Tag: healthcare

Bishop of St Albans asks about integration of care systems in rural areas

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on integrated care systems in rural areas on 24th July 2023, during a discussion about best practice guidelines for care of strokes:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, these guidelines are very encouraging, and all who work on them should be congratulated. As we keep hearing, the essence is speed if we are to treat effectively, yet this is particularly difficult in rural areas, especially remote rural areas. What additional help is being given to integrated care boards’ care systems to ensure that our rural integrated care boards can deliver these guidelines, which are so vital?

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Bishop of St Alban speaks in debate on access to healthcare in rural areas

The Bishop of St Albans spoke in a debate on emergency healthcare in rural areas on 20th July 2023, stressing the need for social support as well as medical resources:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Armstrong of Hill Top, not only for chairing this committee and producing an excellent report but on now bringing it to your Lordships’ committee for us to debate. I declare my interest as president of the Rural Coalition and a vice-president of the LGA.

I associate myself with the noble Baroness’s concerns that a subject of such huge importance has so few people speaking on it. I understand the problems, but I encourage His Majesty’s Government, the Whips and so on to look at how we can give such topics the time they deserve.

I have long expressed my concern about healthcare in England, particularly in rural areas, so I read this report with great interest. I have seen the strain on emergency care in my own diocese of St Albans, which covers Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. In Hertfordshire, category 1 ambulance calls—those reserved for the most life-threatening injuries—were responded to in just under 12 minutes, on average, well above the national average of seven minutes.

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Bishop of Exeter asks about resolution to doctors’ strikes

The Bishop of Exeter tabled a question on what progress the government had made towards resolving strikes by NHS doctors on 5th July 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Exeter: To ask His Majesty’s Government what progress they have made towards resolving the strikes by doctors in the NHS.

Lord Markham (Con): My Lords, the Government have been clear that we want to resolve the strikes by doctors. We negotiated in good faith with the BMA’s junior doctors committee in May. The Government stand ready to meet junior doctors again if they move from their unreasonable ask of a 35% pay rise this year. We also want to open negotiations with consultants. We encourage unions to come to the negotiating table rather than proceeding with strike action.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about average ambulance response times

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 5th July 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what was the average ambulance response time in (1) NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board, and (2) NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board, in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021, and (d) 2022.

Lord Markham (Con): Ambulance response times by Integrated Care Board (ICB) area are not centrally collected.

Hansard

Bishop of Exeter asks about investment in social care

The Bishop of Exeter asked a question on the need for investment in the social care workforce on 4th July 2023, following a government statement on the NHS workforce plan:

The Lord Bishop of Exeter: My Lords, we on these Benches very much welcome this workforce plan, in particular the expansion of places for training with a range of clinicians and the shift of gaze towards community care and prevention. Our anxiety very much mirrors that of the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, and the noble Lord, Lord Allan of Hallam. We notice that page 23 of the report says:

“This Plan is predicated on access to social care services remaining broadly in line with current levels or improving”.

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Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Gloucester backs amendments regarding detention of pregnant women

On 3rd July 2023, the House of Lords debated the Illegal Migration Bill in the second day of the report stage. The Bishop of Gloucester spoke in support of amendments to the bill tabled by Baroness Lister of Burtersett which would seek to prevent the current 72 hour limit on detention of pregnant women from being removed:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, who expertly outlined why the amendment is needed.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about support for people with degenerative medical conditions

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 22nd June 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what support is available for people with progressive supranuclear palsy.

Lord Markham (Con): Patients with a diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy would be supported through the usual range of commissioned health and social care services. Depending on the needs of an individual, support may be provided through a range of commissioned health and social care services including their general practitioner, general neurology services, specialised neurology services and social care. There is not a separately commissioned service for progressive supranuclear palsy.

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Bishop of London asks about reducing health inequalities

The Bishop of London received the following written answer on 21st June 2023:

The Lord Bishop of London asked His Majesty’s Government what recent progress they have made towards reducing health inequalities; and what further steps they intend to take in the future.

Lord Markham (Con): The Government is committed to improving healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035 and reducing the gap between areas where it is highest and lowest by 2030, as stated in the Levelling Up White Paper.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about diagnoses of corticobasal degeneration in the past five years

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 21st June 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many people were diagnosed with corticobasal degeneration in (1) 2018, (2) 2019, (3) 2020, (4) 2021, and (5) 2022.

Lord Markham (Con): The National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Diseases Registration Services (NCARDRS) does not hold comprehensive data on corticobasal degeneration. Therefore, this this information is not available in the format requested.

Hansard

Bishop of St Albans asks about research into neurological conditions

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 20th June 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how much money they are directing annually to research the (1) causes, and (2) treatment, for corticobasal degeneration.

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