NHS and Care Volunteer Responders Service Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Richard Quigley
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NHS and Care Volunteer Responders Service
Richard Quigley Excerpts(1 day, 21 hours ago)
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Karin Smyth
I am afraid that I have to disagree with the hon. Gentleman—it is not muddled. The analysis undertaken by NHS England indicates that the current system is not providing good value for money, and we are making sure that we produce something better for the future. This Government will continue to act in the best interests of volunteers, patients and taxpayers in setting up the NHS of the future.
Mr Richard Quigley (Isle of Wight West) (Lab)
I congratulate all the volunteers in my constituency, who do a great job. Does the Minister agree that the huge increase in volunteers over the past few years is because the Conservatives ran down the NHS? Now they are in opposition, they can no longer run down the NHS, so they talk it down instead.
Karin Smyth
Well, we could—[Interruption.] Sorry, the hon. Member for Farnham and Bordon (Gregory Stafford) is chuntering from a sedentary position. I partly agree with my hon. Friend. Yes, the Conservatives did run down the NHS and we inherited a broken system, but volunteering has always been a really important part of the NHS and the care system, so I pay tribute to those people who come forward. It is both good for the system and the people they help, and for many individuals. We talked earlier about people feeling disconnected, perhaps as receivers of volunteering, but we know how valuable it is for individuals themselves to be giving and volunteering, and we want to see more of that.