Speeches by Coleman.

“On staffing, just increasing consultant numbers is not the solution.”

“Thank you; you have been very clear. Dr Higginson, can I ask about staffing, because I struggle with that? We talk a lot about staffing, just in numbers. You have said, in terms, “We’ve put more senior doctors into the system, but corridor care hasn’t eased.” Where do you think the extra capacity that you put in has ac…”

“As a former management consultant, I have used the word “opportunities” a lot. When I say there is an opportunity to do something, it means it should be done. Is that what you are saying?”

“You are all making a lot of very helpful statements, but it would be really interesting for us to understand, when you say, “These things should happen”, whether they are happening. When you say that something should happen, tell us how much it is happening and what could be done to make it happen if it is not.”

“So you are saying we are not engaging sufficiently with patients at the moment?”

“How do we put them at the centre? You have said that several times, but the question I think we are all very interested in is: how?”

“Are you saying it is not at the centre at the moment?”

“Dr Benneyworth, if you agree with that, what role does the Government then play in ensuring that the system does the sort of thing that Dr Higginson described?”

“Can the Minister confirm that the MSF will include targeted support for children who require palliative care?”

“I am very grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) for calling this vital debate. As the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) did, I will talk about children, and I would like to start with Amy. Amy had Cockayne syndrome, which is a severe, fatal, multi-organ genetic …”

“This plan is to be welcomed. It rightly recognises that families of children with SEND are absolutely exhausted from having to fight and battle for the support they need. I therefore strongly welcome the commitment to end that and to give over 1 million children, for the first time, legally enforceable rights through t…”

“18. What steps she is taking to improve SEND provision in schools.”

“But do you not think that—ironically, seeing as people do not seem to keep the weight off for an extended period at the moment—the drugs over the long term could increase obesity in the general population by reducing people’s motivation to tackle the root causes?”

“I understand that, and we have discussed that quite extensively. You say that prevention should always be the first line of defence. Your share price is rocketing. I wish we all had shares in Lilly; we would all be a lot richer. Do you not have a financial interest against prevention? I am not talking about morals; I a…”

“There are all sorts of other conditions that people take medication for. It is a bit boring, but—”

“I must stop you there. What makes you say that nobody wants to be on medication for life? People who have high blood pressure take high blood pressure pills for life.”

“Can I ask a couple of questions about other aspects? We have an obesogenic environment, which I know Professor Jebb has done a lot of work on. The Committee has talked a lot about trying to reduce the obesogenic environment through healthy food and so on. Does getting the easy pharma jab not reduce the urgency of tackl…”

“At this stage, do you think that NICE should look again at the assessment it has already made?”

“Thank you very much. Dr Coelho, do you have any views on this?”

“When you say that the assessment has been robust, that suggests that it is using the best available data and a whole range of other factors. However, the recentness of the analysis is important. If things are changing all the time, how robust is the data?”