argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2019-01-15
Topic: Health
Questions: Before Christmas we had the brilliant news that £40 million of capital funding has been allocated for a new state-of-the-art A&E facility at Scarborough Hospital, which will transform emergency care for my constituents. Can the Minister update me on similar ambitious plans for Whitby Hospital?; Perhaps the worst private finance initiative contract in the country was awarded in 2001 to Shaw Healthcare for the rehabilitation of elderly people coming out of hospital. Northamptonshire County Council has been paying Shaw for a service in which more than 50% of beds have been lying empty. What steps can the Department take to manage the problems that have arisen from this and other PFI contracts?; The closure of ward 6 at Bishop Auckland Hospital will mean the loss of 24 beds, which is why 14,000 people have signed a petition to keep it. Will the Minister now step in to ensure that we keep ward 6?; As we heard earlier, obesity is a major health problem in Britain. Nationally, 1,100 people per 100,000 are admitted to hospital because of obesity-related problems. This is a particular problem in Sittingbourne and Sheppey, where 1,700 people per 100,000 are affected. That is the highest rate in the whole of Kent and Medway. Does the Minister recognise the huge strain that such a statistic puts on the budget of the Swale clinical commissioning group, and, if so, what steps will he take to provide the funds needed to solve the problem?; A senior Bedford GP was told by the East of England Ambulance Service that a patient who required urgent admission would have to wait 10 hours for an ambulance. I am deeply concerned about this response time. Will the Minister urgently investigate why patients are being deliberately downgraded when an ambulance is called from a GP surgery?; I have recently been contacted by constituents who have faced long waits in A&E at Wigan Infirmary. Figures show that one in four patients have waited longer than four hours. Can the Minister explain how removing waiting time targets will improve the situation?; As I have seen recently in my own constituency, access to mental health services is sometimes deplorable. Notwithstanding what the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the hon. Member for Thurrock (Jackie Doyle-Price), said earlier about all the plans, how long will people have to wait before those services actually get better?
Julia Louise Lopez (Conservative, Centre-right): NHS Property realised £43 million when it sold St George’s Hospital in my constituency, yet a £17 million bid for a new health centre there has not been successful. Will my right hon. Friend commit himself to looking at that again in order to convince communities that they benefit when local NHS assets are sold?
Universal Credit: Low-income Families — House of Commons, 2019-05-08
Topic: Health
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): What a surprising contribution from the hon. Lady—I would have thought that if she believed that, her colleagues in the Scottish Parliament would be advocating it. Instead, we learned recently that Richard Leonard’s keynote policy for Scottish Labour is an NHS pet service.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-05-08
Topic: Health
Questions: School funding is a huge issue on doorsteps in Lewes, because for decades schools in Lewes have had significantly less funding than neighbouring authorities such as Brighton and Hove. Last year, schools in Sussex got a 6% increase in funding, and this year schools such as Priory School in Lewes should be getting a 7.6% increase in their per-pupil funding, but the council is keeping back £64,000 of it. Will the Prime Minister do all she can to ensure that schools get the funding they have been awarded?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): First, may I say to the right hon. Gentleman that when we look at the Liverpool win over Barcelona last night, we see that it shows that when everybody says, "It’s all over and your European opposition have got you beat. The clock’s ticking down, it’s time to concede defeat", actually we can still secure success if everyone comes together The right hon. Gentleman asks about staffing in the NHS. For too long Governments have failed to produce the proper workforce planning to give our staff in the NHS the care they deserve. It is this Government, with their long-term plan, who are ensuring that we give that care to staff. NHS staff work hard, caring for patients, and this Government will care for NHS staff. It is only because we are able to give the NHS its biggest cash boost in its history and to give it that long-term plan that we will deliver for NHS staff.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-05-08
Topic: Health
Questions: School funding is a huge issue on doorsteps in Lewes, because for decades schools in Lewes have had significantly less funding than neighbouring authorities such as Brighton and Hove. Last year, schools in Sussex got a 6% increase in funding, and this year schools such as Priory School in Lewes should be getting a 7.6% increase in their per-pupil funding, but the council is keeping back £64,000 of it. Will the Prime Minister do all she can to ensure that schools get the funding they have been awarded?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): What have seen this year? We have seen the numbers of doctors and nurses in the NHS at their highest level in its 70-year history. As I say, our NHS staff work hard 24/7 and their dedication is second to none. I am proud of our NHS. He talks down our NHS. Let us just remember this: at the last general election, the Labour party promised to give the NHS less money than the Conservative Government are giving it. The Labour party in government would crash the economy, which would mean less money available for the NHS. And who is the only party in government that has cut funding to the NHS? It is the Labour party.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-05-08
Topic: Health
Questions: School funding is a huge issue on doorsteps in Lewes, because for decades schools in Lewes have had significantly less funding than neighbouring authorities such as Brighton and Hove. Last year, schools in Sussex got a 6% increase in funding, and this year schools such as Priory School in Lewes should be getting a 7.6% increase in their per-pupil funding, but the council is keeping back £64,000 of it. Will the Prime Minister do all she can to ensure that schools get the funding they have been awarded?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): We recognise the importance of the early diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer, of other cancers and of other conditions as well, which is why a key part of the 10-year plan—the long-term plan for the NHS that is being put forward under this Government—is about early diagnosis. We recognise the importance of that. The right hon. Gentleman might like to reflect on the fact that there is a part of the United Kingdom in which the urgent cancer treatment target has not been met since June 2008. Where is that? In Wales, under Labour.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-05-08
Topic: Health
Questions: School funding is a huge issue on doorsteps in Lewes, because for decades schools in Lewes have had significantly less funding than neighbouring authorities such as Brighton and Hove. Last year, schools in Sussex got a 6% increase in funding, and this year schools such as Priory School in Lewes should be getting a 7.6% increase in their per-pupil funding, but the council is keeping back £64,000 of it. Will the Prime Minister do all she can to ensure that schools get the funding they have been awarded?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): We recognise that GPs are a vital part of the NHS, and there are actually more GPs in the NHS today than there were in 2015. We have made it easier for people to access their GPs by ensuring that GP surgeries are open for more days of the week. We are incentivising GP trainees to work in hard-to-recruit areas and making it easier and quicker for qualified doctors to return to the NHS. Under our NHS long-term plan, we will see—for the first time in its 70-year history—the proportion of funding for primary medical and community care increasing as a percentage of the NHS budget. That is because it is this Government who recognise the importance of primary care in our national health service, and it is this Government whose careful management of the economy means there is money available to put into our national health service.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-05-08
Topic: Health
Questions: School funding is a huge issue on doorsteps in Lewes, because for decades schools in Lewes have had significantly less funding than neighbouring authorities such as Brighton and Hove. Last year, schools in Sussex got a 6% increase in funding, and this year schools such as Priory School in Lewes should be getting a 7.6% increase in their per-pupil funding, but the council is keeping back £64,000 of it. Will the Prime Minister do all she can to ensure that schools get the funding they have been awarded?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): We recognise the importance of these targets in the NHS. That is why one of the elements of the 10-year long-term plan in the NHS—funded by the biggest cash boost in the NHS’s history, which was given by this Conservative Government because of their good management of the economy—is to ensure that we are improving those targets. Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman would like to stand up and apologise for the fact that the A&E waiting-time target has not been met not for four years, but for over a decade under a Labour Government in Wales.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-05-08
Topic: Health
Questions: School funding is a huge issue on doorsteps in Lewes, because for decades schools in Lewes have had significantly less funding than neighbouring authorities such as Brighton and Hove. Last year, schools in Sussex got a 6% increase in funding, and this year schools such as Priory School in Lewes should be getting a 7.6% increase in their per-pupil funding, but the council is keeping back £64,000 of it. Will the Prime Minister do all she can to ensure that schools get the funding they have been awarded?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): There are more people alive today because our cancer treatment has improved than would have been the case in 2010. At the previous election, someone said that an extra £7 billion for the NHS would "give our NHS the resources it needs to deliver the best possible care for patients." I wonder who that was. It was none other than the Leader of the Opposition. Are this Government giving the NHS £7 billion? No! Are they giving it twice that—£14 billion? No! They are giving the NHS £20 billion. I am proud of this Government’s record and the Conservative party’s record on the NHS. It is the Conservative party that is giving the NHS its biggest cash boost in its history. It is the Conservative party that is giving it a sustainable 10-year long-term plan to ensure that it is there for people in the future. Under the Conservative party, we have seen more nurses and more doctors in our national health service dedicated to caring for patients. That is only possible because it is the Conservative Government who manage our economy and manage our public finances. A Labour party in government would crash our economy, meaning less money for the NHS, less money for its staff and less care for its patients.
Iran Nuclear Deal — House of Commons, 2019-05-08
Topic: Defense
Mark Christopher Field (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend and I have had many happy times in our five years together on the Intelligence and Security Committee, and have discussed a range of these matters. As he will know, intelligence issues should not be discussed on the Floor of the House, but he has made his view clear, and I will ensure that the Foreign Secretary is made well aware of it.
Iran Nuclear Deal — House of Commons, 2019-05-08
Topic: Defense
Mark Christopher Field (Conservative, Centre-right): My list was obviously not entirely comprehensive. My hon. Friend makes an important point, and I look forward to meeting him again in Westminster Hall this afternoon when we shall talk about West Papua in Indonesia. NATO is important, and what is happening in Iran and the potential for escalation on the nuclear side obviously have strong defence implications, so yes, NATO will very much be added to the list of organisations with which we will seek to engage on this globally important matter.
TV Licences for Over-75s — House of Commons, 2019-05-08
Topic: Health
James Roger Cartlidge (Conservative, Centre-right): We do not have time today to go into this issue in the detail that one would want, but let me say that the NHS is profoundly about risk-sharing. Even a multimillionaire would not be able to afford the huge cost they could face if they had to pay for NHS care for a whole manner of conditions. The TV licence is a set fee of £157, and the hon. Gentleman is arguing that someone who owns vast acres and many mansions should get that for free.
Devolved Government: Restoration — House of Commons, 2019-07-03
Topic: Defense
Questions: I obviously hope that the devolved Administration is restored as soon as possible but, in the absence of devolution, can the Secretary of State examine how this House can scrutinise the decisions of officials in the Northern Ireland Departments—for example, by tabling parliamentary questions on the key issues that affect people in Northern Ireland?
Karen Anne Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Gentleman refers to a number of issues, and he is right to do so. He refers to dealing with the legacy of the past. He will know that we have consulted on the institutions agreed at Stormont House and will publish a response to the consultation in due course. He also mentioned pensions for severely injured victims, which have been promised to them for far too long. I am determined to make progress on that matter.
Being Part of the UK: Benefits — House of Commons, 2019-07-03
Topic: Defense
Karen Anne Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): That sounds like a very good idea. I very much enjoyed my visit to Lisburn for Armed Forces Day. As the hon. Gentleman will know, because we had a discussion on the day, I then went with my family to visit the Somme Museum, and of course I was in Belfast on Monday for the commemoration of the Somme, as were many of his hon. and right hon. Friends. The contribution that the armed forces have made is very significant, and does need to be marked in Northern Ireland.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-07-03
Topic: Defense
Questions: The district, borough and county councils of Northamptonshire have been working hard in preparing for the creation of unitary authorities; but they and, most crucially, the people of the county need and deserve certainty that the appropriate unitary orders will be laid before Parliament. May I ask the Prime Minister to pledge that they will be brought forward imminently?; Iran continues to use all methods, including an increasingly sophisticated cyber-capability, to destabilise the middle east and pursue its ambition to become a regional superpower in the middle east. Does the Prime Minister agree that a cyber-armed Iran is as dangerous as a nuclear-armed Iran and that we need to do all we can and that is necessary with our allies to combat the increasing threat from Iran in cyber-space?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right to raise concerns about Iran’s destabilising behaviour in the region. Our objective continues to be to work with our international partners to find diplomatic solutions and to de-escalate tensions My hon. Friend is also right to raise cyber-capability. We have a dedicated capability to act in cyber-space through our national offensive cyber programme, and last year we offered our offensive cyber-capabilities in support of NATO operations My hon. Friend talks about working with others: we were the first nation to do that, and we will continue to ensure that we have effective offensive cyber-capabilities that can be deployed at a time and place of our choosing across the full range of international threats.
G20 and Leadership of EU Institutions — House of Commons, 2019-07-03
Topic: Health
Jeremy John Elton Lefroy (Conservative, Centre-right): As chair of the all-party group on malaria and neglected tropical diseases, I thank the Prime Minister for the announcement on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; I also thank her on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs (Nick Herbert) and the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty), who chair the other groups involved. Was there discussion of the real problem of the lack of jobs across the world—not just in the European Union but in its near neighbourhood, in Africa? That is so important. So much time was spent discussing the top jobs; we need to spend an awful lot more time discussing jobs for the hundreds of millions of people who need them.
Counter-Daesh Update — House of Commons, 2019-07-03
Topic: Defense
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): These are two important challenges from the distinguished Chairman of the Defence Committee. I shall take the second one, then move on to the first. It is of course true that the vast majority of Syria is now in the hands of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Looking back in time, we can see that the optimism of the United States and the United Kingdom that Bashar al-Assad would inevitably be defeated, and the red lines that were created by President Obama and others, have not been vindicated in any way at all. In fact, with Russian backing, the Syrian regime has not only retaken the land right the way up to the Euphrates—the edge of the area we are talking about with the SDF—but has pushed south to the Jordanian border and is now pushing up to Idlib, having taken Aleppo and the rural areas around Damascus. The Chairman of the Defence Committee is absolutely correct in his assessment of that. That does not answer the bigger question, which is what Governments such as those of the United Kingdom or the United States will choose to do with the Syrian regime in the future. This returns us to the kinds of challenges that we faced in dealing with, for example, the Shi’a community in southern Iraq under the brutality of Saddam Hussein. How on earth do we balance our humanitarian obligations towards people in horrifying conditions with our sense that we do not wish to operate in the territory of a man who, whatever the sequence of his military successes, remains an unbelievably brutal murderer who is clearly associated with the execution of unarmed prisoners and countless persons through the deployment of chemical weapons. That will remain the key issue for the House to consider over the next months and, indeed, years On the first issue, the Chairman of the Defence Committee is also absolutely right. One of the most bizarre, peculiar and ultimately self-defeating parts of Daesh’s campaign was its decision to try to hold territory and, in particular, to try to take on conventional forces. The entire idea of an insurgency or a terrorist organisation is supposed to be that it should drift around like mist or, to take Chairman Mao’s analogy, that it should work and feed off the consent of the local population. Daesh did neither of those things. It attempted to hold territory and, in Kobane, to take on 600 US airstrikes. It attempted to alienate the entire population that it was trying to depend on, through its brutal videos and its incredibly horrifying Islamic social codes. What is extraordinary is not that Daesh was ultimately defeated but that it remained so successful for so long and was able to hold this territory for such an extended period of time.
Counter-Daesh Update — House of Commons, 2019-07-03
Topic: Defense
Michael Jon Wood (Conservative, Centre-right): Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I quite understand that it must be my svelte figure that hides me from view Following large territorial losses in 2017 and 2018, Daesh declared a global battle of attrition in May this year. What steps is the international coalition taking to ensure that foreign terrorist fighters do not simply move their fighting elsewhere, beyond Syria and Iraq?
Dangerous Drugs — House of Commons, 2019-07-03
Topic: Health
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): We are determined to look at all aspects of drug demand and supply, and the terms of reference of the review are public. I want to add, because this is relevant to the context of the narrow debate that I thought we were going to have, that in the interests of updating evidence—this relates particularly to the right hon. Gentleman’s point on updating evidence on harm—I have asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to review the current classification of synthetic cannabinoids in this context. That review is due to report by the summer of 2020, and I hope that he will welcome that I want to talk briefly about the issue of medicinal cannabis, which a number of Members took advantage of your generosity to address, Mr Deputy Speaker. As the Minister who led the work, under the direction of the Home Secretary, to change the law, I am pleased that we took that step at the pace that we did. It was clear to me that it was absolutely necessary, when we were confronted by the evidence from families who were suffering what I believed to be unnecessary hardship and pain as a result of regulation and law. As has been pointed out, the law liberalised the situation but effectively required prescriptions to be issued by specialist clinicians. As was disclosed in evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee, which reported today, there is clearly an issue around the levels of clinical confidence at the moment, and my colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care are absolutely determined to work closely with partners to try to build that clinical confidence, which is clearly a priority, so that more families do not have to suffer the pain and frustration that are clearly out there.
Dangerous Drugs — House of Commons, 2019-07-03
Topic: Health
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): The legal route that we have opened up is that if the situation complies with the various conditions in the framework set by the regulations, a prescription for such drugs is allowed, as long as that is what is recommended and approved by the specialist clinician looking at the case. Given where we are with the evidence base, and although our decisions were informed by expert advice, the right hon. Gentleman will understand that we had to put strict conditions in place in relation to the change being clinically led. This is not about decisions by politicians and not necessarily about decisions by GPs; it is about decisions by specialists in the area. I am sure that he will understand the reasons for our caution in that respect. As I said, the issue is now about how to build the research and evidence base to increase clinical confidence inside the NHS. That must be the priority at this time I have enjoyed this debate, which has ranged further than I expected, and I welcome the support for this SI and the proposed changes following recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That the draft Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2019, which was laid before this House on 4 June, be approved.
Whistleblowing — House of Commons, 2019-07-03
Topic: Health
Caroline Elizabeth Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way, as he is being most generous with his time. He said that the doctor was feeling under pressure from the overwhelming firepower and the potential to incur the NHS’s substantial costs. What support did his union, perhaps the British Medical Association or defence unions such as the Medical Defence Union or Medical Protection Society, offer him on legal costs?