Contributions
2,308 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresLet me first congratulate my right hon. Friend—along with the whole House, I am sure—on the knighthood that he received from His Majesty. According to the analysis we have…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresThat simply is not accurate. Let me give the hon. Lady some specific examples. Under the auxiliary contract with St John Ambulance, we invested an extra £150 million in the…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresAs we have said previously, we have a process, through the independent pay review body, to look at these issues in the round and, when it comes to the needs of our NHS—my focus,…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresThe whole purpose of the £500 million is to put more support into local authorities’ funding for social care. About a quarter of that funding is going specifically on workforce…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresWe recognised very early—in fact, NHS England recognised it in the summer—that this winter was likely to be extremely hard, both because population resilience to flu would be…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresMy hon. Friend is right. That is why, in the run-up to Christmas, one of the ministerial priorities was to have a whole series of ministerial meetings with the chairs and chief…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresThe hon. Member talks about a fresh start, but even his own shadow Cabinet colleagues do not seem to agree with his plans. His own deputy leader seemed to distance herself from…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresOne of the things that my hon. Friend agrees with is that more decisions should be devolved rather than every decision being made in Westminster. Part of the reason for integrated…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresOn the hon. Gentleman’s first point, this is absolutely a system-wide challenge. That is why the use of innovations such as virtual wards in demand management upstream, in the…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresYes, I can; that is the whole purpose of the announcement. Although my hon. Friend campaigns assiduously for the new hospital, he will concede that, regardless of the decision,…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresMy hon. Friend has raised the £8 million capital request with me previously, and it is something we are looking at. She is right about how capital needs to be looked at in the…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresMy hon. Friend is right to point to the real pressures at Kettering which, as he says, I have visited. Not only am I keen to see it get its fair share, but I know that he will…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresFirst, the central announcement at the autumn statement was the additional capacity to deal with domiciliary care and further support for social care. That £500 million…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresWe are expanding staff numbers—that is why there are 3% more doctors and 2% more nurses than last year—but it is about more than simply looking at that. We also need to look at…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresWe need to both maximise international recruitment and retain existing staff. That is why the Chancellor, in the autumn statement, with all the other competing pressures that he…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresTo address my hon. Friend’s two points, first, the NHS will take immediate action to start arranging additional step-down care; that is a clear message that she can take to her…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresFirst, I am very happy to write to my right hon. Friend with further details. For the benefit of the House, in relation to the £500 million announced in the autumn statement,…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresMy hon. Friend skilfully combines the importance of discharge at King’s Lynn with the importance of addressing RAAC—reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete—hospitals, on which he…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresMy right hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is where virtual wards have potential significant benefits in both demand management—avoiding elderly, frail patients coming to…09 Jan 2023HANSARDNHS Winter PressuresOn delayed discharge, the key is having domiciliary care support. That is not about the NHS Agenda for Change contract; it is about funding for those in the social care sector.…09 Jan 2023