NHS Dental Contracting Framework
(Norwich North)
(Lab/Co-op)
1. What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness
of the NHS dental contracting framework.(900015)
(Sunderland Central)
(Lab)
17. What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness
of the NHS dental contracting framework.(900031)
(High Peak) (Lab)
23. What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness
of the NHS dental contracting framework.(900038)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
First, may I welcome my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North
() to the House, and say
what an absolute privilege it is to have been appointed Secretary
of State for Health and Social Care? We have our work cut out for
us, with not only the worst economic inheritance since 1945,for
which the Conservatives should show more humility, but the worst
crisis in the history of our national health service, which we
see reflected particularly in NHS dentistry. Some 13 million
people in England have unmet need for NHS dentistry, or 28% of
the country, and it is disgraceful that rotting teeth are the
most common reason for children aged between five and nine being
admitted to hospital. During the general election campaign, I
pledged to meet the British Dental Association immediately to
start conversations on contract reform, and I did exactly that. I
look forward to working with dentists and others from across the
sector to reform the dental contract and rebuild NHS
dentistry.
I welcome my right hon. Friend to his place. Norfolk is a dental
desert and my constituents are suffering. As well as reforming
the contract, we need to train more dentists. In the east of
England we do not have a dental school, but the University of
East Anglia has put forward proposals for one. Will he meet me,
other hon. Members from Norfolk and representatives from the
University of East Anglia to discuss this important proposal?
It is appalling that Norfolk and Waveney are so poorly served in
terms of dentistry. There are only 36 dentists per 100,000
people, compared with the national average of 53, so when my hon.
Friend says that her community is a dental desert, Members should
know that it is the Sahara of dental deserts. We will work with
partners to ensure that patients across the country can access a
dentist when they need one. I am aware, not least thanks to her
advocacy and the advocacy of other Labour MPs across Norfolk, of
the University of East Anglia's proposal, and I would be
delighted to meet her and my colleagues.
My constituents in Sunderland Central tell me that NHS dentistry
is broken. It is not just that they cannot access routine care,
but that if they are struck with, for example, excruciating
toothache, they cannot access urgent appointments either. I
therefore ask my right hon. Friend what steps he is taking,
alongside the welcome reform of the dental contract, to ensure
that urgent dental services are available locally in places such
as Sunderland.
I welcome my hon. Friend; he certainly has big shoes to fill in
Sunderland Central and is a worthy successor to his predecessor.
He is absolutely right that alongside contract reform we need
urgent action. That is why we committed to providing 700,000
additional urgent appointments and recruiting dentists to where
they are most needed, and I am delighted to report that dentists
stand ready to assist. We are working with the BDA urgently to
get those appointments up and running as soon as possible, and we
will keep the House informed on progress as we do.
High Peak is also a dental desert. We spoke to one practice that
said it got as many calls for registrations as it did for
appointments. Often those calls are deeply distressing, with
elderly people unable to eat because they need their dentures
sorted. What first steps is the Secretary of State able to take
to cure 14 years of Conservative failure in NHS dentistry?
I welcome my hon. Friend to the House. He is absolutely right to
point out that these challenges have been 14 years in the making,
and it will take time to fix the damage that the Conservatives
have done to our national health service. We will start with
700,000 urgent appointments, as we promised, and we will continue
with contract reform, which is essential. I reassure him that as
we do, we will have the needs of all communities in our country
at heart, especially rural communities such as his that have
particular challenges. I look forward to involving him and
keeping him up to date on progress as we make it.
Dame (West Worcestershire)
(Con)
The NHS dental recovery plan was launched earlier this year, and
the Secretary of State has on his desk news about the impact that
it is having. Could he share with the House how much the plan has
increased appointments in the Worcestershire and Herefordshire
integrated care board area?
The Conservative party lauded that plan during the general
election, when I think the public delivered their verdict on the
progress that it had made. NHS dentistry is non-existent in huge
parts of the country. We will stick with some aspects of the
previous Government's dental recovery plan because they are the
right solutions, but there are gimmicks that we will not proceed
with. We will come forward with a serious plan to reform the
dental contract, which the Conservatives committed to in 2010 but
failed to do in every single year of their 14 years.
(Oxford West and Abingdon)
(LD)
I have a constituent who has been trying to get a dentist
appointment for a year. They have painful abscesses, cannot sleep
and cannot eat using the right side of their mouth. We need to
get on with this. I note that a review of the NHS has been
launched, but the British Dental Association is concerned that
that review will delay the changes to NHS dentistry that are so
desperately needed. Will the Secretary of State give us a
timeline for when we will see change?
I am grateful to the hon. Member for her question and
congratulate her on her re-election to the House. She is right to
point to the detrimental impact that the Conservatives' failure
is having on people's lives. In fact, in 1948, when the national
health service was founded, Nye Bevan received a letter from a
woman who had worked her entire life in the Lancashire cotton
mills about how the dentistry she was given by the national
health service had given her dignity and the freedom to associate
in any company. What a tragedy that 76 years later, the
Conservative party has squandered and destroyed that legacy to
the point where people are suffering not just pain and agony, but
the indignity of being unable to find a job and unable to
socialise in polite company because they are ashamed of the state
of their rotting teeth.
The hon. Member is absolutely right: Lord Darzi is conducting a
review on the state of the NHS, and it will report in September.
That is not preventing us from making progress, talking to the
BDA and working within the Department and across the sector to
get those 700,000 appointments up and running as a matter of
urgency. I look forward to reporting the progress to her and
other right hon. and hon. Members.
(Isle of Wight East)
(Con)
As the right hon. Gentleman is aware, there is a particular
shortage of NHS dentists in coastal and rural communities such as
mine on the Isle of Wight. Will he therefore commit to the
previous Government's plan for 240 golden hellos for newly
qualified dentists by the end of the year to address that
issue?
I welcome the hon. Member to the House—it is a rare thing to
welcome new Conservative Members, and he is welcome. He is
absolutely right to touch on the workforce issues in NHS
dentistry, and to say that we need to incentivise dentists, on
two fronts: we need them to commit to and do more work in the
NHS—we are looking at a range of things in that regard—and we
need to ensure that we get more dentists to the areas in which
they are most needed. We will certainly support incentives to
that effect.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Meriden and Solihull East)
(Con)
I welcome the right hon. Member and his new team to their places
in the Department. The shadow Secretary of State, my right hon.
Friend the Member for Louth and Horncastle (), prioritised access to
care, including NHS dentistry, when she was Secretary of State.
The dental recovery plan that she launched announced new dental
vans to provide access to care to our most rural communities and
coastal communities in England. We had agreed with NHS England
that the first vans would be on the road by this autumn, and I
know that that timescale was welcomed by colleagues across the
House. Will he confirm that dental vans will be on the road by
this autumn?
I could not have picked a better example of the previous
Government's desperately low ceiling of ambition than the fact
that, after 14 years, they laud their triumph of dental vans
roaming the country in the absence of actual dentists and dental
surgeries. What an absolute disgrace. I accept that the shadow
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care was just the last
in a very long list of Health and Social Care Secretaries who had
the chance to fix the problems. It was not all on her, and it is
important that I say that—not least because of the Conservative
leadership election that will be taking place soon.
I congratulate the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Meriden
and Solihull East (), on his appointment, but he
sat behind Secretaries of State as their Parliamentary Private
Secretary year after year, week after week, looking at the
utterly abysmal failure of their record. When it comes to
criticising this Government on the actions that we will take, the
Conservatives do not have a leg to stand on.
Access to NHS Dentists
Steff Aquarone (North Norfolk) (LD)
2. What steps his Department plans to take to improve access to
NHS dentists.(900016)
The Minister for Care ()
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and welcome him to
his place. Thanks to what the Conservative party has done to NHS
dentistry over the past 14 years, a staggering 13 million people
are unable to see a dentist. I know that the hon. Gentleman
represents the constituency that has the lowest number of
dentists per head in the entire country. Our rescue plan will
provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit
dentists to areas that need them. We will rebuild the service for
the longer term by reforming the dental contract.
Steff Aquarone
As the Minister has alluded to, we in North Norfolk have suffered
in particular from unallocated units of dental treatment being
moved to other parts of the country. The integrated care board
has been told that it will have to return this year's unused
money to the Treasury. Will the Minister commit to protecting
unallocated dental funds in my constituency?
As my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary stated, on the
Monday after the general election, he met the British Dental
Association to look at a range of issues around the long-term NHS
contract. That is an ongoing dialogue—it includes units of dental
activity, of course—and we need to ensure that we have the
negotiations rapidly. We will work at pace to address some of
those long-term issues, but let us not forget that the
Conservative party allowed the NHS contract to atrophy and took
NHS dentistry to the brink of collapse in our country.
(Filton and Bradley
Stoke) (Lab)
I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for
Health and Social Care and his fantastic team on taking their new
place on the Government Front Bench. I also thank my right hon.
Friend for his advocacy in the last Parliament for people across
my constituency who lack dental access.
What assurances can the Minister provide that the important
issues of infrastructure and housing will be linked together? As
we look to build those much-needed 1.5 million homes across the
country, it is vital to make sure that we do not have more dental
deserts and that we have the infrastructure we need. How will he
work in a cross-departmental way to ensure we achieve that?
I thank my hon. Friend for her question, and warmly welcome her
to her place and congratulate her on her election. The key
aspects of our dental rescue plan include 700,000 more
appointments through extra funding that we will generate by
cracking down on tax dodgers and closing other loopholes. We will
incentivise new graduate dentists to come to areas that are
underserved to ensure that we plug the gaps—there will be golden
hellos to make that happen. We are also working hard on things
like supervised toothbrushing for three to five-year-olds,
because prevention is always better than cure.
New Health Centre: Maghull
(Sefton Central) (Lab)
3. Whether his Department plans to provide capital funding for a
new health centre at Maghull in Sefton Central
constituency.(900017)
The Minister for Secondary Care ()
I congratulate my hon. Friend on his re-election. He will know
that capital allocations are a matter for the integrated care
boards. We are committed to introducing neighbourhood care
centres to bring together vital care services, and I look forward
to working with him on Labour's mission to improve the front door
to the local NHS.
I congratulate my right hon. and hon. Friends on their
appointments. The predecessors of my right hon. Friend the Health
Secretary—there have been quite a few over the past few years—all
agreed with me that a health centre in Maghull in my constituency
was a priority for the health service, but as my hon. Friend has
just said, the allocation of capital by integrated care boards
has meant that the priority has been acute hospitals, sometimes
at the expense of community facilities. Will my hon. Friend meet
me to discuss the importance of investment in health centres such
as the one in Maghull, which make such a difference to reducing
waiting times in the NHS and improving patient outcomes?
My hon. Friend is first out of the blocks on this issue, and has
shown his commitment to improving primary care for his
constituents. I am sure the local ICB has listened very carefully
to his question, because we know that the existing primary care
estate is under a great deal of pressure. That is why building a
neighbourhood health service remains at the forefront of our
mission to rebuild the NHS, and I would be pleased to meet him to
discuss that topic.
Newcastle-under-Lyme Landfill Sites: Health Effects
(Newcastle-under-Lyme)
(Lab)
4. If he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential effects of
toxic air from landfill sites on people's health in
Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.(900018)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
I warmly welcome my hon. Friend, the new Member for
Newcastle-under-Lyme, and thank him for raising this important
issue. The UK Health Security Agency works with the regulator,
the Environment Agency, to advise on health risks from landfill
sites. In relation to the site in his constituency, the UKHSA
undertakes monthly risk assessments using air quality data. A
multi-agency group, including Government agencies and local
authorities, meets regularly to review the situation and any
interventions needed. I will, of course, raise his concerns with
my counterparts in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs.
I thank the Minister for his answer, and welcome him to his
place. Walleys Quarry landfill in Newcastle-under-Lyme is an
environmental crisis and a health one too, and my constituents
Sheelagh Casey-Hulme, Jan Middleton, Lee Walford and many others
are rightly scared and angry about the impact of toxic levels of
hydrogen sulphide on the health and wellbeing of local people.
Will the Minister come to Newcastle-under-Lyme to listen, to
learn and to smell, and to help us finally stop the stink?
Public health and prevention are priorities for me and this
Labour Government. Obviously, the Environment Agency takes the
lead in this specific instance, but I am more than happy to jump
off the train at Stoke—if my hon. Friend will pick me up—and
visit his constituents to listen to their concerns, and to ensure
that the public health considerations are amplified to
Environment Agency colleagues.
Fracture Liaison Services
Dr (Solihull West and
Shirley) (Con)
5. Whether he is taking steps to ensure the provision of fracture
liaison services in all hospitals.(900019)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
I thank the learned and gallant hon. Member for his question.
More than 500,000 fragility fractures occur every year, and up to
40% of fracture patients will suffer another fracture. I praise
the campaigns by the Sunday Express, The Mail on Sunday and the
Royal Osteoporosis Society for their campaigns on this. I am
pleased to reiterate the Government's commitment to expanding
access to fracture liaison services. The Department is working
closely with NHS England to develop plans to ensure better
quality and access to these important preventive services.
Dr Shastri-Hurst
First, I congratulate the Minister and the rest of the
Front-Bench team on their appointments. As a former orthopaedic
surgeon, I am mindful of the impact of osteoporosis on many of
our constituents, including my own in Solihull West and Shirley.
In England, more than 67,000 people suffer a fracture every year,
and a disproportionate number of those are women. What we do
know, however, is that fracture liaison services, where they are
delivered well, can prevent many of those fractures. Currently,
half of the country has access to such services. The last
Conservative Government made a commitment to roll them out to the
whole country by 2030. Will the Minister honour that
commitment?
The hon. Gentleman makes a really important point, and we are
absolutely committed to ensuring that these services across
England are better than those we have inherited. Of course, I
completely agree with him about the need to improve these
services in specific parts of the country, which is something we
will be looking at in detail. However, I have to say to the hon.
Gentleman that the one thing those of us on this side of the
House will not be doing is what he has written about in
“ConservativeHome”, which is health rationing and cutting back on
treatment.
Urgent and Emergency Care
(Stratford and Bow) (Lab)
7. What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness
of NHS urgent and emergency care services.(900021)
The Minister for Secondary Care ()
I congratulate my hon. Friend on her election, and I also pass on
my best wishes to her and her husband, who I know recently
suffered a stroke. We hope he makes a speedy recovery. We
recognise the great work of NHS staff for them, and indeed for
all our constituents every day, but we do know that the NHS is
broken. The latest data confirms the terrible state in which the
Conservatives left urgent and emergency care services, with one
in four patients waiting longer than four hours in A&E. That
is why Professor Lord Darzi will lead an investigation into NHS
performance, and the findings will inform our 10-year reform of
the NHS.
I thank the Minister for her kind words today, and I also thank
my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary for his wishes on the
day. Mr Speaker, may I also take this opportunity to thank you
and your staff for the care and kindness you showed me?
Residents in my constituency of Stratford and Bow are served by
Barts health NHS trust, which includes Newham University, Royal
London and Whipps Cross hospitals. In May, their A&E
departments had the second highest volume of any trust in England
and the highest in London. Overcrowding and capacity constraints
mean that the staff at those hospitals are having to treat some
patients in corridors rather than on wards. This is the broken
NHS that we have inherited from the Conservatives. Will the
Minister ask her Department to look at capacity issues at those
hospitals and at how community pharmacy prescribing services may
be used to alleviate some of the pressures?
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point highlighting the
challenges particularly around hospital capacity, something
well-known on the Front Bench with my right hon. Friend the
Health Secretary representing a nearby area. This type of patient
experience is unacceptable, but it sadly became normal under the
last Government of 14 years. My hon. Friend makes an excellent
point about pharmacies: they will have a central role in our
future system, and I would of course be happy to undertake a
visit with her.
(Witham) (Con)
I welcome the new Front-Bench Members to their new portfolios and
responsibilities. Essex has actually seen some improvements in
emergency care services over the past 14 years, particularly in
our ambulance trust, and that should be commended. One way in
which pressure on emergency services can be reduced is by having
community facilities in our towns and across our districts. Will
the Minister commit to meeting me and working with my right hon.
Friend the Member for Maldon (Sir ) on looking at ways in
which we can safeguard community services at St Peter's hospital
in Maldon, which our communities absolutely need?
I thank the right hon. Lady because she again makes for us the
excellent point about what has happened in the last 14 years
under her Government: these situations have been allowed to get
so much worse both in Essex and across the country. She should
also welcome our mission to rebuild the broken front door to the
NHS and have more neighbourhood services based in communities,
bringing those services together where patients are; that is
absolutely what we all want and I am very happy to discuss this
with her.
(Telford) (Lab)
For 14 years the community in Telford and I have worked hard to
safeguard our A&E, but the last Conservative Government made
Telford the largest town without a fully functioning A&E.
Will the Health team meet me and other Shropshire MPs to discuss
this discredited and disgraceful decision?
I welcome my hon. Friend to his place. He knows what we all know,
and what we know the entire country knows because we spent the
past six weeks campaigning: it is the same story across the
country. That is why we are committed to restoring standards and
why we will fix this broken NHS, and of course I am happy to meet
with him.
(St Ives) (LD)
A decision by the Conservatives two years ago means that the
urgent treatment centre at the West Cornwall hospital in Penzance
is now closed at night, and that has put pressure on the only
emergency department in Cornwall—a long peninsula—at Treliske,
where routinely 20 ambulances are parked outside creating a new
metallic ward at the front of the hospital. That situation has
had a detrimental impact, of course including avoidable deaths.
Will the Minister meet me and colleagues and the local NHS to
discuss this issue, to see how we can restore our emergency
services?
Again, across the country we see the damage done over the last 14
years, and the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to highlight
that the situation in one part of the system knocks on to other
parts. That is why we want a 10-year plan to look at this, an
immediate look with Lord Darzi, and, critically, to understand
which community and primary care services can be supported to
support the rest of the system. I am very happy to meet with
colleagues across Cornwall, where we now have many Labour
MPs.
NHS Dentistry: Work Requirement
(Mid Norfolk) (Con)
8. If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of
requiring newly-qualified dentists to work for the NHS for a set
period of time.(900022)
The Minister for Care ()
I thank the hon. Gentleman and congratulate him on his survival
instincts in getting re-elected to this place.
NHS dentistry needs urgent action thanks to 14 years of chaos,
failure and neglect. Our rescue plan will get NHS dentistry back
on its feet, followed by contract reform to make NHS dentistry
more attractive. A consultation for a tie-in to NHS dentistry for
graduate dentists closed on 18 July and we are now considering
the responses. The Government position on this proposal will be
set out in due course and I will keep the House updated on this
matter.
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that answer and congratulate him
and his colleague the Secretary of State on their appointments.
All of us who are serious about the health service and the need
for reform, about which the Secretary of State has spoken, have
their back in pushing for reform. The hon. Gentleman has his
moment of triumph, but may I gently encourage him to reach out
and build a cross-party coalition of support for serious reform?
The NHS is broken not by Tory cuts but by years—[Interruption.]
For years we have been pouring money in; it needs to modernise
for the 21st-century.
In the spirit of which, on dentistry, may I encourage the
Front-Bench team to reach out and have a meeting—a rainbow
coalition meeting including the new hon. Members for Norwich
North () and for North Norfolk
(Steff Aquarone)—of all MPs in Norfolk, which has suffered more
than most counties? We desperately need that University of East
Anglia dental school.
The hon. Gentleman was doing so well at the start, and then he
kind of blew it a bit towards the end. It is absolutely right
that we put country before party, and we will work with whoever
has the best interests of rebuilding our public services at
heart. The issue that he raises specifically sounds interesting.
What I would say is that unless we get the bigger picture sorted,
and unless we make NHS work pay for dentists, we will not be able
to rebuild the NHS dentistry system that we should be cherishing
and seeking to reform. I am of course always open to
conversations with him.
(York Central)
(Lab/Co-op)
Just 39.2% of my constituents were able to access an NHS dentist
over the past two years. That is an absolute disgrace, but the
Health and Social Care Committee put together a report into NHS
dentistry, setting out a blueprint for how to resolve the
challenges, including access, looking at tie-ins and ensuring
that we get more dentists registered. Will the Minister look at
that report and follow its recommendations?
I congratulate my hon. Friend on her re-election; it is wonderful
to see her back in her place. She is absolutely right that the
tie-in consultation deadline was 18 July. We are considering
those responses with an open mind. On the broader issues that she
mentions, our rescue plan is 700,000 more appointments,
incentives for new graduates to go to under-served areas, reform
of the dental contract and making work pay for dentists. That
plan is at the heart of the reforms that she mentioned and that
is what we will be doing.
NHS Mental Health Services
(Bedford) (Lab)
9. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to NHS
mental health services.(900023)
(Macclesfield) (Lab)
20. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to NHS
mental health services.(900035)
The Minister for Care ()
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bedford () on his re-election and my
hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield () on his election. More than a
million people with mental health issues are not getting the
support they need. This Government will fix our broken NHS. That
will include recruiting 8,500 mental health workers, including
specialist mental health professionals in every school and
rolling out young futures hubs in every community. As announced
in the Gracious Speech, we are bringing forward legislation to
modernise the Mental Health Act 1983, which is a hugely
significant step that has been warmly welcomed by service users,
campaigners and, indeed, the former Conservative Prime Minister
.
I welcome the Minister to his place. Funding to bring desperately
needed in-patient mental health services back to Bedford has been
sitting in the accounts of our local mental health trust for
years, but it cannot be used because of the previous Government's
capital expenditure limits. Will the Minister therefore meet me
to discuss a way forward to get this urgently needed mental
health facility back in Bedford, so that my constituents do not
have to travel miles to access this vital service?
I know that my hon. Friend has been campaigning with great
passion and conviction on this issue for some time, and I am in
no doubt that his integrated care board will have listened
carefully to every word that he has said today. I would be
pleased to meet him so that we can discuss this matter in greater
detail.
The Prime Minister has been clear that the Government will make,
unlike their predecessor, evidence-based policy. While the NHS
has made some high-level progress, the figures for those waiting
for mental health elective care remains unacceptably high, but
the data is incomplete. Does the Minister agree that
comprehensive data is crucial if we are to serve the patients we
care about?
I welcome my hon. Friend warmly to his place. I hope he will not
mind if I use this analogy, which is that you cannot make a
prescription unless you have the diagnosis, and you cannot make
policy on the hoof. We cannot have the chaos, neglect and failure
that we have seen from the Conservatives for the past 14 years
because they have not made policy based on evidence and data. I
am absolutely on board with what my hon. Friend says, and I would
be more than happy to discuss it with him further at his
convenience.
Mr (Basildon and Billericay)
(Con)
I welcome those on the Opposition Front Bench to their roles and
those on the Government Front Bench to their new roles. One of
the things that we did very well over the past few years on a
cross-party basis was tackling the disparity between mental and
physical health. Since 2018, £4.7 billion extra has gone into NHS
mental health services. Will the Government commit to that going
forward and ensure that the proportion of funding towards mental
health services will increase in the coming years?
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question, but he appears
to be living in a parallel universe. We are in the midst of a
mental health crisis as a result of 14 years of Tory chaos,
neglect and failure. We have a plan, with 8,500 more mental
health workers, young futures walk-in hubs, specialist mental
health support for young people and mental health specialists
dealing with talking therapies. Of course, we will also introduce
legislation following the Gracious Speech to deal with helping
people who have more severe conditions. That is a plan of action
with which I hope we can once again make our country proud of how
we deal with this extremely serious issue.
(Glastonbury and Somerton)
(LD)
Mental health pressures in the farming community are rising, with
the Farm Safety Foundation survey finding that 95% of farmers
under 40 agree that poor mental health is the biggest hidden
problem facing the industry. Will the Minister work with
colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs to improve access to NHS mental health services in rural
areas and support the continued roll-out of rural health
hubs?
I thank the hon. Lady for raising that extremely important
question. We are indeed looking at that issue through our 10-year
plan for the future vision of our health service. Issues around
isolation and the huge pressure on what are often family
businesses are creating tremendous strains for that community. We
take that seriously and will of course work with our colleagues
in DEFRA to address it.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
Dr Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge)
(Con)
May I congratulate those on the Government Front Bench on their
appointments? I should declare that I am a former NHS consultant
psychiatrist, my wife is an NHS doctor and I participated in the
Wessely Mental Health Act review. While I no longer have a
licence to practise, I may gently correct the Minister in that it
is possible to provide a prescription without a diagnosis.
[Laughter.]
The Opposition are pleased that the Government intend to build on
the work of Conservative Governments, kick-started by the former
Member for Maidenhead, to reform the Mental Health Act 1983. We
will work constructively with them to make such legislation as
effective, fair and compassionate as possible. With that in mind,
does the Minister intend to make changes to the code of practice
to the Mental Health Act now so that non-statutory changes and
protections can be enacted while the Bill works its way through
Parliament?
I welcome the shadow Minister to his place and congratulate him
on his appointment. It is a little bit rich to receive a question
like that, given that the Conservatives had 14 years to address
the issue; I have been in this position for 16 days. If he looks
at the plan that we are bringing forward, he will see that we
have more ambition and more boldness in our plans than what we
have seen in the last 14 years. We will introduce legislation
that will address those extremely important issues for people who
have some of the more severe conditions.
To the shadow Minister's specific point on a code of practice,
the first step will be to see the legislative process moving
forward. But, of course, we remain open to looking at any
solution or reform that will help to address this extremely
important issue.
New Hospital Programme
(Lancaster and Wyre) (Lab)
10. What recent progress his Department has made on the new
hospital programme.(900024)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
It is painfully clear that the previous Government's new hospital
programme—they said that they would deliver 40 new hospitals by
2030—is not deliverable in that timeframe. I want to see the new
hospital programme completed, but I am not prepared to offer
people false hope about how soon they will benefit from the
facilities they deserve. That is why I have asked officials as a
matter of urgency to report to me on the degree to which the
programme is funded along with a realistic timetable for
delivery. We will not play fast and loose with the public
finances, nor will we play fast and loose with people's trust as
the previous Government did.
Lancaster's royal infirmary is at capacity. It is a Victorian
hospital, and I am sure it was cutting-edge back then, but it is
now not fit for purpose. Yesterday, the joint investment
strategic committee expressed its support for the new build
scheme in Lancaster, so it will soon be on the Secretary of
State's desk. Will my right hon. Friend commit to meeting me and
other interested local MPs in north Lancashire to ensure that,
after 14 years of chaos under the Conservatives, the Labour
Government will deliver a new hospital for Lancaster?
Mr Speaker
And a hospital for Chorley.
I was about to say, Mr Speaker, that the good people of Lancaster
and Wyre will be delighted to have sent my hon. Friend to
Parliament, because she is second only to you in collaring me
about a local hospital project—you are the holder of that record.
There is a serious point: thanks to her determined efforts to
collar me around the parliamentary estate, I know the particular
urgency around land. A scheme will be put to me shortly, which I
will consider carefully, and I will look at the programme in the
round and ensure that I am able to come back to this House and to
the country with promises that we can keep and that the country
can afford.
(North West Norfolk) (Con)
During the general election campaign, Labour said it was
“committed to delivering the new hospitals programme, including
modernising the QEH at Kings Lynn to address its potentially
dangerous RAAC”.
Will the Secretary of State honour that pledge, which was made to
my constituents and to the staff at QEH, and approve the business
case submitted by the trust for the new multi-storey car park,
which is a key enabling project for the new hospital that we need
by 2030?
Hospitals with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete are at the
top of my list of priorities. I am extremely concerned about the
dire state of the NHS estate. Once again, I think that is a bit
rich from Opposition Members, whose party was in government only
weeks ago. They had a Prime Minister local to that hospital, and
they did not do anything when they had the chance, but they
should not worry—we will clean up their mess.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
Dr (Sleaford and North
Hykeham) (Con)
I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his position. I should
declare that I have been working in the NHS for 23 years,
currently as an NHS consultant paediatrician. I look forward to
using that experience in my new role as shadow Minister of State
to scrutinise the Government constructively.
Under the new hospital programme, the previous Government had
already opened six hospitals to patients, with two more due to
open this financial year and 18 under construction. The
Government are now putting that at risk by launching a review of
that work, delaying those projects, which are vital to patients
across the country. Could the right hon. Member please confirm
when the review will be completed?
First, I welcome the hon. Lady to her new post. I must say I
preferred her much more as a Back-Bench rebel than a Front-Bench
spokesperson, but I have enormous respect for her years of
contribution to the NHS and the experience that she brings to
this House. I always take her seriously.
However, on this one, once again I say to the Opposition that
they handed over an entirely fictional timetable and an unfunded
programme. The hon. Lady might not know because she was not there
immediately prior to the election, but the shadow Secretary of
State, who is sitting right next to her, knows exactly where the
bodies are buried in the Department, where the unexploded bombs
are, and exactly the degree to which this timetable and the
funding were not as set out by the previous Government.
Mr Speaker
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
(St Albans) (LD)
I welcome the Secretary of State and his Ministers to their
roles, but let me gently warn him that if he intends to run a
contest on which Member can harangue him the most on crumbling
hospitals, our 72 Liberal Democrat MPs say, “Challenge
accepted.”
Under the Conservatives, the new hospital programme ground to a
halt. We know the terrible stories of nurses running bucket rotas
and all the rest. We have the worst of all worlds at the moment:
trusts such as mine in west Hertfordshire are champing at the bit
to get going but cannot, and are being held back. Other trusts
have capital funds that they want to spend but are not allowed to
because of outdated rules, and there are industry concerns that
the one, top-down, centralised approach of the Conservatives
could decimate competition in that industry, when we need a
thriving industry to rebuild our hospitals and primary care. What
is the Secretary of State's response to that approach?
I welcome the hon. Lady back to her place. We worked
constructively on the Opposition Benches together and, regardless
of the size of the Government's majority, we intend to work
constructively with her on this side of the election, too. By
extension, I congratulate her colleagues on their election. I
have discovered that I have 72 new pen pals, all sitting there on
the Liberal Democrat Benches, and they have been writing to me
about a whole manner of projects. My colleagues and I will get
back to them.
The hon. Lady is right that this is not just about the new
hospitals programme, important though that is; the condition of
the whole NHS estate is poor. In fact, backlog maintenance, the
direct cost of bringing the estate into compliance with mandatory
fire safety requirements and statutory safety legislation,
currently stands at £11.6 billion. That is the legacy of the last
Conservative Government.
Neonatal Care: Parental Accommodation
(Clapham and Brixton
Hill) (Lab)
11. If he will take steps to help increase the number of
accommodation units available for parents whose babies have been
admitted to neonatal care units.(900025)
The Minister for Secondary Care ()
I congratulate my hon. Friend on her re-election and thank her
for raising this important issue. It is not right that three out
of four parents are not able to stay with their critically ill
baby overnight at such an important point in that new
relationship. NHS England recently concluded a review of neonatal
estates. It is in the early stages of analysing the findings,
which will be used to inform the next steps. We are all
determined to support parents to be involved in every aspect of
their baby's care.
I congratulate my right hon. and hon. Friends on their
re-elections and on taking their places. Recent research from the
charity Bliss showed that when a baby receives neonatal care,
their parents are routinely expected to leave them in hospital
overnight for weeks or even months at a time. Its research found
that for every 10 babies who need to stay overnight in neonatal
care, there is only one room available for a parent to stay with
them. How will the Minister ensure that the existing guidance
about facilities for families is followed, and how will she
ensure that trusts can access the resources they need to stop the
separation of babies and their parents?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the separation of babies
and their parents at that time is not acceptable, and about the
shocking state of the estate, as we have just heard. We will look
at the findings of the NHS review very quickly, and I will be
happy to get back to her on those specific points.
(Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister for her answer. This issue is clearly not
just about accommodation; it is also about providing physical and
emotional help for mothers who have been through traumatic
circumstances, emotionally and physically. What will be done
along those lines to ensure that mothers and babies have all the
help they need?
The hon. Gentleman makes a really important point about mental
health support in that critical period. We will absolutely make
sure that is looked at.
Health and Social Care Reform
(Banbury) (Lab)
12. Whether he plans to hold discussions with NHS staff and
patients on his plans for reforming NHS health and social care
services.(900026)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury—words I did not
think I would ever say—and welcome him to his place. The answer
to his question is yes. We do not just want to discuss with
patients and staff; we want them to help shape the 10-year plan
for the next decade of reform, which will take our NHS from the
worst crisis in its history and make it fit for the future.
Social care also needs to change. We will work with care workers
and care users to build consensus for and shape a new national
care service.
Does the Minister agree that the voices of frontline staff,
whether in hospitals such as the Horton general hospital in
Banbury or carers like my mum, are still often ignored when it
comes to whistleblowing? More worryingly, those voices are
silenced by threats to report them to regulatory bodies. Does he
agree that we need to level the field of accountability for
managers who ignore whistleblowers, and that there should be a
regulatory body with oversight of medical managers?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have previously said that
bank managers are more regulated than NHS managers. This Labour
Government will pursue an agenda of greater accountability,
transparency and candour when it comes to those making managerial
and executive decisions in our national health service.
(Angus and Perthshire Glens)
(SNP)
In integrating health and social care it is vital to take the
staff component along with you. It is also vital to have
sufficient funding. We integrated health and social care in
Scotland in 2012 and it has been a difficult road, but health in
Scotland is funded £323 per head more than it is in England. Will
the Minister commit to put his hand in his pocket and make sure
English people enjoy the same health funding as people in
Scotland?
I welcome the hon. Gentleman back to the House, but I politely
say to him that he needs to be a little bit patient. There will
be some announcements in the near future on this Government's
plans for social care. He should rest assured that we on the
Labour Benches understand the integration agenda. We understand
the need to fix both the NHS and social care, and this Labour
Government will do that.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
Sir (Maldon) (Con)
I congratulate the Minister and his Front-Bench colleagues on
their appointments. I welcome the suggestion that the Government
are considering the possibility of a royal commission on social
care and intend to address the issue on a cross-party basis, but
that will take time. Can the Minister therefore confirm that, as
was suggested during the election campaign, the Government will
take forward the Dilnot reforms, and in particular that they will
introduce a cap on social care costs, as was planned by the
previous Government?
It was, of course, the right hon. Gentleman's Government who
kicked the can down the road on these issues. They allowed the
system to spend the transformation money that had been provided
precisely for the purpose of the Dilnot reforms on fixing their
broken national health service. He should just be a little bit
patient, as we will announce our proposals for social care
shortly. He should rest assured that, as I have said to him
before, this Labour Government are determined to fix both the
broken NHS and the broken social care system that we inherited
from 14 years of Tory failure.
Mr Speaker
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
(St Albans) (LD)
The Liberal Democrats spoke about care a great deal during the
general election campaign. At the heart of our plans was our
pledge to introduce free personal care. Will Ministers please
confirm whether they intend to open cross-party talks and, if so,
whether free personal care will be on the table as one potential
option?
I thank the hon. Lady for the way in which the Liberal Democrats
approached the issue of health and social care during the
election campaign. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State
has already said, we will work with all in the House who want to
fix our broken health and social care system. Of course we will
work collegiately across parties, and of course all issues
relating to how we fix our broken social care system will be
discussed during those cross-party deliberations.
Topical Questions
(Neath and Swansea East)
(Lab)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental
responsibilities.(900040)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
Our NHS is broken. This Government have been honest about the
problems we face because we are serious about fixing them, and we
have not wasted a moment. We have appointed Lord Darzi to carry
out an independent investigation of the state of our NHS, we are
resetting the relationship with junior doctors with negotiations
starting today, and we are laying the foundations for the
delivery of 40,000 more appointments a week to cut waiting lists.
The Gracious Speech kick-started a decade of national renewal,
with modernisation of the Mental Health Act as well as the
smoking reform, which will ensure that this generation of young
people is the first smoke-free generation, and will be the first
step towards ensuring that that generation is the healthiest in
history.
During their free NHS 40-plus health checks, women are assessed
for conditions that may affect them as they grow older, but
menopause is not included. To include it would be cost-neutral
and would not only help millions of women to recognise the
symptoms, but prevent needless GP appointments when those
symptoms start to develop. Along with Menopause Mandate, I have
been campaigning tirelessly on this issue. Will the Secretary of
State please look into it as a matter of urgency?
I am delighted to see my hon. Friend back in the House. She
campaigns relentlessly on this vital issue, and it would be very
risky for me to do anything other than agree to meet her, because
I share her view that progress needs to be made on it.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
(Louth and Horncastle)
(Con)
May I welcome the Secretary of State and his ministerial team to
their places, and wish them well in their endeavours? With your
indulgence, Mr Speaker, I should also place on the record my
thanks to my superb team of former Ministers, to those in the
private office and to officials in the Department for their hard
work and support, as well as thanking the doctors, nurses and
social care and health professionals with whom I have had the
pleasure of working.
Now, to business. In opposition, the Secretary of State described
the 35% pay rise demand by the junior doctors committee as
“reasonable'. What he did not tell the public was that this
single trade union demand would cost an additional £3 billion,
let alone the impact on other public sector workers. Will he ask
the Chancellor to raise taxes, or will she ask him to cut patient
services to pay for it?
May I welcome the shadow Secretary of State to her new position?
She has behaved in her typically graceful and decent way. I
enjoyed working with her on that basis, and will continue to do
so. Although, I must confess that when I heard about the
“abominable” behaviour of the shadow Health Secretary, I thought,
“What on earth have I done now?” Then I remembered that our roles
have swapped, and that it was not me they were referring to.
What I said was that the doctors were making a reasonable case
that their pay had not kept in line with inflation, but we were
clear before the election that 35% was not a figure we could
afford. We are negotiating with junior doctors in good faith to
agree on a settlement that we can deliver and that the country
can afford.
I am afraid I do not like it when Secretaries of State do not
answer questions, and I am sorry to say that the right hon.
Gentleman gave another non-answer, as has been the case for those
on the Government Front Bench. I have a question that I hope he
will be able to answer. The final act of the Conservative
Government was to protect children and young people by banning
private clinics from selling puberty blockers to young people
questioning their gender. Will the right hon. Gentleman confirm
that he will resist the voices of opposition on the Benches
behind him and implement in full all of Dr Cass's
recommendations, including exercising “extreme caution”, as she
said, in the use of cross-sex hormones in young people? They and
their parents deserve certainty from this Government.
Obviously, there is a judicial review of the former Secretary of
State's decision, which I am defending. The matter is sub judice,
so I will steer clear of it.
To go back to first principles, we are wholeheartedly committed
to the full implementation of the Cass review, which will deliver
material improvements in the wellbeing, safety and dignity of
trans people of all ages. I think that is important. I want to
reassure LGBT+ communities across the country, particularly the
trans community, that this Government seek a very different
relationship with them. I look at the rising hate crime
statistics and trans people's struggles to access healthcare, and
I look at their desire to live freely, equally and with dignity.
That is what we will work with them to deliver.
Mr Speaker
Order. I understand that today is a new start with Question Time,
but we have to be short and speedy. That is the whole idea of
oral questions, because otherwise Members are not going to get
in.
(Southampton Test) (Lab)
T2. After 14 years of Conservative mismanagement of our NHS, the
waiting list at Southampton general hospital is close to 60,000.
I welcome my hon. Friend's commitment and plan to bring down
waiting lists, but can she also outline what support will be
offered to those waiting for treatment, many of whom are in pain,
as we tackle the shameful backlog we inherited?(900041)
The Minister for Secondary Care ()
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about the stress that
people face when waiting, and we have talked about the disaster
of the past 14 years. People with potentially deteriorating
conditions are waiting, and we absolutely need to address this
issue as part of our work to reduce waiting lists.
(Mid Bedfordshire)
(Con)
T6. The Government have announced ambitious house building
targets but, as far as I could tell, the Labour party manifesto
was silent on the GP estate upgrades. Does the Secretary of State
agree that the Conservative policy of rebuilding or refurbishing
250 GP surgeries in England is a sensible policy to
implement?(900045)
I am proud that the Deputy Prime Minister will be delivering the
commitment to build 1.5 million new homes. It is absolutely vital
that the infrastructure needed is delivered alongside those new
homes, and we and other colleagues across Government will be
working very closely with the Deputy Prime Minister to make sure
that the social infrastructure is also provided.
Rutland (East Worthing and Shoreham)
(Lab)
T3. Last week, Worthing hospital came close to having to consider
downgrading its maternity services due to a shortage of
specialist neonatal nurses and midwives. Will the Minister please
update the House on the Government's plans to build an NHS that
is fit for the future, including by addressing staffing
shortages?(900042)
I welcome my hon. Friend to the House. He makes an incredibly
important point about this very stressful time, particularly for
women, in his area. We will listen to women and deliver
evidence-based improvements to make maternity and neonatal
services safer and more equitable for women and their babies, and
we have committed to delivering the long-term workforce plan.
(Harpenden and
Berkhamsted) (LD)
T7. In one month alone at the West Hertfordshire teaching
hospitals trust, we lost 843 days because of the social care
backlog. The burden of that cost is often taken up by families
and individuals, which impacts not only on them, but on the rest
of our NHS healthcare. I welcome the talk about working together
across parties, but would the Secretary of State also consider
introducing greater support for unpaid carers, including paid
carers leave and a statutory guarantee of regular respite
breaks?(900046)
I warmly welcome the hon. Member to her place. She is absolutely
right to raise the plight of unpaid family carers. They are part
of the team, as far as this Government are concerned, so as we
set out our 10-year plan for social care as part of our ambition
to build the national care service, we will make sure that unpaid
family carers are very much at the centre of our thinking, in no
small part thanks to her representations.
(Banbury) (Lab)
T4. The Keep the Horton General campaign in my constituency has
recently catalogued the poor experiences of tens of Banbury-based
mothers who gave birth at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford.
Will the Secretary of State or a member of his team meet me to
discuss these concerning reports of poor maternity
care?(900043)
Of all the issues that keep me awake at night, maternity safety
is top of the list. We have already heard about the staffing
shortages and the actions we will take to address that, but I
also want to reassure people that, as we build our 10-year plan
for the NHS, patient voices, including those of recent and
expectant mothers, will be part of that process.
(North West Hampshire) (Con)
During the election campaign the Prime Minister came to
Basingstoke on a visit and specifically promised to replace
Basingstoke hospital by 2030. Can we rely on that promise?
I would not rely on anything the former Prime Minister
said—[Interruption.] Oh, our Prime Minister? I thought the right
hon. Gentleman was talking about the former Prime Minister. In
that case, I can reassure him that we are absolutely committed to
the new hospitals programme. On the budgets and the timescales,
as I have said, we will come forward with an honest appraisal of
what we have inherited from the last Government and what we will
be able to deliver within reasonable timescales.
(Warwick and Leamington)
(Lab)
T5. I congratulate the Secretary of State on his position.
Yesterday's NHS data showed that we have among the highest
incidences of dementia in the world, with something like 500,000
cases just in England. I appreciate that this is early days, 16
days in, but does the Minister have any idea why that may be, and
what can be done about it?(900044)
The Minister for Care ()
I thank my hon. Friend for that question and welcome him to his
place. This issue is personal for me, and I am sure it is for
many others across this House. A number of potential new
disease-modifying drugs for Alzheimer's are in the pipeline,
including lecanemab and donanemab. We are committed to ensuring
that clinically effective and cost-effective medicines reach
patients in a timely and safe way. The National Institute for
Health and Care Excellence is appraising lecanemab and donanemab
to determine whether they will be made available in the NHS.
(North Dorset) (Con)
Nearly 10 children a month die from brain tumours, and I know
that the public health Minister takes this issue seriously. He
was familiar with the work of the Brain Tumour Charity's
HeadSmart campaign. Will he agree to meet me and my fierce
campaigner constituent Sacha Langton-Gilks, who lost her son to a
brain tumour, to discuss how NHS England could be persuaded to do
more to inform and educate parents to identify the symptoms, so
that collectively we can reduce the number of deaths?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that question. He knows
that I met his constituents when I was a shadow public health
Minister, and I can confirm that I am more than happy to meet him
and his constituents now that I have dropped the “shadow”.
(Chipping Barnet) (Lab)
T8. I am sure the whole House will want to celebrate the fact
that the NHS is safe in Labour hands once again. Specifically in
the Royal Free trust area, which covers the community that I now
have the honour of being the MP for—Chipping Barnet in North
London—there are 100,000 people on the NHS waiting list, so what
steps will the Minister take to reduce the waiting list in places
such as mine so that we can see more people getting the treatment
and support that they need from the NHS?(900047)
I am delighted to welcome my hon. Friend to his place. I am
personally grateful to the Royal Free hospital for saving my life
when I went through kidney cancer. NHS waiting lists stand at 7.6
million, which was still rising as this Government took office.
Our 40,000 extra appointments, scans and procedures and our
doubling of the number of diagnostic scanners will make a real
difference to getting that backlog down to where it should
be.
(Ashfield) (Reform)
During the general election campaign, the Health Secretary
visited King's Mill hospital in Ashfield, and I am sure that
helped me to get re-elected. King's Mill was built on a private
finance initiative deal by the last Labour Government and is
going to cost £3 billion for a £300 million hospital. Will the
Secretary of State please now assure me and the people of
Ashfield that this will never happen again?
Despite my best efforts, the hon. Gentleman is back. I
congratulate him through gritted teeth.
I was very impressed by what I saw at King's Mill hospital, and I
am proud of the last Labour Government's record of delivering the
shortest waiting times and the highest patient satisfaction in
history. As I said during the election campaign, we will build on
that success and learn from some of our shortcomings, too.
(Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
(Lab)
T9. I welcome the honesty and urgency of reviewing the new-build
hospitals programme. Residents in Uxbridge and South Ruislip are
sick and tired after 14 years of broken promises on a new
hospital. Board minutes have revealed that no business case was
agreed under the last Government. No funding was released for a
new hospital, and not a brick has been laid. Does my right hon.
Friend agree that urgent investment is needed at Hillingdon
hospital? Will he come back to the hospital, a year later, to
visit staff and discuss their plans?(900048)
I welcome my hon. Friend to his place. Better late than never, as
they say.
I have been to Hillingdon hospital, which has amazing staff and
appalling buildings. That is why the people of Hillingdon, and
people right across the country, deserve honesty, clarity and
certainty about the new hospitals programme. This Government will
provide it and stick to it.
(Tatton) (Con)
Does the Secretary of State agree that handing over powers to the
World Health Organisation, undermining the UK's ability to make
its own sovereign decisions, would be unacceptable?
The World Health Organisation is an intergovernmental
arrangement. It is of vital importance that, first and foremost,
we agree only to things that are in our national interest, but we
should not lose sight of the fact that there are lots of things
that we need to do together in pursuit of our national interest,
from tackling antimicrobial resistance to preventing future
pandemic threats. That is exactly what we will do.
(Battersea) (Lab)
T10. I congratulate the Secretary of State and welcome him to his
post. Eye healthcare services are in crisis due to the Tories
breaking our NHS. Ophthalmology is the busiest out-patient
service, making up nearly 10% of the entire waiting list. My
national eye health strategy will seek to tackle some of these
issues, so will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how we
can tackle the eye healthcare emergency?(900049)
I would be delighted to do that. As my hon. Friend knows, we
visited Specsavers during the election campaign. There are lots
of high street opticians, and they can make a real difference to
cutting the backlog. The Conservatives should have gone to
Specsavers, and this Government will.
(North East Fife)
(LD)
My constituents have struggled to get pre-diagnosis ADHD and
autism support for their young daughters. We cannot diagnose
children at a very young age, but that does not mean that
families do not need help. Can the Minister confirm what
engagement he will have with support organisations such as the
National Autistic Society to ensure that best practice means that
families are not struggling for support?
I welcome the hon. Lady to her place. She raises a vital issue.
We have a plan for improving mental health services, including
8,500 more mental health workers. Autism is, of course, a vital
part of that, and I will be more than happy to meet her to
discuss further how we might be able to take it forward.
