argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Integrated Review — House of Lords, 2020-11-23
Topic: Defense
Christopher Foster (Bishops, Unknown): My Lords, I welcome this announcement, with its impact on jobs and industry, including in the diocese I serve. I note the welcome emphasis that the Government appear to give to defence and security. Will the Minister therefore recognise that previous defence reviews set out grand, strategic ambitions but were not backed by the necessary resources? Will she specifically confirm the Government’s commitment to providing those resources to match the ambitions of the review, and will she further recognise that as we wait for spending commitments on development aid and public sector pay, how much the Government propose in additional investment is an accurate barometer of what they consider to be most important?
Serious Crime Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-03-02
Topic: Health
Molly Christine Meacher (Crossbench, Unknown): I just want to check whether the noble Baroness agrees that reporting to the police could actually deter families from taking these children to the health services. In saying that reporting needs to happen, I am very worried if this goes to the police.
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2020-09-03
Topic: Health
Vivienne Faull (Bishops, Unknown): My Lords, North Bristol NHS Trust has recently reported on an audit of 110 patients discharged after being severely ill with Covid-19. Of these, 75% were still experiencing serious symptoms three months later. This is just part of the mounting evidence of the long-term effects of Covid-19 even on those with mild infection in the acute phase. What steps are the Government taking to raise public awareness of so-called long Covid and to invest in the care of those who are now chronically ill?
FCDO Staffing — House of Lords, 2021-12-16
Topic: Health
Natalie Bennett (Green Party, Left): My Lords, my question follows neatly from the response that the Minister just gave, because I note that a freedom of information request, sent by Devex, revealed that 212 former DfID employees have left the department. The response given to Devex at the time was that this was a normal level of turnover, but that is heading towards 10% of centrally employed staff who were formerly with DfID. DfID was very well known for its expertise in global public health, sexual and reproductive rights, and water and sanitation issues. That seems a large loss of people. Will the new, merged department be able to attract the same kind of people with the same levels of expertise, given that it does not have the same focus?
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — House of Lords, 2021-10-25
Topic: Health
Claire Fox (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I am very minded to support this series of amendments. As the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, and the noble Lord, Lord Patel, explained, doctor-patient confidentiality is far more than a common-law obligation. It is an ethical duty in a relationship of trust. Will the Minister consider whether the public understand what this aspect of the Bill compromises of that confidentiality Our doctors know a lot about us: the most intimate physical details, sometimes our psychological weaknesses, sometimes our darkest fears about life and death matters. While it has been a long time since we offered uncritical deference to our doctors, as patients and at our most vulnerable we are not equal partners and we need to trust that relationship, despite the power imbalance. So it is understandable that the General Medical Council and the British Medical Association are rightly worried that the Bill will smash the principle of confidentiality to bits The issue of confidentiality and trust will appear later in Committee in some other amendments that I shall speak to later, but my main question here is: why is this part of the Bill necessary? I genuinely do not understand. People involved in medical practice understand that, while confidentiality is an important legal and ethical duty, it is not an absolute. As the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, explained, it may be that some doctors get the balance wrong, but doctors are already expected to share confidential information if it is in the public interest, and that includes serious crime. However, this is presently understood as the exception, not the rule. At the moment, doctors need to consider the specific circumstances of what to share to satisfy the intended purpose and when to share it, and they have to weigh up the benefits and harms of disclosure Doctors are asked and trusted to exercise their professional judgment and to strike a balance between individual and community rights. I, for one, want to continue to trust medical personnel to make such judgments in good faith. Is the Minister saying that the Government do not trust them on this? It feels like an attack on professional discretion that will undermine doctors in the eyes of the public. At the moment, with the medical profession being under so much pressure and scrutiny—anger over no face-to-face GP appointments, tragic backlogs in hospital treatments—there is already tension between the public and the medical profession. If it comes out that when you go to the doctor, the sacred bond of confidentiality could in fact be expected to be broken, that will be very damaging for no good purpose.
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2020-10-20
Topic: Health
Sarah Mullally (Bishops, Unknown): My Lords, from my background as a former Chief Nursing Officer, I am aware of the difficult decisions that Her Majesty’s Government are required to make, as well as of the importance at this specific time of good public health action. However, I have heard the concerns expressed by my colleagues in the north-east and the north-west of England, including some of my right reverend friends in your Lordships’ House: Covid-19 is disproportionately affecting the vulnerable and, unfortunately, so are the restrictions. There are significant concerns about their compliance with regulations that they do not feel are fair. The Government have frequently made assertions about public health behaviour and science without publishing the evidence or properly engaging with people in the communities affected. The interventions may well be right but the implementation seems to be failing. The Government must genuinely engage with, listen to and learn from people affected at a local level. Without such local buy-in, public health actions will not happen There is also some concern that the restrictions are impacting on those least able to manage the health and economic impact. There are concerns that movement into tier 3 will continue to exacerbate matters such as child poverty, deprivation, economic and health inequalities and poor mental health. If the perception is allowed to grow that certain sections of the economy or society can be allowed to bear the substantive weight of fresh regulations without levels of financial support, the consensus will not hold. Will the Minister reassure your Lordships’ House that, as areas move to tier 3, local voices will be listened to and everything will be done to ensure that the risk to the most vulnerable is minimised As I have already said in your Lordships’ House, the local public health nurse can inform top-down rules with local experience. What is being done to ensure that when the ring-fencing of funding that was passed to local government for public health comes to an end at the end of this financial year, it does not lead to further disinvestment in public health? Lastly, faith communities, like public health nurses, are part of local populations and areas, and should be used more as experts to help leverage insights that they gain on the ground to support the public health action and interventions needed. I again encourage the Government not to neglect the whole-system approach to public health, as we work together on the challenge of Covid-19.
Trident Renewal — House of Commons, 2015-01-20
Topic: Defense
Robert Alexander Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): When I studied the strategy of deterrence, it was predicated on the fact that a country deters by being ready to strike back, and that deterrence therefore works. We cannot deter by saying, "Well, in a couple of weeks’ time, we might actually fire something at you," or whatever. The whole point of deterrence is that we do not want anything to happen, and it works because everyone is frightened to do anything.
HIV and AIDS — House of Lords, 2021-12-01
Topic: Health
Questions: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the progress that has been made in the UK and globally in reducing HIV and AIDS, since World AIDS Day in 2020.
Natalie Bennett (Green Party, Left): My Lords, following on from the noble Baroness’s question, the UK Government played a leading role in establishing the Medicines Patent Pool, which is a means of simplifying and accelerating the generic production of HIV medicines by sharing patents. Does the Minister agree that a global pooling mechanism for Covid-19 would support countries’ ability to access the vaccine and the drugs required to control Covid-19 infections? Will the Government give their full support to the Covid-19 Technology Access Pool and encourage UK pharmaceutical companies to license through it?
Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings) (England) Regulations 2021 — House of Lords, 2021-12-01
Topic: Health
Natalie Bennett (Green Party, Left): My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, importantly said that the pandemic is not over. I think sometimes, listening to your Lordships’ House, that some people have not accepted that. Your Lordships’ House, based on its loudest voices, also appeared to have decided to act as though it has not in the procedural decision we made earlier On the mask-wearing regulations, I go back to Monday’s repeated Statement on Covid. At the time, on Twitter the hashtag "COVIDisAirborne" was trending. As far as I could trace through the mysteries of Twitter, one of its origins was Dr Kimberly Prather, chair of atmospheric chemistry at the National Academy of Sciences in the US. I would like an assurance from the Minister that the Government understand that fact, as expressed by that hashtag. A number of contributors to these debates have indicated this, particularly the noble Baroness, Lady Blower, and others addressing ventilation in schools, and both Front-Bench speakers Why does the mask mandate not cover cinemas and theatres? In his response on Monday’s Statement, the Minister said that it does not apply in hospitality venues, restaurants and pubs because people eat and drink there, so they are taking their masks on and off. That surely does not apply to cinemas and theatres. I still do not believe we have heard from the Minister the reason why it does not apply to those two places, with their obvious general lack of ventilation and the fact that people sit together for hours. Maybe they are spaced out; I have heard Members of your Lordships’ House make the point that, "It’s all right, I am sitting away from people". Covid is airborne. It circulates in the air. I would love the Minister to clearly acknowledge that fact, because I do not think the Government are acting as if they do Also on these regulations, why do we not have a "work from home if possible" ruling in the current state of considerable uncertainty? Many have been doing it over many months; they are set up for it; it is perfectly possible; it reduces the risk and danger at a point when we really do not know how great it might be Finally, there have been many points in this debate I might have liked to respond to, but I will pick up just one. I ask the Minister to acknowledge how much we now rely on medical and social science experts, many of whom have worked for many hours and months above and beyond the call of duty. Will he join me in regretting that Members of your Lordships’ House should choose to attack individual experts who choose to contribute to public life and exercise their right to engage in political debate, and acknowledge that that is not an appropriate way to treat people contributing to public life?
Spending Review and Autumn Statement — House of Commons, 2015-11-25
Topic: Health
Richard James Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party, Right): Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is always a pleasure to speak in the House. I thank the Chancellor for the good things that he is doing for Northern Ireland, which have been confirmed today. Other Members have spoken about them Next Tuesday will be World AIDS Day. The latest figures for the United Kingdom show a rise in HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. In the news today, the talk was that many clinics where diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections takes place would have their funding reduced. Can the Chancellor confirm that the extra moneys set aside for health will ensure that those clinics remain open so that STIs can be diagnosed at an early stage?
Covid-19 Update — House of Lords, 2021-06-08
Topic: Health
Manzila Pola Uddin (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement and, in doing so, pay my respects to all carers, particularly those unpaid carers, without whom many more may have perished. I have two points. First, how are the Government encouraging GPs and hospitals to monitor and collect information on patients who may be concerned about or reporting long Covid symptoms without knowing it, and those who may be complaining of or experiencing post-vaccination effects? Secondly, now that the JCVI recommendation is being considered for vaccination of 12 to 15 year-olds, the Minister will be fully aware of the major concern aired by parents—who are all over the radio, with their views and questions—feeling confused about informed choices. Can the Minister assure all parents that, if vaccination is approved, they will be given the fullest information available on the potential side-effects, and that no parent who may choose to opt out of the vaccination for this age group will be pressured or demonised?
Olympics 2012: Regeneration Legacy — House of Lords, 2015-11-05
Topic: Culture
Michael Berkeley (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, the noble Lord mentioned provision of the arts, for example, for deprived people in the East End. Perhaps I may invite him to recognise and applaud what I think is a very important development. Mudchute is an inner-city farm where children who have never seen farm animals can experience what it is like to be close up to these creatures. It is the result of the amazingly civilised vision of Michael Barraclough and is now run by local people. I invite the noble Lord to endorse the work of Mudchute.
Barts Health NHS Trust — House of Lords, 2015-03-19
Topic: Health
Frederick Richard Penn Curzon (Conservative, Centre-right): The decision to create Barts Health was taken following a report that analysed the options open to the department at that time. As the noble Lord knows, there was, effectively, a merger of several trusts to create Barts Health. The advice received by the Secretary of State at the time was that none of the three trusts subject to the merger with Barts was sustainable as a stand-alone organisation. The appraisal of the options identified the three-way merger as the most beneficial and strategic solution for the system as a whole, taking into account a wide range of clinical, financial and government issues.
Barts Health NHS Trust — House of Lords, 2015-03-19
Topic: Health
Dale Norman Campbell-Savours (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I declare an interest as a financial sponsor of research into cancer at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in central London. Can we be given an assurance that the work done at St Bartholomew’s is in no way under criticism in the Statement made by the Minister?
NHS Update — House of Lords, 2021-07-22
Topic: Health
Manzila Pola Uddin (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I express my gratitude to each and every one in the House for their care and attention these past difficult months. To echo the noble Lord, Lord Balfe, I, too, have been messaged on hundreds of occasions over the last few months on the issue of DNR, on which I will ask a question. In the light of the reports of 39,000 deaths in care homes and the fact that 59% of all those who perished had a disability or autism, when will the Government commence the national inquiry so that those who lost their loved ones can be reassured that no deaths occurred unnecessarily due to government policy decisions and lack of proper and adequate safeguards for all residents in care homes and their well-being and that DNR was not applied disproportionately to people with disability and autism without sufficient oversight, given the incredible pressures on the NHS during these months?
Education and Adoption Bill — House of Lords, 2015-12-01
Topic: Health
Francis Hare (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 3 first, which I think is an excellent amendment. I wish to be very brief at this stage because I found the Minister to be most helpful in addressing my concerns in Committee and since then. Before I speak further about that, I thank noble Lords who have spoken on all sides of the House in support of amendments that I have tabled previously in this area to better address the mental health needs of looked-after children. I am most grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Storey, the noble Baroness, Lady Benjamin, and the noble Lords, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath and Lord Watson, for their support over those concerns Since Committee, I have received a letter from the Minister on the mental health needs of young people. I have heard that the office of Edward Timpson MP, the Minister for Children, will be contacting me about a meeting, which will be very helpful in this regard. I also heard him speak yesterday at the Nuffield Foundation at the launch of a report into the educational achievement of looked-after children. I was very much struck by his recognition that the mental health needs of looked-after children had not been properly addressed in the past and heard, in what he said, his real commitment to addressing these issues for them. We have yet to learn the specifics of what he intends to do, but I feel that the direction of travel is just right, and I look forward to meeting him to discuss the specifics of what needs to be done I will not speak to my amendments, and nor do I expect the Minister to respond to them. Being as brief as possible may be the most helpful thing I can do at this point, unless the Minister would like me to speak briefly to my amendments—if that would be helpful to him—in which case I would be glad to do so. But my feeling was that the Government have been very helpful and I do not wish to push things any further or take any more of your Lordships’ time at this moment. I look forward to the Minister’s response.
Afghanistan: FCDO Update — House of Commons, 2021-09-06
Topic: Defense
David Jonathan Edwards (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): What engagement will be undertaken with regional multi-state security collaborations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, whose members all have an interest in checking international terror groups based in Afghanistan?
National Health Service (Licensing and Pricing) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 — House of Lords, 2015-12-01
Topic: Health
Ajay Kakkar (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I declare my interest as chairman of University College London Partners, an academic health science centre which has a number of important providers. The Minister made a very important point about the five-year forward view and the need to encourage new models of care working that ensure collaboration beyond institutional boundaries —and, indeed, to go further and look at new models of funding, including those of accountable care organisations. With a view to a potential journey towards more effective commissioning, and therefore more intuitive constructing of a tariff to support general acute services and more specialised services, will the proposals that the Minister brings to the House today aid that journey? Will looking at these regulations in the way proposed help institutions to work more effectively together, recognising the opportunity to look at tariffs that focus on pathways of care rather than individual segments of care, so ensuring the Government’s objective to ensure that valuable resources committed to the provision of healthcare are used most efficiently? There is a recognition that there will have to be greater attention to these matters as we go forward, and every opportunity should be used to ensure that that objective is achieved. One of the most important is the approach to setting the tariff and, therefore, these regulations.
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2021-07-21
Topic: Health
Claire Fox (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): Following on from the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, I want to ask specifically about the surprise in the Statement: the need for vaccination passports in nightclubs and other venues with large crowds gathering. It was a surprise because last year the Prime Minister called vaccine passports unnecessary and intrusive. More recently, the Vaccines Minister called them "discriminatory" and Matt Hancock, when in office, declared that they were a step too far and said that "we’re not a papers-carrying country" It seems as though we are, because this is about making young people’s engagement in public life contingent on papers. Would the Minister comment on whether this rowing back on previous statements will fuel cynicism among the young and the conspiratorial thinking that, "You said you wouldn’t do it and now you’ve done it"? Some Conservatives told me that I am not to worry, that it will not happen and that it is just a plan to threaten the young into compliance. Can the Minister clarify that If nightclubs, football grounds, pubs and so on require vaccine passports, does that mean that bar staff, cleaners, bouncers, groundsmen et cetera will need proof of vaccination to keep their jobs? I am worried about another group of workers having vaccines mandated, this time in the hospitality industry Finally, does "other venues where large crowds gather" include political conferences? I am asking for a friend or two.