Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 07 Sep 2011 Coeliac Disease
"It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr McCrea, on an issue that is close to my heart or, perhaps I should say, to my small intestine, because I suffer from coeliac disease. I am also a member of Coeliac UK.
"My hon. Friend is perfectly correct. The diagnosis for coeliac disease, or certainly the first part of the diagnosis, is extremely simple—it requires a simple blood test. In fact, as a coeliac sufferer, I never received a gut biopsy test, because my blood test was so overwhelmingly positive. It is …..." Gordon Banks - View Speech
"My hon. Friend is right. The range has improved, as indeed has the quality of food. In some ways, perhaps I was fortunate to be diagnosed in the past 10, 12 or 13 years. I am glad that I was not diagnosed 25 years ago, because I did not have …..." Gordon Banks - View Speech
"I do and I will. I shall come on to that later. My hon. Friend is perfectly right.
Moving back to the QOF, approaches for groupings of gastroenterological conditions are being made. Those are important because coeliac disease is four times more prevalent among patients with clinical presentation of IBS, …..." Gordon Banks - View Speech
"In fact, Coeliac UK, myself and, I think, my hon. Friend the Member for North Durham met Ministers in the previous Government to discuss that very issue. It does not seem to be something that Governments want to embrace, but my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen South (Dame Anne …..." Gordon Banks - View Speech
"They should, and I thank my hon. Friend for her comments. We are just waiting for one of us to be elevated to the House of Lords, because there are some difficulties over there.
I might be pushing my luck, but I would like to invite the Minister and his …..." Gordon Banks - View Speech
"I am well aware of what the Minister is referring to; indeed, I alluded to it in my contribution. What I am saying is that there is now an opportunity through the QOF framework to make coeliac disease one of the 150 measurable outcomes for GPs to be measured against...." Gordon Banks - View Speech
"With regard to the points that the Minister has made, which I did allude to, those are not mandatory, enforceable measurements. That is why we need something more...." Gordon Banks - View Speech
"In my contribution, I spent a considerable amount of time talking about pharmacy-led prescribing. The Minister has gone around the houses on that; he has not really addressed it directly. In the last two and a half minutes of the debate, could he deal with it in a little more …..." Gordon Banks - View Speech
"The Minister talks about every home being taken over, but it is obvious from his earlier remarks that he expects closures. That is a worry for me, given the two care homes in Tullibody and Crieff in my constituency. Just how many closures are acceptable to him?..." Gordon Banks - View Speech