:00:18. > :00:20.Hello there and welcome to Monday in Parliament.
:00:21. > :00:23.Coming up: The Health Secretary comes under fire after it's revealed
:00:24. > :00:26.hundreds of thousands of patient letters were put into storage
:00:27. > :00:40.Two months and 2017 and the Health Secretary Bakshi is from one crisis
:00:41. > :00:43.to another. There is no evidence so far that any
:00:44. > :00:44.patient safety has been put at risk. Peers begin their detailed scrutiny
:00:45. > :00:46.of the Brexit triggering bill. And the Speaker pays
:00:47. > :00:48.tribute following the death of the Commons' longest-serving MP,
:00:49. > :00:52.Sir Gerald Kaufman. It was that fidelity to principle,
:00:53. > :00:55.that commitment to causes, that insistence on doing his duty
:00:56. > :00:59.by his constituents, But first, the Health Secretary has
:01:00. > :01:08.told MPs some 500,000 documents containing medical information,
:01:09. > :01:12.including cancer test results, were mistakenly put in storage
:01:13. > :01:16.rather than being sent to the GP The error occurred when a mail
:01:17. > :01:24.redirection company - NHS Shared Business Services -
:01:25. > :01:27.hired by the health service failed to pass on documents that had either
:01:28. > :01:30.been incorrectly addressed or needed re-routing because the patient had
:01:31. > :01:35.moved to a new GP surgery. Patients in the East Midlands,
:01:36. > :01:38.the South West and The Health Secretary confirmed that
:01:39. > :01:44.2,000 of the higher risk cases had now been reassessed by doctors -
:01:45. > :01:47.at a cost of ?2.2 million - The remaining 500 are
:01:48. > :01:55.still being assessed. Jeremy Hunt explained
:01:56. > :01:57.in total more than 700,000 200,000 pieces were temporary
:01:58. > :02:04.residence forms and further 500,000 pieces
:02:05. > :02:08.assessed as low risk. A first triage identified a further
:02:09. > :02:13.2,500 items which had potential risk of harm and needed
:02:14. > :02:18.further investigation but follow-up by local GPs has already identified
:02:19. > :02:23.nearly 2,000 of these as The remainder are
:02:24. > :02:30.still being assessed but so far no patient harm
:02:31. > :02:32.has been identified. He explained why he hadn't gone
:02:33. > :02:34.public with the information sooner. Publicising the issue could have
:02:35. > :02:38.meant GP surgeries being inundated with enquiries from
:02:39. > :02:42.worried patients which would have prevented them from doing
:02:43. > :02:48.the most important work, namely investigating the named
:02:49. > :02:50.patients who were This is a catastrophic
:02:51. > :02:54.breach of data protection. Over half a million
:02:55. > :02:57.patients' data, including blood test results,
:02:58. > :03:01.cancer screening results, biopsy results, even correspondence
:03:02. > :03:05.relating to cases of child They were languishing
:03:06. > :03:10.in a warehouse on It's an absolute
:03:11. > :03:16.scandal, Mr Speaker. Time and time again,
:03:17. > :03:19.this Health Secretary Well, today he stands
:03:20. > :03:24.accused of a cover-up. Two months into 2017 and the
:03:25. > :03:28.Health Secretary lurches from Hospitals are overcrowded,
:03:29. > :03:34.waiting lists out of control, he can't deliver the
:03:35. > :03:37.investment our NHS needs. He can't deliver
:03:38. > :03:40.a social care solution. He can't deliver
:03:41. > :03:43.patient safety and now he can't even deliver
:03:44. > :03:46.the post, Mr Speaker. He has overseen a shambles that puts
:03:47. > :03:52.patient safety at risk. Patients deserve answers
:03:53. > :03:58.and they deserve an apology. There is no evidence so far that any
:03:59. > :04:03.patient safety has been put at risk. The Secretary of State stated
:04:04. > :04:07.with great authority I'd be interested to know how
:04:08. > :04:13.he could be so certain, given that all of this data was missing
:04:14. > :04:16.for a long time What controls are in place now that
:04:17. > :04:20.weren't in place then that means he can make that statement
:04:21. > :04:25.with such confidence? I don't know she's done a health
:04:26. > :04:31.question before but let me say to her that we are assured
:04:32. > :04:36.that the data was not lost, it was kept in secure setting
:04:37. > :04:41.which means that it was safe. It wasn't breached or
:04:42. > :04:46.accessed by anyone else. I used to work in a pathology lab
:04:47. > :04:51.and it absolutely pains me to think that those results generated
:04:52. > :04:54.by the hard-working pathology staff were languishing in a warehouse
:04:55. > :04:58.somewhere unseen by anybody. I know what GPs will do
:04:59. > :05:01.if they don't get lab results. They will ring the laboratory
:05:02. > :05:03.and ask for them. So has the Secretary
:05:04. > :05:05.of State made any estimate of the amount of time
:05:06. > :05:08.wasted on phone calls Regrettably, I'm sure that
:05:09. > :05:18.because of what happened extra work was created for GPs
:05:19. > :05:21.but what I will say is it is because of GP's
:05:22. > :05:26.commitment to their own that in the vast majority of cases
:05:27. > :05:32.patient harm was avoided because, when results don't come through that
:05:33. > :05:36.a GP is expecting, My constituents in Kettering will be
:05:37. > :05:43.amazed that for five years no-one spotted that 700,000
:05:44. > :05:51.records had gone missing. Can I ask him how was it discovered
:05:52. > :05:54.and why is it that in these three areas such
:05:55. > :05:57.a large amount of data effectively disappeared
:05:58. > :06:02.from public view? I wish I could give him
:06:03. > :06:07.the answer to that question. I do think it is completely
:06:08. > :06:14.extraordinary that for such a long period of time it wasn't
:06:15. > :06:18.noticed that this data It was discovered towards the end
:06:19. > :06:24.of the SBS contract. I think there are lessons in the NHS
:06:25. > :06:28.which relate very closely to what the other members of said
:06:29. > :06:31.about the dangers of overreliance on paper
:06:32. > :06:35.rather than electronic systems, where it is much, much easier
:06:36. > :06:41.to keep track of what's happening. Let me say to the gentleman opposite
:06:42. > :06:47.as he continues to make comments from a sedentary position,
:06:48. > :06:52.when it comes to making the NHS electronic, I think people
:06:53. > :06:54.will compare his government's record In the Lords, peers were beginning
:06:55. > :07:01.their detailed scrutiny of the bill paving the way for Theresa May
:07:02. > :07:04.to trigger the UK's By tradition, peers don't vote
:07:05. > :07:10.on amendments at committee stage, keeping their powder dry until later
:07:11. > :07:14.in the legislative process. But a Labour peer and former Cabinet
:07:15. > :07:18.mininster, Peter, now Lord Hain, pushed his amendment arguing
:07:19. > :07:21.that the UK should stay Leaving the single market will cause
:07:22. > :07:29.untold harm to the economy and people's jobs which will be felt
:07:30. > :07:31.most keenly in the already disadvantaged nations
:07:32. > :07:35.and regions where I live, A hard Brexit will therefore have
:07:36. > :07:42.damaging consequences for the union of our United Kingdom and also
:07:43. > :07:47.for the island of Ireland. What's at stake is jobs,
:07:48. > :07:51.living standards and rights. Bear that in mind, we are playing
:07:52. > :07:55.poker if we go down the government route with people's livelihoods
:07:56. > :08:00.on a very big scale. Are we likely to get that
:08:01. > :08:03.comprehensive free trade I've not met anybody yet to knows
:08:04. > :08:10.anything about trade negotiation Nobody is arguing, I don't think,
:08:11. > :08:17.I've never met anybody who says we shouldn't have access to do
:08:18. > :08:20.business with the single market. In the same way as they will want
:08:21. > :08:24.to do business with us. The question is whether we want
:08:25. > :08:26.to be members of it. They've accused my right honourable
:08:27. > :08:28.friend the Prime Minister The Prime Minister has not opted
:08:29. > :08:36.for a hard Brexit or a soft Brexit or any sort of squishy Brexit,
:08:37. > :08:40.she is merely attempting to carry out the wishes
:08:41. > :08:43.of the people to leave the EU. And that automatically means
:08:44. > :08:47.leaving the single market. Because if we stay in the single
:08:48. > :09:17.market we are still in the EU If we believe that no deal was
:09:18. > :09:20.better than a bad deal then we are gambling millions of manufacturing
:09:21. > :09:29.jobs, 10% of our GDP. Of course the single
:09:30. > :09:31.market is not perfect. Notably in its coverage
:09:32. > :09:33.of all services. But almost half of British trade
:09:34. > :09:36.in goods and services takes place And it should be an absolute
:09:37. > :09:42.priority therefore for us to secure the continuity of that trade
:09:43. > :09:57.we already have. But Labour's front bench said it
:09:58. > :10:05.couldn't back Peter Hain's amendment, saying it had to be...
:10:06. > :10:07.Our task is to persuade
:10:08. > :10:11.set their sat nav for the wrong destination and that is
:10:12. > :10:14.Giving people the unrealistic hope that staying in the single market,
:10:15. > :10:17.despite the referendum and our exit is a possibility is, I think,
:10:18. > :10:22.and unfair thing to make them think could happen.
:10:23. > :10:29.We need to continue to trade as freely as possible with the EU.
:10:30. > :10:37.And for that reason we are not able to support this amendment.
:10:38. > :10:40.What I would ask is that those of your Lordships who, like me,
:10:41. > :10:43.voted to remain stop fighting the battles of the campaign but come
:10:44. > :10:47.together to help us think of ways we can continue to thrive,
:10:48. > :10:57.The issue raised by this amendment are indeed worthy of debate but,
:10:58. > :11:10.with the greatest of respect, this amendment has no place in this
:11:11. > :11:14.bill and would undermine the expressed intent
:11:15. > :11:25.Because I think he will be judged by history as being on the wrong
:11:26. > :11:29.Of forcing us to do something in the Labour Party that we do not
:11:30. > :11:38.actually in our hearts really believe in.
:11:39. > :11:42.I do not lightly go against my party whip.
:11:43. > :11:45.In my 26 years in Parliament, in the Commons and in here,
:11:46. > :11:49.or twice but this for me is a matter of absolutely crucial importance
:11:50. > :11:53.to this country and to the future of people, their jobs and prosperity
:11:54. > :11:55.and the truth is the minister, with all due respect,
:11:56. > :11:59.is doing a great job on a sticky wicket but the truth is he hasn't
:12:00. > :12:01.a clue and the government hasn't a clue where we are going.
:12:02. > :12:04.They have no idea where they are taking us.
:12:05. > :12:07.I think for the sake of jobs, prosperity, businesses,
:12:08. > :12:10.it is important to pass this amendment and I therefore wish
:12:11. > :12:20.rejected the amendment to keep the rejected the amendment to keep the
:12:21. > :12:22.UK in the single market. My Lords, they have voted content -
:12:23. > :12:25.136, not content - 299. You're watching Monday
:12:26. > :12:35.in Parliament, with me, A fund intended to ease
:12:36. > :12:45.the pressures on adult social care services and hospitals in England
:12:46. > :12:50.has been described by MPs as a "bit of a fraud"
:12:51. > :12:54.and "window dressing". The watchdog the National Audit
:12:55. > :12:57.Office has said the ?5.3 billion Better Care Fund has not succeeded
:12:58. > :13:01.in keeping patients out of hospital or saved any money,
:13:02. > :13:05.although the NAO said it had helped join up health and social
:13:06. > :13:08.care in some areas. Appearing before the Public Accounts
:13:09. > :13:13.Committee senior health figures argued that the fund was working,
:13:14. > :13:16.but it was too soon In your report,
:13:17. > :13:23.it says it's not working. I'm aware we have
:13:24. > :13:30.limited time today. We could go round the Houses
:13:31. > :13:33.on the challenges, but this report says that the Better Care Fund,
:13:34. > :13:36.the integration that it was supposed to achieve, the safe admissions
:13:37. > :13:39.to A that it was supposed to achieve, it hasn't delivered
:13:40. > :13:42.and it has actually cost money. I agree with the NAO report
:13:43. > :13:55.and I thought it set out very fairly where the Better Care Fund has made
:13:56. > :13:57.progress, and it has in some important respects,
:13:58. > :13:59.and where it has not... I think my answer to the question
:14:00. > :14:07.was I agreed with the rather more nuanced picture
:14:08. > :14:10.the National Audit Office presented of where things have improved
:14:11. > :14:17.and where they have not. We think, and this is shown
:14:18. > :14:20.in the National Audit Office, that local areas report
:14:21. > :14:25.that the Better Care Fund, in the vast majority
:14:26. > :14:27.of cases, is driving It has shown improvement
:14:28. > :14:33.across two of its... Were you overoptimistic in setting
:14:34. > :14:39.the targets and savings that And we talked about this back
:14:40. > :14:46.in December 2014, didn't we? And I think we had quite a frank
:14:47. > :14:50.exchange at that point. The Better Care Fund mark one,
:14:51. > :14:53.which is what I regard this, was an initiative by the Government
:14:54. > :15:00.to transfer funding from the NHS to social care, in recognition
:15:01. > :15:03.of the great pressures raised on social care, so, did it
:15:04. > :15:08.achieve its intended aim of increasing the funding available
:15:09. > :15:13.to local authorities So, in that sense,
:15:14. > :15:17.it has been a success. It didn't actually achieve
:15:18. > :15:19.anything in reducing the number of emergency admissions
:15:20. > :15:22.to A, did it? Well, I don't think it was ever
:15:23. > :15:26.likely to, as of some sort of magic between March 31 2015,
:15:27. > :15:31.and April 1 2015. In fact, I think that's what
:15:32. > :15:35.I laid out for you in 2014. You laid it out rather nicely,
:15:36. > :15:39.Better Care Fund maths and real-world maths,
:15:40. > :15:41.I think in June last year, which we thought summed it
:15:42. > :15:43.up perhaps quite well. Actually, so, really, it was
:15:44. > :15:48.all a bit of a fraud, wasn't it? The money was going to go
:15:49. > :15:50.from your budget to the local government budgets, but it wasn't
:15:51. > :15:53.actually going to achieve anything to reducing costs to the NHS,
:15:54. > :15:55.which was one of Well, it was supporting
:15:56. > :15:58.social care financing. Mm-hmm, to help save
:15:59. > :16:00.pounds in the NHS. Well, to help social
:16:01. > :16:02.care funding pressures. I think the underlying problem
:16:03. > :16:04.is the shortfall of funding The Better Care Fund is an attempt
:16:05. > :16:11.to put some more money in. The new Better Care Fund
:16:12. > :16:14.is an attempt to put a bit more in. Social care would have been cut
:16:15. > :16:18.by more without the NHS transfer of funds, definitely,
:16:19. > :16:21.because it was used to prevent cuts. So, what you're really saying is,
:16:22. > :16:24.actually, this isn't really much It's just moving money
:16:25. > :16:30.from pot A to pot B. The problem with always thinking
:16:31. > :16:33.that by putting some money in, we'll get some improvement
:16:34. > :16:35.and some better things - it's just plugging a gap of money
:16:36. > :16:38.that has been taken away, so the population 65-plus has
:16:39. > :16:43.gone up by 15% in the period we are talking about,
:16:44. > :16:47.and, actually, over 40% of adult social care budgets isn't spent
:16:48. > :16:49.on older people at all. 35% is spent on people
:16:50. > :16:55.with learning disabilities alone, where the pressures are equally
:16:56. > :16:58.great, so there is a huge set of issues here,
:16:59. > :17:01.and, although I wouldn't dismiss BCF or improve BCF as an unwelcome
:17:02. > :17:04.resource, it's not getting The question is to what budget
:17:05. > :17:11.a council but to its social care services, and that's obviously tied
:17:12. > :17:14.up with the whole bigger national debate about local authority
:17:15. > :17:20.financing and local democracy. A short time later in the Commons,
:17:21. > :17:23.MPs debated the next round of funding for health
:17:24. > :17:26.and social care in England. The idea that we have an NHS
:17:27. > :17:29.that is on a sustainable footing is, I ask Ministers to be realistic
:17:30. > :17:37.about the current position, and I ask our Chancellor,
:17:38. > :17:41.in his forthcoming Budget, to address this matter by urgently
:17:42. > :17:48.giving a lifeline to social care, because that will benefit not just
:17:49. > :17:52.social care, but the NHS. She called for a joined-up
:17:53. > :17:54.approach for the future - a call echoed by the chair
:17:55. > :18:00.of another influential committee. We do need a long-term
:18:01. > :18:02.generational shift in how we are going to deal
:18:03. > :18:04.with this matter. We cannot just keep lurching
:18:05. > :18:07.from crisis to crisis and funding The number of assaults carried out
:18:08. > :18:17.on NHS staff in England by patients The day in the Commons began
:18:18. > :18:20.with tributes following the death Sir Gerald was the oldest MP,
:18:21. > :18:24.and also held the title "father of the house",
:18:25. > :18:27.as he had the longest unbroken service as a member of the Commons,
:18:28. > :18:30.being elected in 1970. He famously called his party's
:18:31. > :18:34.left-wing 1983 election manifesto "the longest suicide
:18:35. > :18:37.note in history". The Speaker, John Bercow,
:18:38. > :18:40.led the tributes, saying I will not pretend that he was
:18:41. > :18:49.always the easiest of colleagues. If you were lauded or praised
:18:50. > :18:51.by Gerald, you doubtless took If you were attacked
:18:52. > :18:56.or denounced by Sir Gerald, you could be in no doubt
:18:57. > :19:02.on the matter. But there was that fidelity
:19:03. > :19:04.to principle, that commitment to causes, that insistence
:19:05. > :19:08.on doing his duty by his constituents, by his party,
:19:09. > :19:14.and by his country. Gerald will be mourned
:19:15. > :19:19.very widely indeed. MPs will get the chance to pay
:19:20. > :19:26.their tributes later in the week. Meanwhile, in the Lords,
:19:27. > :19:28.cross-party tributes have been paid to the former Lords leader
:19:29. > :19:30.and Home Secretary Lord Waddington, David Waddington served
:19:31. > :19:34.in Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet during the final year
:19:35. > :19:39.of her premiership from 1989-90. He was appointed as leader
:19:40. > :19:43.in the Lords by John Major. A tenacious, and committed servant
:19:44. > :19:49.to the British public, who are affected real change,
:19:50. > :19:53.leading the charge from the backbenches on major legislation
:19:54. > :19:55.such as the amendment he carried to the Criminal Justice
:19:56. > :20:01.And Immigration Bill in 2008. I think it's fair to say
:20:02. > :20:04.that he wasn't one of life's But my colleagues did cheer
:20:05. > :20:14.when, as Home Secretary, he referred the case
:20:15. > :20:17.of the Birmingham Six to the Court of Appeal, where,
:20:18. > :20:19.of course, their convictions In some ways, he wrote his own
:20:20. > :20:28.obituary when in an interview for the House magazine some years
:20:29. > :20:31.ago he said, with disarming self-deprecation, I think
:20:32. > :20:35.he was having a joke, but, I would like to be remembered
:20:36. > :20:40.as a decent local buffer who wasn't all that clever but,
:20:41. > :20:42.in his own way, The number of assaults carried out
:20:43. > :20:54.on NHS staff in England by patients or members of the public is rising
:20:55. > :20:57.and now stands at Such is the concern that a petition
:20:58. > :21:02.launched by the radio DJ Nick Ferrari calling for such
:21:03. > :21:06.attacks to be made a specific criminal offence has attracted
:21:07. > :21:11.nearly 117,000 signatures In a debate in Westminster Hall,
:21:12. > :21:13.MPs told horror stories of some of the violence NHS
:21:14. > :21:19.workers had suffered. I'll draw members' attention to one
:21:20. > :21:22.example I was given of a 35-year-old ambulance technician from Cornwall,
:21:23. > :21:25.who was punched in the face by a drunk, aggressive woman
:21:26. > :21:29.whilst at work. She sustained a broken jaw
:21:30. > :21:32.and she's had at least 12 surgical procedures since then,
:21:33. > :21:35.and is still suffering She had a titanium jaw implant put
:21:36. > :21:41.in back in September 2016, but since then she has had to have
:21:42. > :21:44.two further procedures, and cannot open her mouth wider than a finger
:21:45. > :21:49.width at the moment. That's over a decade
:21:50. > :21:54.of agony and suffering. We owe it to people like her,
:21:55. > :21:57.and everybody else attacked just doing their job, to stand up
:21:58. > :22:00.and send a message that attacks on NHS staff
:22:01. > :22:02.are contemptible and we will do everything in our power
:22:03. > :22:05.to stop them. One piece of testimony
:22:06. > :22:09.from an NHS staff nurse describes how in her,
:22:10. > :22:13.quote, 20-year nursing career, I have been spat at, punched,
:22:14. > :22:17.kicked, verbally abused, and even had a cardiac
:22:18. > :22:21.monitor thrown at my head. Another talks about how
:22:22. > :22:24.she works, quote, in an A On a daily basis, I see
:22:25. > :22:29.some sort of aggression, whether this is physical
:22:30. > :22:31.or verbal, towards staff. I can't recall a day that has gone
:22:32. > :22:34.by when we have not had to have security or police
:22:35. > :22:38.in the department. But perhaps even more worrying
:22:39. > :22:41.than this is evidence given to this Petitions Committee
:22:42. > :22:44.by the Royal College of Nursing, which suggests that there
:22:45. > :22:46.is a dangerous perception that some female nurses fear
:22:47. > :22:51.that they are seen as, quote, Now I am quite sure that members
:22:52. > :22:57.will find this quite appalling. It is undeniable that our NHS staff
:22:58. > :23:01.are under a great deal of pressure at the moment,
:23:02. > :23:03.with long waiting lists, patients waiting on trolleys in corridors,
:23:04. > :23:08.and having to deal with angry The Government, with their current
:23:09. > :23:13.handling of the NHS, appear to be creating a perfect
:23:14. > :23:18.storm of unrest and discontent amongst patients and relatives,
:23:19. > :23:22.which is likely to exacerbate tension and ill feeling,
:23:23. > :23:25.and the Government must take some I am the daughter of a retired
:23:26. > :23:30.police sergeant and a nurse, And both parents were subject
:23:31. > :23:38.to abuse as part of their roles as public servants, and so this
:23:39. > :23:41.is an issue that I feel If you are under time pressure, as,
:23:42. > :23:46.of course, we've seen in this winter in accident and emergency,
:23:47. > :23:50.actually that just pours petrol on the flames,
:23:51. > :23:52.because someone is going, excuse me, excuse me,
:23:53. > :23:55.can I speak to you? And people are running past
:23:56. > :24:00.all the time, and then So, this is not always
:24:01. > :24:07.someone who is coming in with the tattoos,
:24:08. > :24:09.you know, "love, hate" or whatever, making it obvious
:24:10. > :24:11.that they are troubled. It is someone who is bright and,
:24:12. > :24:14.but to de-escalates It requires back-up and,
:24:15. > :24:22.more than anything else, But the Minister thought
:24:23. > :24:25.the penalties already available Given the current offences framework
:24:26. > :24:30.and sentencing guide, which, as I say, makes provision
:24:31. > :24:34.for an increase in sentence to be considered where the victim
:24:35. > :24:37.of an assault is a public sector worker, I am not persuaded
:24:38. > :24:41.that there is a need to create a specific offence for this
:24:42. > :24:50.particular group of workers. The new MP for Stoke-on-Trent
:24:51. > :24:52.Central has taken his Gareth Snell held the seat for
:24:53. > :24:56.Labour in last week's by-election. He won the seat with a majority
:24:57. > :25:00.of just over 2,500 - Ukip's leader Paul Nuttall came
:25:01. > :25:03.second - on a turnout of 38%. I, Gareth Craig Snell, do solemnly,
:25:04. > :25:07.sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful
:25:08. > :25:11.and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth,
:25:12. > :25:14.her heirs and successors The by-election was caused
:25:15. > :25:23.when the previous MP Tristram Hunt decided to stand down
:25:24. > :25:27.from Parliament to run And that's it from me for now,
:25:28. > :25:33.but do join Keith Macdougall at the same time tomorrow
:25:34. > :25:35.for another round-up of the best of the day
:25:36. > :25:38.here at Westminster, but until then, from me,
:25:39. > :25:44.Alicia McCarthy, goodbye.