use in the workplace.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

T8. Seriously unwell individuals continue to be placed in immigration detention, despite the “adults at risk” policy, which states that that should not happen. Will the Secretary of State update the House on what discussions are taking place with Home Office colleagues to ensure that assessment, treatment and screening processes, and the application of rule 35, are properly followed so that vulnerable individuals are not held in detention in that way?

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

T7. Progress on cancer survival overall is hugely welcome, but what more can be done to improve outcomes for oral cancers? The main causes of oral cancer are smoking, drinking and the human papilloma virus, and men are twice as likely as women to suffer from it. Will the Minister inform the House what steps the Government are taking to address this issue?

[Steve Brine]

As the House knows, cancer is a huge priority for me and for the Government. Survival rates are at a record high, but we know there is much more work to do. Early diagnosis is key, and that is never more true than with oral cancers. We are supporting dentists to play a vital role in spotting mouth cancers early. I was discussing this very point just last week with the British Dental Association, which shares our passion on this issue.

[Mr Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Lab/Co-op)]

T9. One of my local hospitals, Sandwell, has a problem with the high number of nurses leaving the profession. But this problem is not confined to Sandwell; it goes across the NHS. What analysis has the Minister done of the reasons for nurses leaving and what will he do to address them?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)]

T10. Possibly as many as 20,000 babies have been born with birth defects as a consequence of their mothers having used sodium valproate during pregnancy. When will mandatory warnings be given to pregnant women about the risks associated with valproate, and when will we see independent analysis of how we got to this dreadful situation?

[Steve Brine]

There is huge interest in this subject in the House. Over the past three years, there has been extensive work to communicate advice on the risks of valproate in pregnancy, through a huge number of channels, to help professionals and patients. It is evident from monitoring activities that providing health professionals with information, even when repeated constantly through multiple sources, is not changing prescribing behaviour sufficiently to minimise harm to children exposed to valproate in pregnancy. The expert working group of the Commission on Human Medicines is informing the UK position in European negotiations and advising on the national action required within the UK health system. [Interruption.] Sorry, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

Forgive me. I did not mean to be unkind to the Minister who was attending closely to his answer. It is just that we want the whole House to get the benefit of it.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ms Angela Eagle (Wallasey) (Lab)]

On admissions to hospital for malnutrition, will the Minister tell me what has been happening at Wirral University Teaching Hospital? Admissions for malnutrition went up from 21 in 2009-10 to 707 in 2014-15. They went up again to 728 and this year currently stand at 586. That seems very, very high. Can anyone tell me what is going on? If not, will Ministers write to me to explain these huge figures?

[Steve Brine]

There is £2.8 million in extra winter funding, but I will write to the hon. Lady with the details she asks for.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

Those with erythropoietic protoporphyria cannot be exposed to sunlight or even some artificial light without extremely painful and violent skin reactions. Trials of the drug Scenesse have proved life-changing for constituents such as James Rawnsley, who, for the first time, can now take his kids to school and go on holiday. The decision to make it available on the NHS will be taken soon. Please will the Minister look at it?

[Steve Brine]

EPP has a devastating impact on a person’s health and quality of life, and is something that the hon. Lady has discussed with me before. We will of course take the matter seriously, and I am very happy to talk to her more about it.

[Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)]

Given that my own brother’s funeral will be held later today, may I ask the Secretary of State what help and support he is giving to the families of drug and alcohol abusers?

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

The NHS patient declaration form for free dental care and prescriptions requires patients to determine the difference between contribution and income-related employment and support allowance. Getting it wrong attracts really hefty fines. Will the Minister ensure that patients first get the opportunity to make the right choice before fines are applied?

[Steve Brine]

Yes, of course. The NHS Business Services Authority issues the penalty charge notices for incorrect claims for exemption from NHS dental care and prescription charges. We have recently increased the number of checks, however, because ultimately this is taxpayers’ money, and we need to ensure that it is spent properly and legally.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mims Davies (Eastleigh) (Con)]

Some 50% of young people do not use a condom with a new partner and one in 10 young adults never uses one, which means the chance of an unwanted pregnancy or, indeed, a sexually transmitted disease. Please will the Department do something to ensure that people are aware of the benefits of condoms?

[Steve Brine]

Men may not be very good at wrapping at this time of year, but they need to get this one right. I welcome Public Health England’s “protect against STIs” campaign, which was launched last week and aims to reduce rates among 16 to 24-year-olds, and I encourage young people having fun this Christmas to do so sensibly.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

There is an increasing trend for women to share breast milk over the internet with no recourse to the milk banking guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Will the Minister meet me, and other members of the all-party parliamentary group on infant feeding and inequalities, to discuss the matter further and to ensure that breast milk can be used safely?