Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-11-23
Topic: Health
Questions: Hundreds of local people have responded to my High Peak GP surgery survey, and I look forward to presenting Ministers with the results shortly. One of the top concerns is about how we can improve access to primary care. One way would be finally to build a major new health centre for Buxton. The local NHS already owns a suitable town centre location with outline planning permission; all it requires is the capital funding. Derbyshire Community Health Service NHS Trust has submitted a strong bid, which I support, so will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how we can deliver the proposal and improve healthcare for Buxton and the whole High Peak?; Now that the cap on care costs has unravelled, many of my constituents feel misled and betrayed, especially those with modest capital in the value of their home. How can it be that those with the most will contribute the least and that those with the least will contribute the most? Where is the equity, where is the fairness, and where is the justice in any of that?; My constituents benefit from the excellent healthcare provided at Hillingdon Hospital, but it is long overdue a rebuild. Can my right hon. Friend give me an update on when we might expect to see progress on those plans?; New research from the Disabled Children’s Partnership shows that nearly three quarters of disabled children and young people have seen their conditions regress in the pandemic because of a lack of adequate support. Therapies, short breaks and health services have all been massively reduced, and there are huge backlogs. Will the Secretary of State outline how the Government plan to rapidly sort that out?; The capital transformation of acute hospitals in Shrewsbury and Telford has been eight years in the making. Will the Secretary of State confirm what is now needed to start delivering the £312 million of capital committed by the Conservative Government to improve Shropshire’s healthcare facilities? Will he also confirm that it does not make sense to head down the rabbit hole of a new hospital and start this whole process all over again?; As ear syringing is no longer being undertaken in local surgeries, and as self-care does not work for many people, will the Government make sure that microsuction is at least available in every primary care network area? Otherwise, we are leaving people to go deaf.; In the next week or so, the Secretary of State will receive the Goldacre report on maximising the use of data in the national health service for both research and operational reasons. The Department has failed dramatically, a couple of times in the past decade, to maximise the use of this enormously important resource. Will he undertake to read the report, consider carefully the policies in it with a view to implementing them quickly, and publish it before the end of January?; I refer to my interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on stroke and as the husband of a stroke survivor.Mechanical thrombectomy can be a game-changer for sufferers of strokes, greatly reducing the levels of disability they are left with. NHS England committed itself to a full roll-out of mechanical thrombectomy availability by 2022, but we are lagging seriously behind. Where are the plan and the investment to bring the programme back up to date and on track?
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree that we want more and more full-time doctors, which will mean that there is less demand for locums and is, of course, very good for the NHS. I also agree that there should be more focus on the workforce, and I hope that my right hon. Friend welcomes the measure that I took yesterday of merging Health Education England with the NHS, so that we can have a much more joined-up workforce plan.