Mental Health Care

Gloria De Piero Excerpts

Monday 21st November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker) for allowing me to contribute to this debate. I also congratulate Mind on the work that it has done. Its report today reveals some harsh realities about how we deal with mental health in this country.

I have learned a lot about mental health care, or the lack of it, in the short time that I have been the MP for Ashfield. I have also learned about mental health through my own experiences because a family member has struggled with his battles. I will talk a little about that later.

It was not long after I became the MP for Ashfield that the Rokerfield day care centre was threatened with closure. I spoke to its users. One man told me that the day care centre was his family, that the other users were his siblings and that the staff were his parents. A woman told me that she would not be here if Rokerfield had not been there for her. I hope to goodness that she is still with us. Sadly, Rokerfield and many day care centres like it are no more.

Something else that I have learned about recently through this job is the serious shortage of beds in psychiatric wards and the struggle to get emergency treatment. I sat open-mouthed in a meeting the other week as I was told that a shortage of beds meant that patients who were seriously ill and needed to be admitted immediately sometimes had to be taken miles away. The process was explained to me. If there is no bed locally, they start making calls. With each call, the bed gets further away. Before they know it, they are talking about a bed 100 miles away. When I heard that, I felt sick.

I will briefly explain why that made me feel sick. A close relative of mine had many spells in a psychiatric ward. I made many visits to the ward. Each time was a trauma for my relative and for the family. I never once considered that he could have been taken miles away. The two bus rides and the long walk up the hill, sometimes in the winter months, were distressing enough for me. People do it for peace of mind and to show that their relative is loved. I have heard harrowing tales from Mind about patients who have been transferred from their local area by ambulance or police car because there were not enough local beds.

I will end by echoing the call by the inquiry for

“a culture of service and hospitality”.

I thank Mind for its work. The Minister has responded to the report by saying that he will work with Mind to improve services. We will keep him to his word.

Southern Cross Healthcare

Gloria De Piero Excerpts

Thursday 16th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Paul Burstow]

I have not had those discussions—the need has not arisen—but I can be clear that the company feels that the consequences of yesterday’s meetings are important in terms of its ability to carry out a restructuring that safeguards the interests of residents.

[Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) (Lab)]

My constituents ask me specifically whether their elderly and sometimes frail relatives face the prospect of moving. I realise that my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan) raised that issue, but what reassurance are we to give to our constituents in that respect?

[Paul Burstow]

I have tried to give the House a number of reassurances on that point. I would add that there have been home closures over a number of years, from which we must learn lessons. One lesson is that we must minimise the possibility of closures and ensure that when they take place they are handled sensitively, slowly and carefully. That is why I welcome the work that the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services recently published—it sets out strong, clear, evidence-based guidance to assist local authorities in managing any closures in future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gloria De Piero Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Paul Burstow]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I can certainly assure him that those discussions are ongoing and regular, and that we work very closely with colleagues, both ministerial and official, in the DWP. Indeed, we are evaluating two of the Department’s collaborative projects on employment advisers working with people recovering from depression and anxiety disorders.

[Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) (Lab)]

The Rokerfield mental health day care centre in my constituency is under threat of closure. Does the Minister share my disappointment that the county council cabinet members responsible for making that decision have all ignored my invitation to speak to service users before coming to their decision? Will he urge them to visit users first?

[Paul Burstow]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. I am sure she would agree that it is important that we ensure that there is adequate funding in social care so that it is possible to continue to support services of this sort. That is why I am sure she would join me in thanking the Chancellor for the statement he made two weeks ago, when he confirmed that an additional £2 billion will be invested in social care. On her specific question, I will look at the matter in closer detail and write to her.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gloria De Piero Excerpts

Tuesday 7th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burns]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend and would like to tell her that I have been informed by NHS Yorkshire and the Humber that NHS North Yorkshire and York has proposed incrementally to alter the balance between resources in the community and the in-patient areas by slowly reducing the number of beds open for admission and slowly transferring staff into the community. We understand that that forms part of the PCT’s ongoing strategic plan for Malton. However, given my hon. Friend’s concerns, I would be more than happy to meet her to discuss the issue further.

[Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) (Lab)]

T4. When the Government say that the NHS budget will be ring-fenced, people might assume that whatever cash a hospital gets in this financial year will be matched next financial year. So could the Health Secretary explain why the King’s Mill hospital in my constituency has been told to expect its budget to treat patients next year to fall by 8.2% or £14.9 million?

[Mr Lansley]

The answer to the hon. Lady’s question is probably because that is what the Labour Government’s spending intentions implied. All over the country primary care trusts are telling their hospitals that they can expect a zero increase in tariff and a reduction in activity, and hence a reduction in budget. I am making it clear that we are intending an historic commitment by this coalition Government to increase the resources for the NHS in real terms. That does not mean an increase in real terms for every part of the NHS all the time. It does mean, however, that resources will be realised through efficiency savings and that increase to enable us to improve the service we provide through the NHS and to meet rising demand.