argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Jason McCartney (Conservative, Centre-right): I, too, praise the Secretary of State and his wonderful team for their heroic efforts in fighting this killer virus. Will he confirm that volunteers such as those in the Holme Valley Covid Mutual Aid group, who are providing shopping services, delivering food parcels, picking up prescriptions, posting mail and dog walking, should continue to supply those services for their community, in a safe way?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Aaron Stuart Bell (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Secretary of State for all he is doing and I thank the thousands of retired nurses who have answered his call to come back to the NHS, but may I just raise a wrinkle in my constituency of Newcastle-under-Lyme? A nurse wrote to me who is 58 and retired at 55. She has returned to work for 16 hours and is happy to work full time, but she is concerned about the possible effect on her pension. Will the Secretary of State and the Chancellor of Exchequer work together to look at the situation and make sure that there are no financial barriers to heroes such as her coming back to work for our NHS?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
James Oliver Wild (Conservative, Centre-right): On Saturday, I met the chief executive and the incident management team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn in my constituency, where sadly two patients who tested positive for covid-19 died last week. I pay tribute to the dedication of all the staff who are, as the Secretary of State knows, working in buildings that need more investment. Will he make sure that those on the frontline continue to get the PPE that they need and have more access to ventilators?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, absolutely—on all counts. I just want to add my thanks to all those working on the frontline, and throughout the NHS and social care, to my hon. Friend’s thanks to those in King’s Lynn. I also put on the record my thanks to my extraordinary civil service political and Public Health England team, who have done amazing work and continue to work incredibly hard in response to this crisis.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Scott Lloyd Benton (Conservative, Centre-right): Will my right hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to our fantastic NHS staff at Blackpool Victoria Hospital? Some private firms in my constituency have offered free or discounted parking to NHS staff, to help them out in these difficult times. Will he commend those firms and encourage others to do the same to make sure that it is as easy as possible for staff to get to work?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, I will. I pay tribute to all the staff at Blackpool hospital. I met some of them during the election campaign and I know that they are working incredibly hard in preparation for what is to come. I absolutely commend all those who are giving free parking to NHS staff and we are looking at what we can do to make that happy occurrence spread more broadly across the NHS Bill Presented Contingencies Fund Bill Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57) Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, supported by the Prime Minister, Steve Barclay, Jesse Norman, John Glen and Kemi Badenoch, presented a Bill to make provision increasing the maximum capital of the Contingencies Fund for a temporary period Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time now, and to be printed (Bill 123) with explanatory notes (Bill 123-EN).
Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Desmond Angus Swayne (Conservative, Centre-right): This Chamber has survived many health emergencies, and I do not believe that we should design into the future the prospect of continuing viruses. Let us conquer the virus, rather than change procedures that have endured almost forever. I assure him that change is always for the worst.
Covid-19: High Street Businesses: — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Health
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): As you will see from my hairstyle, Mr Speaker, I am desperately awaiting the opening of hairdressers and barbers too. It is key that we get this right, though. The economic impetus from the hospitality sector in particular is made apparent to me every single day that I speak to its representatives; indeed, I will be speaking to a lot of them later this afternoon. We have to make sure we get that right, with the confidence of customers coming back. The Government’s first priority is to save lives and to work with the scientific guidance. At the moment, when people go out to shop at the businesses that are open today, 2 metres is still the rule, but we will get further guidance as soon as we practicably can.
Life Sciences Sector: Vaccine Manufacturing — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Health
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): We have set up a vaccines taskforce to lead and co-ordinate all the Government’s activities to develop and manufacture a coronavirus vaccine. As part of that, we are investing £93 million in a vaccine manufacturing innovation centre, which will be completed 12 months ahead of schedule, by summer 2021. We are also funding a rapid deployment facility, which will be able to begin manufacturing vaccines at scale from August this year.
Life Sciences Sector: Vaccine Manufacturing — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Health
Scott Leslie Mann (Conservative, Centre-right): Ultimately, throughout this process, we are in the hands of our brilliant scientists. I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement on what he is doing to accelerate opening the vaccine manufacturing innovation centre by next summer, but what more can be done to ensure that we get on top of this disease and address it as early as we possibly can?
Life Sciences Sector: Vaccine Manufacturing — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Health
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course, my hon. Friend will know that we are providing direct support to the vaccines being developed at Oxford University and Imperial College London. He may also be aware that the Imperial vaccine is now set to enter clinical human trials. We are also leading international efforts to support vaccine discovery and deployment.
Economic Outlook and Furlough Scheme Changes — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Culture
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend will be aware that the job retention scheme runs until October and the self-employed scheme covers that period as well. This is a source of great concern to us, and the arts have been well supported by the schemes so far. There has also been a separate package through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport specifically targeted at supporting arts and other organisations. We have this issue very much in our minds.
Economic Outlook and Furlough Scheme Changes — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Health
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend will know that we have put significant support in place already. I share—as the Government do, and as I suspect the entire Chamber does—her desire for us to emerge from lockdown as swiftly and safely as we can, so I certainly support what she said.
Economic Outlook and Furlough Scheme Changes — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Health
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. One of the really heartening things about the early phases of the crisis was precisely the response from distilleries in producing hand sanitiser. I was delighted to be able to make very quickly the changes to the tax regime that supported that. As we go forward, we will continue to review and seek to address the concerns that he raises. It is not by any means a straightforward matter, but the key thing is to continue to push, on a very wide variety of fronts, as rapidly and forcefully as we possibly can.
Economic Outlook and Furlough Scheme Changes — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Culture
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): I massively welcome the right hon. Lady’s support for and chairmanship of the Stratford East. It is a phenomenal theatre, as anyone will know who has acted in Joan Littlewood’s theatre workshop or "Oh! What a Lovely War". It is a foundational place. She will be aware that many theatre companies have benefited from some of the schemes already launched and that the Government have already made a substantial commitment of support to this sector through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, but of course we continue to look closely at it, and it is right that she raised the issue, on behalf not just of the Stratford East and other theatres but of performing art spaces more widely, because the problem with coronavirus is not just the safety aspect; it is also the fear aspect that goes with a pandemic crisis of this kind.
Economic Outlook and Furlough Scheme Changes — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Health
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): As a former Health Minister, my hon. Friend will understand very well the importance of this issue, and I thank him for raising it. This question is very much one that is being discussed across Government at the moment. One of the few silver linings to this crisis has been the understanding that, actually, the nature of work is changing as between home and work. One of the things that has not received much notice but I am intensely proud of is the way in which HMRC has been able to organise itself into much more of a disaggregated place in order to support from home all the services that it continues to deliver.
Economic Outlook and Furlough Scheme Changes — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Health
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): I almost did not recognise my hon. Friend with his new coronavirus growth, but I very much accept and recognise the point he makes. I thank him for it, and we will continue to work hard in this area.
Economic Outlook and Furlough Scheme Changes — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Health
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): No, the rules are as laid out in the guidance on gov.uk. They have a start date at the end of the month and we are in the final three-week coronavirus job retention scheme period, but as my hon. Friend says, we are very much hoping for and working towards a much wider reopening after or around the first week of July. That will potentially be a critical move forward for the country in its response to the pandemic.
Global Britain — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend invites me to comment on the social distancing rules, and he is wholly right that we will continue to review those rules. I am determined to make life as easy as possible for our retailers and our hospitality industry, but we must defeat this virus, as I am sure he knows and I am sure the people of this country understand. We are making great progress as a country: the numbers of deaths have massively come down; the number of new hospital admissions has massively come down. We continue to make progress, but we must make sure that we get the virus fully under control before we make the change my right hon. Friend wants.
Global Britain — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady should look at what this country is actually doing to tackle coronavirus around the world, giving more than any other country to the search for a virus. I do not know if she saw what happened at the recent Gavi summit, but she should be proud of what this country is doing to tackle the virus around the world.
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Health
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): I had not heard that. I have not heard any such submission from the Department of Health, but I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising the issue and I will ask my good friend the Health Secretary about it.
Supermarket Supply Chains — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): I can reassure my hon. Friend that all essential workers, including all those involved in the food supply chain, are eligible for testing. We are working with the food sector to ensure that employees who are either self-isolating with symptoms of the coronavirus or who have a symptomatic household member are able to access those tests. Eligible workers who are self-isolating can apply for a test directly online or can be referred for a test by their employer.
Supermarkets: Good Hygiene and Social Distancing — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): From the outset, we have worked extensively with retailers and Public Health England to establish best practice and publish guidance on social distancing and hygiene, to keep staff and customers safe. Industry has adapted effectively and quickly, and measures introduced include signage and floor markings to help customers maintain distance, screens at tills and limits on the number of customers in store.
Supermarkets: Good Hygiene and Social Distancing — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Ian Levy (Conservative, Centre-right): On a recent visit to my local supermarket in Blyth, I was pleased to see that the supermarkets are taking all the necessary precautions to try to protect the public while they are out shopping. Those include cleaning stations, markings on the floor and regular announcements to tell people to maintain social distance. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, as measures are relaxed and we move forward, we must all be aware and mindful while out shopping, to protect not only ourselves but the staff, who have been providing an invaluable service during this pandemic?
Supermarkets: Good Hygiene and Social Distancing — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
David Anthony Evennett (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate my local Sainsbury’s stores in Erith Road, Barnehurst, and in Crayford on their good organisation and friendly staff. Does my right hon. Friend agree that other businesses will be able to learn lessons from the actions taken by supermarkets to ensure good hygiene and social distancing?
Supermarkets: Good Hygiene and Social Distancing — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is absolutely right: our supermarket retailers acted within hours—certainly within 24 hours—to implement social distancing when lockdown occurred. They acted swiftly, and we have learned a lot along the way, in conjunction with Public Health England. I can tell my right hon. Friend that the experiences of our supermarkets and food manufacturers have been shared extensively with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, as it has developed safer-working protocols for other parts of the economy, because we can—absolutely—learn from the steps that supermarkets and others have taken.
Covid-19 Death and Infection Rate: Air Quality — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Rebecca Faye Clark (Pow) (Conservative, Centre-right): DEFRA has had extensive discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care on the relationship between air quality and health, recently considering the specific relationship between covid-19 deaths and air quality. DEFRA is actively working with Public Health England and the Office for National Statistics to assess further the relationship for the UK, and DEFRA’s chief scientific adviser is working with relevant experts in health, disease and air quality to assess the relationship between air quality and the risk of infection, based on the emerging scientific research into covid-19.
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: Date of Eligibility — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Questions: To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission, if the NAO will estimate the cost to the public purse of changing the date of eligibility for the coronavirus job retention scheme to 19 March 2020.
Richard Michael Bacon (Conservative, Centre-right): I would hate to be thought of as responsible for starting a new trend by actually answering the question, but as I mentioned in my initial response, the NAO is soon to publish this report, which will be just the first in a programme of work supporting Parliament in its scrutiny of covid-19. I am certainly happy to draw the hon. Lady’s concerns to the attention of the Comptroller and Auditor General. The future work programme will include how the large sums that have been committed to the health and social care response, and indeed, to mitigating the economic impact, will be being spent, and the quality of that spending. It will be important for the NAO to review whether the money is achieving the intended impact, as well as how the risks of fraud and error are being managed.
Support for Hospital Chaplains — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for his interest in and concern for our hospital chaplains, who have done such amazing work in recent months. The Church works closely with the College of Healthcare Chaplains to ensure support for our chaplains. Anglican chaplains, while being required to hold a bishop’s licence, are actually employees of the trusts they serve, not the Church of England.
Coronavirus and Care Homes — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): Clearly, tackling this virus in care homes is a very difficult thing, but the chief executive of Hertfordshire Care Providers Association is on record as saying that care providers in the county feel well supported during the pandemic. Does the Secretary of State agree that what is required to achieve this, as in Hertfordshire, is a very close working relationship—a partnership—between care homes, the councils, the Care Quality Commission and, of course, the clinical commissioning groups?
Coronavirus and Care Homes — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I entirely agree. We have seen much better partnership working in most parts of the country during this crisis. The partnerships between local authorities, with their statutory responsibilities, and, as my right hon. and learned Friend mentioned, all parts of the NHS, with its statutory responsibilities—clinical commissioning groups, trusts and the integrated care systems—is very important. They have worked much better over the last few months than they had hitherto. We need to make sure that that coming together—in a very difficult circumstance, which has broken down boundaries—continues. I look forward to working with him and others in making sure that the boundaries that exist in social care can be brought to the ground.
Coronavirus and Care Homes — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): On the point about tests, absolutely, work was done to assess the difference in efficacy between professionally administered and self-administered tests, and it found that their efficacy was very similar and not significantly different. That is why across England and Scotland, and indeed the whole UK, we use home tests, which are an important part of our testing regime The hon. Lady asks about the increased number of deaths, sadly, that there have been in care homes. She is absolutely right that there has been an increase. We analyse the causes of all the different factors that may have had an impact, which is something our clinical advisers are looking at. The same is true in Scotland, and I am sure that the Scottish medical advisers are looking into the same. When it comes to a Green Paper, at the moment we are working on crisis response, and I think that is the appropriate thing to do.
Coronavirus and Care Homes — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Andrew Hanson Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): In Harrogate and Knaresborough, and across North Yorkshire, the county council has established a step-down facility for patients being discharged from hospital, using care homes with segregated spaces, and in Boroughbridge an entire care home, effectively as a form of quarantine facility. That is in addition to the testing and protective arrangements, not as a replacement. I view this as a welcome and valuable addition to the tools available for keeping some of the most vulnerable people in our community safe. Does my right hon. Friend agree, and can the idea of this facility be replicated further across the country?
Coronavirus and Care Homes — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, absolutely it is important to learn from everywhere around the world. This epidemic has had a different shape in different parts of the world and, as the hon. Lady knows, a significant impact throughout Europe.
Coronavirus and Care Homes — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): It is good to see my right hon. Friend bearing up so well under the considerable burdens of his office. Can he reassure me that the PPE supply into the UK and within the UK is now flowing into all care homes in a timely and comprehensive manner? I am concerned that those who are running our care homes so well in Sutton Coldfield should have the security of knowing that they can rely on continuous supply.
Coronavirus and Care Homes — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, I can reassure my right hon. Friend—I thank him for what he said about the work we are doing in the Department—first, that supplies of PPE into the country and buying around the world have improved significantly, and we have put huge amounts of effort into improving that. Secondly, the supply, once the equipment is in the country, out into the care homes and where it needs to be is improving all the time. The number of care homes reporting that they are within 48 hours of a stock out, which is the measure we use, has been falling and is less than half what it was a month ago, but we of course keep working to get that number down. When a care home is within two days of a stock out, we immediately work to get it the PPE that it needs.
Coronavirus and Care Homes — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Pauline Elizabeth Latham (Conservative, Centre-right): The Secretary of State is doing a phenomenal job. It is a huge crisis and a huge thing to mobilise everything that has needed mobilising I have spoken to most of my care homes and most of them are doing very well, but one, Milford Care, is having a problem with getting test kits. Six people in the home have died recently. The home requested test kits on 12 May through the Government portal, but they were told there was a very limited supply. They may get them on Wednesday this week, if they are lucky, but if not they will have to re-register for them. Staff and residents may be infected, but they are not aware. They have had somebody who was tested and seven days later was told they were positive, even though they had no symptoms, so clearly, the virus is spreading. What can my right hon. Friend suggest that they do?
Coronavirus and Care Homes — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I think the best thing they can do is raise it with their very effective local MP, who can bring it to my attention, and that is exactly what they have done. I will get right on to it, straight after this session in the House of Commons. We have the testing capability. Of course, making sure you get exactly the right test to exactly the right place and the right care home at the right time is itself a huge logistical challenge, but I will look into this immediately.