Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan

Debate between Baroness Masham of Ilton and Lord Markham

Thursday 2nd February 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Masham of Ilton (CB)]

My Lords, what are the government plans for long-term rehabilitation? We need more physiotherapists and occupational therapists. There is an idea of getting people out of hospital quickly, but some of them need confidence and ongoing care.

[Lord Markham (Con)]

That is absolutely right. The figure that struck me on one of my many hospital visits was that apparently people lose 10% of their muscle mass each week they are in hospital, making it harder for them to look after themselves. The noble Baroness, Lady Merron, mentioned that we need to make sure the resources and investment are in the right places. All too often, hospitals become the place of last resort, when we all know that it is much better to put resources into the primary care at the front end or the social care and domestic help for physios who can visit homes at the back end. Central to the plans of my colleague, Minister Whately, is recognition that we will solve this in the long term, as all noble Lords want, only if we invest those resources in the right places.

NHS: Backlogs

Debate between Baroness Masham of Ilton and Lord Markham

Wednesday 9th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

We understand the importance of the programme, as I mentioned, and, in terms of the finances of the country, we have people in high positions who know its importance in the health debate. So the noble Lord can rest assured that it is top of our agenda, and we will be fighting hard to make sure that the capital programme is given the priority it needs.

[Baroness Masham of Ilton (CB)]

My Lords, would the Minister like to visit Masham GP surgery, where I live? He will find it is a GP surgery that needs updating. It was turned down, and one of the doctors left and went to Canada. It is now totally unsuitable for a growing population, for both patients and the staff working there.

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I do recognise the importance of primary care. We know that a lot of the people who turn up to A&E would be better served in the primary care system, so making sure we have good facilities in this place is vital, and again it is something that is part of our agenda. There was an excellent report in this space recently, and it is something we are working towards—so, yes, GP surgeries are very much an important part of this £10 billion programme.

British Heart Foundation: Tipping Point Report

Debate between Baroness Masham of Ilton and Lord Markham

Tuesday 8th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

My noble friend is referring to the healthy eating agenda, which we very much support. It is a key component of health and enjoyment of life. The more we can do in that department, the better. We have taken some very solid steps on sugary drinks and, more recently, on the product placement guidelines, to show that that is central to our beliefs.

[Baroness Masham of Ilton (CB)]

My Lords, how much research is being done on Covid-19, specifically on long Covid and heart disease? Who would collect the data?

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I believe that extensive, detailed research is being done in those areas under the overall guidance of Sir Chris Whitty. We will share this when we have the results.

Nursing: Recruitment

Debate between Baroness Masham of Ilton and Lord Markham

Wednesday 26th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

That is an excellent point. One thing I probably should have said is that the number of 36,000 leavers includes people who have left NHS trusts and gone into community care, working in GP surgeries. We do not catch that number who come back in again, so the real number is less than 36,000, but the basic premise of the question—making sure we are attracting nurses to the right place—is absolutely the right one. I believe that is the plan in place, but I will check on that and make sure we are doing as requested.

[Baroness Masham of Ilton (CB)]

My Lords, would it be possible to make it quicker and cheaper to get visas to bring to the UK nurses from across the world who would like to work here? We can never have enough nurses without them, can we?

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I totally agree with the approach. I have declared a personal interest before in that my wife is a dentist from the Dominican Republic who came in exactly that way, so I completely support the intent.