Off-patent Drugs Bill

Justin Madders Excerpts

Friday 6th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds) on bringing this Bill before the House and the eloquent way in which he introduced it today. He has been in this place for only six months, but today and on other occasions he has spoken with assurance and authority that already mark him out as an accomplished parliamentarian.

As we know, this Bill builds upon the work of the former Member for Cardiff North, whose Bill was defeated almost exactly a year ago to the day, but it also very helpfully speaks to some of the concerns raised by the Government on that occasion. I am pleased to speak in support of the Bill, but in the interests of progress I will keep my remarks as brief as I can.

The adoption of this Bill could allow us to deal simply and effectively with a serious lacuna in the licencing system and a clear failure in the market. It would ensure that people who are at risk of or have been diagnosed with conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, breast cancer, leukaemia and prostate cancer may have access to treatments that they would otherwise be denied. Although I note that the Government opposed the Bill last time, I hope they acknowledge the steps taken by my hon. Friend to address their concerns about the previous Bill and will offer their support to ensure that this Bill is moved on as swiftly as possible.

When the previous Bill fell on Second Reading, a non-legislative solution was presented by the Minister at the time as the alternative to the Government supporting the Bill. However, in the 12 months since then little progress appears to have been made, despite clear promises both on Second Reading and in subsequent ministerial answers to parliamentary questions. In the meantime, the problems persist and the market failure is still there for all to see.

One such example is zoledronic acid, a repurposed drug, which has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer spreading to the bone in post-menopausal women by 28% and the risk of death by 18%. Definitive published evidence to this effect has been available since July, yet the treatment has not yet been made routinely available, despite the fact that it costs just 5p per day per patient and could save 1,000 lives every year. Everyone should have equal access to this treatment, but this will not happen unless it is licensed.

The problem is clear for everyone to see and it can be addressed if this Bill is enacted, so it is imperative that we allow it to progress today. Many Members have spoken in favour, and in particular the contributions from the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill) and the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford) contained great personal knowledge and experience of the benefits of this Bill. So let us listen to those Members, let us listen to the medical royal colleges, the clinicians, the commissioners, the charities and our many constituents who have contacted us about the Bill, and let us support it today.

Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Bill (Money)

Justin Madders Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

I will not detain the House for long, as my hon. Friend the shadow Health Secretary set out in detail our concerns about the Bill on Second Reading. I will say in summary that the Opposition believe the Bill to be at best unnecessary, and at worst a danger to patients.

The Bill is strongly opposed by a number of medical royal colleges, including the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Pathologists and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. There is strong opposition from several medical research charities, including Cancer Research UK, Alzheimer’s Research UK and the British Heart Foundation. There is also strong opposition from bodies such as the Wellcome Trust, the Patients Association and Action against Medical Accidents.

Given the range and depth of concern, I do not understand how the Minister can be so comfortable in supporting the Bill, even though he contends that he is not supporting it. I ask him to reconsider the Government’s position. We will see very shortly whether the point made by the hon. Member for Totnes (Dr Wollaston) is correct, and whether the Government are as neutral on the Bill as they state.

[George Freeman]

The hon. Gentleman will be familiar with the procedures of the House, but I just want to confirm that once the House has given a private Member’s Bill a Second Reading, the convention is that the Government, even when they robustly oppose it, always table a money resolution so that the Committee need not concern itself with that matter. Doing so is not a signal of Government support; it is absolutely in line with the convention of the House with all private Members’ Bills, whether we oppose or support them.

[Justin Madders]

I am grateful to the Minister for his clarification. As I say, we shall see very shortly whether that is the case.

I understand that the part of the Bill to which the money resolution primarily relates will give the Secretary of State the power to set up a database. As the shadow Secretary of State set out on Second Reading, we consider that unnecessary because, under section 254 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the Secretary of State and NHS England have the power to direct the Health and Social Care Information Centre to establish and operate a system for the collection or analysis of information. I note that, in a recent letter to the shadow Health Secretary, the Minister said:

“Under section 254 of the Health and Social Care Act the Secretary of State has the power to direct the Health and Social Care Information Centre to establish and operate a system for the collection or analysis of information of a description specified in the direction.”

I understand that the Minister’s argument is that he thinks it is appropriate to give the Secretary of State an express power, but I am not convinced by that and neither are many in the medical profession, including the Royal College of Surgeons.

We believe that the Bill attempts to address a problem, namely the fear of litigation, that simply does not exist and for which the profession has provided no evidence. There is a risk that it will undermine the methodical and reasoned approach to research that already exists. In the context of the £30 billion challenge that the NHS faces and the financial problems that are taxing us all, we note that the Bill may prove to be a step in the wrong direction. We will vote against the money resolution for the Bill, and we will no doubt see what the Government make of it when they have considered their research on the costs.

Oral Answers to Questions

Justin Madders Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Ben Gummer]

The hon. Lady knows that the Immigration Advisory Committee is independent and it makes its recommendations on that basis. There are trusts—I have visited some myself—that had previously relied on agency and migrant labour that have now managed to change the way they are hiring staff so that they can better source sustainable staffing from the domestic staffing pool.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

In December 2009, Lord Lansley, as the then shadow Health Secretary, described the amount spent by the NHS on agency staff as “unforgiveable”. Since he made that statement, agency spending has spiralled out of control, rising by 83% in the past three years. Ministers are in denial about the root causes of that increase. The cuts to nursing training places have created a shortage of nurses and forced hospitals to spend vast amounts on expensive agency staff. Will the Minister now come clean and admit that it was the Government’s mismanagement that caused this financial crisis?

[Ben Gummer]

The hon. Gentleman should know that the unforgiveable thing was the dereliction of care by a Department of Health under a previous regime. It contributed to short staffing—a significant part of the scandal at Mid Staffs—that we needed to put right in short order. That required an emergency response and agency labour to be employed. We are now putting staffing on a sustainable basis; we were left with short staffing in 2010.