Results 1-20 of 6,063 for in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates' speaker:Paul Burstow

Children and Families Bill: New Clause 3 — Regulation of child performance (11 June 2013)

Paul Burstow: I want briefly to draw attention to new clause 5, which addresses the issue of young carers and the fact that the good intentions of the Government in the Care Bill to extend new rights to adult carers have inadvertently created a gap that leaves young carers in a position where they would be less well favoured than adult carers in the future. As a result of the new clause, tabled by a...

Department of Health: Accident and Emergency Departments (Ministerial Visits) (11 June 2013)

Paul Burstow: When considering issues relating to A and E closures, particularly the proposed closure of the A and E department at St Helier hospital, which serves my constituents, will the Secretary of State ensure that those who propose such plans make sure that there is also a costed plan for developing out-of-hospital care, which is an essential prerequisite for any changes to acute services?

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: I thank the Backbench Business Committee again for enabling us to have the debate. I also thank those on both Front Benches, my hon. Friend the Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker) and the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs Moon), and every other Member who has either intervened in the debate or contributed directly. Today’s debate on mental health, like last year’s, has created and...

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: That is a welcome announcement from the Minister about achieving parity of esteem in emergency and crisis care. However, in the wake of the Francis inquiry, which rightly drew our attention to serious patient safety and dignity issues in our physical health care system, I suspect that we will need to ensure that we are not distracted or led into not addressing the same issues—which...

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: I beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of mental health. There can be no health without mental health, and, above all else, I hope that today’s debate communicates that clearly and powerfully in the country and in this House. I start by thanking the Backbench Business Committee for recommending this most important of subjects for a debate, and the Government for...

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: I certainly would. The fact that a large number of hon. Members are present, hoping to contribute to the debate, that the Backbench Business Committee advocated the debate, and that the Government have given the time suggests there is cross-party consensus that mental health has for far too long been hidden in the shadows and not awarded sufficient priority. The cost to our society of mental...

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that question. He is absolutely right that access to talking therapies—begun as a result of Lord Layard’s initiatives before the general election, which the coalition Government continued to support and which is being rolled out—is very important in enabling people to recover socially, get back into work and get on with their life. At...

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: Yes, I am concerned. The picture is complex. The figures show that spending on adult mental health services over the past couple of years overall has reduced by about 1%, which is not good, but deeper analysis of those figures shows that about half of commissioners have increased their investment and the other half have reduced their investment, so the picture is more complex than it first...

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: The hon. Gentleman makes an important point about the need for a greater focus on well-being. It is one of the reasons why I am so pleased that the Care Bill which was introduced in the House of Lords last week has as its first and clear mission for our social care system the promotion of well-being, and it goes on to stipulate what that means in practice. It is about control and...

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: I entirely agree. That is one reason why the Government have committed to the talking therapies service for children and young people that has so far been rolled out. I am meeting head teachers in my constituency tomorrow to discuss how we can ensure that they commission the right mix of services to support children and young people, not least because conduct disorders, for example, cost...

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: Yes, and that issue, which I know is of concern to Members on both sides of the House through their constituency casework, for example, was raised in last year’s debate. Although some steps have been taken to try to improve those processes, they still do not seem to me to capture fully the important differences in dealing with mental health and, as a result, can exacerbate mental health...

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: I will give way one last time, but then I really must conclude.

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: I note that the Minister paid close attention to that intervention and I am sure the hon. Gentleman will enjoy the exchange of correspondence on the matter. I want to discuss the health care aspects of parity of esteem. Curiously, not all general hospitals have 24/7 access to a mental health liaison service offering immediate support, yet we know that when that works well it can make a big...

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: I am grateful to the Minister. Perhaps in his own speech he can say a little more about how we might better incentivise this change. Despite the compelling economic and medical benefits, these services are still not being provided widely enough.

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Indeed, that has been part of the approach taken in the talking therapies strategy, which is about moving the resource to where it will make the most difference at an earlier stage, and helping to promote recovery in the first place. The Minister said that the emergency service is a stark example of where parity of esteem has not been achieved, and I...

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: rose—

Mental Health (16 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I was looking at the time and at my notes and thinking that I should conclude so that other hon. Members can contribute fully to the debate. My final point concerns the power of data and the difference they can make. Will the psychiatric morbidity survey, which is due to be repeated in 2014, be repeated? I draw attention to the value of the cancer intelligence...

Health and Social Care (13 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: When the right hon. Gentleman chaired the Health Committee, it published the report that led to the banning of smoking in enclosed public places. That ban was only secured by a free vote in this House. Does he agree that, if we cannot get the Government to act, we need a free vote so that we can make the change in that way?

Health and Social Care (13 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: The hon. Lady is making important points about carers—an issue on which she has campaigned consistently. Would she join me in welcoming the announcement from the Royal College of General Practitioners over the weekend about the priority it wants attached to carers and the guidance it is now issuing to GPs to ensure that they do more? One in 10 of a typical practice’s patients are...

Health and Social Care (13 May 2013)

Paul Burstow: I want to concentrate my remarks on social care, because all too often in debates entitled “Health and Social Care” we tend to spend most of our time debating health, and yet our social care system is absolutely vital in regulating health care costs and delivering a better-quality health service. The Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech—it was indeed published on...