Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ben Bradshaw and Simon Burns

Tuesday 18th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burns]

The Government have supported the right to request, which has enabled 45 staff-led social enterprises to be established. This policy has supported approximately 25,000 staff into social enterprises, with contracts of roughly £900 million. NHS staff have been assisted by a wide-ranging programme of support from the Department.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Has not the Government’s so-called moratorium on the reconfiguration of services put back improvements to urgent care by several years? The Minister inherited perfectly coherent plans for every region in England under the auspices of Lord Darzi’s next-stage review. How many lives have been lost and how much money has been wasted by the tearing up of those plans?

[Mr Burns]

I am afraid that the right hon. Gentleman is wrong. It is not holding back the national health service; it is moving it forward with things such as the establishment of the 111 service and the reconfiguration proposals, which are based on the four tests that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State introduced in May last year. That not only links reconfiguration to the needs of the local health economy but takes into account the wishes and needs of the local community and medical staff.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ben Bradshaw and Simon Burns

Tuesday 12th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burns]

As the right hon. Gentleman will know, the local NHS has responsibility for commissioning local primary care services, and in doing so it must take into account the results of the local population and their needs. If he is working with the hospitals and organisations that he has mentioned and he has some constructive ideas that they are going to consider, I too would be personally interested to hear from him about how they envisage doing things.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

What has happened to the Labour Government’s guarantee that everybody should be entitled to see their GP within 24 hours, and also be able to book an appointment more than 48 hours ahead? Will the Minister publish a full performance table for GPs, so that the public can make an informed choice?

[Mr Burns]

As the right hon. Gentleman will know, the access measures concerning people being able to see their GP within a reasonable period of time are set out in the quality and outcomes framework. The evidence that I have seen certainly shows that our approach is generally working very well, although there are variations in different parts of the country, especially London, where I believe there is scope for improvement.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ben Bradshaw and Simon Burns

Tuesday 25th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Simon Burns)]

The proposed changes will focus the NHS on quality and the results that matter to patients—such as how successful their treatment was—and not just on bureaucratic processes such as waiting time targets. Waiting times are important to patients, along with the quality of their experience and outcomes, which will drive improvements in the future.

[Mr Bradshaw]

Well, what a revelation! I think that the Minister will find that the public do care about waiting times. Will he confirm that waiting times are already going up, that more people are already waiting more than 18 weeks—the maximum that we achieved when we were in government—and that the performance of accident and emergency departments has deteriorated since he watered down our A and E targets?

[Mr Burns]

I think that the right hon. Gentleman either did not hear my earlier remarks or had penned his question prior to hearing them. What I said was that waiting times are important to patients—and if he looks at the record tomorrow, he will see that. May I also explain to him that the average median time for the latest month available—November—shows patients completing a referral to treatment pathway in about 8.3 weeks? The right hon. Gentleman’s comments on A and E are just factually wrong and somewhat cheap.