Topical Questions

Question

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities. If I may, Mr Speaker, I will, with your indulgence, take a moment to express my deep sadness at the loss of James and David and my utter shock at what we saw this weekend, but also to remember David as someone who was always smiling... My hon. Friend is right to raise this. Capital is allocated by two CCGs on a regional basis that is weighted by population, and if that population changes, the weighting also changes.

Question

I also welcome the new Ministers to the Treasury Bench. In recent weeks we have seen a patient at Preston wait over 40 hours for a bed... What is the Secretary of State personally going to do to avert a winter crisis of misery for patients?

Question

His wall of defence is falling down at just the point that vaccination is waning, so may I suggest that he ditches the complacency and fixes the vaccination programme now?

Question

Last week, a whistleblower told the American Congress that Facebook had repeatedly misled the public... Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is time for Facebook to be transparent about the impact of its platform?

Question

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities. If I may, Mr Speaker, I will, with your indulgence, take a moment to express my deep sadness at the loss of James and David... Can we try to get the provision of new general practices on a planned basis as the new houses go up?

Question

As a former Chancellor, the Health Secretary will know that air pollution causes 64,000 deaths yearly costing £20 billion. The World Health Organisation states this is twice as high. Will he urge legally binding WHO limits in the Environment Bill to save lives and money?

Question

Will the Secretary of State confirm whether the extra £250 million will be spent on increasing GP services, breaking from Labour's bureaucratic approach?

Question

The Secretary mentioned Anne's case but not the shortages in oncologists (17%) and radiologists (33%). What commitment is there to train more staff?

Question

The Secretary will be aware of potential emerging mental health treatment using psychotherapy and psychedelics, which benefits millions but faces research challenges due to drug scheduling. Will he examine this issue urgently?

Question

With the NHS pressured by high infection rates and weekly deaths, should the Health Secretary make mask-wearing mandatory and suspend charges for lateral flow tests?

Question

Ministers should offer reassurance to mothers-to-be in east Kent that giving birth in those hospitals will be safe. Is there any update on the situation?

Question

A constituent suffered from severe spinal cord injury. The ARC treatment is available at Queen Elizabeth Hospital but not in England. Will the Minister meet me to resolve this issue?

Question

I would like to ask the Secretary of State about pressures in emergency care and comments that the new chief executive of NHS England made to the Health Committee this morning that we have shortages of 999 call handlers. Is he concerned about the time it is taking to answer some 999 calls? Do we have those shortages? What are his plans to address them if we do?

Question

Given the high covid infection rates and the risk of new variants of concern emerging that may be vaccine-resistant, what discussion has the Health Secretary had with the Chancellor on extending the contain outbreak management fund and on increasing public health budgets, which are 24% lower than they were in 2015?

Question

With covid case rates across my area of Kirklees still above the national average, what extra support can be given to Kirklees to help to keep deaths and hospitalisations low and to boost the booster programme in Kirklees?

Question

Across the continent of Europe, mask wearing, ventilation in buildings and the use of green passes for events are commonplace. They also have much lower infection rates, hospitalisations and deaths, so while the Secretary of State addresses the backlog in the roll-out of vaccinations for children and of boosters, will he consider implementing the very good practice that can be seen in other countries?

Question

May I add weight to what my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell) said earlier? I have a similar situation in my constituency at the Chalk Pit in Epsom. It is really important that we strengthen the public heath duties of the Environment Agency. Will the Secretary of State make that a priority of his discussions with his ministerial colleague?

Question

I do not know how to respond to that, Mr Speaker, but I will carry on. In declaring an interest, I welcome the Government's decision to give a third jab to people with compromised immune systems. There has, however, been confusion in the NHS about the difference between a booster jab and a third jab. May I therefore ask the Secretary of State where is the responsibility in the NHS for advising people and arranging the third jab, and what will be the time gap between getting a third jab and a booster, as opposed to the second jab and a booster?

Question

Thanks for the warning, Mr Speaker. I congratulate the Secretary of State and the new vaccines Minister—the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash (Maggie Throup)—on the roll-out of booster jabs. Over 3 million have been administered so far. May I attempt to strengthen their hands by asking for some of the pop-up vaccination centres, such as the Brent mosque, to get going with these booster jabs so that we can make sure that people in all communities have access to these much needed boosters?

Question

Teenage vaccination rates in this country are lagging behind other countries. The latest data shows that the equivalent of 8,000 classrooms were empty over the past two weeks due to pupil absence, and schools such as Hampton High in my constituency had 11 teachers missing yesterday yet have been advised against reintroducing masks and have been told to teach 700-plus pupils outdoors. Does the Secretary of State think that that is sensible advice and will he ramp up the vaccination of teenagers, particularly over half-term next week?