| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Alzheimer's Disease
7. Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham): If he will make a statement on the Government's initiatives to help victims of Alzheimer's disease. [137642]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Yvette Cooper): The Government are working closely with organisations that provide help and support to people with dementia and their carers in order to improve services. When we publish the national service framework for older people, it will set national standards for the care of older people, including for mental health.
Dr. Cable: Is the Minister aware of the evidence that has been collated by the Alzheimer's Disease Society, among others, that demonstrates widespread abuse of patients with that condition in nursing homes in particular, as well as in hospitals? They are fed anti-psychotic drugs and sedatives. What action are the Government planning to take to ensure that people with this unfortunate disease are treated in a much more appropriate and dignified manner?
Yvette Cooper: We are aware of the concerns that have been raised, and I thank the hon. Gentleman for drawing attention to this issue, in which I know he has a strong interest. I agree completely that we need a proper framework in place to protect vulnerable older people and to ensure that proper prescribing takes place. We have welcomed the guidance produced by Age Concern, and we will set standards as part of the national service framework for older people. We also have scope to work to improve the position through the operation of the Care Standards Commission.
Mr. Dennis Turner (Wolverhampton, South-East): My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is visiting Wolverhampton tomorrow and he will receive a warm welcome. I know that he will be given information that will be to his advantage, and certainly to that of Wolverhampton, regarding the progress that we are making in mental health services, particularly those for Alzheimer's disease. While he is there, will he address the very important issue of the fourth cardiac centre for the west midlands, to be based in Wolverhampton? I hope that he--
Mr. Speaker: Order. I have to stop the hon. Gentleman.
Yvette Cooper: I am sure that my right hon. Friend has heard my hon. Friend's representations.
Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South): I welcome the Government's concern about care standards for Alzheimer's disease, but are they able to tell us whether there have been any advances in the treatment of Alzheimer's and whether movement has been made to make drugs available to deal with the disease?
Yvette Cooper: We are concerned to ensure that people across the country receive the best possible treatment for Alzheimer's. Treatment should not depend on where people live. The postcode lottery for all types of treatment is completely unacceptable and that is why
we have referred several drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence for it to provide clear guidance to be followed throughout the country. NICE is considering those drugs at the moment.Medical Profession (Regulation)
8. Mr. Barry Gardiner (Brent, North): What plans he has to reform the process of regulation of the medical profession. [137643]
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Alan Milburn): The NHS plan restated the Government's resolve that the regulation of the clinical professions, including the medical profession, needs to be strengthened and made more accountable.
Mr. Gardiner: Does my right hon. Friend understand the anguish of my constituents Mr. and Mrs. Khatib, whose daughter Wassan died earlier this year after being attended by a doctor whom the General Medical Council had already been investigating for gross misconduct for 16 months and who had previously received a severe admonishment from the GMC after an investigation that had lasted 14 months? In all, four and a half years were spent investigating a doctor for gross misconduct. The doctor attended my constituent, who subsequently died, and it was only two months after that that the GMC acted to strike him off. Is it not a totally unacceptable state for the health service to be in when a regulatory body does not take timely and effective action against incompetent and malpractising doctors?
Mr. Milburn: The case that my hon. Friend has outlined is shocking. I am sure that the whole House would want to join me in passing our condolences to the family. Such cases clearly raise important issues about professional self-regulation. I have always made it clear that I believe in professional self-regulation in principle, but it has to prove its worth. Regulatory bodies must grasp some nettles that should have been grasped many years ago and, in particular, they must make their procedures much more transparent and faster. The case that my hon. Friend has raised shows that that is so.
My hon. Friend knows that the General Medical Council is considering its procedures, and the Government and Parliament will need to take their own view on whether the GMC's proposals match our aspirations for a modernised system of professional self-regulation that is transparent and faster and has greater patient and public representation. Above all, it should be accountable to those whom the medical profession and the NHS serve.
Mr. Nicholas Soames (Mid-Sussex): Although we are all grateful for the skills of most NHS consultants, does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the power of the royal colleges is used most arbitrarily? I welcome some of his initiatives on that. Is he aware that in my constituency, the royal colleges are driving the reform of the Princess Royal hospital by threatening to remove the full accident and emergency service? Does he agree that the health service should be run for the convenience of the patients,
not of the consultants, and will he take on board my constituents' grave concern about such high-handed behaviour by the royal colleges?
Mr. Milburn: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments. I think that he is aware from the NHS plan proposals that we published in July that we need to get to grips with the issue. We need to balance two, sometimes competing, factors--the training needs of doctors and the service needs of patients. We cannot have a situation in which the training tail sometimes wags the service dog. There has to be change. Our proposals for a medical education standards board, which I hope the Conservatives will support, will provide a forum in which royal colleges, the Department of Health and representatives of patients' interests can get around a table to sort out how best we can ensure that the NHS provides both adequate training for its junior doctors and high quality locally accessible services for patients.
Carers (Support)
9. Dr. Phyllis Starkey (Milton Keynes, South-West): What steps he is taking to provide better support for carers. [137644]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. John Hutton): My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 27 September that the carers special grant will increase from £50 million this year to £100 million in 2003-04, providing extra respite breaks for more carers. The Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 will come into force next year, giving local councils further duties and powers to help carers. In addition, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security has announced a package of measures that will provide an extra £500 million of financial support for carers over three years, from which more than 300,000 carers will benefit financially.
Dr. Starkey: I know from the Milton Keynes carers project that the people whom it represents very much appreciate the recognition of carers' needs and the help that has been given so far by the Government. However, may I draw my hon. Friend's attention to the outstanding need for greater funding for respite care so that carers get some relief from their on-going responsibility, are able to recover themselves and guard their own health and sanity, and can continue to care for those people for whom they are responsible?
Mr. Hutton: I agree strongly with my hon. Friend, and that is precisely the purpose of the carers special grant. The grant will double over the next three years, which will allow thousands more carers to receive the respite care breaks for which my hon. Friend called. As a society, we must continue to do more to support carers because they provide a fundamental service to hundreds of thousands of disabled people in our society.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield): Speaking as the patron of the Macclesfield and District Crossroads, may I ask the Minister to take a personal interest in a constituency case of mine in which a 77-year-old man is having to look after his wife, who is suffering from a
terminal illness, without any support from the health authority? Is that the care that a carer should receive for the job that he is doing?
Mr. Hutton: No, it certainly does not sound as if it is. I would be happy to consider the details of that case and speak to the hon. Gentleman as soon as possible.
Mr. Hilton Dawson (Lancaster and Wyre): May I draw my hon. Friend's attention to children who take on major caring responsibilities, often for disabled parents? Can he assure me that the Government are paying special attention to their situation and to the concern not only that their needs are met, but that they have a proper chance to have a childhood while they are carers?
Mr. Hutton: Again, my hon. Friend is entirely right. When we prepared the national strategy for carers, we were able roughly to estimate that there may be as many as 50,000 young people in England who have heavy caring responsibilities that might well compromise their ability to obtain a good education and enjoy the sort of safe and secure childhood to which my hon. Friend has referred. We have issued guidance to schools about their responsibilities towards young carers. I am sure that the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000, which my hon. Friend helped to introduce, and which did a great service to the House and to carers, will make a positive difference and a contribution to the issues to which he has drawn attention.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |