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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 25 Apr 2017
Contaminated Blood

"The House should not forget that there was a tribunal of inquiry in Ireland. The Lindsay inquiry found that the state knew of the risks and continued nevertheless, because that was what other states such as the UK were doing. So is it credible that an inquiry in Ireland could …..."
Mark Durkan - View Speech

View all Mark Durkan (SDLP - Foyle) contributions to the debate on: Contaminated Blood
Written Question
Cerebral Palsy: Screening
Tuesday 31st January 2017

Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits to the health and well-being of children of the early identification of cerebral palsy.

Answered by David Mowat

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published on 25 January 2017 the clinical guideline Cerebral palsy in under 25s: assessment and management NICE guideline (NG62).

This provides recommendations for clinicians on the importance of enhanced clinical and developmental follow-up for children up to two years of age who are at increased risk of developing cerebral palsy, and the need for referral for an urgent assessment following the early recognition of possible signs of cerebral palsy.

Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 30 Jan 2017
Agenda for Change: NHS Pay Restraint

"It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Evans. It is a particular pleasure to follow the excellent contribution from the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell). She set out the compelling case for why the pay regime for nurses, midwives and associated health service …..."
Mark Durkan - View Speech

View all Mark Durkan (SDLP - Foyle) contributions to the debate on: Agenda for Change: NHS Pay Restraint
Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 30 Jan 2017
Agenda for Change: NHS Pay Restraint

"I agree with all of the hon. Gentleman’s points; they touch on points made in interventions by other hon. Members. Let us be clear: the long-standing freeze is, in essence, a long-term pay cut in real terms. People are left feeling frustrated and aggrieved by that. People are leaving the …..."
Mark Durkan - View Speech

View all Mark Durkan (SDLP - Foyle) contributions to the debate on: Agenda for Change: NHS Pay Restraint
Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 30 Jan 2017
Agenda for Change: NHS Pay Restraint

"Just to clarify, like the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford), I was referring to the living wage and not to the national living wage, which is a figment of Government policy...."
Mark Durkan - View Speech

View all Mark Durkan (SDLP - Foyle) contributions to the debate on: Agenda for Change: NHS Pay Restraint
Written Question
Cerebral Palsy: Children and Young People
Monday 30th January 2017

Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department provides on the use of (a) paediatric speech and language therapy, (b) paediatric physiotherapy and (c) paediatric occupational therapy for children and young people with cerebral palsy.

Answered by David Mowat

The Department does not provide specific guidance on the use of paediatric speech and language therapy, paediatric physiotherapy and paediatric occupational therapy for children and young people with cerebral palsy.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on the management of spasticity in under 19s includes recommendations on the provision of physiotherapy and/or occupational therapy.

In addition, at the request of the Department, NICE published, on 25 January 2017, the clinical guideline Cerebral palsy in under 25s: assessment and management.

Written Question
Breast Cancer: Medical Treatments
Monday 16th January 2017

Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what treatment options are available for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who stop responding to Herceptin (trastuzumab).

Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford

The available treatment option for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who stop responding to trastuzumab (Herceptin) is trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla).

Trastuzumab emtansine is currently only available through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) in England. However, on 29 December 2016 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published draft guidance that did not recommend its use in the National Health Service in England. If the final NICE guidance remains negative, from 90 days after the publication of the final guidance, patients already receiving the drug via the CDF will continue to receive it until the patient and their prescribing physician consider it appropriate to discontinue treatment. However, no new patients will be able to receive it from that point and the treatment options for those patients will still be standard cytotoxic chemotherapy.

Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 13 Dec 2016
Accelerated Access Review

"My hon. Friend is right to be so positive about many aspects of the accelerated access review. However, as she has mentioned, there are concerns that new definitional ruts could be created by some of the terms of the review, which could lead to some patients and some promising drugs …..."
Mark Durkan - View Speech

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Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 13 Dec 2016
Accelerated Access Review

"The Minister mentioned Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, where there are clearly challenges—we only have to look at the pictures in The Irish Times yesterday to see the graffiti about Orkambi in Dublin. Will he commit to working with colleagues from across these islands to use the underdeveloped and …..."
Mark Durkan - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 24 Nov 2016
Contaminated Blood and Blood Products

"The House has been misinformed on this point a number of times in previous debates, and it is important to point out that the compensation scheme in the Irish Republic was established even before liability was acknowledged. The tribunal system and the compensation scheme were set up, and the subsequent …..."
Mark Durkan - View Speech

View all Mark Durkan (SDLP - Foyle) contributions to the debate on: Contaminated Blood and Blood Products