argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Cancer: Early Diagnosis — House of Commons, 2018-10-23
Topic: Health
Questions: At the start of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, my local hospital, Stepping Hill, had to shut its doors to breast care patients in my constituency, because its two-week urgent waiting times had risen to five weeks owing to chronic staff shortages and underfunding. What will the Secretary of State do to improve outcomes for constituents like mine who cannot access those services?
Timothy James Farron (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The Secretary of State is right to say that early diagnosis provides more opportunity to cure and treat cancers. Some 60% of those treated for cancer will receive radiotherapy, and nearly every radiotherapy centre in the country has linear accelerators that are enabled to provide the advanced SABR, or stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy, technology, but Government—NHS England—contracts mean that out of the 52 centres in England no more than 20 are contracted to actually use this technology. That means that either patients are not receiving the highest quality life-saving standard of treatment that they could be or that trusts are providing it anyway but are not being paid and valuable data on mistreatment are being completely lost. Will the right hon. Gentleman order NHS England to stop this recklessness, and frankly lethal, nonsense and agree to every—
Childhood Obesity Strategy: Chapter 2 — House of Commons, 2018-06-25
Topic: Health
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): We have heard that obesity is caused not only by the wrong food but by a lack of exercise. Far too few children walk or cycle to school. Will the Minister engage with all our schools to make sure we have proper, realistic travel plans in place so that many more children walk or cycle to school?
Science and Technology Committee — House of Commons, 2018-09-06
Topic: Health
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I thank the hon. Gentleman for that really helpful contribution. First, on the case for encouraging smokers to shift to e-cigarettes—that is clearly a big concern of his—let me quote Dr Jamie Brown of University College London: "Any perceived risk associated with offering reassurance before we have the long-term data…must be balanced against the risk associated with the opportunity cost of failing to inform the millions of people who are currently smoking uniquely dangerous products that e-cigarettes are safer when they believe", wrongly, that "they are not." That is a really important public health message to get across. With regard to public spaces, we wanted to clearly distinguish between the public health justification for policies and the nuisance issue. The evidence clearly says that secondary vaping—someone taking vapour into their lungs because of the close proximity of people who are vaping—carries nothing like the same risk as secondary smoking, which carries a very serious risk and led to the legislation passed in this House to ban smoking in public areas However, there is a good justification, which I totally accept, for not allowing vaping because of the nuisance—because people find it invasive. I personally dislike the sweet strawberry flavours and so on that we are often confronted by at close quarters. What is frustrating is that some of the graphics used in relation to the report, including by the BBC, showed people vaping on public transport, but we were not making a recommendation on that; we were just saying, "Let’s have a public discussion informed by the evidence and then reach our conclusions." We should not just automatically treat vaping in the same way as what the academic I mentioned described as the "uniquely dangerous" activity of smoking tobacco.
Police Funding Settlement — House of Commons, 2018-12-13
Topic: Health
Edward Jonathon Davey (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Where in this statement is there money for a public health model to cut youth violence? Where in this statement is there money for a police partnership with the NHS, so that they can work together to support each other and reduce the police work related to people with mental health problems?
Reducing Reoffending Rates — House of Commons, 2018-11-13
Topic: Health
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): May I commend to the Minister the report of the all-party parliamentary group on mental health, ably led by its chair, the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Helen Whately)? It focuses on the issue of mental health and the support required for people who have left prison. Will the Minister say more about the work he does with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that that support is available?
Leaving the EU: Economic Analysis — House of Commons, 2018-11-28
Topic: Health
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): If the Prime Minister will not rule out no deal for sound economic reasons, will the Minister do so for vital health reasons? Is he aware that, according to specialist cancer charities, patients are already scaling back on their doses and stockpiling medicines because of fears over the prospect of no deal? Why will the Government not deal with their concerns and rule out the prospect of no deal now so that those patients can have the reassurance they need?
Royal Naval Deployment: Mediterranean — House of Commons, 2016-03-07
Topic: Defense
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): (Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to make a statement on the announcement that the Royal Navy will join NATO forces in the interception and return of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean.
Junior Doctors’ Contract Negotiations — House of Commons, 2016-02-08
Topic: Health
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Does the Minister ever wonder whether he has chosen the wrong target? He bases his entire argument on safety—and rightly so—yet chairs and chief executives of hospitals constantly tell me that they have no difficulty staffing their hospitals with junior doctors over weekends. At the same time, however, our GP out-of-hours services are under incredible strain and cover is threadbare in many parts of the country. That, surely, is where the real safety concerns lie.
Iraq Inquiry Report — House of Commons, 2016-04-14
Topic: Defense
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I thank the hon. Gentleman for that sound intervention, and perhaps in future inquiries what he has suggested, which is an ability to respond to the facts, will be what is required, rather than a response to the interpretation put on them. If that process was followed, we might get a much snappier report. I think we would all welcome that. As a number of Members have highlighted, the difficulty is that the longer this goes on, the weaker people’s memories are. The information that is available tends to disappear and as each month goes by we get less and less of a clear picture of what happened, as opposed to a clearer and clearer picture Some have suggested that the Leveson model of inquiry might have been more appropriate. If we consider how long Leveson took to report—it started in July 2011, and the first report was published on 29 November 2012, so it took 18 months to produce a 2,000-page document—we can see that it was certainly a snappier inquiry. I know that today’s debate is not on the subject of the Leveson inquiry, but I would like to take the opportunity to suggest that the Minister conveys to the Prime Minister in the strongest possible terms that we still expect the recommendations of the Leveson inquiry to be implemented, as we do Leveson part 2, and that that has not been forgotten and will not be allowed to go away Perhaps the Leveson model provides an answer in relation to Chilcot, but my final point is that, as others have indicated, we are now seven years on and are still waiting to know the full facts about Iraq. The families of service personnel, and particularly the 179 families affected by the deaths of our personnel there, need closure and will not get it until everything is in the public domain. As others have said, I hope that given the length of time and the Maxwellisation process, any redactions, if there are any, will be extremely limited, as it has already been through a significant sifting process that does not require any further deletions. Any further slippage in the deadline for publishing Chilcot will add insult to injury, which is why we need to know that the two-week period that has been mentioned is one that the Government will hold to, and nothing should be used as an excuse to hold it up further. I cannot fathom the suggestion that the EU referendum has some sort of bearing on this. I cannot see in what way it would affect this It is time that the Chilcot inquiry was published and it is time that people got the truth.
Iraq Inquiry Report — House of Commons, 2016-04-14
Topic: Defense
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Can the Minister give us an undertaking that the Government will implement any recommendations that come out of Chilcot to improve the transparency of the decision making involved before we commit the country to going to war?
NHS and Social Care Commission — House of Commons, 2016-01-28
Topic: Health
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman’s last point, but also his substantive point. The problem is that these are all ad hoc arrangements that are about good leaders doing something despite the system, not because of it. We have to mainstream this and align the incentives throughout the healthcare system so that everyone is focused on preventing ill health, preventing deterioration of health, and getting people better as quickly as possible Let me give an example of the pressure that the system is facing. It is fair to say, as a gentle challenge to the Government, that this year we are not seeing the data on accident and emergency pressures over the winter period, so the situation is slightly hidden from view. However, I heard that on Tuesday this week all the hospitals in Hertfordshire, north London, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire were on black alert, which occurs, in essence, when hospitals are completely full and under enormous pressure. One of the key system leaders in that area said that he had not seen anything like it for 20 years. This is happening at a time when there is no flu epidemic, and certainly no severe weather. This is one of the mildest winters on record, and yet we are seeing hospitals placed under impossible pressure.
NHS and Social Care Commission — House of Commons, 2016-01-28
Topic: Health
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I said at the start that I am primarily focused on England because health is a devolved responsibility, but I also said that the same pressures apply everywhere, and so the case for a process of this sort in Wales, in Scotland and in Northern Ireland is just as strong as it is England. I would encourage this debate to take place in Wales as well. We must overcome the clashes between the parties to recognise that something bigger is going on and we need to work together.
NHS and Social Care Commission — House of Commons, 2016-01-28
Topic: Health
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My right hon. Friend may be coming on to this point, but what I want to understand is how the commission, and the output of that commission, can help with some of the very difficult hospital reorganisations that we all face in our constituencies—mine being St Helier hospital—and how we can ensure that we strike the right balance between acute services and care in the community. How will the commission help with that?
NHS and Social Care Commission — House of Commons, 2016-01-28
Topic: Health
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I totally share the hon. Lady’s view that the politics should not be taken out of health. As others have said, we spend such a substantial amount of public money on the NHS and social care that it is absolutely right it should be subject to political debate. However, as others have said, in particular the hon. Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall) and the right hon. Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint), we do not ultimately, in the partisan environment we work in, confront the really difficult issues. They keep being put off. This is the whole problem. However much in theory she describes a perfect democratic situation in which these issues are debated and resolved, they are not resolved. We remain drifting into crisis because we are not confronting it.
Abolition of the Death Penalty — House of Commons, 2016-02-23
Topic: Health
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Further to the Minister’s answer to the question from the right hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart), is he aware of the concerns of Reprieve that drugs manufactured by UK company Hikma Pharmaceuticals were exported last year to the state of Arkansas for use in lethal injections? Hikma has told me in correspondence that it does not export for this purpose but that "any sales to these entities usually occur through the use of distributors" This seems such an obvious loophole, so why is nobody closing it?
Mental Health Taskforce — House of Commons, 2016-02-23
Topic: Health
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The report adds to the consensus that arose from Lord Crisp’s commission and the cross-party work led by my right hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb) on ending the practice of out-of-area treatments. Will the Minister commit to putting a timetable on that process so that we might know when it will happen?
Welfare Reform and Work Bill — House of Commons, 2016-02-23
Topic: Health
Gregory Thomas Mulholland (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The Minister has mentioned fluctuating conditions. It is well known that mental health problems cause fluctuating conditions which are very hard to deal with, but 50% of the people affected by the cut in ESA have such problems. Surely that has not been built into the Government’s thinking. What analysis has the Minister made of the impact?
Laser Pens — House of Commons, 2016-03-10
Topic: Defense
Gregory Thomas Mulholland (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I welcome the previous changes, which I backed, but more needs to be done. Half of pilots have reported a laser pen attack in the past 12 months, and it is a particular problem around Leeds-Bradford airport. What measures such as licensing or classification of laser pens as offensive weapons could be considered to put a stop to this dangerous practice?
Infected Blood — House of Commons, 2016-01-21
Topic: Health
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I thank the Minister for her statement, and welcome the consultation. It is an important step forward. The individual health assessment clearly marks quite an important moment for people with hepatitis C—a condition that other Members have raised—because the Minister has talked about linking it to payments. Does she envisage an entirely discretionary payment linked to the assessment, or a system involving payment bands? How will the scheme work, and will there be a right of challenge? What does the Minister mean by "enhanced" access to treatment? Is there still a risk that some people will not have immediate access to it?
NHS: Learning from Mistakes — House of Commons, 2016-03-09
Topic: Health
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I welcome the measures set out in the statement. The Secretary of State will not be surprised to hear that I want to focus on safety in mental health. The statement seems to be quite focused on acute hospitals. At the summit taking place today, will there be a specialist focus on safety in mental health? The Secretary of State will remember that the Government announced last February an ambition to achieve zero suicide, but he will be aware that there has been a significant increase in serious incidents and in the reporting of unexpected deaths and suicides. I do not know where that project has got to, but would he be prepared to meet me to discuss how we can develop the zero-suicide ambition, which has achieved such a reduction in deaths in the city of Detroit in the United States? The same can happen here if we have the same focus and ambition.
Junior Doctors Contracts — House of Commons, 2016-04-18
Topic: Health
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Does the Secretary of State accept that we need closure on the junior doctors’ strike, for patients and for doctors, to enable the NHS to concentrate on issues such as the projected £8 billion shortfall in the NHS; the GP out-of-hours services, which are under real pressure; the worst ever NHS performance in the first month of this year; and the long-term threat to the financial viability of our whole health and social care system?
Junior Doctors Contracts — House of Commons, 2016-04-18
Topic: Health
Gregory Thomas Mulholland (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Like most hon. Members, I have had many doctors coming to my constituency surgery—not junior doctors, but registrars, on whom our hospitals rely. They have sometimes been in tears. They have asked me if the Secretary of State will define exactly what he means by a seven-day NHS, because clearly there is seven-day care. Is it just an ideological mantra?
Contaminated Blood — House of Commons, 2016-04-12
Topic: Health
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I, too, pay tribute to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson) for her amazing campaigning work, and indeed to the other hon. Members who helped secure this debate. I also pay tribute to the organisations Tainted Blood, the Contaminated Blood Campaign and the Haemophilia Society, which have campaigned for years to get justice for so many people. We should also pay tribute to the many individuals who have fought on and on for justice, often in very difficult circumstances The Minister should reflect on the extraordinary unanimity of view in this debate, on the reflections in the consultation, on the proposals that the Government have put forward and on the need to think again. This is not a party political issue, because all Governments are to some extent culpable—Labour Governments, Conservative Governments and, indeed, the coalition Government. This is a moral imperative—there is no doubt about that. We have to offer these people justice, and the Government must accept that The Government set out the principle right at the start, in their introduction to the consultation, by stating that they accept and recognise their responsibility to everyone infected as a result of NHS treatment, but that leaves out those people affected. This is about not only those infected, but those affected. What about all the loved ones, the children, the spouses and the partners bereaved as a result of loss of life? The Government should accept responsibility for them as well. They have to accept that when they respond to this consultation exercise Serious concerns have been raised about this set of proposals. The Prime Minister said—his words were very clear—that: "We will help them more"—[Official Report, 11 March 2015; Vol. 594, C. 289.] Yet the proposals, when we see the detail, include a proposal to cut the amount of money that individuals receive. That is not consistent with what the Prime Minister said, so surely the Government must think again. It is surely unconscionable that people in very real need will lose out financially as a result of these proposals. What assessment have the Government made of the winners and the losers? How much will some people lose? It is really important that the Government are open about that. If the Minister cannot respond today, I would be grateful if she wrote to hon. Members to set out the assessment of the amount some people will lose, and of how many people are likely to lose, as a result of these proposals As my right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) and others have said, it is surely not right that people in Scotland benefit more than people in England. Surely everyone should be treated exactly the same as a result of this scandal.
Contaminated Blood — House of Commons, 2016-04-12
Topic: Health
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I will not, because I am concerned about the time Ending inflation-proofing actually means that we plan a cut to what people are paid every year for as long as there is inflation. Surely we cannot begin to justify that I have a problem with the principle of funding new medical treatments at an early stage by taking money from people’s financial support. That surely confuses two principles. We should leave intact the money that is available for people’s financial security I am concerned that the money will come from the Department of Health. The impact assessment talks about the other things that cannot be done as a result. Surely the money should come from the Treasury. In the Budget, the Government cut capital gains tax. I heard recently of one individual who will benefit to the tune of nearly £1 million as a result. These are political choices. Do we as a country want to cut capital gains tax and give large sums to very wealthy people at the same time as cutting financial support for people who have lost out as a result of a national scandal? That is surely unacceptable I therefore say to the Minister: accept what the Haemophilia Society says, withdraw these proposals and think again.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2016-03-02
Topic: Defense
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will recall that on 2 December last year, the Prime Minister came to the House and sought permission to extend into Syria the RAF airstrikes that were taking place in Iraq. In the motion, he undertook to provide quarterly progress reports to set out the impact of the strikes on Daesh’s finances, its fighters and its weapons. The basis on which the support of the House was given was that we would receive those regular updates, which would also tell us whether there had been any UK involvement in civilian casualties. A quarter has now elapsed since 2 December, and I seek your guidance as to whether the Prime Minister has sought to provide such a progress report to the House and, if not, what action I could take to ensure that he does.
Mental Health Services — House of Commons, 2016-03-22
Topic: Health
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I was delighted that Paul Farmer’s taskforce report endorsed the plan first proposed by the Secretary of State and myself in 2014 to have comprehensive maximum waiting times in mental health by 2020 so that people with mental ill health have exactly the same right to treatment on time as others. I was delighted that the Government endorsed the whole plan, but dismayed that Simon Stevens then confirmed that there was no money to implement it. How will the Minister ensure that the comprehensive waiting time standards are implemented by 2020?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2016-01-05
Topic: Health
John David Pugh (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I thank the Secretary of State for that response. He will recall the 3 million lives telehealth programme. Since then, it has all gone rather quiet on telehealth. What is the Government’s current strategy on telehealth and what pump-priming funding is there for it?