argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Downing Street Christmas Parties Investigation — House of Commons, 2021-12-09
Topic: Health
Martin John Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On 16 December, on national television, the Prime Minister asked everyone to exercise "the greatest possible personal responsibility." London also went into tier 3 restrictions, which stated: "No person may participate in a gathering… You must not have a work Christmas lunch or party," whether it was in an office or in somebody’s flat upstairs On 18 December, Dr Katherine Henderson of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine stated on the BBC: "We are at a really dangerous point which could tip into finding it incredibly difficult to manage." The same day, 514 people died of covid-19. I am sure the NHS and those in care homes were already over the tipping point On 18 December, the Prime Minister stated: "If you are forming a Christmas Bubble, it’s vital that from today, you minimise contact with people from outside your household." The evening that statement was given by the Prime Minister in Downing Street, a Christmas party was held in No. 10, where officials knocked back glasses of wine during a Christmas quiz and a secret Santa. I wonder whether the Paymaster General agrees with me that if something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and it is at a Christmas party, it is usually a duck.
Downing Street Christmas Parties Investigation — House of Commons, 2021-12-09
Topic: Health
Stephen Mark Flynn (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): In December last year, my friend sat with his dad to write a list of the people who would be permitted to attend his mum’s funeral. At the same time, we now know No. 10 was hosting myriad parties that the Prime Minister claims to know nothing about, despite the fact they happened in his own house. Surely even the Minister must accept that a Prime Minister who seeks to protect partying, indeed a Prime Minister who seeks to protect himself, rather than protecting the integrity of public health messaging, is no Prime Minister at all.
Downing Street Christmas Parties Investigation — House of Commons, 2021-12-09
Topic: Health
Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Like most ordinary people, I have no idea what the difference is between a gathering and a party, and I note that the Minister has been unable to clarify that. Given the complete absence of leadership that we have witnessed, does he share my wider concern that as we enter a new wave of the pandemic, these unsavoury revelations have seriously and gravely undermined public compliance with the rules, which will cost lives? In view of that, why should anyone believe a single word the Prime Minister says?
Health and Care Bill — House of Commons, 2021-11-23
Topic: Health
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I simply point out that it is available; it is just that funding has to follow from the domestic health board to pay for it. I have sent patients to Leeds for MRI-guided biopsy, and patients used to come to Glasgow to have eye melanoma removed without losing their eye. That already exists.
NHS Update — House of Lords, 2021-07-22
Topic: Health
Iain McNicol (Labour, Centre-left): I declare my interests as set out in the register. My Lords, Ministers rightly come to these Chambers and praise NHS staff for all they have done throughout the pandemic, yet a third of NHS staff are considering leaving their job. Vacancies are endemic and, to top that, we have a looming summer crisis. For an average nurse, 3% is equivalent to £15.40 a week. Inflation removes £11.58 of that; so, for all the Minister’s kind words, in real terms that is a pay rise of £3.82 a week, or 55p a day, and less than half of that for a newly qualified nurse. Does the Minister think this is fair, and what does he think the nurses should do with their 55p a day?
NHS Update — House of Lords, 2021-07-22
Topic: Health
Clive Brooke (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I welcome the Minister’s offer to meet the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, to discuss her devastating report. We should be ashamed to see the way some of our people with learning disabilities and our autistic young people have been treated. I would like to know whether the Government’s action plan can give some realistic dates on when there is likely to be proper service and support given within local communities and within homes that should be created for them Secondly, on Covid generally, I have been double-jabbed with Pfizer, so it is unlikely that I will go into hospital, but I have Covid. I would like to pick up on the question from the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton—what are the figures for the number of people who have had their vaccinations but are now starting to suffer from Covid? This is not flu; it is quite different from flu. You get the jab for the flu and you stay clear of it. With this, you get the jabs but you can get it just the same—and I have been suffering. Why are the Government giving mixed messages that people are now going back to normal? This is just not the case. We are sending out mixed messages and giving the impression that we have this "freedom day". Yes, there will be freedom, but there will be freedom to spread on a scale that we have not experienced latterly. So I hope the Government will be cautious with the mixed messages they have been issuing and they will underline that having the double jab does not necessarily mean that people are clear of catching the disease.
Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-02-01
Topic: Health
Elizabeth Barker (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I thank the noble Baronesses. I take the Minister’s point that the drafting of the amendment is not correct, but I share the concerns set out in the report of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee that some pretty wide-ranging powers are conferred on the Secretary of State. There is an inconsistency between asking for a report under Clause 3 and then similarly asking for a report but also conferring these powers under Clause 4. I do not want to delay the matter. I simply wish that we should pass legislation which deals correctly with what is a very difficult and sensitive matter. In my long time in the House, I have been involved in a number of discussions about NHS liability and the best way to ensure that patients get what they most want: to know why something happened and, if possible, to stop it happening to anybody else. That concern is not fully addressed by the provision. At this stage, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment, and I reserve the right to come back to the matter at a later stage.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2021-12-08
Topic: Health
Martyn Day (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the Secretary of State for his statement, and indeed for advance sight of it, albeit fairly briefly Given the time when the press call went out this afternoon, I think that this could have been handled in a way that would have given everyone more opportunities to scrutinise what was happening. That said, I find myself much in agreement with the Secretary of State’s remarks, perhaps more so than many on his own Benches One aspect that should concern all of us is the lower immunity from vaccination. That is especially worrying, and I think we need to emphasise that it is still important for people to be vaccinated and, in particular, to get that booster vaccination. I had mine on Sunday, and I encourage everyone else to do the same England’s plan B does, remarkably, resemble the current arrangements in Scotland—working from home, face coverings and vaccine certificates, all of which measures we have repeatedly advised this Government to adopt. Better late than never; however, I cannot but comment that when my colleagues in Scotland were faced with these choices, they were given a vote on them in the Scottish Parliament. Likewise, it must now be time for a COBRA meeting to happen finally. How can the Secretary of State think it acceptable not to have held such a meeting with the devolved Governments when this point of restrictions has been reached?
Assisted Dying Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2021-10-22
Topic: Health
Alicia Kennedy (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, so many of us in this House have personal experience of watching someone close to us die of a terminal illness. That experience will undoubtedly influence our view, as it has mine. However, even with such lived experience, I believe that only those facing the relentless progression of a terminal illness truly understand what we are debating here. As with every other policy area that we discuss, we should listen and take note of the stories of those most affected by the decisions we take. For me, the overriding message of the end-of-life stories of those advocating for this Bill is a plea for choice and control—a chance for the person most affected to decide for themselves when they have had enough My personal story is one of a lack of choice and control for my mother at the end of her life. When she knew that her cancer was terminal, choosing where she would like to die was the most important decision. She felt very strongly about it—and believe me, everyone was very clear what she wanted. However, after a fall, she ended up in hospital and, despite her plea to go home, the doctor would only discharge her to a hospice. Her control was gone and her choice to die where she wanted was denied. This experience, albeit limited, leads me to believe very strongly that creating a lawful, regulated option with proper safeguards to allow those without hope of recovery the chance to choose when and where they end their life is the right thing to do. I have read the many arguments against this Bill. In addition to the understandable religious objections, there seem to be three main themes of argument against assisted dying. The first is that doctors should not be forced to take a life. However, in my mother’s case, the increased doses of morphine given to her as part of the now-abandoned Liverpool care pathway were a medical decision and not my mother’s. Although that practice is no longer used, end-of-life decisions are still largely in the hands of doctors. Patients have very few options to control the end of their life The second argument, that there should be better palliative care, is strong. I agree, but my support for assisted dying does not mean, by any means, that I do not support providing better palliative care. I do. For me, this issue is about choice at the end of one’s life Finally, there is a legitimate concern that vulnerable people might feel pressured into ending their lives. These concerns should not be brushed aside. Proper safeguards need to accompany any legislation on assisted dying; I believe that this has been taken into account as part of the Bill My limited but personal experience and consideration of the arguments lead me to support this Bill. I want to see it progress through this House.
Assisted Dying Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2021-10-22
Topic: Health
Thomas Murray Elder (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, after five and a half hours—and with several more hours to come—of what has, I must say, been informed and compassionate debate on both sides of the argument, I wish to limit myself to two points First, this Bill takes account of past debates and our discussions in this House; I think that it is a better Bill than some of the ones we have seen before as a result. It already builds in many safeguards, in my view, but I hear what the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Eames, says. If this goes through the normal parliamentary process—that is, it gets it Second Reading and goes on to further stages—there will be no earthly reason why further safeguards cannot be sought, discussed and introduced. The fact that the Bill could be improved by having more safeguards is not a good reason for not giving it a Second Reading. The central aim of the Bill is clear, and I support it. In my view, the safeguards are all there; I can well understand how others might take a view but allow the processes to do that My second point is this: we have rightly heard quite a lot about the position of doctors, nurses, family members and friends, but we must not lose sight of the fact that the ill, dying patient is by far the most important person in this whole business. I feel strongly, not least from my own experience 30-odd years ago, and as others have said, that the comfort that would be given to a patient in knowing that their fate was in their own hands would be real. I do not believe, as others have argued, that it would be the start of a process that would somehow make assisted dying more of the norm From my point of view, this is a good Bill which deserves to go through the whole parliamentary process to see whether it could be even better. It is about giving people a choice at the very end of their lives and to leave that choice not in the hands of others but their own hands—the hands of the human being facing up to how they wish to handle the last months of their life.
Assisted Dying Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2021-10-22
Topic: Health
Thomas McAvoy (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, my first duty today is to say that my noble friend Lady Liddell, who is heartbroken not to be here today, has asked me to confirm her opposition to the Bill Many have spoken this afternoon about really heartbreaking situations for their families, parents, grandparents and mortally ill children. I have drawn most of what I have to say from the statement by the right honourable Gordon Brown, because it is the one that had the most impact on me: "Lawmakers will be as aware as I am that, over the past ten years, public opinion has appeared to have shifted to favour the legalisation of assisted dying and, it is a sign of the times that a similar bill is coming before the Scottish parliament." The question I have, which is surely the question that lawmakers have to consider before they contemplate a complete change of the law, is: what has happened to making a really devoted attempt to improve palliative care for the terminally ill? It seems to be second best and it should not be. Gordon Brown continues: "If death were to become not just an option but something close to an entitlement through the bureaucratic processes that an act of parliament’s provisions impose, we would, in my view, be altering fundamentally the way we think" about this I am a believer in and supporter of convention and I will not advocate a vote against the Bill but, in concert with my noble friend Lady Liddell, I am certainly opposed to it. However, I agree with the conventions of the House Gordon Brown says: "My fear is that, despite its protections against abuse"— I do not think that the protections are good enough— "an Assisted Dying Act could lead to a slippery slope, and that over time legislators—undoubtedly out of compassion and a desire to avoid suffering—would be unable to resist the erosion of the safeguards against the taking of life. And while the end result may not be called assisted dying on demand, harm will be caused. Better to provide palliative care that we know is caring and loving and will make possible a good death." As I said, I will not oppose the Bill at Second Reading, unless somebody cleverly forces a vote to try to get a result here. I look forward to the process the Bill will have to go through the further it goes into the House of Lords’ procedures.
Assisted Dying Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2021-10-22
Topic: Health
Mary Goudie (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I thank all those who have sent me emails and letters, both against and for the Bill. The vast majority of the mail I have received has been asking me to vote—if there is a vote—and speak against the Bill In the 1970s, I had the pleasure of being introduced to Dame Cicely Saunders and going to her hospice, and I spent a number of years talking to her and helping with her. I became very involved in the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow, with which I still have close links and which has done a great deal of pioneering work in palliative care. I would like to see palliative care assisted by the Government much more, including in the home. Not everybody should have to leave home to die; most people would prefer to be in their own home "Assisted dying" is a euphemism. This is an assisted suicide Bill—let us call a spade a spade. Nor is the Bill about alleviating suffering. Eligibility for assisted suicide does not require suffering. Other countries have this type of legislation, with acute suffering as a condition for eligibility. In this Bill, there is a very low threshold for eligibility. There is also concern about coercion, and a vulnerable individual being manipulated into this decision I quote from an American psychiatric journal: "Psychiatrists with ethical objections to assisted suicide advocated a higher … more extensive review of a decision." The standard for deciding whether a person has the competence to make this decision is not a scientific one. It is difficult to determine whether a person even has the mental capacity to make such a definite decision. How are we to determine standards and thresholds for deciding whether a person has a specific capability to consent to a physical assisted suicide? What happens when doctors cannot decide, or if one of the two doctors changes their mind or does not agree? The Bill poses questions about the ethics of evaluating competence when it is partly determined by the individual values of the attending doctors Facilitating the taking of human life is a poor solution to improving the quality of end-of-life care. As I said at the beginning of my few words, we should be putting much more effort and funds into palliative care in the home, in hospices or in a mixture of both.
Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2018-10-22
Topic: Health
Ilora Gillian Finlay (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I am afraid I will take a different view. Amendment 84 is potentially incredibly dangerous in the context of the Bill. I can understand why people with a mental health disorder who know exactly what is likely to happen to them when they relapse and know what treatment they do and do not want can make an informed decision based on their previous experience of their illness and episodes. Here, however, we are asking people to provide advance consent to their liberty being deprived in a situation that they do not know about and have not experienced. The evidence from advance care planning—I have a recent paper from Ontario—showed that people’s knowledge was very poor. There were decision conflicts and when they were re-interviewed later they had re-evaluated their decisions in the light of further information and as things had moved forwards The problem is that the cared-for person’s experience of care is based on human interaction. They cannot predict who will be the carer at some point in the future, nor how that interpersonal chemistry will work. I am concerned that there is a real danger that someone could be locked in to having to live with what they said previously. There is a lot of evidence from the world of care planning that people do change their preferences. Indeed, as an illness progresses, they may change them very radically.
Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2018-10-22
Topic: Health
Ilora Gillian Finlay (Crossbench, Unknown): I do not want to prolong this too much but I will ask the noble Baroness: has she in any way lost confidence in the proposal that she put forward when the Mental Capacity Act was a Bill before us? It was for an advance statement of wishes, which has, when properly used, been a very powerful tool to make sure that somebody is listened to. My concern has been that our discussion to date has been about the wishes and feelings of the person as previously expressed. From the way she was talking, I am concerned that it sounds as if she might have lost confidence in the ability of that—because, as I have said, I have a real concern that tying somebody legally to enforcing something which was said in advance could potentially be really dangerous.
Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2018-10-22
Topic: Health
Sheila Clare Hollins (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, these amendments are examples of the long and complicated amendments which I think could end up going wrong, because they are trying to cover quite a lot, which will probably become gold-plated and give rather too much weight to the legal profession. I do not think that what Sir Simon Wessely planned to do is relevant here, because it is not really about mental illness but about dementia. If that is the case, people may not be in a position to change their mind at a later date, so these amendments are very complicated and probably rather unwise.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2021-11-09
Topic: Health
Kirsten Frances Oswald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the Secretary of State for setting out his thinking today. The Government said in the Budget that they planned to invest responsibly. Does he believe that it was responsible to cancel a multimillion-pound contract to supply a covid vaccine that phase 3 trials show may be more effective than the Oxford vaccine, threatening hundreds of jobs in Livingston for no apparent good reason? Will he consider rethinking that unfortunate decision?
Independent Fan-led Review of Football Governance — House of Commons, 2021-11-25
Topic: Health
Margaret Ferrier (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The report suggests that the ban on drinking alcohol in the stands could be lifted. Although that may help to bolster club finances, it could have huge consequences for antisocial behaviour, particularly at big games when team rivalries can cause tensions to run high. Have the Government considered the impact that the ban’s removal could have? What measures would they put in place to mitigate that?