Oral Answers to Questions

Paul Uppal Excerpts

Tuesday 16th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The statistic that the right hon. Gentleman will not give the House is that for the year as a whole, which ended last March, the Government hit our A and E target. Furthermore, he still will not tell the House about the disaster that is happening in Labour-controlled Wales, where the A and E target has not been hit since 2009. He still refuses to condemn what is happening there. There is a lot of pressure on A and E, because 1 million more people are using A and E every year, compared with just two years ago. What are the root causes? They are poor primary care alternatives that date directly to the disastrous GP contract negotiated by his Government, since when more than 4 million additional people have been using A and E every year, social care and hospital sectors that are not joined up—Labour had 13 years to sort that out but did nothing—and problems in recruitment that have been made a great deal worse by his disastrous decision to implement the working time directive. It is time he sorted out his own issues before trying to criticise the Government for sorting them out.

[Paul Uppal (Wolverhampton South West) (Con)]

T2. The all-party group on men’s health, of which I am vice-chairman, has assisted in research that seems to show that men’s poor sexual health is often symptomatic of more serious problems, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Will my hon. Friend assure me that all robust measures are being put in place to ensure that that is not overlooked and that men do not die unnecessarily because that situation is taken for granted?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Anna Soubry)]

I completely agree with everything my hon. Friend has said, and the sexual health document we published in March relates specifically to those matters. Men are not very good at going to see their GP, a nurse or another health professional when they fear that they might need some sort of assistance. It is beholden on all men to follow the lead of women.