Speeches by George.

“You are confident that everything is in order and it will be. With regard to the wider issues, talking about the changes to NHS England, are you confident that matters such as pandemic preparedness, aspects that are not currently emergency, urgent issues, are not simply going to be lost or put on the back burner for a …”

“Finally, I suppose it shows the importance of this Committee that the regional blueprint was published yesterday in time for the Committee. I understand that in that document—I have not had chance to look at it myself yet—there is a re-creation of the seven regions, a bit like the strategic health authorities of the pa…”

“These will be offices of the centre, really.”

“They will not be collations of the local ICBs, where they come together. It will be your seven offices within the seven Government zones. “Regions” is not the right word. That is what they will be.”

“The ICBs will simply be receiving and communicating through that.”

“Answering one of the fact-based questions earlier from Beccy, Jim, you said there was a requirement to achieve effective operational balance within three years. Do you mean the end of the year 2028-29, or, in other words, by March 2029? Am I right? Is that the three‑year financial year?”

“That is March 2029.”

“Earlier, Glen you were talking about the £19 per head notional administrative running cost. I believe £18.76 was the figure given. Does that mean to say that the figure at the moment is somewhere in the region of £37 or £38 per head in terms of running costs?”

“The cost-cutting plans for each ICB have gone through what is called a moderation process. To what extent has that enforced a national uniformity of approach? Have you used that as a learning opportunity to see how the creativity and ideas of some localities could be shared in other areas?”

“Jim, earlier you were explaining the human side of the messaging of cuts to your own staff and the impact of the abolition. How has that affected the way in which you have, in turn, conveyed messages of having to take quite significant cuts and significant structural change to ICBs and their staff?”

“I am so sorry to interrupt the Minister’s peroration, but she covered without detail the funding formula for local authorities and whether it will properly address the poverty and deprivation in rural areas. Cornwall is the poorest region in the country and achieved European objective 1 status—one of the highest levels…”

“Meur ras, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I congratulate my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon), not only on securing the debate but on the way in which he covered the issues and made such a strong case for the very special needs of remote and coastal areas. We hope that the new gro…”

“To be fair, you inherited a bit of a car crash as far as the workforce is concerned, with a 40% reduction in staffing within the sector since 2015. I understand from UNICEF, which has highlighted a Royal College of Midwives survey, that—it seems improbable—57% of midwives are contemplating leaving the service within th…”

“Okay, so it will not be done by a central diktat saying, “The Blackpool model will be rolled out nationwide.” It will be a framework within which there will be local flexibility.”

“This is happening across the NHS: the potential risk—or some might call it dumbing down—of saying that people trained to clinical level x can oversee or allow certain functions to be undertaken by someone who is not so well trained. Do you think those kinds of patterns are safe and deliverable?”

“As you know, there are five mandatory visits from health visitors. The Committee learned that in Blackpool, they have adjusted the way they manage the workforce there to achieve a target of eight visits, which they believe is a better way of both keeping in touch and maintaining an overview of the progress being made i…”

“I do not know whether your niece is saying this, but a lot of health visitors are saying they cannot do their job—there is not sufficient time to perform their duties. They do not feel it is a safe environment in which they feel satisfied that they are giving families the support they need. Are you confident that you c…”

“You mentioned health visitors. You said there was a proposed health visitor programme in the Labour manifesto. You also suggested that health visitors could take on a larger number of tasks—for example, the vaccine roll-out. At the same time, a large number of health visitors are struggling with stress. Retention is ex…”

“I will come back to health visitors in a minute, but I notice that the Royal College of Occupational Therapists have strongly recommended that they shift a lot of their work out into the community, which, of course, is one of the three shifts that the Government are trying to achieve. They believe that they will have a…”

“Before 31 December?”