Tuesday Volume 556 15 January 2013 No. 96 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Tuesday 15 January 2013 £5·00 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2013 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 717 15 JANUARY 2013 718 The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt): House of Commons Despite the huge improvements that have been made over the last decade in the outcomes for people with Tuesday 15 January 2013 cardiovascular disease, it is still one of the biggest killers in England and the largest cause of disability. That is why we are developing a CVD outcomes strategy, The House met at half-past Eleven o’clock which will set out where there is scope to make further improvements in patient outcomes in this area. PRAYERS Neil Carmichael: I am chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on vascular disease, which recently [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] produced a report highlighting the need for early diagnosis and intervention, and the additional risks associated with obesity and diabetes. Is the Secretary of State BUSINESS BEFORE QUESTIONS willing to meet me and some of my colleagues to consider how we can improve outcomes for sufferers of CANTERBURY CITY COUNCIL BILL (BY ORDER) vascular disease? Motion made, That the Lords amendments be now considered. Mr Hunt: I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent work with the all-party group and for the group’s Hon. Members: Object. constructive response to our consultation on the outcomes Lords amendments to be considered on Tuesday 22 January. strategy. I am more than happy to meet him and other representatives of the all-party group. With an ageing population and rising levels of obesity, we cannot be LEEDS CITY COUNCIL BILL (BY ORDER) complacent about cardiovascular disease and have much Motion made, That the Lords amendments be now to do. considered. Helen Jones (Warrington North) (Lab): The Prime Hon. Members: Object. Minister promised before the election that there would Lords amendments to be considered on Tuesday 22 January. be no reconfigurations or closures unless there was clinical and local support. Why then has the Secretary NOTTINGHAM CITY COUNCIL BILL (BY ORDER) of State decided to break up the existing vascular Motion made, That the Lords amendments be now network centred on Warrington hospital, meaning that considered. emergency patients face a trip to Chester by ambulance, when this has neither clinical support nor support in the Hon. Members: Object. local community? When did that policy change, or was it just an election promise that the Conservatives never Lords amendments to be considered on Tuesday 22 January. intended to keep? READING BOROUGH COUNCIL BILL (BY ORDER) Mr Hunt: We believe in the clinical networks, including Motion made, That the Lords amendments be now the network for cardiovascular disease. We have increased considered. the funding for those networks by 27%. However, we want them to include mental health and maternity Hon. Members: Object. services. We think that it would be wrong to do what the Lords amendments to be considered on Tuesday 22 January. Labour party wants, which is to concentrate that funding on cardiovascular disease and cancer, and deprive of CITY OF LONDON (VARIOUS POWERS)BILL [LORDS] the clear benefits of such networks the 700,000 women (BY ORDER) who give birth on the NHS every year and the nearly Second Reading opposed and deferred until Tuesday 1 million people who will be diagnosed with dementia. 22 January (Standing Order No. 20). Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD): Given that the majority of vascular interventions are acute in nature, following trauma or cardiac episodes, is it not Oral Answers to Questions reckless for NHS Lancashire and NHS Cumbria to be talking about moving vascular services away from the Morecambe bay area, meaning that people from the south lakes and north Cumbria will have to travel as far HEALTH as Preston, Blackburn or Carlisle to receive treatment? Will the Secretary of State meet me, other local MPs and local consultants to discuss how we can put the The Secretary of State was asked— matter right for local people? Vascular Disease (England) Mr Hunt: We are very keen to ensure that all reconfigurations of services have strong local, clinical 1. Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con): What recent support. We are making good progress in this area. assessment he has made of the provision of treatment There is always a trade-off between access, which I for vascular disease in England. [136832] recognise is extremely important in a rural constituency 719 Oral Answers15 JANUARY 2013 Oral Answers 720 such as the hon. Gentleman’s, and the centralisation of to point that out to colleagues in Wales and the Welsh services, which sometimes leads to better clinical outcomes. Assembly, and to make the point that it is the Conservatives I am happy to arrange for him to meet me or one of my and the coalition Government who deliver better patient colleagues to discuss his concerns in more detail. care through investing in the NHS. Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab): Those with diabetes, Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab): Will the Minister such as myself, are five times more likely to get tell the House how many NHS trusts failed to meet the cardiovascular diseases. Last year’s National Audit Office accident and emergency target of 95% of people being report indicated that 1 million diabetics did not get their seen within four hours last week? When was the last nine checks. What steps will the Secretary of State take time that target was met nationally? to ensure that those checks are made available to all diabetic patients? Dr Poulter: I am happy to inform the hon. Lady that we are meeting the 95% target nationally for the A and Mr Hunt: I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on E wait. On the most recent figures available, 96% of his campaigning work for people with diabetes, and I patients were seen within that period—96 out of every am aware that there are 24,000 premature deaths every 100 patients are seen within four hours in A and E. The year because we are not as good as we need to be at key difference between this Government and the last tackling the disease. It is shocking that only half those Labour Government is that we trust clinicians to ensure with diabetes are getting the full set of nine checks that that they prioritise those patients in greatest need ahead everyone with diabetes should be getting every year, and of purely meeting targets and ticking boxes. when we publish the cardiovascular disease outcomes strategy—which I hope will be in spring—I hope we will Andy Burnham (Leigh) (Lab): As winter bites, the address some of his concerns about how we can do a NHS faces its toughest time of year, but there is mounting better job for diabetes sufferers. evidence that the Secretary of State has left it unprepared. For 105 of his 133 days in office, the Government have Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP): Deep vein thrombosis missed their own A and E target for major A and Es. is the leading direct cause of maternal deaths across the Last week, for the first time, the figure fell below 90%. United Kingdom. Will the Minister consider interaction Right now in A and Es up and down England, ambulances with the regional assemblies, including the Northern are stuck in queues outside, patients are on trolleys in Ireland Assembly, to agree a UK strategy to address corridors, and people are waiting to be seen for hours that issue? on end. Does the Minister accept that there is a growing crisis in our A and Es, and if he does, what is he doing Mr Hunt: I am happy to look into the issue of DVT about it? and it should be included in our CVD outcomes strategy. Just as we will look at diabetes, I will ensure that we also Dr Poulter: The right hon. Gentleman is good at consider how we might be able to help on DVT. putting across figures based on brief snapshots in the year. We know that on an annual basis we are meeting Hospital Waiting Times (England) the target, and that 96% of patients are being seen on time in A and Es. We have made allowances for winter 2. David T. C. Davies (Monmouth) (Con): What pressures—which we know are always difficult during recent steps he has taken to reduce hospital waiting the flu season every year—and we have put aside times in England. [136833] £330 million to ensure that we support the NHS during those winter pressures. Let me make it clear to the right The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health hon. Gentleman that it is wrong to try and distort (Dr Daniel Poulter): Latest figures for October 2012 figures based on outcomes from a snapshot of just a show that 70,000 fewer patients are waiting longer than few days or a week. It is important to put across the 18 weeks than at the last election. The Government’s clear picture, which is that the Government are meeting mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board makes targets in the NHS and patients are being treated in a timely access to services a priority. much more timely manner than under the previous Government. David T. C. Davies: Those figures compare extremely well with those in Wales, where most patients are waiting Andy Burnham: I suggest to the Minister that he needs for 26 weeks, and many for 36 weeks.