Point of Order
Debate between Barbara Keeley and Rosie Winterton(5 months, 1 week ago)
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Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The daughter of my constituents Brendan and Marion Chesterton died of a pulmonary embolism after she was seen twice at her GP practice by a physician associate. She was 30 years old and a budding actor in musical theatre. The coroner at her inquest said that Emily should have been immediately referred to a hospital emergency unit and that:
“If she had been…the likelihood is that she would have been treated for pulmonary embolism and would have survived.”
Since I raised serious issues in an Adjournment debate about the way that the physician associate was used in this case, I have seen many serious concerns raised by doctors about the risks to patient safety from the way that physician associates are being used, yet the Government are ploughing ahead with their plan for a rapid increase in the number of physician associates in the NHS. I understand that today the Government will lay or have laid an Order in Council—the Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order 2023—which amends the Health Act 1999 to regulate physician associates via the General Medical Council. There is a real and widespread concern among doctors about the risks of regulating physician associates as if they were doctors, which they are not. Has there been any indication from the Health and Social Care Secretary that she intends to make a statement on this matter? There is a real concern that this is too important an issue to be dealt with by delegated legislation.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order and for giving me notice of it. She raised whether a statement was likely to be made. I certainly have had no indication from the Government that they intend to make an oral statement on this matter. I note that the Minister for Health and Secondary Care, the right hon. Member for Pendle (Andrew Stephenson), made a written ministerial statement on Monday, and I understand that there will be further opportunities to scrutinise the draft legislation to which she referred. She is an experienced Member of the House, and I am sure she knows how she can contribute to that process. If not, I know that the Table Office will give her advice. I think we will leave it at that.
Bills Presented
Government of Wales (Referendum on Devolution) Bill
Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)
Mr Rob Roberts presented a Bill to make provision for a referendum on devolution in Wales; to provide that no further such referendum may take place within twenty five years; and for connected purposes.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time Friday 26 January 2024, and to be printed (Bill 137).
Immigration and Nationality Fees (Exemption for NHS Clinical Staff) Bill
Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)
Mr Rob Roberts presented a Bill to exempt NHS clinical staff from the requirement to pay fees under section 68 of the Immigration Act 2014; and for connected purposes.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time Friday 26 January 2024, and to be printed (Bill 138).
Welfare Benefits (Adequacy, Debt and Deductions) Bill
Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)
David Linden presented a Bill to require the Secretary of State to report to Parliament on the potential merits of prohibiting the making of deductions from certain social security benefits within the first six months of a claim, of restricting the making of deductions in cases where a claimant is at risk of hardship, of reducing the maximum proportion of a claim that may be deducted, and of changing the priority order in which debt repayments are recovered by deductions; to require the Secretary of State to report to Parliament on the adequacy of the rate at which social security benefits are paid; to require the Secretary of State to publish a strategy for increasing the availability of free debt and money advice for people claiming social security benefits; and for connected purposes.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time Friday 2 February 2024, and to be printed (Bill 49).
Points of Order
Debate between Barbara Keeley and Rosie Winterton
Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
On a point of order,
Madam Deputy Speaker. Following Eurovision, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport put a news story on the Government website with a joint comment piece from the Culture Secretary and the Ukrainian Culture Minister. The piece claims that the Government have been
“proud to lead global support for Ukrainian culture, sport and arts since the invasion”
and is
“assisting the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine to share their music as they tour the UK this year.”
This last claim appears not to be correct. I have been told by the manager of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine’s tour to the UK:
“we’ve had no contact with the Government whatsoever in response to our enquiries about how best to manage the visa applications for the orchestra”.
The Government could do so much to assist the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra in upcoming tours to the UK. Tour managers for both orchestras have raised with me the heavy administrative and logistical burden of applying for UK visas from war-torn Ukraine, including the difficulties of travelling to visa application centres in Ukraine or Poland and the prohibitive costs of visas. I intend to raise these issues with the Culture Secretary, but I seek your advice, Madam Deputy Speaker, about how I can get the Government to correct the story on the website, and how to ask the Culture Secretary not to make claims of assisting the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine to tour the UK when they appear to have had no contact whatsoever.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)
I thank the hon. Lady for her point of order and for giving me notice of it. She will appreciate that I am not responsible for Government websites, but I hope that, as the Government Whip is listening intently, what she has said will be reported back to Ministers and if any corrections can be made, they will do so. On the other issues she raised, I am confident that she will continue to pursue them. She might want to seek advice from the Table Office but she is a very experienced Member of the House, and I am sure she will continue to pursue the matter in the ways that she knows she can.
Long Covid
Debate between Barbara Keeley and Rosie Winterton(3 years, 4 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab) [V]
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) and the hon. Members for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) and for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter) for securing the debate and the Backbench Business Committee for scheduling it in the Chamber so that all MPs can take part.
The debate is important and timely as we pass the grim milestone of 100,000 covid-19 deaths and well over 3 million confirmed cases. We should remember each of those 100,000 deaths as the human tragedy it is as well as a sign of the failure to control the virus.
Together with colleagues who are taking part in the debate, I have heard evidence of the impact of long covid from witnesses to the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus. The impact on their lives is profound, and their numbers are growing rapidly.
It is important to recognise that covid-19 is not binary, with people either dying or recovering fully. We still have little idea about how covid-19 affects those who survive it in the longer term. Even people who start with mild covid symptoms may end up suffering noticeable effects and developing new or worse symptoms for months.
Among the many issues that witnesses with long covid raised at the APPG, an important factor is where they contracted the disease. Our witnesses this week all worked in the NHS, and we heard that the doctors’ long covid group is expanding rapidly. It is right to ask whether the conditions on the frontline might mean that long covid is more prevalent among those who acquire it at work.
Given the devastating impact of long covid, we need to establish whether it is an occupationally acquired disease. If it is, it should be reported on, monitored and protected against, as any other workplace-acquired disease would be. Will the Minister therefore set out what the Government are doing to require employers, including the NHS, to monitor long covid among their staff, and what steps will be taken to support frontline staff with long covid?
As I said, covid is not a binary disease. It is simply not the case that people either die from it or recover fully. We must remember every covid death as the tragedy that it is, but we must also fully acknowledge and deal with the long-term impacts that the disease can have. People are living with the effects of the virus for months, and perhaps even years. They need our support. They need a health system that can identify long covid and research so that we can begin to treat it effectively. They need financial support if they cannot work.
We need a covid strategy that goes beyond preventing deaths. We need to drive cases down, even when the most vulnerable are vaccinated, so that we do not create a new generation of people living with long-term health conditions. We particularly need to establish covid-19 as an occupational disease and support the frontline staff with long covid who cannot work because of their symptoms. They must not be forgotten.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)
I am afraid we must now move to our last Back-Bench speaker.