Contributions
1,737 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDStreptococcus A: AntibioticsI thank my noble friend and will take this opportunity to offer that public health advice. A rash, which is often the first sign of a bacterial infection in this case, or a child…15 Dec 2022HANSARDStreptococcus A: AntibioticsAs I mentioned, no one wants to see profiteering in these sorts of situations. The absolute focus right now is on expanding supply, because that is clearly the first thing you…15 Dec 2022HANSARDStreptococcus A: AntibioticsAbsolutely—clearly, we always need to learn in such circumstances, so we will be happy to do that.15 Dec 2022HANSARDNHS and Social Care WorkersI thank noble Lords. I particularly thank the noble Lord, Lord Allan, for introducing the debate. I look forward to working with him, just as I have enjoyed working with the noble…15 Dec 2022HANSARDStreptococcus A: AntibioticsMy general thinking—this is a personal view—is that the market is normally very well placed to supply these things. There was the excellent example of the vaccines, whereby it…15 Dec 2022HANSARDStreptococcus A: AntibioticsI thank the noble Baroness for bringing this important matter to us all. Yes, they are working very strongly; I had a series of meetings yesterday on this very subject to go…15 Dec 2022HANSARDNHS: Agency Doctors and NursesI do not know, is the honest answer. All I can say is that we are doing it now, and I think we all welcome it as a good thing. That has not stopped us investing in new places, and…14 Dec 2022HANSARDNHS: Agency Doctors and NursesI thank my noble friend and agree that, in looking to recruit so many people, we need to consider every possible source. I mentioned the private sector earlier, and there are also…14 Dec 2022HANSARDHealth: MalnutritionLocal health and care providers are responsible for commissioning malnutrition services based on the guidelines to make sure that they can identify people who need help.14 Dec 2022HANSARDNHS: Agency Doctors and NursesI think all of us in this House agree that these are long-term plans. Part of the increase in agency costs is also because we are trying to get more output and more activity. I am…14 Dec 2022HANSARDHealth: MalnutritionI am aware that we are working very closely with the devolved authorities. We worked with the devolved authorities on the regulations that we brought in recently, which were…14 Dec 2022HANSARDHealth: MalnutritionI thank the noble Baroness. Clearly, a good start to life in terms of nutrition is vital. That is something that I will take away. We want to make sure that we are always up to…14 Dec 2022HANSARDHealth: MalnutritionI totally agree with my noble friend. We all know that a good start to life is massively helped by families. At the same time, we appreciate that some families need a helping…14 Dec 2022HANSARDHealth: MalnutritionThe noble Baroness is correct. I learned something in this process, which is always good, which is that malnutrition can be undernutrition or overnutrition. Some of the debates we…14 Dec 2022HANSARDHealth: MalnutritionI will need to look into that. I had the opportunity to speak to Sir Chris Whitty on this subject, given its importance. He related me back to an IFS study in 2008 that looked at…14 Dec 2022HANSARDHealth: MalnutritionClearly, education is a key part of this, and mental health is as well. As mentioned before, the root cause of people being undernourished is not their food intake but other…14 Dec 2022HANSARDNHS: Agency Doctors and NursesI thank my noble friend. I do not pretend to be an expert on tax, but my understanding is that the so-called non-dom tax does not end up increasing the revenue raised and would…14 Dec 2022HANSARDNHS: Agency Doctors and NursesThe noble Lord is completely correct; we need to make sure that this is one of the key retention elements. There is also the issue of the hours doctors work: we know that, beyond…14 Dec 2022HANSARDNHS: Agency Doctors and NursesMy noble friend is correct to bring this up; it has been an issue. I am glad to say that sickness absences at the moment are much closer to pre-pandemic levels, so I think we are…14 Dec 2022HANSARDNHS: Agency Doctors and NursesAgain, I will check, but my understanding is that fundamental to any plan is the number of new places needed and recruitment, both internally, through graduate schemes, and…14 Dec 2022