Speeches by McIntyre.

“What engagement have you had with staff and with the unions to work on that part of it?”

“In terms of engagement and motivation, my colleague, Josh, touched upon motivation at HQ. What is your sense of motivation across the wider workforce? You mentioned retention. Retention and motivation go hand in hand. Will there be specific measures within the workforce plan that address the motivation and the fact tha…”

“Touching upon colleagues’ questions on league tables, we have all been scrolling through the list today to see where our local trust is. I am very pleased that my local trust is seventeenth on the acute trust list, which is fantastic news and residents should be really assured by that, but there are also concerns about…”

“Gloucester has a proud history as a welcoming and diverse city. Just last week, I was pleased to attend the Ukrainian independence day celebrations in my constituency with some of those who have sought refuge in our city. However, many constituents have written to me, particularly those who live next door to the asylum…”

“Moving on, workforce is going to be key to delivering this 10 year plan. It would be remiss of me not to take this opportunity to ask about the threatened strike action from the BMA. Could you update the Committee on the progress you have made on securing a meeting with the BMA’s resident doctors committee?”

“Great, thank you. I am going to move swiftly on, given timing. In your response to the Chair, you mentioned some of the criticism about going through a period of consultation. What did you learn from the consultation on the 10 year plan that you did not know before you started?”

“Thank you for your answers so far, Secretary of State. Just to carry on the theme from Beccy’s questioning, I heard what you said about the supermarkets holding a lot of data, and it strikes me that another group of organisations with an awful lot of data about our eating habits is the delivery companies—your Deliveroo…”

“Okay; may we bring Jim in on that question?”

“Thank you, Secretary of State. The BMA has announced an initial five-day strike. If that was to go ahead, what assessments has the Department done on what impact that might have on elective waiting lists?”

“May I check, Chair—am I out of my allotted time?”

“I am glad the Secretary of State has reminded Conservative Members that they have rather short-term memories. When I took my place in this House last year, thousands of my residents in Gloucester were on NHS waiting lists—many of them for longer than 18 months. Since this Labour Government took power last year, the num…”

“Cyber-security is vital, not just to our national security but to safeguarding our public services, so I am delighted that the Government are investing in the sector through their cyber growth action plan. Some of that investment is going into my neighbouring town, Cheltenham, but there are so many fantastic opportunit…”

“13. What recent progress his Department has made on strengthening national security.”

“I am Alex McIntyre, the MP for Gloucester. I will start on something that Josh questioned. Has any analysis been done on what additional costs a reduction in routine appointments—check-ups, for example—would lead to due to people being caught later down the line? Obviously, one of the big shifts in the 10-year plan is …”

“Okay. Can you provide an update on how the roll-out of the golden hello scheme is going, and the data you have to support the impact it is having on access in areas of high demand?”

“I will move swiftly on to the questions I am meant to be asking.”

“We have recognised in the 10-year plan that shifting to prevention will relieve pressures on the system as a whole. For example, if you tackle obesity, you will have fewer people developing bowel cancer, which will cut costs overall. If the longer-term reform of the contract is focused on urgent treatment, are we not a…”

“The impact assessment published with the consultation that came out yesterday shows that if you eradicated those unnecessary check-ups and used the underspend properly, you could—the aim is to get to 500,000 more patients next year. At the moment, the problem is that there are too many unnecessary check-ups.”

“When I knock on doors in my Gloucester constituency, I hear time and again about the importance of tackling the 8 am scramble for a GP appointment, and the difficulty many of my constituents faced under the Conservative Government getting the care they needed. Will my right hon. Friend explain how Labour’s 10-year plan…”

“The workforce plan has set a target to increase training places for speech and language therapists at just under 1,200 this year. Will that meet the workforce demands the sector is facing?”