Oral Answers to Questions

Helen Whately Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

What steps he is taking to help enable face-to-face family visits to care homes.

[The Minister for Care (Helen Whately)]

Throughout the pandemic, we have had to strike a balance between protecting people from this cruel virus and social contact. Nowhere has this been harder than in care homes. That is why I am so pleased that, from 8 March, we will be enabling care homes to open up carefully to more visiting. Our guidance will set out how residents can have a named person for repeat visits, with testing and PPE so that those visits can be indoors. We look forward to enabling more visiting as soon as it is safe to do so.

[Emma Hardy [V]]

I welcome the new guidance on care home visits, but I am concerned about this phrase:

“With the agreement of the care home.”

Does the Minister share my concern that that may allow some care homes to disagree with the guidance, therefore decide that the risk is too high and prevent the physical contact that residents in care homes are so desperate to have with their loved ones?

[Helen Whately]

The hon. Member makes an important point. We have been clear that we want to see care homes enabling visiting. We recognise that care homes are having to strike a balance between giving residents access to visitors and making sure that those residents are safe. Our guidance will provide further support to care homes on how they can make sure that those visits happen.

[Catherine West]

Care homes for older folk and disabled people are a basic human right. Given that care home residents—either in the care homes themselves or perhaps in hospital—account for a third of all deaths from covid, should the Government not be trying just a bit harder to provide the staffing that is often required for those extra visits? When will the Government lay out their plan to address social care, which is so clearly lacking and has been promised for about 10 years now?

[Helen Whately]

The hon. Member is right to say that visiting at the moment involves extra staffing—for instance, staff to supervise visits and to support the testing that we will be bringing in with the new visiting guidance. We have already provided funding to the social care sector that can be used to support the cost of visiting, and there is additional funding for extra workforce costs.

[Mike Wood (Dudley South) (Con)]

What steps he is taking to ensure an adequate supply of covid-19 vaccines.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to increase funding for adult social care.

[The Minister for Care (Helen Whately)]

During the pandemic, the Government have provided over £1.1 billion for infection control, £149 million for rapid testing costs and £120 million to boost the workforce in adult social care, and that is in addition to £4.6 billion to local authorities. For 2021-22, we are meeting our commitment to an annual uplift of £1 billion for social care and will provide councils with access to an additional £1 billion.

[Kevin Hollinrake [V]]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the best long-term funding solution for adult social care is a German-style social care premium?

[Helen Whately]

I agree that we need a sustainably funded social care system. I know that my hon. Friend is very well informed of the options. We are committed to taking forward social care reform, and will be publishing proposals later this year.

[Jo Gideon (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Con)]

What progress his Department has made on improving the health service capital estate.

--- Later in debate ---

[Karl MᶜCartney (Lincoln) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support the health and social care workforce during the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Minister for Care (Helen Whately)]

Our health and social care workers have been simply extraordinary during the pandemic, caring for people in the most challenging circumstances. We have done our utmost to support them every step of the way and we will continue to do so. We are recruiting extra staff and we are on track to have 50,000 more nurses in the NHS. We are funding things that help when working long hours, we are funding social care providers to provide full pay for staff who are isolating, and we have put in place a package of mental support for health and social care staff.

[Karl MᶜCartney [V]]

I thank the Minister for that detailed answer. Ensuring that we take care of our NHS is critical, as I know here in Lincoln. Therefore, we must be at the forefront of fighting all aspects of this disease. At what stage did the Secretary of State and his officials become aware that vitamin D helped to fight covid symptoms for certain sections of our society, for how long was this information suppressed or ignored, what steps have subsequently been taken to take appropriate action, and what other drugs have also not been fully utilised so far, such as hydroxychloroquine?

[Helen Whately]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I can tell him that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published a guideline on vitamin D for covid in December. Its expert panel supported current Government advice to take vitamin D supplements through the autumn and winter. However, there is insufficient evidence that taking vitamin D mitigates effects of covid-19. I can also say that hydroxychloroquine is not recommended or authorised for the treatment of covid outside of trials.

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

What recent assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on cancer care and treatment.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

What plans he has to improve liver disease treatment pathways.

[The Minister for Care (Helen Whately)]

The NHS is working to improve care for patients with all types of liver disease. Development and improvement of clinical care is supported via NHS England’s hepatobiliary clinical reference group. This clinical reference group has started work on the development of liver networks in England to enable quicker access to specialised liver services, as well as providing clinical advice on disease prevention and referral practice.

[Tracey Crouch [V]]

Liver disease has become one of the major causes of premature mortality in the UK, and covid has highlighted the susceptibility of people with liver disease to more serious cases of the virus. With that in mind, what plans does the Minister have to include improvements to liver care in the NHS recovery plan?

[Helen Whately]

Last autumn’s spending review included £1 billion of funding to address backlogs, tackle long waiting lists and support up to 1 million extra checks, scans and additional operations in the NHS. As the NHS recovers, for liver care, as for other areas of treatment, we will look to not only recover backlogs but continue to improve the care provided and help people to live healthier lives to prevent illness in the first place.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.