House of Commons
Tuesday 10 November 1998
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
Oral Answers to Questions
HEALTH
The Secretary of State was asked--
Midwives
1. Mr. Huw Edwards (Monmouth): If he will make a statement about the grading of qualified midwives. [57349]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. Alan Milburn): The great majority of midwives are graded E to G and will earn salaries up to £22,255 from 1 December 1998.
Mr. Edwards: Will my right hon. Friend join me in applauding the excellent work of midwives, such as those whom I met at Nevill Hall hospital last Friday? Will he work with his Welsh Office colleagues to ensure that midwives working in trusts in Wales receive as a minimum the F grade recommended in England?
Mr. Milburn: Yes, I join my hon. Friend in recognising the invaluable work performed by midwives in the NHS. The Government accepted last year's pay review body recommendations, which urged us to reflect any changes in midwives' roles and responsibilities in the appropriate grade and pay. That message has been communicated directly to all NHS trusts. We expect each and every trust to take that issue seriously but, equally, we expect them to ensure that grading reflects real responsibilities and clinical expertise.
Mr. Simon Hughes (Southwark, North and Bermondsey): Given that no Minister was willing to come over to Westminster Central hall three weeks ago to face the 1,000 midwives--[Interruption.] That is quite true. The midwives were clear that a few of them had a meeting in private at the Department, but Ministers were not willing to meet the rally in Westminster Central hall. Given that there is clearly a huge crisis in staffing and morale not just among midwives, but among nurses and other health workers, how much of the £21 billion announced in July will be used to improve the pay and conditions of midwives, nurses and health workers? It is no good modernising equipment and buildings in the NHS without modernising pay and conditions, and paying any salary increase in one go rather than in stages.
Mr. Milburn: The hon. Gentleman has made two foolish points. First, my right hon. Friend the Minister for
Public Health did meet midwives on the day that they lobbied Parliament and, in addition, my noble Friend Baroness Hayman met the leader of the Royal College of Midwives. Secondly, the hon. Gentleman will know as well as I do that the process for determining pay and conditions for midwives and nurses is governed by an independent pay review body, and its work is now under way. As I understand it, all parties in the House subscribe to that process, as do nurses and midwives. We have submitted our evidence, and the midwives and nursing trade unions have submitted theirs. Our evidence makes it clear that we want to see a fair pay rise for all nurses and midwives which is affordable to the NHS. In particular, we want to see progress on the starting rate of pay for nurses. If we are to do that and to end staging, as we want to, the review body must come up with recommendations that allow the NHS to live within its means.Ambulance Service
2. Mrs. Helen Brinton (Peterborough): If he will make a statement on the Government's plans for the ambulance service. [57350]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Mr. John Hutton): We are committed to modernising the NHS and improving services to patients, including ambulance services. Our plans include achieving faster and more appropriate response times for patients, including wider use of call prioritisation.
Mrs. Brinton: Is my hon. Friend aware of the grave concerns surrounding the performance of the East Anglian Ambulance NHS trust which serves my constituency and is currently under investigation by the regional health authority? Ambulance staff are frightened to speak out about what they know is wrong. Does my hon. Friend agree that the days of gagging clauses ended when the Labour Government were elected in 1997? Will my hon. Friend assure me that, under this Government, my constituents can rely on a top-quality ambulance service, and that all NHS staff will be respected as well as protected? [Interruption.] I do not find those desires funny.
Mr. Hutton: I can certainly give my hon. Friend the assurances that she seeks. As she will be aware, the Minister of State, Department of Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn), has already written to chairmen of NHS trusts and health authorities on that issue. Confidentiality clauses discriminate against staff's rights and responsibilities to bring unacceptable practices into the open and there is no place for them in the NHS. NHS employers are expected to allow their staff maximum freedom of speech, consistent with their obligation to maintain patient confidentiality. I am sure that my hon. Friend will also be aware that the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, which will come into effect in January 1999, will, for the
first time, provide statutory protection for employees who are subject to a detriment as a result of blowing the whistle.
Mr. John Randall (Uxbridge): Can the Minister assure the House that the Government will ensure that 999 ambulance calls are always responded to by blue-light ambulances?
Mr. Hutton: I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is aware of the Audit Commission's recent conclusions on that. It is sensible to answer life-threatening emergencies first. Matching resources to clinical needs will help us to improve emergency care. Call prioritisation is about when, not whether, to send an ambulance.
NHS (Development)
3. Mr. Paul Goggins (Wythenshawe and Sale, East): What steps he is taking to ensure that young people are consulted on the future development of the NHS. [57351]
The Minister for Public Health (Ms Tessa Jowell): The involvement of all who use the health service, young and old, is essential in rebuilding a public service that is open and accountable to the people whom it serves, shaped by their experience and responsive to their needs. That is why the voice of patients will be heard at every level, whether through primary care groups, the national institute for clinical excellence or the increased involvement of local people on trust boards. That involvement is part of building a national health service in which people have confidence--no longer one governed by a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, or where people are treated as numbers, but a partnership to build quality and responsiveness.
Mr. Goggins: I thank my right hon. Friend for that detailed and encouraging response. May I draw her attention to Manchester's healthy school initiative, under which 50 school children recently communicated their views about the national health service directly to managers and providers in south Manchester? Does she agree that such events are important in ensuring that young people have a say, and because they can lead to real improvements in the delivery of health care services?
Ms Jowell: I commend the initiative of my hon. Friend's health authority. It is part of the health action zone, and I hope that that example of the involvement of young people in developing the national health service is one which other health authorities will seek to copy.
Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood): Many young people would regard the Minister's response as totally at variance with their experience locally. There may be a consultation exercise for NHS development, but all too often it is a total charade. The wishes of thousands of people, including young people, appear to be ignored. What practical steps will the Minister take to ensure that their wishes are translated into action inasmuch as they pay for the health service and those in my constituency want to see their local hospital, Mount Vernon, built up rather than run down?
Ms Jowell: Perhaps one of the most important changes that has marked the past 18 months is that consultation in the NHS no longer means simply a period of time. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say that, where a consultation is undertaken and the views expressed are completely disregarded, people's confidence in the process will begin to diminish. We regard consultation and the views of those who use the health service as essential to developing it, which is why, for the first time in the history of the NHS, we are now conducting a patient survey of about 100,000 people who are being asked about their views and experiences of the service. The feedback from that survey will be vital in assessing the performance of the health service against the national performance framework.
The hon. Gentleman had better accept that nothing effective happened to involve local people, young or old, under the previous Government. We are developing a programme of consultation and partnership with people who use the health service.
Mr. Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield):
Has my right hon. Friend considered communicating with young people, especially young women, through the medium of their magazines? A visit to any newsagent would show how many such magazines are published. Is she not disturbed when she analyses their contents? There may be a lot about breast enhancement surgery, but there is very little about the dangers of smoking or the causes of breast cancer and other cancers. Given that young women do not read newspapers, will my right hon. Friend use those magazines to get through to them?
Ms Jowell:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why I have recently had two meetings with the editors of teenage magazines, at which we discussed young people and smoking, and young people and teenage pregnancy. He is right that, if we want young people to listen and to hear what we have to say, it is much better if the information comes from the magazines that they read and the people to whom they relate rather than from middle-aged Ministers.
Mr. Dafydd Wigley (Caernarfon):
In projecting to young people the future developments of the national health service, will the Minister bear in mind the need to project the attractiveness of NHS careers for nurses, dentists and doctors? Unless that is done more positively and the attractions are underlined more effectively, there is a danger that there will not be enough people to train for that important work.
Ms Jowell:
That is absolutely right. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State recently launched a competition for school children specifically to awaken their interest in a career in the national health service. We must inspire young people with the prospects that a career in the NHS can offer. If any young people in the right hon. Gentleman's constituency would like to enter the competition, it is still open.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |