Oral Answers to Questions

Anne Marie Morris Excerpts

Tuesday 8th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I do not accept what the hon. Lady is saying. We are investing in new mother and baby units and making sure we have sufficiently good provision geographically so that mothers and babies can access them. We are also investing in more support in the community. I am pleased that the programme we are delivering, which is £365 million of additional support, will deliver early intervention for young mothers and babies.

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

8. Whether he has made a comparative assessment of the health and social care needs of rural and urban communities.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Jackie Doyle-Price)]

The diverse health and social care needs of local communities are considered in this Government’s policy and implementation. We are actively supporting local areas, including through Public Health England’s joint work with the Local Government Association, providing evidence-based recommendations to tackle the different needs of rural communities.

[Anne Marie Morris]

Would the Minister find it helpful to ask the national centre for rural health and care, shortly to be launched, to identify the specific challenges facing the providers of health and care in rural areas?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

The centre has already engaged with stakeholders to identify the issues and responses to the challenge of providing health and care in rural settings. The centre will focus on four areas—data; research; technology; and workforce and learning—and will work with partners to identify, scale up and promote the adoption of its activities across the public and private health sector to reduce health inequalities and improve the quality of life for all rural people.