Health of the Elderly

6. What recent steps he has taken to support the health of the elderly.

The spending review announced increases in NHS spending alongside more money for adult social care. By investing in DEXA scanners, we can more rapidly treat conditions such as osteoporosis, which particularly affect elderly women. Our urgent and emergency care plan promotes falls prevention technology for longer independent living and fewer hospital admissions. GPs are now incentivised to improve continuity of care, benefiting patients with long-term conditions.

I thank the Minister for his reply, but as the Secretary of State knows only too well, my borough of Havering contains one of the highest numbers of elderly people in the entire London region, yet Queen’s hospital in Romford remains chronically underfunded, overstretched and struggling to meet the growing healthcare needs of an ageing community. Will the Minister commit today to the serious investment that Queen’s hospital so desperately requires to ensure better health outcomes for older people across Romford?

I carefully note the fact that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who is sitting next to me, has an interest in this issue, so I will tread very carefully with my answer. I understand that the hon. Gentleman has discussed this matter with the Minister for Secondary Care. The North East London health and care partnership integrated care board is responsible for delivery, implementation and funding decisions for local services, but the hon. Gentleman’s representations have been carefully noted today, not least by the Secretary of State for Health.

One of the most important things we can do to support the health of the elderly is to ensure that they can get to see their local doctor. It is great to hear the Health Secretary talk about the improved access to appointments—we are seeing that in Chesterfield—but he is also right to say that it is the first step back up the mountain. The Government inherited a real crisis in GP access and the situation is particularly difficult in more deprived areas. Will my hon. Friend tell me what more we will do to ensure that people are able to see a GP, and in particular that practices that serve the most deprived communities can get access to the extra GPs they need?

My hon. Friend will know that when we came into Government we inherited the absurd situation where the additional roles reimbursement scheme was weighed down by red tape and it was not actually possible to recruit GPs. We changed that. We invested an extra £82 million and as a result we have well over 1,000 more GPs on the frontline, but that is just the beginning. We have contract reform and £889 million of additional investment in general practice, and we are moving forward with an online booking system, which will be obligatory by 1 October. We have much more work to do—for example, around the interface with pharmacy; we are working hard on that. There is a lot more to do, but my hon. Friend is right that the first step up the mountain has been taken.

I call the shadow Minister.

Last health questions, I asked about delays to crucial medications in A&E and the Secretary of State said he was interested to hear more, but his office said he would delegate it to a Minister and we still have not been offered a date, so could I encourage him to look into that, please? The U-turn on winter fuel will help the elderly to stay warm and healthy this winter, but another way to help elderly people would be to protect them from the respiratory syncytial virus. Will the Government extend the vaccination to the over-80s?

I thank the hon. Lady for that question, but I did not quite catch the word she used. The virus was called? [Interruption.] Oh—RSV, yes. We are certainly looking at increasing the coverage of the RSV vaccination. I do not have the statistics to hand at the moment, but I would be happy to write to her on that point.

Many of those on waiting lists are elderly and have chronic conditions; rather than seeing consultants at regular intervals, which may coincide with them being relatively well, they are often kept on open appointments so that they can call when they are ill. This is efficient and responsive care. Is the Minister aware that this provision is being stopped in some areas in order to improve figures? I will quote from a letter about an elderly patient:

“I regret cannot keep him on my waiting list under the open appointment”

for treatment, and,

“I have explained the politics of everything and where we are at.”

Being re-referred to a GP each time is expensive and a waste of time. Can the Minister explain why doctors are being asked to make decisions for political reasons, instead of clinical ones?

I do not think any decisions are being made for political reasons—our medical and health staff are very much focused on doing the right thing from a clinical point of view. The hon. Lady raises an important point about continuity of care, with people constantly having to be re-referred into the system. Part of the reason for that is the utter incompetence with which the previous Government managed our primary care system, which has resulted in people being passed from pillar to post, the additional roles reimbursement scheme not actually being about having GPs on the frontline, but about having other staff, which creates more friction in the system, and poorer continuity of care. This Government are going to bring back the family doctor—that is the way to get our general practice back on its feet.