Speeches by Kinnock.

“As my hon. Friend knows, we inherited an NHS dentistry system in crisis. This Government are determined to fix it with fundamental reform of that vital service by the end of this Parliament. Since last April, we have delivered extra urgent dental appointments nationwide, and last month we announced new measures to get …”

“My hon. Friend and I have discussed this matter. I hope that her issues in accessing the commission, which I know has made contact with her, have been resolved. The commission is, of course, an independent body, but I am in no doubt at all that parliamentarians will hold it to account through the mechanisms at their di…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for that question. I am not familiar with the details, of course, so might she write to me with the clear details? I am sure that officials will then take the matter up as a matter of urgency.”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out this issue. As I have said, the reforms that we announced in December will make a major difference, because dentists have not been incentivised to do NHS dentistry. That requires us to significantly increase the UDA, as we are doing, but there is a range of other measures…”

“We have the £102 million primary care estate fund, which can help with refurbishments and improving the functionality of primary care, particularly GP surgeries. If the hon. Member writes to me about the specifics of that case, I am sure that the relevant officials can give her the answer she needs.”

“I am a little bit surprised; I think that that technology does exist. I have visited a couple of GP practices where the online booking system gives the patient the option to specify the doctor that she or he would like to see. I would be happy to connect my hon. Friend with relevant officials in the Department, so that…”

“That does sound somewhat baffling, given that there is demand for the service. Pharmacies play an absolutely vital role in our communities. I would be happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss the details further.”

“We are recruiting 8,500 more mental health workers by the end of this Parliament. The Mental Health Act 2025 reforms will ensure that people with a learning disability, autistic people and people with the most severe mental health conditions have greater choice and control over their treatment and receive the dignity a…”

“I have a huge amount of respect for the hon. Gentleman, but I have to say that I am a little taken aback to be told about the lack of progress when the Conservatives had 14 years to sort out NHS dentistry. Nevertheless, we are engaging intensively with the BDA. The interim reforms, which kick in from April, will make a…”

“We are in negotiation with the British Dental Association about the long-term contract reform that is so clearly needed, but I also draw the hon. Member’s attention to the announcement I made in December about a range of interim reforms, particularly on urgent work, where we are significantly increasing the fee rate fo…”

“ICBs have to be an umbrella organisation that looks at primary care, community care, secondary care and acute care holistically and on a level playing field, not where you just continue with the “business as usual” approach of favouring secondary and acute. If that continues, the 10-year plan will fail.”

“I think it varies from area to area. We do see some examples of ICBs winning the argument with the trust, and the trust accepting—”

“I get regular updates from officials, and I am pretty sure they will wheel me in at some point, but not yet.”

“I don’t, no. It is officials and stakeholders—”

“I don’t want to pre-empt it. It is so important that we co-produce it with the stakeholder group. Five meetings have already taken place. I think there will be an answer to that question when we do the—”

“A big part of it is because of the stakeholder engagement that we have got through it. There will be an entire system to come behind it. It is not just something that we are developing in isolation. The other thing is that we have identified that there is too much fragmentation, with each ICB going off and doing its ow…”

“I completely agree. This is part of the culture change that I was discussing with the Chair earlier—how do you create an integrated approach? I think the neighbourhood health framework will help with that, as it is about almost starting with a blank sheet of paper and saying, “We now need to do away with all the old po…”

“They were totally integrated. That is what we need to get to.”

“I think it is because it is part of a systemic shift, which is set out in the 10-year plan. The MSF will not exist in isolation from all the other change that we want to deliver. That is articulated in the 10-year plan, and that makes it very clear to the entire system. I do think that the entire system has understood …”

“On the children’s hospices side, that was revenue funding, so that is for staffing. But on the adult side, our view is that when you look at the ledger for any hospice, and the income and expenditure it has, if you can help with expenditure on the capital side—those projects about fixing the roof that have never happen…”