Oral Answers to Questions

Uma Kumaran Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Gwynne]

The hon. Gentleman makes a really important point, and we are absolutely committed to ensuring that these services across England are better than those we have inherited. Of course, I completely agree with him about the need to improve these services in specific parts of the country, which is something we will be looking at in detail. However, I have to say to the hon. Gentleman that the one thing those of us on this side of the House will not be doing is what he has written about in “ConservativeHome”, which is health rationing and cutting back on treatment.

[Uma Kumaran (Stratford and Bow) (Lab)]

7. What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of NHS urgent and emergency care services.

[The Minister for Secondary Care (Karin Smyth)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her election, and I also pass on my best wishes to her and her husband, who I know recently suffered a stroke. We hope he makes a speedy recovery. We recognise the great work of NHS staff for them, and indeed for all our constituents every day, but we do know that the NHS is broken. The latest data confirms the terrible state in which the Conservatives left urgent and emergency care services, with one in four patients waiting longer than four hours in A&E. That is why Professor Lord Darzi will lead an investigation into NHS performance, and the findings will inform our 10-year reform of the NHS.

[Uma Kumaran]

I thank the Minister for her kind words today, and I also thank my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary for his wishes on the day. Mr Speaker, may I also take this opportunity to thank you and your staff for the care and kindness you showed me?

Residents in my constituency of Stratford and Bow are served by Barts health NHS trust, which includes Newham University, Royal London and Whipps Cross hospitals. In May, their A&E departments had the second highest volume of any trust in England and the highest in London. Overcrowding and capacity constraints mean that the staff at those hospitals are having to treat some patients in corridors rather than on wards. This is the broken NHS that we have inherited from the Conservatives. Will the Minister ask her Department to look at capacity issues at those hospitals and at how community pharmacy prescribing services may be used to alleviate some of the pressures?

[Karin Smyth]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point highlighting the challenges particularly around hospital capacity, something well-known on the Front Bench with my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary representing a nearby area. This type of patient experience is unacceptable, but it sadly became normal under the last Government of 14 years. My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about pharmacies: they will have a central role in our future system, and I would of course be happy to undertake a visit with her.