argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
EU Nationals — House of Commons, 2017-11-29
Topic: Health
Christopher Charles Stephens (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for giving way. On the contribution of EU nationals, does it not concern him that there is an 89% drop in nurses and midwives coming from Europe and that 11% of UK-born nurses have fallen off the register? If we cannot recruit nurses and midwives, what will that mean for this country’s health service?
Free Social Care — House of Commons, 2015-02-24
Topic: Health
Questions: What assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of Her Majesty’s Treasury’s costing of free social care at the end of life.
Frank Field (Labour, Centre-left): Is there not something deceitful about the Government’s promising major changes for the next Parliament when we do not know how they will be paid for? If we want improvements to the NHS and end-of-life care in the next Parliament, Members on both sides of the House need to put before the electorate how we will pay for those important long-term changes.
Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-15
Topic: Defense
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): On the point about rendition, the right hon. Gentleman will recall the Intelligence and Security Commission, when considering the Belhaj and Boudchar cases, said that in effect our services had outsourced work that they were not allowed to do in law themselves. Does not that alone indicate that those services require proper independent scrutiny? They should not be left to mark their own homework.
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2021-01-28
Topic: Health
Paul Scriven (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, countries that have managed this public health crisis best, with fewest deaths, least damage to their economies and young people being kept in education, have adopted "elimination of the virus" lockdown strategies. Can the noble Baroness the Leader of the House inform the House whether the lockdown exit plan criteria will be predicated on achieving elimination or suppression in the next phase of government policy for dealing with the virus?
NHS (West London) — House of Commons, 2015-02-24
Topic: Health
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister does not sound very convinced by that herself. I wonder whether she saw the comments from the College of Emergency Medicine yesterday, which said that attempts to dissuade people from going to A and E have been a dismal failure and that what we should do is locate primary care services alongside A and E. That is the model we have at Charing Cross hospital and in the rest of west London, and it is succeeding. What is failing is the closure of emergency departments, which is creating an intolerable strain. Will the Government look again at the issue? Will you stop closing A and Es in west London?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-02-24
Topic: Health
Andrew Murray Burnham (Labour, Centre-left): Let me take the Secretary of State back to a subject he likes to avoid—NHS privatisation. He tries to deny that it is happening on his watch, but we heard earlier about the ideological privatisation of cancer scanning in Cheshire and Staffordshire, despite its being more expensive than the NHS bid—and now it could get much worse. On the Friday before the recess, the Government sneaked out the public contracts regulations, which require NHS contracts worth over €750,000 to be opened up to full EU competition. Will the Secretary of State confirm that that is indeed the case in these regulations, and can he explain what mandate he has from the public to open up the NHS to private bidders across Europe?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-09-17
Topic: Health
Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): While there are some welcome announcements in this statement, I am utterly astounded that there is only one reference to coronavirus testing when we see cases rising across the country, a system in meltdown, people unable to access tests, and turnaround times down. If the Secretary of State does not believe us, perhaps he should read his own constituency inbox. Will he finally admit that the system is broken and we risk losing control of the virus? Will he issue a public apology?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-09-17
Topic: Health
Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. During the Secretary of State’s response to me earlier in the statement, he said that I was wrong to raise the issue earlier this week of my constituents using Scottish postcodes to access tests and that I was not being fair or straight with my constituents. I would like to offer the Secretary of State the evidence that I have. I have emails from Sunday, from Monday and, indeed, from this morning of constituents using Aberdeen and Dundee postcodes to access tests at the Twickenham site. Will the Secretary of State withdraw his comment, or is he suggesting that my constituents are lying to me?
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — House of Lords, 2021-10-25
Topic: Health
Ajay Kakkar (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I support the principles of the amendments and declare my interest as a registered medical practitioner The debate in Committee has been most interesting in this regard, because it raises a delicate and deeply sensitive issue for any practising clinician—any practising healthcare professional—with the suggestion that something that is considered absolutely sacrosanct, the duty of confidentiality, may be in some way undermined That is, of course, not to neglect or fail to understand the fact that there are clear circumstances provided in the context of well-recognised and frequently applied professional guidance in which confidentiality may indeed be breached. But there is a suggestion that the way the Bill is drafted, there may be a deeply undermining impact on a very important principle, one that is so well recognised that it is protected in both data protection legislation and, as we have heard, common law. I wonder whether the Minister can explain why it is so important to achieve what are important objectives in the Bill that we need to undermine the common-law effect of such an important principle—confidentiality of medical information—and why they need to be promoted in the way proposed in the Bill. Have Her Majesty’s Government considered other ways to achieve their important objectives without creating this deep anxiety and uncertainty, because the full implications are clearly not well understood by the regulator or by professionals more generally, and which, we must therefore all feel, has the potential to be attended by consequences that could be deeply unhelpful to the nature and solidity of the doctor-patient relationship?
Medicines and Medical Devices Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-12
Topic: Health
Judith Anne Jolly (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, these amendments, led by my noble friend Lord Sharkey with eminent cross-party support, replace the affirmative procedure for delegated powers in the Bill with the super-affirmative procedure Because of the skeleton nature of the Bill, outlined in the previous group, it is key to ensure that Parliament is able to properly scrutinise regulations made under the Bill. The super-affirmative procedure, which affords a committee of either House the opportunity to comment on a draft of the regulations and make representations, is in our view the best way to do it The past year has made clearer than ever the need for outward-facing health policy with public health and safety at its heart. The regulations brought forward under this Bill are central to doing this, and the highest level of scrutiny is needed to ensure their success One of the first things I had to learn when joining the House was the sovereignty of the House. My 10 years in your Lordships’ House have taught me to spot Henry VIII powers and call them out. As the noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, said, these amendments are hardly revolutionary, so I urge the Minister to accept them We need well-grounded legislation, and this Bill gives the department carte blanche to do what it likes. The amendments tabled by my noble friend give Members of the House the opportunity to scrutinise in a proper way and that, after all, is what the public expect of us.
Medicines and Medical Devices Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-12
Topic: Health
John Kevin Sharkey (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I welcome the amendments in this group. They add clarity to the obligations laid on the Secretary of State in making regulations under Clause 1(1) and its counterparts I particularly welcome Amendment 12 in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, and my noble friend Lady Jolly, as it seems particularly important. It requires the Secretary of State to publish the criteria used in determining the benefits and risks caused by regulation and to set out how they have been weighed against each other. This amendment touches on the whole issue of transparency in devising regulations. The level of transparency that Amendment 12 requires should certainly apply to the factors listed in the Minister’s Amendment 9. These factors, which the Secretary of State must have regard to, are the safety of human medicines, the availability of human medicines and the likelihood of the relevant part of the United Kingdom being seen as a favourable place in which to carry out research related to human medicines, conduct clinical trials, or manufacture or supply human medicines. These are all clearly important, and I am glad that the Minister has added manufacturing to this list, as I suggested in Committee The list contains three rather vague notions: "likelihood", "favourable" and "being seen as". For all these terms, we need to know what definitions will be used and what evidence will be required in support. For "being seen as", the question arises: being seen as by whom? What weight will be given to different views from different sectors? If, for example, it turns out that academic researchers and pharma companies have different views about the favourability of the UK, how are they to be weighted? On "likelihood", could the Minister say whether he considered the word "desirability" instead, which seems closer to what we want here I hope the Minister is able to give reassurance on the points I have raised and that he accepts the merits of Amendment 12 and its counterparts.
Medicines and Medical Devices Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-12
Topic: Health
Judith Anne Jolly (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, this has been a fascinating debate. We all want the UK to be a manufacturing centre for pharmaceuticals and valuable medical devices. The amendments in this group relate largely to the overarching objective of regulations made under the Bill It was argued in Committee that the Government needed to be clearer about the intent of the regulations and what the guiding principles would be. I am pleased that they have accepted this, and a number of amendments in this group provide that the appropriate authority’s overarching objective in making regulations must be safeguarding public health The noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, and I put down an amendment to change "public health" in the government amendment to "the health and safety of the public" That was not an "angels dancing on the head of a pin" moment. Public health could have a very narrow definition in a health and social care context—we think of local government and Public Health England. However, our wording describes the issue that we are discussing. It is much broader than the "public health" definition, which is too narrow. Health and safety should be at the centre of what is used in treatment. The abuse of this was illustrated by the noble Baroness, Lady Cumberlege, who gave us perfect examples in her report. Mesh is technically a device and sodium valproate was the medicine. They were both abused, and their use was inappropriate. They hurt and damaged a lot of people, predominantly women, for a very long time—some people, for ever Now we have a workable framework in which to put both medicines and medical devices in the context of the health of the public, and that is extremely welcome.
Mental Health and Unemployment — House of Commons, 2015-02-24
Topic: Health
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech, but does he not agree that at the heart of this is the knowledge that we need sensitively trained and highly professional people to deal with these individuals, not an Atos-type untrained person? That is certainly the case in my constituency. We need highly trained people, whether they come from the health sector and are fully professional or whether, as in my constituency, they come from the voluntary and social sector.
Medicines and Medical Devices Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-12
Topic: Health
Joan Walmsley (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I support this amendment. When we discussed this issue in Committee, I raised the matter of Section 57A of the Patents Act 1977 and the Minister pointed out that compensation needs to be awarded to a patent holder for any loss of profits as a result of the use of a Crown use licence and argued that this should be set against the potential savings that purchasing more affordable generic alternatives enabled by a Crown use licence could bring about. Tonight, I repeat that this has never been tested in court The noble Baroness, Lady Sheehan, and the noble Lord, Lord Alton, mentioned Orkambi. The fact is that if the Government had issued a Crown licence and Vertex had decided to take the Government to court for compensation, the Government would probably have won the case, because they had a very strong case. Any reasonable person would have concluded that three years of failed negotiations showed that Vertex could not make the case that the NHS would definitely have bought the product from them had a Crown use licence not been issued. Had they taken the thing to court, the Government would probably have won the case, and the fact that they did not means that they really missed an opportunity to set a useful new precedent by fighting an interpretation that would render the entire Crown use provision next to useless I shall add just a few words about the Covid-19 pandemic. Many countries, such as Germany, Hungary, Canada and Australia, have made alterations to their patent laws to make issuing a compulsory licence easier, in the interests of public health. That is because, in those countries, it is accepted as a valuable tool that can help overcome pricing and manufacturing barriers to accessing crucial vaccines, medicines and diagnostics which could help save millions of lives. Will the UK Government follow this example, set a precedent, next time the opportunity presents itself, and make the necessary changes to our law to make it easier, not more complex, to use our legal right of issuing a Crown use licence to protect public health?
Medicines and Medical Devices Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-12
Topic: Health
Judith Anne Jolly (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, the purpose of this amendment, tabled by my noble friend Lady Sheehan, with cross-party support, is to ensure that fair and affordable access to medicines for all must be a consideration when regulations are made with respect to human medicines. This is key for two reasons. The first is to ensure that medicines, including on the NHS, are available at a fair price. We know that the NHS buys medicines at an industrial scale and is very able to be tough in its bargaining to get a good deal for the taxpayer. The second is that the British Government used to play a pivotal role, through DfID, in helping many across the world in the eradication of polio and other life-changing or life-threatening diseases. Will the Minister outline what criteria are used now that DfID has been subsumed by FCDO On Covid-19, collaboration on the production of vaccines is critical. What is being done by the Government to collaborate in this life-saving mission? Time is of the essence. Can the Minister tell us where we are now and outline what support is going to those who have neither the contacts nor the money to fund these vaccinations? Our economy has taken a serious hit, but we have a moral duty to support those with no industry, and so no income. I endorse all the comments from the noble Lord, Lord Crisp, who has many years’ experience of these issues—many more than I have. I would be grateful if the Minister could answer my questions.
Covid-19 Update — House of Lords, 2021-07-06
Topic: Culture
Nicholas Trench (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, come 19 July it will be all too easy to assume that everything is okay in the arts and night-time economy. Is the Minister aware of the recent Public Accounts Select Committee report which says that without a government-backed insurance scheme there is a "survival threat to festivals"—pretty strong words. The report also backs further support for freelancers and the technical supply organisations decimated by Covid. It will be a hard road back, and I hope the Government continue their support, including plugging the gaps in support that remain.
Medicines and Medical Devices Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-12
Topic: Health
John Alderdice (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): We now come to the group consisting of Amendment 14. I remind noble Lords that Members other than the mover and the Minister may speak only once and that short questions of elucidation are discouraged. Anyone wishing to press the amendment to a Division must make that clear in the debate Clause 3: Falsified medicines Amendment 14
Medicines and Medical Devices Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-12
Topic: Health
Judith Anne Jolly (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, this amendment, led by my noble friend Lord Clement-Jones, would narrow the use of data in relation to falsified medicines to that which ensures patient safety. The use of patient data is a really delicate issue. As currently drafted, Clause 3 allows for regulations to be made about "the use, retention and disclosure, for any purpose to do with human medicines, of information collected for the purpose of preventing the supply of falsified human medicines." The Minister has said that we want to explore creative uses of information. I am not quite sure what the general public would think of that statement. I am not quite sure what I think of that statement. As my noble friend Lord Clement-Jones has said, this is an incredibly wide remit granted to the Government. Restricting it to information that ensures patient safety, as in the amendment, will help protect patients’ information. In his summing up I would like the Minister to outline how this amendment will work in practice, and we will consider whether this might be brought back at Third Reading.
Medicines and Medical Devices Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-12
Topic: Health
Timothy Francis Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I thank my noble friend Lady Jolly, the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, and the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, for their helpful contributions and support today. I also thank the Minister for his reply; I regard it as something of a curate’s egg, but I recognise the thought that has gone into it, particularly his statement on the overarching principles in Clause 1 governing Clause 3 and the fact that the benefits must outweigh the risks in any scheme. He talked about the affirmative procedure; I very much hope that we will retain the super-affirmative procedure, which encourages me that there will be greater scrutiny of any new framework The Minister also spoke about the statutory duty to consult on proposals and the duty to secure data. He said that no patient data was being used and that, at the end of the day, the essence of this is to maximise the use of data where it is in the public interest. He gave research as an example that might be outside patient safety—I doubt it, but he thought it might be interpreted as going beyond patient safety. I was very struck by the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, saying that there was an element in this of having a power that might come in useful; indeed, the Minister almost repeated that in saying, "We’ll see what data we have collected." I take some comfort from what the Minister has said. We have had some very productive debates and some important amendments secured, so I will not press this amendment today. However, the noble Lord probably has to suffer the potential of being immortalised on a Pepper v Hart basis if there is any subsequent dispute about the width of regulations made under this clause and whether Clause 1 limits the scope of Clause 3. I am sure he looks forward to that. In the meantime, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
Covid-19: Response Throughout the UK — House of Commons, 2020-10-07
Topic: Health
Jamie Hume Stone (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I raised this matter with the Secretary of State for Health yesterday, because of local concern that people in the south of England were being asked to travel to Inverness for covid tests. That is why I am concerned about the level of co-operation between the two Governments. May I press the Minister further to give me specific examples of co-operation between the two Governments?