Health and Social Care Update

Eleanor Laing Excerpts

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

Order. Before we proceed, it will be obvious to everyone present that the Secretary of State has now been at the Dispatch Box for an hour—normally, statements run for an hour. I am going to let this one run for a little more than an hour, but I give notice now that not everybody who wishes to speak will have an opportunity to take part. That is simply not practical, so I say two things. First, if you are not very enthusiastic, go now and you will be able to save up your brownie points for tomorrow and the next day. Secondly, the briefer the questions, the more people will get in. I have noticed that the Secretary of State has played the game by giving some very brief answers—thank you.

[Margaret Greenwood (Wirral West) (Lab)]

I note the Secretary of State’s comments about hospital discharge. As she will know, the Government legislated through the Health and Care Act 2022 for a process known as discharge to assess, whereby people’s social care needs assessments can take place after they have been discharged from hospital, rather than before, and that model was already being used under the Coronavirus Act 2020. However, when I asked the Government last May what assessment they had made of the number of patients who had been readmitted within 30 days, I was told that they did not hold the data centrally. It is vital that the Government understand the clinical outcome of this policy, so will the Secretary of State please commit to gathering and publishing that data?

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

Order. I was about to draw matters to a close, it being 17 minutes past 2, but I appreciate that those on the Opposition Front Bench might point out that the people for the next debate are not yet present. Therefore, I will extend the statement for a very short while, but I should note that it is not very good practice not to be here.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

As one exasperated constituent put it, having not been able to get a GP appointment,

“It seems there are too many patients and not enough doctors and this has gotten worse over the last few years.”

My constituents can grasp the workforce issue, but it seems that the Secretary of State cannot. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern) that it is deeply worrying that the new Secretary of State did not mention the pay of care staff, when that is the crucial issue if we are to tackle the 160,000 vacancies in the care sector. Will the Secretary of State tell me why the Government are choosing not to tackle the shortage of doctors, nurses and care staff, which is leading to such long wait times for my constituents?

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

Order. I will now draw matters to a close with one last question from Dan Jarvis.

[Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)]

Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. When someone has cancer, every day is an emergency. Weston Park Cancer Centre in Sheffield does outstanding work, treating patients not just from my region, but from right around the country. I have been grateful to previous Secretaries of State and other Ministers for their engagement on securing the investment needed for the urgent refurbishment of Weston Park. Will the Secretary of State give me an undertaking that, along with her Ministers, she will continue to work with me to do everything that we can to support Weston Park in its important work?

[Dr Coffey]

I do not have specific details about that matter, but I know that my right hon. Friend the Minister of State would be happy to follow up on that with the hon. Gentleman. I am very conscious about the impact of cancer. That is why, instead of having a 48-hour target, which would predominantly be predicted by emergency diagnosis from GPs, I want that to be a broader target, so that people who are showing symptoms and are concerned about seeing their doctor have that assurance that they will be seeing their GP, so that diagnosis can start as quickly as possible, particularly on issues such as cancer.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

Thank you. That concludes the statement.