Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 06 Jan 2021
Public Health
"I am going to vote for this legislation; it is sadly necessary, as today’s awful covid figures demonstrate. I want to speak briefly about how we help people get through the difficult period ahead as we vote today to lock down the country. If we are going to affect so …..."Jeff Smith - View Speech
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Written Question
Tuesday 22nd December 2020
Asked by:
Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question
to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to coordinate with Cabinet colleagues a cross-Government approach to reducing health inequalities as part of its response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill
We remain committed to levelling up health outcomes so everyone can enjoy a long, healthy life whoever they are, wherever they live and whatever their social circumstances.
The Minister for Equalities (Kemi Badenoch MP) is already leading work across Government to tackle the disparities highlighted by Public Health England in June. This includes reviewing the effectiveness and impact of current actions, actions to modify existing policy and policy in development to address these disparities. Over the last six months, Ministers have commissioned urgent work across Departments to ensure the response to COVID-19 is fully cognisant of and mitigating, the risk to those groups disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and its accompanying restrictions.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 17 Dec 2020
Covid-19 Update
"Secondary schools in south Manchester are worried about the extra pressure of running a mass testing regime on top of the contact tracing they are doing, on top of the online learning they are enabling and on top of their normal, everyday school responsibilities. We really need to know what …..."Jeff Smith - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 20 Oct 2020
Covid-19 Update
"There is a pattern here, is there not? Whenever the Government cannot agree a deal, it is always somebody else’s fault. In this case, it is Andy Burnham’s fault for simply standing up for what Greater Manchester needs—not what we want; what we need. Maybe I am also overinterpreting the …..."Jeff Smith - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 05 Oct 2020
Covid-19 Update
"The Secretary of State will know that south Manchester now has some of the highest infection rates in the country, but the figures are skewed by the very high rate among 17 to 21-year-olds. Many of those appear to be students who are confined to halls of residence, so the …..."Jeff Smith - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 28 Sep 2020
Covid-19
"It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr Baker), especially as, unusually, I agreed with much of what he said. If I have the time, I want to talk about three issues: the return of universities, support for closed-down industries and communication for areas in lockdown. …..."Jeff Smith - View Speech
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Written Question
Thursday 10th September 2020
Asked by:
Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question
to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS England announcement, Rough sleepers in homeless hotspots to benefit from NHS mental health outreach, published on 14 October 2019, whether the roll-out of that initiative will go ahead as planned due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
NHS England and NHS Improvement still intend to roll-out mental health support for rough sleepers in at least 20 targeted areas with high levels of rough sleeping by 2023/24.
Written Question
Thursday 10th September 2020
Asked by:
Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question
to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to co-ordinate the Government's support for people’s mental health and wellbeing in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We know that there is the potential for an increase in demand for mental health services. Ministers in the Department are engaging regularly with their counterparts across Whitehall on how best the Government can prevent and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health and wellbeing.
We are also working with the National Health Service, Public Health England and other key partners to gather evidence and assess the potential longer-term mental health impacts and plan for how to support mental health and wellbeing throughout the ‘recovery’ phase.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 08 Sep 2020
Covid-19 Update
"With the universities returning shortly, there will be lots of students moving into shared houses, so there is real concern in communities like mine in south Manchester, where there are lots of houses in multiple occupation. There is clearly plenty of good work going on to make campuses covid-secure, but …..."Jeff Smith - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 09 Jul 2020
Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review
"This report is vindication for the campaigners, but it will also provide relief for the McLellan family and the Pierce family, constituents of mine whose lives have been blighted for decades by the consequences of Primodos. I am particularly pleased that one of the recommendations is for an ex-gratia scheme …..."Jeff Smith - View Speech
View all Jeff Smith (Lab - Manchester Withington) contributions to the debate on: Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review