Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative Anne Marie Morris asks how realistic the NHS's sustainability and transformation plans are.

Rob Whiteford says he believes the shared delivery plans (SDPs) will help deliver changes in his area, although he says he can't speak nationally. He says health care providers in north London have "bought into" the transformation plans.

Ms Thompson says there is no extra funding for transitioning to new systems.  

She says it would be "very helpful" to have "seed funding" to help develop new systems.

House of Commons
Parliament

Health spokeswoman for the SNP Philippa Whitford says that given the country's ageing population the government "should have seen this coming".

On the four hour issue, she argues that it is not enough to change the specifics of the target - better alternatives to A&E need to be provided.

Currently, she says, people feel there is no alternative - particularly if they have to wait three or four weeks to see their GP or where there is no local community pharmacy. 

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers meet from 3pm to put questions to the government, including two Brexit-themed questions on the rights of EU nationals and on support for the farming sector.

The main business is the second day of detailed, committee stage debate on the Higher Education and Research Bill.

The government suffered a defeat during Monday's debate on the bill when Labour, Lib Dem and some crossbench peers backed an amendment setting out the independence and autonomy of universities.

Opponents of the bill are concerned that it threatens the independence of institutions and accuse the government of wanting to "marketise" higher education. While votes, which are rare at committee stage, are not expected today, this is still highly contentious stuff.

Peers will also take part in a short debate on improving equine welfare standards.

Select Committee
Parliament

Committee chair Meg Hilier opens the session saying she wants to hear from the witnesses what their experience of the funding situation is, and what support they are getting from the Department of Health.

Two of the witnesses represent Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) which was placed in special measures in September 2016.

Sarah Thompson, Chief Officer of Enfield CCG, says since being placed in special measures the CCG is implementing a number of transformation schemes.  

She says changes to GP prescribing has saved £2.4m without affecting patient care.

Rob Whiteford says there are historic underfunding reasons why Enfield CCG got into financial difficulties.

Labour member Karin Smyth asks how much support Enfield CCG is now getting.

Ms Thompson says the CCG has now agreed contracts with all providers for the next two years, and this has involved all parties being "aligned" on addressing local needs with national policy.

Chris Hopson says funding pressures make contract negotiations more fraught, as CCG's come under pressure to cut costs from NHS England.

House of Commons
Parliament

Jeremy Hunt refers to Jeremy Corbyn's suggestion at PMQs that extra funding for the NHS could be found by cutting corporation tax.

He argues that cutting corporation tax has enabled the government to boost the jobs and the economy.

This, he says, has enabled the government to increase funding to the NHS.

Select Committee
Parliament

The Public Accounts Committee is examining the financial performance of NHS bodies, which have become unsustainable according to reports by the National Audit Office.

The first group of witnesses this afternoon are -

• Sarah Thompson, Chief Officer, Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group
• Rob Whiteford, Chief Finance Officer, Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group
• Chris Hopson, Chief Executive, NHS Providers

House of Commons
Parliament

On the "four hours" issue, he describes the suggestion that the government is not committed to the target as "totally spurious".

He describes the target as "one of the best things the NHS does".

He argues that the NHS needs to find different ways to offer treatment to people who do not need to be in A&E. 

House of Commons
Parliament

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is now speaking for the government amendment to Labour's motion.

Mr Hunt says he must correct some of the statements made by the shadow health secretary, he repeats that the NHS has always had difficult winters, but that the difference now is that the NHS insists on much higher standards of safety and quality of care.

He says targets should be not be pursued "slavishly" at the expense of good patient care.  

Select Committee
Parliament

As the NHS debate continues in the Commons, the Treasury Committee is questioning Bank of England governor Mark Carney. 

Also giving evidence in the committee's regular inquiry into the Bank of England Financial Stability Reports, are:

• Alex Brazier, Executive Director, Financial Stability Strategy and Risk, Bank of England
• Anil Kashyap, Financial Policy Committee
• Martin Taylor, Financial Policy Committee  

Birmingham’s Mental Health Street Triage team respond to a call regarding a patient hearing voices, stating he is going to kill someone.

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth closes his speech saying the "culpability for the state of the NHS today lies at the door of Downing Street".

He claims the health secretary "doesn't have a clue" what to do.

"Last year he blamed the junior doctors," says Mr Ashworth. "Yesterday he blamed the patients and today he blamed Simon Stevens."

Mr Ashworth calls on the government to "get a grip" and for MPs to support Labour's motion this evening.

House of Commons
Parliament

Jon Ashworth moves on to address the comments made by the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, in a statement to the Commons on Monday.

Mr Hunt suggested that non-urgent patients in A&E might no longer be guaranteed to be seen within four hours.  

Mr Ashworth asks the health secretary if he agrees with Bruce Keogh, the NHS National Medical Director, who has previously said the four-hour standard should not be changed.

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth is making the opening speech in the debate.

He thanks all NHS staff for their work and says they "simply want to do the very best for their patients" and not score political points.

He quotes NHS staff saying that "corridor care" is becoming the norm in some hospitals.  

Mr Ashworth says he will not name the hospitals in his speech, but will pass the names to the health secretary to follow up.

Ken Clarke, a former health secretary, says winter crises are "common" in the NHS over the years and asks if Labour has any policy proposal to make.

Mr Ashworth says "this is one of the worst winters for probably 20 years", and that winter crises did not happen under Labour.

House of Commons
Parliament

Now we come to Labour’s debate on the NHS and the social care fund.

Labour have tabled a motion supporting the “four-hour” standard” which states that a minimum of 95% of all patients to A&E will be treated within four hours.

The motion also accuses the government of cutting the social care budget by £4.6bn since 2010 and calls for extra funding.

The government has tabled an amendment noting improvements to the 111 service and increased access to GPs at evenings and weekends, which has been selected by the Speaker.

The Lib Dems also tabled an amendment calling on the government to implement comprehensive access and waiting time standards in mental health.

House of Commons
Parliament

Mr Hollinrake describes the case of Claudia Lawrence, missing since 2009, and the difficulties of her parents in attempting to protect her financial and property affairs in her absence.

Mr Hollinrake is calling for a system of legal guardianship for missing persons, to allow families access to finances and property.

He says similar arrangements are already in place covering people who are caring for those who lack mental capacity.

The bill will receive its second reading on 3 February.

Jeremy Corbyn asks who the prime minister will listen to over warnings about NHS services

Theresa May rejects the Red Cross warning about a "humanitarian crisis" in the English NHS, saying it was "irresponsible and overblown".

The prime minister was responding to Jeremy Corbyn's questions about waiting times.