House of Commons
Tuesday 24 June 1997
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
PRIVATE BUSINESS
King's College London Bill [Lords]
Order for Third Reading read.
To be read the Third time on Tuesday 1 July.
Ordered,
That Mr. Andrew MacKay be discharged from the Committee of Selection and Mr. Peter Ainsworth be added to the Committee.--[Ms Bridget Prentice.]
Breast Cancer
1. Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average waiting time for a woman with suspected breast cancer between referral by her general practitioner and receiving a diagnosis. [3466]
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Frank Dobson): My hon. Friend will no doubt be as surprised and dismayed as I was to discover that the Department of Health cannot provide a figure for the national average time women suspected of breast cancer have to wait for diagnosis after being referred by their general practitioner. I am determined to set up an information system that can supply such important facts.
As my hon. Friend knows, we are committed to reducing the time women with suspected breast cancer have to wait for diagnosis. That is why we have made £10 million available to promote the establishment of one-stop clinics, to ensure that tests can be carried out and results given more quickly and to allow all women to benefit from quicker access to treatment provided by specialist teams.
Ms Atherton:
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. Will he take the opportunity to reassure women that the Government are determined to ensure that breast cancer screening is safe and effective? Will he further assure the House that the Government will leave no stone unturned in their efforts to discover exactly what took place in Devon and to ensure that every action is taken to remedy the position?
Mr. Dobson:
As my hon. Friend knows, on 9 June I asked the chief medical officer to set in train a review
Sir Peter Emery:
The right hon. Gentleman has been very honest with the House, but I want to keep him up to speed. Some people are still uncertain about their screening results; therefore, there is a real need to press on with the review. I am sorry to hear that the report is unlikely to be produced until the middle of July. I had hoped that it would have been completed by the end of June. It is essential that the information is made available, because the worry that has been caused can be understood only by someone who has experienced it. May I press that issue as hard as possible on the right hon. Gentleman?
Mr. Dobson:
I understand the points that the right hon. Gentleman makes. Let me emphasise that any women in Devon who are concerned about their health should use the helpline or get in touch with their GPs or the hospital to arrange to have a further check. The establishment and conduct of the review should do nothing to inhibit anyone who may need to go back for a further check.
Mr. Tyler:
The Secretary of State is aware of my constituency interest in the failure of the breast screening service in Devon and Cornwall. Will he confirm that the current inquiries are being extended into Cornwall, where one of the consultants concerned provided that service and where there is continuing anxiety among people served by the Treliske hospital?
Mr. Dobson:
As I understand the position, one of the consultants involved in the failures in Exeter was also involved in failures at Treliske hospital in Cornwall. One of the review's purposes will be to discover how people can fail in one place and then move on to another.
Mr. Gunnell:
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on switching resources so early to this issue from the extra bureaucracy with which the previous Government left the health service. Will he consider the delays that frequently occur between women receiving a diagnosis, having an operation and then having radiotherapy treatment? Some people in Leeds certainly experienced a delay in obtaining the treatment they needed. Will my right hon. Friend find out what is going on, so that when he is in a position to move more money from bureaucracy, he knows where to spend it?
Mr. Dobson:
The proposals for the concentration of cancer diagnosis and treatment services--the Calman- Hine proposals--are intended to improve the performance of the national health service generally in cancer detection and treatment. Those proposals should be helping the situation in Leeds. If they are not, I will take the matter up with the health authorities and trusts in Leeds. Whatever the general arrangements, local management need to do their job in ensuring that the resources available are deployed properly and that the clinicians do their job properly. If those requirements are not met, we will not get the service that women need and deserve, whatever system is in place.
Infant Health
2. Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the indicators of the health of babies and very young children have changed since 1979. [3467]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Paul Boateng): Infant mortality rates are often used as an indicator of children's overall health status. They have been falling since the inception of the NHS under a Labour Government.
Mr. Brazier: I thank the hon. Gentleman for that answer, but he did not answer the question. Had he done so, he would have had to reveal that almost all the indicators of health among children and babies improved during the Conservative Government's time in office, showing that the NHS was safe in our hands. Will he join me in congratulating the Kent and Canterbury paediatric and maternity units on their excellent work and their imaginative pooling of resources with neighbouring trusts to provide the critical mass necessary for the training of junior doctors?
Mr. Boateng: I am delighted to congratulate the Kent and Canterbury paediatric unit. Its good work is in no way due to the efforts of the previous Government, because they ran the national health service down. I warn the hon. Gentleman against complacency, not least because the incidence of asthma among young children has more than trebled since 1979. The public health measures taken by the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Ms Jowell), will attempt to deal with that problem.
Mr. Sheerman: Will my hon. Friend consider a special group of babies and young children--those who are born to the poorest families, often in urban centres, with parents who are unemployed and on benefit--because worrying research reports suggest that the health of that group is deteriorating, while average levels of health are rising?
Mr. Boateng: I share my hon. Friend's concern, not least because the infant mortality rate is one and a half times higher for poorer families than for wealthy families. This Labour Government will address that cause for concern.
Mr. Maples: Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that in no circumstances will the parents of young children who are ill have to contribute financially to the costs of their medical treatment?
Mr. Boateng: I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his position of leadership in opposition. He asks an important question. He knows that we are determined to ensure that the NHS gives value for money and that the resources at its disposal are used for the benefit of all patients. That will be the issue that is addressed by this Government.
Madam Speaker: Dr. Phyllis Starkey.
Dr. Starkey: Question 19, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker: I am calling the hon. Lady to ask a supplementary on Question 2. If she does not wish to do so, we shall go on to the next question.
EU Health Council
4. Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the outcome of the June EU Health Council meeting. [3469]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Ms Tessa Jowell): I represented the Government at the meeting. The Council adopted a decision on a Community action programme on health monitoring and a common position on a proposed Community network for the surveillance of communicable diseases. It also discussed a communication from the Commission on combating tobacco consumption, and a presidency paper on blood safety and self-sufficiency in the Community.
Mr. Cunningham: Did my hon. Friend also discuss at the Council the impact of poor housing and environment, and of poverty in general, on public health?
Ms Jowell: I thank my hon. Friend for his question. As that was my first Health Council meeting, I briefed other European Health Ministers on my appointment as the United Kingdom Government's first Minister for public health, and made clear our Government's commitment to tackle the inequalities that compromise the health of children and adults in this country.
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