here - United Kingdom Parliament

More documents

Recommendations

Info

331WH Metal Theft 1 DECEMBER 2010 332WH [James Brokenshire] share intelligence effectively on the more serious organised thefts of metal. That is an important subject that needs further examination. On the cashless model, I share the concern that criminals are able to turn up at scrap-metal yards and walk away with unlimited sums of cash in exchange for metal. We will examine that in developing our work plan in this arena, including establishing a cashless model. As part of a review of the industry standards, it requires further examination. I believe that the Church Buildings Council is producing a report on metal theft, and I would welcome sight of the report once it is complete. I hope that we will be able to incorporate its recommendations, when appropriate, in our forthcoming work plan. I apologise that my comments have been so brief, but I reiterate the importance that I place on this matter. We are committed to preventing and tackling metal theft. I am certain that we have a real opportunity to tackle this crime by working together in partnership with law enforcement agencies and the industry. By working together and having a joint working plan, I am sure that we will be able to tackle all aspects of metal theft and provide the catalyst for a concerted effect by all agencies to reduce this crime. Health Care (North Yorkshire and York) 4.56 pm Julian Sturdy (York Outer) (Con): It is a pleasure, Mr Leigh, to serve under your chairmanship. Naturally, I am grateful to those hon. Members attending this debate and to the Minister. More than 800,000 people are fortunate enough to live in our beautiful part of the country, the North Yorkshire and York region. It is part of God’s own county, as some would say. Quality of local health care is of the utmost importance to many, if not all. Local health care provision is often viewed alongside other criteria such as employment and crime. It is a measure of the local community’s economic well-being and happiness—a word that seems to be floating around in many debates at the moment. It is in our moral and economic interests to ensure the widest availability of health services, the shortest waiting lists and the most impressive health outcomes, and they should be implemented in each and every region. Ensuring such health care standards for all is truly one of the most essential roles of Government. Indeed, I am sure that all those Members here today will agree that health-related concerns crop up frequently in our constituency mail. That is certainly so in my constituency of York Outer. When it comes to health, I often have nothing but sympathy with the majority of my constituents who are affected. Many of them feel betrayed by the system, weighed down by the bureaucracy, frustrated by the delays and ultimately let down by those supposedly in charge. In my experience, it is easy to comprehend such frustration. After all, our national health service is a national treasure. We champion it, and rightly so. However, when patients report negative experiences and local health funding concerns, our national treasure is in danger of being tarnished, to the detriment of health care users and service deliverers. That, in my view, should not be allowed to happen. The health service has some of the most caring, compassionate and hard-working nurses and doctors in the world. That is certainly true in North Yorkshire and York. Our health care personnel carry out tremendous work, often in tough circumstances, and they do so out of a sense of public duty, kindness and compassion. I cannot commend these individuals highly enough. However, I am concerned about health care provision in North Yorkshire and York because of the representations that I have received from NHS employees and local patients. The region faces some real health care difficulties. In truth, extremely serious concerns are growing about the capability and performance of the region’s primary care trust and related bodies. Local residents have good reason to believe that a huge range of treatments will be withdrawn, if they have not been withdrawn already. For example, I have received letters regarding the future of IVF treatments, counselling services, broken voluntary sector contracts and the withdrawal of pain relief injections. It also appears that about £2 million will be cut from GPs’ budgets for prescribing medications, and that some physio services are at risk. Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con): I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. He might be about to discuss this, but my experience from my
333WH Health Care (North Yorkshire and York) constituency is that North Yorkshire and York PCT’s way of dealing with voluntary organisations in the past few months has been a disgrace, breaching the voluntary compact between those organisations and the PCT. It has caused problems for those important parts of the big society that have been operating in North Yorkshire for so long. Julian Sturdy: Absolutely. I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. The time limit given by the PCT to those voluntary organisations is despicable, and it has caused fear and concern in the sector. Not only that, if the organisations lose funding for six months, which might be seen as only a short period, the problem is that they might not start up again. That is my concern, and I will go on to discuss it in more detail. Local residents have good reasons to believe that a huge range of treatments will be withdrawn, as I said. If the truth be told, the status quo is not only unacceptable but frightening, particularly for the most vulnerable members of our communities. Even describing the current situation as a postcode lottery is too generous. I fear that our patch is in danger of becoming an area of health deprivation. Several different factors require deep consideration as we piece together this somewhat depressing picture. First, we must accept that the region has to some extent been underfunded in the past. Before 2008, the North Yorkshire and York PCT did not exist. Instead, four separate PCTs covered the area. Nevertheless, for the purposes of this debate, I have amalgamated funding data to show the PCT’s current funding allocation and the annual figures stretching back to 2003-04. For 2010-11, our region’s PCT received just over £1.1 billion, an allocation that places it in the lowly position of 140th out of 152 PCTs. From a starting point of 127th in 2003-04, it has dropped down the funding table each year. The current funding level is the lowest allocation per head of all Yorkshire and Humber PCTs. PCT funding is currently allocated according to a complex funding formula, often referred to as the weighted capitation formula. In essence, the formula determines the target share of resources to which PCTs should theoretically be entitled, based on a broad range of criteria including population, the local cost of health care provision and the level of need and health inequality in the area. Unfortunately, most PCTs never receive an allocation equal to their deemed target share according to the formula. Rather, they move towards it over time, some faster than others. Personally, I am slightly critical of the current formula. It often results in greater funding disparities between different regions, which provoke a profound sense of unfairness. Less deprived areas often seem to get a certain tag as well. For example, according to the formula, North Yorkshire and York does not have adequate need for additional resources, particularly compared to the needs of more urban areas such as Hull. I am not convinced that approaching regional health funding consideration with that mentality—judging whether areas are deprived enough—is a sufficiently robust methodology in current circumstances. We must look more deeply at the funding stream. I agree that the funding shortfall has increased the strain on our local PCT and its ability to deliver the best possible health outcomes and equity access for local 1 DECEMBER 2010 Health Care (North Yorkshire and York) 334WH residents. I would appreciate the Minister’s comments on whether the coalition Government will review the funding formula at some future date. However, I also suggest that excusing our health care failings in our region on past funding alone would be somewhat naïve. Over the past few years, North Yorkshire and York PCT has accumulated an overspend of some £17.9 million. Thus, despite the coalition’s welcome commitment to protect the wider health budget, services are being cut in our region to pay for the fiscal irresponsibility of the PCT. Moreover, the PCT seems to be intent on resolving this deficit immediately because the previous Government imposed a statutory obligation on all primary care trusts to break even by the beginning of 2011. Such a target-focused piece of bureaucracy has now resulted in the PCT cutting too many services too quickly, possibly leading to a diminished health care package for our local residents. I have already listed some of the services that are under threat of withdrawal. My hon. Friend the Member for Skipton and Ripon (Julian Smith) has named the services in the voluntary sector as well. I shall expand on a few examples. First, there is the withdrawal of the pain relief injections. As Members from neighbouring constituencies know—my hon. Friend the Member for Selby and Ainsty (Nigel Adams) has campaigned with me on this—the PCT’s decision to restrict the provision of back pain relief injections has provoked a huge reaction from both patients and health care professionals alike. Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con): I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. I am not sure whether I should declare an interest, having received several back pain relief injections in the past. The injections are a big issue in the north Yorkshire area, as evidenced by the huge postbags that my hon. Friend and I receive, and we have spoken to the Secretary of State on the matter. Can my hon. Friend recall a discussion with the Secretary of State in which he said that one of his officials would look into the York PCT’s interpretation of the NICE guidelines on back pain relief injections? Has he received any notification of those discussions or heard from the Secretary of State’s office? Julian Sturdy: My hon. Friend makes a valid point. We did indeed meet, and I have not yet received a response from the Secretary of State. I hope that the Minister will hear our message here and chase up that response, because it is important that we get an answer to our question. My hon. Friend mentioned the back pain relief injections, and the issue is causing real concern among our constituents. Members of the public came to my last surgery to discuss the matter. The PCT, as my hon. Friend said, based its decision to cut back pain injections on its interpretation of the NICE guidelines. Unfortunately, almost every other PCT interprets the same guidelines in a different way. As such, countless local people are being forced to suffer enormous and unnecessary levels of pain. Alongside other hon. Members from the region, I have lobbied the Secretary of State. Campaign groups such as York and District Pain Management Support Group have been leading the way on this as well. I have
Page 1 and 2:
Wednesday Volume 519 1 December 201
Page 3 and 4:
801 1 DECEMBER 2010 802 House of Co
Page 5 and 6:
805 Oral Answers 1 DECEMBER 2010 Or
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
821 1 DECEMBER 2010 822 Point of Or
Page 15 and 16:
825 1 DECEMBER 2010 Fixed-term Parl
Page 17 and 18:
829 Fixed-term Parliaments Bill 1 D
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
889 1 DECEMBER 2010 National Policy
Page 49 and 50:
893 National Policy Statements 1 DE
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56: 905 National Policy Statements 1 DE
Page 67 and 68: 929 1 DECEMBER 2010 930 always be f
Page 69 and 70: 933 Libel Law 1 DECEMBER 2010 Libel
Page 71 and 72: 937 Libel Law 1 DECEMBER 2010 Libel
Page 73: 941 Deferred Division 1 DECEMBER 20
Page 76 and 77: 271WH Candour in Health Care 1 DECE
Page 86 and 87: 291WH 1 DECEMBER 2010 PACE (Stop an
Page 88 and 89: 295WH PACE (Stop and Search) 1 DECE
Page 90 and 91: 299WH 1 DECEMBER 2010 HIV 300WH HIV
Page 92 and 93: 303WH HIV 1 DECEMBER 2010 HIV 304WH
Page 102 and 103: 323WH 1 DECEMBER 2010 Metal Theft 3
Page 104 and 105: 327WH Metal Theft 1 DECEMBER 2010 M
Page 108 and 109: 335WH [Julian Sturdy] Health Care (
Page 110 and 111: 339WH [Paul Burstow] Health Care (N
Page 112 and 113: 75WS Written Ministerial Statements
Page 118 and 119: 801W Written Answers 1 DECEMBER 201
Page 156 and 157:
877W Written Answers 1 DECEMBER 201
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 177 and 178:
ORAL ANSWERS Wednesday 1 December 2
Page 179 and 180:
Col. No. JUSTICE—continued Depart
Page 181:
Volume 519 Wednesday No. 82 1 Decem
show all

here - United Kingdom Parliament

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?