Oral Answers to Questions

Simon Burns Excerpts

Tuesday 18th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Steve Baker (Wycombe) (Con)]

3. What representations he has received on the reorganisation of urgent care in the past six months.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Simon Burns)]

A search of the Department of Health’s database revealed that 131 items of correspondence, and five parliamentary questions relating to the reorganisation of urgent care were received in the past six months. In addition, I have received three requests to meet MPs on this subject.

[Steve Baker]

Wycombe hospital is currently going through a consultation on a change to urgent care services, and it is doing so in the context of the betrayal felt after “Shaping Health Services” in 2004, which removed our accident and emergency department. I would like to escape this cycle through mutuality. What is the Government’s position on mutuality? Will the Minister join my call for directly owned community health services?

[Mr Burns]

The Government have supported the right to request, which has enabled 45 staff-led social enterprises to be established. This policy has supported approximately 25,000 staff into social enterprises, with contracts of roughly £900 million. NHS staff have been assisted by a wide-ranging programme of support from the Department.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Has not the Government’s so-called moratorium on the reconfiguration of services put back improvements to urgent care by several years? The Minister inherited perfectly coherent plans for every region in England under the auspices of Lord Darzi’s next-stage review. How many lives have been lost and how much money has been wasted by the tearing up of those plans?

[Mr Burns]

I am afraid that the right hon. Gentleman is wrong. It is not holding back the national health service; it is moving it forward with things such as the establishment of the 111 service and the reconfiguration proposals, which are based on the four tests that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State introduced in May last year. That not only links reconfiguration to the needs of the local health economy but takes into account the wishes and needs of the local community and medical staff.

[Mr Stephen Dorrell (Charnwood) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the improved delivery of urgent care right across the health service is one of the great challenges facing the new commissioning structure and one of the great opportunities to deliver more integrated services that deliver better value and better quality to patients?

[Mr Burns]

I am extremely grateful to my right hon. Friend; speaking with the authority of the Chair of the Health Committee, he is absolutely right. It is the way forward to drive improvements in service, raise standards and ensure that there is high-class, quality care at an urgent care level and across the acute sector.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

4. What assessment he has made of the potential effects of NHS reorganisation on the protection and improvement of public health.

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[Lorely Burt (Solihull) (LD)]

5. What steps he is taking to reduce the burden on NHS hospitals of (a) PFI repayments and (b) debt.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Simon Burns)]

A study conducted by the Treasury has identified savings opportunities of up to 5% on annual payments in NHS PFI schemes. The Cabinet’s Efficiency and Reform Group is rolling out a programme of work to secure savings of up to £1.5 billion across the 495 PFI contracts in the public sector in England.

[Lorely Burt]

Contrary to the earlier complacent comments of the Opposition spokesman, some national health trusts are paying up to 20% of their revenue to PFI contracts. What steps can we take to ensure that the payments are reduced and that the same terrible financial situation never happens again?

[Mr Burns]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady. I, too, recognise the small number of organisations that are reporting financial challenges. The Department is continuing to work with strategic health authorities to ensure that those organisations have robust plans in place for financial recovery, while ensuring the quality of services for patients.

[John Healey (Wentworth and Dearne) (Lab)]

On the subject of financial pressures on hospitals, does the Minister recall the circular to hospitals from Monitor that was smuggled out on the eve of the royal wedding, which raised the requirement for efficiency cutbacks on hospitals from 4% to 6.5%, which is more than £1 billion in this year alone? Will he admit that the service cutbacks that we are seeing in many hospitals around the country are deeper, as that circular confirms, directly because of the Government’s policies?

[Mr Burns]

No, I do not recognise that, because the figure that the right hon. Gentleman has used is an upper calculation, not an actual figure. I say to him that we are making efficiency savings, and that trusts should be cutting not front-line services but inefficiency, waste and excessive management, and reinvesting every single penny in front-line services.

[Helen Jones (Warrington North) (Lab)]

6. What steps he is taking to ensure that patients receive accurate and unbiased information on treatment options.

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[Chris Skidmore (Kingswood) (Con)]

9. What progress he has made on reducing the number of foreign nationals using NHS services without payment.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Simon Burns)]

We have updated and simplified regulations and guidance on identifying and charging visitors who must pay. Immigration rules now before Parliament will allow the UK Borders Agency to refuse entry to visitors with an unpaid debt to the NHS, and we are now reviewing this area more fundamentally to identify further improvements.

[Chris Skidmore]

I thank the Minister for that answer. On 19 July, I spoke in the House about foreign nationals using the NHS without payment and, having entered a freedom of information request to each foundation trust and PCT, I now have a more accurate picture of the sums involved. It suggests that some £15 million has been completely written off. Will the Minister meet me to discuss the findings and what possible solutions might be found to tackle this important issue?

[Mr Burns]

I share my hon. Friend’s concerns about this important issue and challenge for the NHS. I would be more than happy to see the results of his FOI request, and I or a colleague would also be happy to meet him to discuss the matter further.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

There is a relatively painless way to deal with this. At the time that the visa is applied for, the person should sign an undertaking that they will pay the costs of NHS treatment. Will the Minister talk to the Minister for Immigration to see whether it is possible to introduce such a requirement?

[Mr Burns]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. We are looking at a range of options and I am more than happy to pass on his suggestions to my hon. Friend for them to be considered.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

10. What representations he has received on the need for effective and clear distinction in uniforms worn by fully trained nurses and other workers in the care sector.

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[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

12. What steps he is taking to assist patients to access a greater range of NHS services.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Simon Burns)]

The NHS constitution gives patients the right to make choices about their care. The Government are committed to empowering patients. Our goal is for patients to have more choice of treatment.

[Alec Shelbrooke]

What steps is my hon. Friend taking to ensure that my constituents requiring cardiac services will have access to the care that they need in Leeds?

[Mr Burns]

My hon. Friend raises an important and controversial issue, as he will have heard when listening to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State earlier and the debates that he has attended in the House on this subject. We are determined that proper facilities will be made available, based not on money but on the high quality of care, particularly for children. An independent review is being carried out by the joint committee of primary care trusts, which is expected to announce its recommendations later this year.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Has the Minister considered exchanging expertise with the regions of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales? That exchange could take place without any charge.

[Mr Burns]

The hon. Gentleman raises a valid point. The NHS in England has regular contact and discussions with the NHS in other parts of the United Kingdom, and will continue to do so because both the UK and the devolved authorities can learn a considerable amount from sharing views and practice.

[Hazel Blears (Salford and Eccles) (Lab)]

13. What recent estimate he has made of the number of midwives working in the NHS.

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[John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab)]

T7. I have noticed a growing creeping privatisation of cleaning contracts in the NHS this year. Does this signify a return to the old Tory days of longer waiting lists and dirty hospitals?

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr Simon Burns)]

The hon. Gentleman seems to be somewhat confused. This is not about privatisation in a derogatory sense, as he is trying to suggest. For many years, including the 13 years of the Labour Government, hospital cleaning services in NHS hospitals were put out to tender, and many private companies provided the service. That is simply continuing.

[Chris Skidmore (Kingswood) (Con)]

T9. I am a long-standing supporter of independent sector treatment centres and of the need for commissioners to be able to bring in private and voluntary sector providers, as well as alternative NHS provision where existing services fail to improve—[Interruption.] I see that some Labour Members, including the hon. Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall), disagree, but does at least the Secretary of State agree—

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[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

I welcome the policy review of the entitlement of foreign nationals to free NHS care, but will my right hon. Friend assure the House that it will examine the options relating to charges for GP as well as hospital services?

[Mr Burns]

My hon. Friend has asked an extremely reasonable question, and I can give him the assurance that he seeks.

[Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

PCTs in Staffordshire are pre-empting legislation by merging and reorganising now, which has led to plans to close the high street practice in Newcastle-under-Lyme simply because it is run by salaried GPs. Is that really NHS policy? If not, what will the Secretary of State do to help 5,000 patients rescue a much-needed surgery?