Brain Tumours

Suella Braverman Excerpts

Monday 18th April 2016 Westminster Hall

[Mrs Flick Drummond (Portsmouth South) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I thank the hon. Member for Warrington North (Helen Jones) for her powerful start to the debate.

I want to spend a bit of time talking about the brilliant work being done in my constituency at the University of Portsmouth. The university hosts one of the largest centres of excellence for brain tumour research in the world, led by Professor Geoff Pilkington. The department collaborates with research centres around the world and Professor Pilkington is much in demand at international conferences. The centre is a flagship research body in the UK, but it is coming to the end of its core five-year funding, which will be reviewed by international scientists at the beginning of May. Although I am sure that it will come out with a top review, the next five years of funding might depend on that. It will mean £1 million a year and the ability to apply for more grants and employ more postgraduates. It is absolutely crucial to bring in new people to increase the depth of research and it is worrying that too many top research centres are continually fighting for more funds.

The research being conducted at Portsmouth is also heavily funded by the third sector. The core funding comes from the charity Brain Tumour Research, which has provided about £500,000 per year for the past four years. That money has not only funded 10 researchers, but has acted as a catalyst for donations from other charitable and third-party organisations. The centre now has between 17 and 20 researchers at any one time.

As a centre of excellence, the University of Portsmouth attracts some of the brightest students from all over Europe and beyond. Recently, the research unit has had new staff from Portugal, Italy and other places around Europe, who are contributing significantly to our understanding of this terrible disease, but extra funding is needed to enable brain tumour researchers to stay in their field. Although charities are desperately trying to bridge the gap in funding to retain the researchers, it is not enough to prevent them from moving into other fields.

[Suella Fernandes (Fareham) (Con)]

I speak on behalf of the many constituents in Fareham who have been affected by this devastating and indiscriminate disease, for example, Simon Tier, whose best friend sadly died because of a brain tumour and who is an indefatigable campaigner. Does my hon. Friend agree that current rates of funding are insufficient and that we need between £30 million and £35 million per year, in line with funding for research for other cancers?

[Mrs Drummond]

Yes, my hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I hope that those in the third sector will continue to be helped to raise funds because it has obvious implications for the progress of brain tumour research. Those currently involved are working incredibly hard.

I had the fortune of meeting Kathleen Keatley, a final year PhD student who is sponsored by a charity called Headcase Cancer Trust, and her colleagues at their labs last month. The passion, knowledge and dedication to research that the students have should be celebrated. The work the unit is doing is truly ground-breaking. Kathleen is doing research into mitochondrial mutations in glioblastoma, which is one of the most common and aggressive brain tumours. Greater understanding of glioblastoma will improve the effectiveness of treatment. We have spoken in other debates about the role that innovative treatments have in future NHS provision and research might result in personalised treatment for those with brain tumours. At Portsmouth, innovative treatments for the most serious conditions are already being worked on but we need to invest more to encourage that development.

During my visit to the University of Portsmouth, the message was clear that more funding means that we can accelerate our learning. By increasing our funding, we can continue to attract and retain the brightest people from within, and outside, the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Suella Braverman Excerpts

Tuesday 5th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Suella Fernandes (Fareham) (Con)]

Although Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust is not in special measures, its performance has been criticised in an independent report, particularly in relation to poor investigation of deaths of people with learning disabilities and mental illness. I welcome the Secretary of State’s rapid action and his announcement of a CQC inquiry. Will he update the House on the progress of the inquiry and when it is expected to report?

[Mr Hunt]

The inquiry has only just started, but I thank my hon. Friend for her interest in it. The important conclusion that we have drawn from what happened at Southern Health is that this issue is much broader than one trust. We are not as good as we need to be at investigating unexpected mortality in the NHS. Southern Health is perhaps an extreme example, but the problem is much more widespread. A cultural change is needed, and we are determined to do something about it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Suella Braverman Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2015 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Suella Fernandes (Fareham) (Con)]

1. What plans his Department has to increase capacity in general practice and primary care.

[Mike Wood (Dudley South) (Con)]

6. What plans his Department has to increase capacity in general practice and primary care.

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

It is a pleasure to be back, Mr Speaker. By 2020, we will increase the primary and community care workforce by at least 10,000, including an estimated 5,000 doctors working in general practice, as well as more practice nurses, district nurses and pharmacists.

[Suella Fernandes]

Fareham community hospital is an example of Labour’s expensive PFI gone wrong. At a cost of £28 million, it remains underused, half-built and subject to complex governance structures. What will my right hon. Friend do to enable better use of this facility to allow provision for minor injuries, a GP practice and more primary care?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is right, regrettably, that the PFI projects under the previous Labour Government created a lot of unsustainable debt. I know her local clinical commissioning group is meeting GP practices and working with community health partnerships to see if they can progress the idea she is campaigning for. I hope to visit her in the near future to discuss it myself.

Contaminated Blood

Suella Braverman Excerpts

Monday 20th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Ben Gummer]

The hon. Gentleman’s example is one of many that are similarly affecting in illustrating the appalling effects that this tragedy has had on individuals, their families and their extended families. I can promise him that the personal views of everyone who has been affected by this tragedy will be taken into account during the consultation. That is its purpose. It has not happened so far, but that is what we are going to deliver.

[Suella Fernandes (Fareham) (Con)]

I welcome today’s announcement. It represents progress on a tragic issue that has affected thousands of people in this country. My constituent Mrs Jackie Britton contracted hepatitis C in 1982 following a blood transfusion during childbirth, although she was not diagnosed until 2011. Will my hon. Friend provide the House with guidance on the availability of drugs, particularly sofosbuvir, which has been approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence? Will it be made available for the treatment of cirrhosis?

[Ben Gummer]

NHS England has just announced a major package in respect of the drugs my hon. Friend mentions. I will ensure that my hon. Friend the Life Sciences Minister writes to her with further details.

Oral Answers to Questions

Suella Braverman Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Alistair Burt]

That is probably tied into the whole issue of end-of-life care. A review of that is going on, as the hon. Gentleman may be aware. End-of-life care is important. Choices for people about where they wish to end their days is very important, and the Choice review which reported recently, whose recommendations the Government are considering, will make further progress. Hospice funding is part of that, but we expect local commissioners to take notice of what hospices can provide for those in their area.

[Suella Fernandes (Fareham) (Con)]

10. What steps he plans to take to improve the treatment of diabetes.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Jane Ellison)]

I welcome my hon. Friend to her place. Building on the national diabetes prevention programme, we are developing a comprehensive action plan to improve the outcomes of people with and at risk of diabetes.

[Suella Fernandes]

I thank my hon. Friend for her excellent response. As she will know, diabetes can often lead to the amputation of a limb. Fareham, my constituency, has one of the highest rates of limb amputations in the country. Can my hon. Friend please explain how the NHS diabetes prevention programme will address this issue?

[Jane Ellison]

My hon. Friend raises an extremely important issue. I welcome the fact that she has so quickly got to grips with some of the key local health facts in her area. Hon. Members across the House can look at how their clinical commissioning group is performing in the national context. My hon. Friend is right to say that her CCG performs poorly when it comes to amputations. There is a huge opportunity for improving the outcomes for people if we can get the worst-performing CCGs in that context up to the standard of the best. The national diabetes prevention programme is very much about preventing people getting to the stage where those complications can cause such terrible problems.