argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Psychoactive Substances Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-07-14
Topic: Health
Michael Bates (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, this may be a short group as we, too, welcome this amendment. I do not think I have ever known an occasion before where all three main parties have put their names to the same amendment. It is a matter of semantics as to whether we have all come around to Amendment 10 or everybody has come around to government Amendment 22. What matters most is that we are all on the same page. In the context of the previous debate, that same page very much underscores the importance which the Government place and should place on the advice which they receive from the advisory council The Explanatory Notes made it clear that we expected to consult fully the council on Clauses 3 and 10. However, in bringing forward these amendments to turn such an expectation into a statutory duty, we have been mindful not just of those views and its opinion but of the deliberations and the views expressed in your Lordships’ House. These amendments reaffirm the value we place on the independent expert advice from the advisory council and our commitment to a constructive working relationship with it on the provisions of the Bill and the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. We will continue to work with the council to achieve our common purpose of reducing and preventing harms caused by psychoactive substances to individuals, especially young people, families and communities. For these reasons, I am happy to support Amendment 10 and similarly to commend Amendment 22 to the House.
Junior Doctors Contract — House of Lords, 2015-11-20
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): I probably did not make the situation clear enough. The Secretary of State said that there are no preconditions. If there are concerns about time off to have children or to carry out research, those are absolutely the kinds of issues that should be discussed around the table.
Junior Doctors Contract — House of Lords, 2015-11-20
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): I completely agree with the noble Baroness. I am not going to stand here and be sycophantic about the Secretary of State for Health, but the one thing he has prioritised above all else since he has been there is patient safety and patient quality.
Junior Doctors Contract — House of Lords, 2015-11-20
Topic: Health
Bernard Francisco Ribeiro (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, Sir Terrence English in his excellent article in the Telegraph made the point that medicine is a vocation and doctors who enter the profession should recognise that patients always come first. The Armed Forces do not go on strike and neither, I believe, should doctors. On the issue of preconditions, in response to a question from Sarah Wollaston in the other place, the Secretary of State made it clear that there are no preconditions. I have looked at Hansard, and that is what he said. There are no preconditions and the BMA should recognise that and go back to the table.
Junior Doctors Contract — House of Lords, 2015-11-20
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree. It is tragic that we are in this situation. My son is a medical student and I meet many of his friends; they do not want to be in this position. Concerns have been raised about whether junior doctors will have time to do research or will lose out on their progression if they do. That should be discussed and argued out with the BMA sitting around the table
Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament — House of Lords, 2015-09-14
Topic: Defense
Tina Stowell (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, is right to say that until the beginning of the previous Parliament in 2010 there was only one Member of your Lordships’ House on the Intelligence and Security Committee. It was David Cameron, as Prime Minister, who thought at the start of the previous Parliament that it was right to extend that to two Members of your Lordships’ House When it comes to the breakdown of the ISC’s membership, it is worth me making two points to noble Lords. The first is that the ISC is not a Joint Committee of both Houses in the conventional sense; it is established by statute. It has nine places on it. As is customary, the Prime Minister consulted the Leader of the Opposition in the summer and—again, as is customary—it was the Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition who decided how she, as acting leader, wished to allocate the three places that had been provided for the main opposition party.
Europe: Renegotiation — House of Lords, 2015-11-10
Topic: Defense
James Stopford (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course, my Lords, the security of this country is paramount, as we show in many different ways. I will have to look at that particular part, and I will write to the noble Lord if I can add anything.
Access to Palliative Care Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-10-23
Topic: Health
Ranbir Suri (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, not long ago I made one of the most difficult choices that I have been asked to make in this place. I speak of voting against the Assisted Dying Bill, sponsored by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer. I voted against it because I believed that it was an absolute affront to our creator to take our own lives. I felt this self-murder to be a crime against nature and I could not support the state allowing it to happen. This all informs my view on the legislation that has been set before us. While those who are in intense pain may wish to kill themselves, they must also be allowed to access the services that could help them maintain their dignity despite their suffering This Bill will ensure that those with complex needs will be able to get support and will focus end-of-life care back on the patient. The case studies explored by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman show how badly some people have been let down at the end of their lives. I am not for one moment criticising the work done by the health service. I have used the NHS for many years, as have my family. I have been lucky enough to see its excellent work up close It is the systems of end-of-life care that are to be reformed through this Bill, not the people. On reading the report, what struck me was how unclear the instructions for communication were at this critical stage. One subject, Mr N, suffered unnecessary pain due to a lack of clear instruction for co-ordinating a response between specialists. This will be remedied by the new requirement for a single point of contact, as proposed in the Bill. The new responsibility that the CQC checks the provision of palliative care during inspections will also serve to uphold standards, as will the requirement for medical professionals to receive additional training in pain control and communication As ever with new legislation, there will be sceptical voices demanding to know how we will pay for it. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, that this Bill, if implemented properly, can save money. Promoting better standards of care and making the decision-making process more streamlined will save the time of our medical professionals and generate efficiencies that can be harnessed I urge this House to think of the gigantic human cost involved. To lose a relative is a devastating emotional blow in itself but to see them die in agony, devoid of the dignity with which they were born, is even more crushing. The considerations of the families are, to my mind, enough to justify the passing of this Bill. For that, and the other considerations, I urge noble Lords to approve this Bill.
Access to Palliative Care Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-10-23
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): My noble friend makes a good point. There is tension in the health service between local autonomy, local accountability and the National Health Service. There has always been this tension. We believe that in driving up standards it is best to have the local autonomy. However we must also have transparency so that we know who is falling behind and who is forging ahead. As to transparency at a clinical level, I was talking to a former president of the Royal College of General Practitioners recently—she comes from a different political background from myself—and she said that within the DNA of all doctors is a huge sense of competition: they want to deliver better care than the next-door doctor. That is true of surgeons probably more than anyone, but also true of GPs, physicians and hospitals, and increasingly it will be true of CCGs as well. My response to my noble friend is that we are embedding a much higher degree of transparency into the system and it is through that transparency that we will drive improvement by highlighting the best and the worst.
Access to Palliative Care Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-10-23
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): I accept and agree with that. One should not underestimate that even sophisticated, well-informed people put huge trust in their clinicians. How many of us, confronted with a difficult diagnosis, say, "What would you do?". That is the question that most people put to their doctors. Of course individual choice is extremely important, but the role of the clinicians and the trust that we as patients put into them should not be underestimated In conclusion, let me reiterate how much we support the underlying intent of the Bill but that we do not believe that legislation is the right way to address the problems that the noble Baroness has outlined.
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-07-15
Topic: Health
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I am trying to be helpful, although I am not sure that I am being very helpful. I indicated to the House on Monday that we are considering with a view, as appropriate, to returning at Third Reading to the question of whether to exclude from functions that can be transferred those regulatory and supervisory functions of national regulators responsible for regulating public authority functions. However, I would add that our consideration is not about how to exclude them on an order-by-order basis but whether to take these regulatory functions out of the scope of the Bill. This would put beyond doubt—whatever devolution deals, including health, were agreed—that the position of the regulators, such as Monitor and the Care Quality Commission, would be untouched, as indeed would the NHS constitution and mandate and all the NHS standards of care and access, as my noble and learned friend Lord Mackay pointed out With these perhaps not entirely satisfactory explanations, I hope the noble Lord will agree to withdraw his amendment.
Strategic Defence and Security Review — House of Lords, 2015-12-03
Topic: Defense
Patrick Cormack (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, that was quite a speech. I am glad that there were not eight points. It is a very great joy to follow my noble friend and Lincolnshire neighbour Lord Hailsham. He is a considerable figure and has made a considerable speech. As he was speaking, in fact, I kept thinking of that description which Churchill once gave when he said, "That is not a maiden speech but a brazen hussy of a speech". We have heard a robust speech, robustly delivered, and we look forward to many more I have known my noble friend Lord Hailsham for many years. I knew him when he was the most dogmatic of government Whips, lecturing the 1922 Committee on how we should behave. I saw him as a splendid Minister of Agriculture when he came to stay at our home and spoke in my constituency, accompanied by his bag-carrier—one George Osborne. I also knew him when he became the gamekeeper turned poacher par excellence because in 1997, when our party was somewhat reduced in numbers in the other House, he became the harrier of the Government, never giving them quarter and keeping at them day and night—in fact, so much at night that they brought in Programme Motions so that he could not carry on doing it. He is a notable addition to your Lordships’ House. I am delighted that he is here and it is a privilege to congratulate him on a very notable maiden speech I am conscious that this defence review is a significant improvement on the one we had in 2010. A number of your Lordships have made that point during the debate. I echo the words of my noble friend Lord Sterling of Plaistow when he urged the Government to try to accelerate the timetable a little. We really need them to do that Talking of brilliant speeches, what a marvellous speech Hilary Benn made in the other place last night. Yesterday’s debate and decision brought into sharp focus the need for our defences to be kept up. We must identify and distinguish between enemies and irritants. I was glad that my noble friend Lord Hailsham talked about Russia, because many of us have of course been irritated but we have a common cause. We must remember that it is not possible easily to fight wars on two fronts. We have to give real priority to identifying and eliminating the worst enemy we have had for many generations and making common cause with the great power of Russia—and it is a great power We need a broad alliance with those with whom we have much in common. I urge the Government, through my noble friend Lord Howe, who is responding on their behalf, to have real recognition of that fact and, in consequence, to have a determination of the priorities which will serve the nation well. The review is a good blueprint: it maps out a strategic direction which needs to be followed but, as my noble friend Lord Sterling said, rather more quickly than the review itself indicates. I wish the Government well in what they are doing. I again congratulate my noble friend on a splendid debut and look forward to the rest of the debate.
Strategic Defence and Security Review — House of Lords, 2015-12-03
Topic: Defense
John Attlee (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have contributed to this debate, especially the Minister for answering it. I agreed with almost all noble Lords, although I think that some of them need to research the existence of the Fleet Air Arm. I remembered during the debate that I had forgotten to raise one particularly obvious point but, fortunately, no other noble Lords raised it, so I can keep it for another event. In the mean time, I beg to move.
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust — House of Lords, 2015-12-10
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, gave two very important figures: 1% of these incidents involving people with learning difficulties were investigated and 0.3% involved people with learning difficulties who are older. We have not got it right in this country when it comes to people with learning difficulties. We have not fully learnt the lessons of Winterbourne View. However, NHS England has now published this new strategy for people with learning difficulties and mental health problems. We will hold it to account for delivering that. I think that represents a step change in trying to get as many of these people out of hospital settings—"from hospital to home" is the line in the report—which is so important. That is the fundamental issue that we should not lose sight of NHS England received the report in September. It has not yet been published because it had to give the trust a chance to comment on it, and the methodology has to be fully sorted before it is published. However, Jane Cummings has given a commitment to the Secretary of State that the report will be published before Christmas. So does NHS England have a grip? I think it does On the question of an independent investigation, which the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, raised, the trust has to be the first line in this. It is up to the trust to have the right culture within it so that these incidents come to the surface. We now have a much more empowered CQC providing independent inspection, and of course the Secretary of State has agreed to set up an independent investigation branch, on the recommendation of the PASC, which will be operable from March.
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust — House of Lords, 2015-12-10
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): Avoidable deaths are estimated at some 10,000 a year. "Unavoidable deaths" is the phrase that I think I used, which are estimated at some 10,000 a year. That is not out of line with what is found in other countries, such as America and Germany. However, it should not be accepted, which is why the Secretary of State has asked Bruce Keogh to produce these new statistics for every trust, starting from next spring.
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust — House of Lords, 2015-12-10
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I do not think anyone was told that no one was to blame as a result of the investigation into Mid Staffs. There were failures at all levels within the NHS with the regulation, the professions and the management of that particular trust. I believe that transparency is the right way to deal with the systemic problems that we have in many of our hospitals.
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust — House of Lords, 2015-12-10
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health is committed to having a blame-free, independent investigation service looking at incidents of this magnitude in the NHS. That is why, on the recommendation of the PASC, he set up the investigations branch which will be up and running in March.
Syria: Foreign Affairs Committee Report — House of Lords, 2015-11-26
Topic: Defense
Tina Stowell (Conservative, Centre-right): I have been clear that our proposal is about providing air support to existing ground forces. We are doing it this way because we think this is one of the key lessons that we learned from previous military interventions over the last decade or so. So no, this is about local ground forces that are already there.
G20 and the Paris Attacks — House of Lords, 2015-11-17
Topic: Defense
Tina Stowell (Conservative, Centre-right): My noble friend is right in saying that there is widespread support for the measures that we have already committed to taking, and I am very grateful for that. The Prime Minister said very clearly today that he knows that he and the Government have a responsibility to come forward and make their case for the additional steps that we believe are right, and that is what he is going to do. He hopes very much that by doing that in a very clear way, he will attract strong support for the additional action that is necessary to keep this country and its people safe.
NHS: Financial Performance — House of Lords, 2015-10-12
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for those helpful comments. His first question was: what is the updated estimate for the full year? There is a general figure out there that the King’s Fund, the Health Foundation and others have come up with—£2.1 billion—as the underlying provider deficit for the year. That figure is largely based on the first quarter’s results because you cannot annualise the first quarter’s results; the first quarter is often much worse than the subsequent three quarters. We believe we can manage that £2.1 billion down quite significantly; interestingly, last year the underlying provider deficit was £1.2 billion. We have other ways of managing that deficit through the surpluses that may arise on the commissioning side and other sources of revenue The noble Lord talked about agency staff. I recognise some of what he says but there is no doubt that in the aftermath of the tragedy at Mid Staffordshire, the strengthening of the CQC when I was there has led to greater pressure to increase staffing numbers. I heard the noble Lord say, I think when he was chairman of the Heart of England trust, that if you are going to get shot it is better to get shot for not hitting your financial budgets than for not having enough staff on the wards. There has been a much greater emphasis on higher levels of staffing and that has put pressure on agency staffing. There are actually 8,000 more nurses and 9,000 more doctors in the NHS since 2010 The noble Lord mentioned the cost of consultants. I recognise the strength of what he says—that it is a bit rich for us to complain about the cost of consultants when, through our arm’s-length bodies, we have been responsible for recruiting them. We expect much of the improvement methodology that has been provided by independent consultants to be provided by NHS Improvement; for example, the fact that we have now taken on Virginia Mason to help us spread best practice in running hospitals in the NHS is a model for things to come. I also hope that chains of hospitals will emerge and develop some of the best practice from hospitals such as Salford Royal, Frimley Park, the Royal Free and others, so that we can spread best practice without relying so heavily on external consultants Unfortunately, I have not read the article by Tom Hughes-Hallett. I would say to Tom, who I know, that he might spend more time focusing on his own hospital, which got a "requires improvement" notice from the CQC, than on spreading his views to all and sundry, although I recognise the strength of some of them. Sorry, I am running past my time. I had not realised that time was of the essence.
NHS: Financial Performance — House of Lords, 2015-10-12
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, it is worth reminding your Lordships that there was considerable consensus around the five-year forward view. I think that the noble Baroness’s party wholly signed up to it and, along with the Conservative Party, to committing £8 billion of extra money to the NHS over the lifetime of this Parliament. We stand by that. The NHS, in its turn, agreed to find £22 billion-worth of efficiency savings, which I think the noble Baroness accepted when she was part of the coalition Government. That is still the situation so I do not think that we need a new settlement. There is a settlement: it is called the five-year forward view and we are fully committed to it The noble Baroness raised the issue of integration. I agree 100% with her and it is an essential part of the five-year forward view—the vanguards are based on it. I remind noble Lords that the spending in the UK per capita on health is $3,200. In France it is $4,100 and in Germany it is $4,800. The NHS does a remarkable job in delivering world-class healthcare, which is rated by the Commonwealth commission and other independent agencies as among the best in the world, with considerably fewer resources than any other developed system in the world.
NHS: Financial Performance — House of Lords, 2015-10-12
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the noble Lord for that perceptive and interesting observation. The accountable care organisation is one whose time has come. A health organisation with a capitated budget is indeed the way forward. It will drive the integration that the noble Baroness was talking about earlier on. It is a key part of this Government’s health strategy to support accountable care organisations.
NHS: Financial Performance — House of Lords, 2015-10-12
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): I will have to be very quick in replying. Maybe we could discuss this outside the Chamber. There are three ways in which we can find the resources for this. The first is partly through extra government money: there is another £10 billion coming to the NHS over these next five years. The second is driving through efficiency improvements. There are vast efficiency improvements that we must make over the next five years. I regard efficiency as a moral imperative because every £1 that we can save from waste is £1 that we can plough back into patient care. The third way is through new structures of organisations—accountable care organisations are one example; chains of hospitals are another. I think that the days of the independent DGH ploughing its own furrow, or of the foundation trusts structure around the DGH, are behind us.