Speeches by Twist.

“I beg to move, That this House has considered parity of esteem between physical and mental health. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. In my constituency surgeries I see the devastating consequences of our failure to treat mental illness with the urgency it requires. In my role as chair of the…”

“The hon. Member might be reading my mind, because I will come on to that issue. I am sorry to hear of the death of his constituent—it is tragic.”

“I do agree, and I will expand more on that theme. Parity of esteem means tackling mental health with exactly the same respect, funding and clinical focus as physical conditions.”

“I agree with my hon. Friend on the importance of the mental health investment standard as one of the measures for securing good mental health support and for making mental health equal with physical health. As I was saying, parity of esteem means tackling mental health with the same respect, funding and clinical focus …”

“My hon. Friend is quite right to point to those figures and to say that we need much more input into tackling that difference in funding. As I said, the proportion of NHS funding spent on mental health is expected to decline, and we need to look again at that. That is exactly why the mental health investment standard w…”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, which is why I am so pleased that we set up mental health teams in schools. We need to look at preventive measures so that we do not keep getting into this position. When people are left to languish on waiting lists, their ability to participate in the workforce collapses. We mus…”

“I am co-chair of the Unison group of MPs, which is linked to Managers in Partnership.”

“Q Dr Dash, you have explained why you believe that the changes to Healthwatch will strengthen patient responses. How do you think that could be strengthened to ensure that the levers really are being pulled for patients? That seemed to be the case. Dr Dash: There are a few different things. First, we have talked about …”

“Q Ms Woolnough, you have talked about the abolition of NHS England, and, as I understand it, you are dealing with what the position is rather than taking a stand. Beyond the legislation, what are the key things that we should be looking at to get the transfer of functions to ICBs and DHSC right? Sarah Woolnough: We hav…”

“And do you think—”

“Q Sir Ciarán, the 10-year health plan, which is behind a lot of this, demands that we are really ambitious in involving patients and communities in shaping the services that they need. How can we best support ICBs, local authorities and other organisations to drive that change? Sir Ciarán Devane: I go back to our havin…”

“Q Do you think that there are any good examples we can learn from? Sir Ciarán Devane: Yes, I do. I was in Epping recently, at St Margaret’s. I talked to the lady who runs the patient engagement: she is a volunteer and is a patient herself. They are a very good example, because they have said, “If we want to provide goo…”

“Q You all represent patient organisations in different ways. I would like to put this in the context of the 10-year plan and the shift to involve patients and communities in shaping services. From your patient perspective, how can we best support ICBs, local authorities and other people to drive that change for patient…”

“Q Minister, we have talked a lot today about ICBs, the local government Healthwatch and the single patient record, and we have heard some interesting comments. Can you summarise why you believe it is important that we look at this legislation now? Karin Smyth: I will come to the single patient record because I think it…”

“”

“”

“13. What steps he is taking to build more social and affordable homes in Blaydon and Consett constituency.”

“For 14 years, the Conservatives presided over a house building crisis that locked a generation out of home ownership and left social housing in short supply. In Blaydon and Consett, my constituents have been calling for years for more social and affordable housing to be built. Will the Minister say how this Government …”

“People across the north-east, including in my constituency of Blaydon and Consett, have been benefiting from a £2.50 bus fare for a single journey, funded thanks to the Labour Government and Kim McGuinness, our Labour Mayor of the North East. With that fare, there have been over 100 million bus journeys and an increase…”

“13. What plans she has to work with local leaders to improve bus services.”