My hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey) set an example of the importance of the job that we sometimes have of challenging the institutions on which so many of our constituents depend. I wish her and my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous) every success in dealing with the hospital on
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their patch and working with the CQC to bring about a quicker resolution to the problems that they encounter there.
I found noteworthy the issues facing rural areas to which my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal referred, because I represent a suburban area. It is interesting to note that ambulance response times can be so long in rural communities. It is very important that the NHS is able to be flexible enough to cope with all the communities in our country.
The hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith) gave us the benefit of his experience as a member of the Public Accounts Committee. I was pleased that he focused so much on the residential home sector, which is so relevant to the lives of many older people and about which a similar level of concern has been expressed in many reports. I was horrified, although slightly amused, I suppose, by the tambourine example. It was so powerful and so wrong. It will stay with me as a reminder of the many challenges that we have ahead in dealing with this issue.
I mentioned the issue with the James Paget hospital that my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney is dealing with. He raises the question that many Governments have grappled with—how to get resourcing out of the acute sector and into the community, the area of prevention and helping people with long-term medical conditions. That is very important. I wish the present Government well in seeing whether they can crack that pressing problem, which has been with us for least two decades, to my recollection. My hon. Friend also mentioned what I think is a very good idea—mandatory malnutrition rates and finding out what can be done to ensure that we target that area of deficiency in the NHS.
My hon. Friend the Member for Truro and Falmouth (Sarah Newton), who has secured a Back-Bench debate on the Dilnot report to be held two weeks today, which I am sure as many Members as possible will attend, focused on the complaints process, which I touched on briefly. It is important that the Government learn from the ombudsman’s report, “Listening and Learning”, and implement improvements.
My hon. Friend also mentioned something I have come across in my work with older people in the NHS—language skills. It is completely unacceptable if any carer—any caring member of staff—cannot communicate competently in English with older people, and we should tackle that. She also touched on the rural dimension and on the fact, which was terrible to hear, that her constituents have only one hospital, which inevitably makes people frightened to complain; there is no other choice.
The hon. Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern) talked movingly about dignity and about older people in society, on which I hope we will hold a debate at some point. The hon. Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall), whom I congratulate on her new role as shadow Minister, said that the topic could be a debate in its own right, and I am sure that a Member will secure one at some point. I share her belief in the importance of values: most people who work in the NHS have the values that we expect, and as she said, they have to be empowered to make choices and decisions that reflect those values.
The hon. Lady talked about many important areas and enlightened us about the Royal College of Nursing’s staff-to-patient ratios. It is quite wrong that the accepted
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ratio in a ward with a considerable number of older people is 1:10, whereas a paediatric ward is quite rightly staffed at a ratio of 1:4. The Government should also consider what can be done about concerns regarding the skill mix and the management of resources.
The hon. Lady made some interesting observations about the history of the NHS—how it began in response to cures and to treating people with illnesses that were likely to get better, and how it has not quite kept pace with the number of people who grow to an old age, some of whom need help with care and, perhaps, dying with dignity.
The hon. Lady made a point, on which neither I nor any other Member had focused, about doctors, who provide a huge amount of care in hospitals.
The hon. Member for Bolton West (Julie Hilling) commanded our attention with the moving story of the dreadful time that she and her family had experienced with her mother. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we wish her mother a continued recovery. It was impossible to determine how the story would end when the hon. Lady was speaking, but it is marvellous
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that after all the family has been through her mother is on the mend, and we hope that she will recover as much of her former joy of life as possible.
I am grateful for and most encouraged by the Minister’s reply to the debate. He reminded us of the Government’s recent decision to ensure that ageism is not tolerated in the NHS or the Department of Health, which is a good development. He cited many examples of good work and guidance, of which he said there was no shortage, of leadership and management and of spreading good work and guidance into more areas of the delivery of NHS care. I am particularly delighted that he has promised to discuss with the nursing Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Anne Milton), my proposals on nurse training, and how an apprenticeship model should increasingly underpin the degrees nurses take to qualify.
I hope I have covered the important issues that Members have raised today. I thank those who supported my bid for a debate to the Backbench Business Committee and all those who attended this afternoon and made such an important contribution.