NHS Long-term Plan

Liz McInnes Excerpts

Monday 7th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

My hon. Friend is quite right: we must focus on the substance of what is needed to deliver an NHS that will be there for us all in our hour of greatest need. That is what we should be concentrating on. I have heard some Members say, “Whatever the Government promise, we will just promise more.” That is no way to have a discussion about the future of the country and our most valued institution. Instead, we should back the NHS’s plan, deliver on it and keep the economy strong so that we can keep putting in the money that the NHS needs.

[Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab)]

Paragraph 4.17 of the plan states:

“Mature students are more likely to have family and other commitments that make it harder to retrain without financial support.”

Will the Secretary of State therefore now admit that his Government made a huge mistake when they abolished bursaries for nurses and allied health professionals?

[Matt Hancock]

No; we are proposing to have more targeted support for those who need it, to ensure that we get support to the areas of nursing with the most acute shortages, such as community nursing and mental health services. That is where support is best targeted.