Contributions
1,850 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDHealth and Care BillI thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this debate and the debates throughout the day. We managed to stick to the point and tried to be as brief as possible. I am afraid I…05 Apr 2022HANSARDDown Syndrome BillMy Lords, I begin by extending my congratulations to the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins. I am grateful to the noble Baroness for steering the Bill to this point. I also extend a…01 Apr 2022HANSARDOckenden ReportI thank the noble Baroness, Lady Watkins, for sharing a very personal story. It must have taken quite a bit of courage to share that with us so publicly. The noble Baroness talked…30 Mar 2022HANSARDOckenden ReportMy Lords, the Statement is as follows: “Mr Speaker, with permission, I would like to make a statement on the Ockenden report. This independent review was set up in 2017 in…30 Mar 2022HANSARDOckenden ReportI begin by thanking the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, not only for her questions today but for the advice she has given me over a number of months since I started in this post. I…30 Mar 2022HANSARDOckenden ReportThe noble Baroness raises some important issues. Looking at the big picture, as I say, we have accepted the actions made in the report, and I have asked for a timeline for the…30 Mar 2022HANSARDOckenden ReportI thank my noble friend for her points. I will take this opportunity to elaborate a bit on multidisciplinary training in the maternity workforce. Some £26.5 million of the £95…30 Mar 2022HANSARDOckenden ReportI begin by thanking both noble Baronesses for their questions and resisting the temptation to bring too much politics into it. This is an issue that we all feel very strongly…30 Mar 2022HANSARDNHS: Pre-pandemic Facility LevelsYes.29 Mar 2022HANSARDNHS: Pre-pandemic Facility LevelsMy Lords, NHS services are open to patients and numbers of general practice appointments have returned, or are returning, to pre-pandemic levels. As before the pandemic, hospital…29 Mar 2022HANSARDNHS: Pre-pandemic Facility LevelsI thank my noble friend for those questions and will try to answer as many of them as I can. We are aware that this idea of returning to normal is patchy in different parts of the…29 Mar 2022HANSARDNHS: Pre-pandemic Facility LevelsThe noble Lord makes an important point, and I can see a lot of agreement, judging by noble Lords’ body language. However, we must always be careful about this issue because…29 Mar 2022HANSARDNHS: Pre-pandemic Facility LevelsOne of the advances we have seen with technology is the community diagnostic centre; these will no longer necessarily be at health centres or GP surgeries. We are looking at…29 Mar 2022HANSARDNHS: Pre-pandemic Facility LevelsI thank the noble Baroness for making me aware of this issue. We are aware of a number of front-line services where there is a backlog as a result of the pandemic and not being…29 Mar 2022HANSARDNHS: Pre-pandemic Facility LevelsMy noble friend raises an important point. No matter how frustrating we might find trying to get an appointment with a GP, there is no room for abuse of our NHS staff—whether GPs,…29 Mar 2022HANSARDNHS: Pre-pandemic Facility LevelsThe noble Lord makes some really good suggestions. On technology, one of the things we are looking at is why, in this day and age, when you can book appointments online for most…29 Mar 2022HANSARDNHS: Pre-pandemic Facility LevelsThat is exactly why, as technology has improved, you should be able to book a specific time. In fact, in some practices, it has gone backwards since the 1970s. When I was a child,…29 Mar 2022HANSARDNHS: Pre-pandemic Facility LevelsI thank the noble Baroness for reminding us of the target. We have been quite clear that it is important that we have as many healthcare professionals as possible and fill the…29 Mar 2022HANSARDNHS: Pre-pandemic Facility LevelsMy noble friend will be aware from when he was a Minister that there were other priorities in tackling Covid, trying to get a vaccine and procuring much-needed equipment. This was…29 Mar 2022HANSARDNHS: Gambling Treatment ServicesThe noble Baroness makes an important point and there is recognition that we must do far more on this. That is why we held a review of the Gambling Act in the first place. As…28 Mar 2022