| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
8.20 pm
Dr. Howard Stoate (Dartford): Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak. I am pleased to be given the opportunity to speak on a subject that is of concern to my constituents and about which I have received many letters. I also have relevant experience of the subject in that, until the good people of Dartford elected me on 1 May, I was a full-time, non-fundholding general practitioner in the national health service. I know first hand how important it is to patients that the NHS is there to help them.
I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on his eloquent statement on how the NHS will be safeguarded and, indeed, improved under his stewardship. However, as this is my maiden speech, I should like to begin by paying tribute to my predecessors as Members of Parliament for Dartford since 1945 before making my substantive points.
Norman Dodds was elected in the landslide victory of 1945, which many thought would never be repeated--until the night of 1 May this year. In 1955, Sydney Irving began his first term as the Member of Parliament for Dartford. He was a good friend of mine and a colleague on Dartford borough council. I have followed his example in holding the position of chair of finance on the council and now as Member of Parliament for Dartford.
Sydney was loved and respected in Dartford. He was also admired in the House as a kind and intelligent parliamentarian. He rose to become a Deputy Speaker, before his defeat in 1979 when he became Lord Irving and moved to another place.
My immediate predecessor was Bob Dunn, who held the seat for 18 years from 1979. He held office as a junior Minister in the Conservative Government and served on the executive of the 1922 Committee. He was well respected in Dartford as a hard-working constituency Member of Parliament who always did his best for the people he served. I know that he took a close interest in many of the problems that were brought to him, and I hope to emulate his example and work hard for the people I serve.
Bob Dunn boasted in his election address that he had written more than 60,000 letters on behalf of his constituents during the time that he was in office. As well as seeking to help his constituents, I am sure that that was a valiant effort on his part to support the paper industry in Dartford, which has existed since Britain's first commercially successful paper industry was built in the town as long ago as 1588.
That brings me to the history of Dartford, which is probably best known as the southern end of the tunnel and bridge crossings that carry the M25 across the Thames. Dartford is, however, centred on the crossing of another river, the Darent. It was an important post on one of the earliest Roman roads to be built in Britain. Watling street joins London to the coast and continues to be the name of a major artery through the town.
Dartford continues to develop and there are still indications, in the forms of buildings and street names, of many of the ages in which the town thrived. The manor of Dartford was the source of taxes amounting to £82.12s, according to the Domesday book. I am sure that that compares favourably with the council tax that I set with my colleagues earlier this year, and I am convinced that the Labour council provides better services for the people of Dartford than they would have received in the 11th century.
The constituency is diverse and extends from the industrial banks of the Thames to the villages of rural Kent. The town reflects that diversity and looks two ways from its position between London and the coast. It is 15 miles from London, and many people commute to work in the City. It is also at the heart of the Thames gateway, which is the link to Europe from many parts of the country.
Dartford has a history as a centre for innovation. Richard Trevithick, famous for inventing the first railway locomotive, lived and worked in the town. He came to Dartford to work for a company that continues to have a prominent place in the town--J. and E. Hall Ltd. The tradition of innovation and commercial success continues to the present day with the presence of a major plant of Glaxo Wellcome. Dartford is also the home of Electrosonics, a company at the forefront of technology in lighting and audio-visual displays.
Amid this wealth of industry and commerce, Dartford can also claim to be a centre of culture. As well as its own theatre--the Orchard--Dartford was the home of Mick Jagger, who was educated at one of the constituency's schools. He now has a performing arts centre named after him.
I now move on to the subject of the debate--charging for NHS care. As a full-time GP until the election on 1 May, I welcome the announcement by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State of a thorough and wide-ranging review of the national health service. It has been a major backbone of the welfare state since its inception in 1948, and I believe that it still offers the best system of health care in the world. However, it is overdue for review.
One of my particular concerns--a point touched on by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State--relates to the inconsistencies among the various exemptions from prescription charges. Let us consider the example of two patients whom I have treated personally. They have both suffered from asthma for many years and have always had to pay for their drugs on prescription. One of them has since developed hypothyroidism and, as a result, has become exempt from prescription charges--not just for her thyroid disease but for the drugs required for her asthma treatment. The other has developed hyperthyroidism and now suffers the double cost of paying for the drugs to treat that condition while continuing to pay for drugs for her asthma.
There is some logic in the history of this anomaly, in that replacement therapies are generally exempt from charges, whereas treatments for conditions of excess are not. As hon. Members are painfully aware, one usually pays for one's excesses sooner or later, and that philosophy certainly holds true for drugs. However, this rationale has been blurred by time, and conditions such as epilepsy and fistulae, neither of which involves replacement therapy, attract exemptions. Those differences are difficult to comprehend, and I know from experience that they anger patients who cannot understand why treatment is, or is not, exempt. GPs and pharmacists find it hard to explain and administer a system that is, at best, outdated and inconsistent and, at worst, unfair and that clearly penalises some people.
Multiple prescription charges are also a problem for patients. Hormone replacement therapy is an example. It is an increasingly popular therapy, being effective for both the treatment and prevention of disease. Women on HRT suffer less osteoporosis in later life. As well as decreasing the personal suffering of women who have fewer fractures as a result of that treatment, it saves significant sums for the NHS by reducing the number of women who need hospital treatment for fractured hips.
A number of different drug regimens is available, and different types suit different women. It is important for the patient and her doctor to identify the correct one if the
HRT is to be effective. For sound medical reasons, some of these therapies require the prescription of one drug, while others require a combination of two. Simply as a result of an appropriate, but different, type of HRT required, one woman can face charges twice those facing another.
Despite the exemptions for pensioners and people on benefits, I have too often been asked by patients to advise them which of two or three items prescribed they should obtain as they cannot afford more than one prescription charge. That presents a great dilemma for health professionals who have prescribed drugs in accordance with their best abilities but are asked to judge which would be the most appropriate for the patient. That is obviously second best and unsatisfactory.
The anomalies which I have mentioned have existed for many years and were not adequately addressed by the previous Government. The increases in prescription charges have not helped. At this point, I beg to differ with my right hon. Friend. In fact, prescription charges have risen from 20p in 1979 to £5.65 this year--an increase of 2,825 per cent., which is well above the increase in inflation for that period. According to my research, an increase based on inflation would leave prescription charges at slightly less than 60p today.
Mr. Simon Hughes (Southwark, North and Bermondsey):
I am happy to follow the hon. Member for Dartford (Dr. Stoate). There has been a great influx of medics to the House. I am surrounded by them on our Benches. There are others on the Government Benches, although I am not sure whether there are any on the Conservative Benches. I am glad that there are some of us lay people left.
The hon. Member for Dartford and I are linked by one esoteric political fact that he may not know. By sweeping away his immediate predecessor, he joins the citizens of my borough, who swept the same predecessor away from Southwark borough council, where he was previously a Conservative councillor. That is now pretty well a no-go area for Tories. As part of the progressive movements in the south-east of England, I share some of his delight and wish him well. Dartford always strikes me as having a dilemma, not knowing whether it is outer London or deepest Kent, or something between. I have been there periodically and I am sure that it will benefit from his assiduous representation here. I hope that he enjoys his time here greatly.
During the general election campaign, members of the Labour party claimed that pensions would not be safe with the Tories. They wanted people to believe that, as the present Prime Minister said,
"A vote for the Tories is a vote to get rid of the state pension."
They were wrong. That was an unfair and disreputable allegation that was not founded on facts, but it unjustifiably frightened people. Today we are dealing with another allegation--that the Labour Government are thinking of charging people for a range of health service functions.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |