House of Commons
Tuesday 29 February 2000
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
PRIVATE BUSINESS
Greenham and Crookham Commons Bill (By Order)
Order for Second Reading Read.
To be read a Second time on Tuesday 7 March.
HEALTH
The Secretary of State was asked--
Team Midwifery
1. Mr. Bob Russell (Colchester): What progress has been made since May 1997 in extending team midwifery. [110853]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Yvette Cooper): The last Department of Health survey of the extent of team midwifery was published in 1993. At present, there is no accurate information on the extent of team midwifery nationwide. That is why we have recently commissioned a comprehensive review of midwifery organisation locally. It will also examine the impact of different models of midwife care and report by the end of the year.
Mr. Russell: Does the Minister accept that the changing child birth project resulted from a Select Committee on Health report and was introduced under the previous Government, but instead of extending women's choice and providing the best possible service for expectant mothers, are not the Government reducing child care, particularly by the midwifery service? I draw her attention in particular to the Iceni midwifery team in Colchester, which is threatened with disbandment.
Yvette Cooper: I disagree with the hon. Gentleman. The Government are strongly committed to the values behind the changing child birth project, focusing on the women involved and keeping them at the centre of maternity services.
I am aware of the situation with regard to the Iceni team and that various options are being examined locally. Obviously, it would be wrong of a Minister to pre-empt any local consultation that needs to take place, but I have
benefited from team midwifery in Pontefract and so am well aware of the benefits that team midwifery can provide as one model of midwife care.
Mr. Tom Cox (Tooting):
Is my hon. Friend aware that in St. George's hospital, which is in my constituency, there is an excellent midwifery unit? On a recent visit there I saw the work that was being done, but it was pointed out to me that, sadly, local general practitioners are not always fully aware of the services that are on offer. Will she look at that matter?
Yvette Cooper:
My hon. Friend is right to say that the Tooting service is a great model of best practice from which people throughout the country can learn. The Government are strongly committed to having GPs, primary care groups and acute trusts working closely together to ensure that the best quality maternity care is provided for all women, wherever they should want it.
Mrs. Marion Roe (Broxbourne):
Does the Minister accept that there is serious concern among pregnant women, particularly those who will become first-time mothers, that there is a possibility that they will be left alone during labour because of a shortage of midwives? Will she outline the Government's strategy for recruiting more midwives, thus ensuring that maternity services are good, reliable and give confidence to those who are about to face motherhood?
Yvette Cooper:
I can certainly reassure all first-time mothers and all mothers to be that the Department expects any woman who is in established labour who needs or who wants support to have it. We expect maternity care to be organised accordingly. However, the hon. Lady is right that decisions by the previous Government left us with a shortage of midwives, as well as a shortage of nurses and doctors. Given how long it takes to train midwives, nurses and doctors, we would be in a better situation if the previous Government had got their act together and increased recruitment several years ago.
Since taking office, our national recruitment campaign has been extremely successful. I am glad to say that 2,790 nurses and midwives have already returned to employment in the NHS as a result of the campaign. A further 2,000 are preparing to join. Applications for midwifery courses in particular have risen significantly this year. We are training more pre-registration students. The figure has increased year on year, and we are now training 70 per cent. more than in 1993-94.
Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody (Crewe and Nantwich):
Is my hon. Friend aware that, in most normal births, any midwife is worth a dozen doctors? If she is genuinely concerned, will she not just recruit new midwives, but look at the terms and conditions of existing midwives and ensure that those excellent and essential ladies are still knocking around, irrespective of what the doctors want?
Yvette Cooper:
My hon. Friend is right that we need to ensure that midwives' terms and conditions are such that we sustain their recruitment--we do not simply recruit them, but keep them in the profession. That is why, for example, the NHS is increasing family friendly
2. Mr. Archy Kirkwood (Roxburgh and Berwickshire):
What plans he has to review the level of ancillary staff pay in the national health service; and if he will make a statement. [110854]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. John Denham):
For the first time, we have offered a guarantee of real-terms pay increases for national health service staff who are outside the pay review bodies, not only for one year, but for a three-year period.
Mr. Kirkwood:
That longer period is certainly welcome. However, is the Minister aware that, this Monday, I met a support staff worker who is a married man, works a 39-hour week, but has only £139 in take-home pay--which is clearly below benefit levels? Is the Minister also aware that it is not only a matter of pay? Full-time support staff in the NHS are systematically being replaced by part-timers and by temporary workers, with the consequence that support staff consider themselves to be doing ever more work for ever less pay.
Would the Minister be prepared to meet me and my hon. Friend the Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Mr. Moore) to discuss the issue? Will he also try, in the upcoming pay review and in the Government's comprehensive spending review, to find the best way possible of providing better pay and conditions for people who now rightly believe that they are the forgotten people of the national health service?
Mr. Denham:
Of course I would be prepared to meet the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Mr. Moore) to discuss those matters. It is worth bearing in mind that when we were elected, the starting point for an adult ancillary worker was £3.60 per hour, but from the coming year, because of the offer that we have made, the minimum will be £4. Furthermore, the structure of the deal that is on offer has been weighted towards those who are on the lowest income--with a flat-rate increase for the lowest paid, from which 75,000 workers benefited last year and 85,000 will benefit in the coming year.
Ancillary workers are a key part of the health team. The way in which they do their jobs, and the flexibility with which they approach those jobs, are an important part of delivering modern health services. It is an issue that we want to address in the "Agenda for Change" negotiations that are being conducted with the trade unions.
Caroline Flint (Don Valley):
Does my hon. Friend agree that it is a shame that during 18 years of Tory Government the ancillary workers were often ignored? Is it not to be commended that, under the current Government--with their working families tax credit, child care tax credit, reduction in national insurance and the 10p starting rate--we are really able to help to make work pay for those who are at the poorest end of the scale?
Mr. Denham:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Last week, I was very pleased to meet a health worker in a
Mr. Gerald Howarth (Aldershot):
May I draw to the Minister's attention the plight of medical laboratory scientific officers? On Friday, my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Mr. Hawkins) and I went to see the MLSOs at Frimley Park hospital. MLSO-1 grade staff are on a maximum of £17,200 annually, which is only about £2,000 per year more than the starting pay for nurses. Does the Minister agree that MLSOs are extremely important people, who do all the blood tests and other tests performed in hospitals, but that the Government have neglected them?
Mr. Denham:
Has the hon. Gentleman ever wondered how on earth that state was reached? I am very pleased to say that the offer that we have made, which I mentioned earlier, puts on the table quite significant increases for some of the lowest-paid MLSOs. More than 1,000 staff have on offer more than the basic 3 per cent. increase, and, for some staff, the offer proposes an increase as high as 26 per cent. Only yesterday, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said that, in time, the recruitment campaign that is being directed at nurses would be rolled out to encompass other members of the health team.
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