Speeches by Streeting.

“We will respond to your report and keep it in mind as we are modernising our approach to mental health services. I do think it is somewhat of an indictment of how the money has been used that although we have put more money into mental health services, we have not seen an improvement in outcomes. You are right as a Com…”

“My other observation is that, in the time that has passed since PFI was introduced, the skills and capability of the system have changed. We can go back and check, but there will probably be more people in commercial functions now in the Department and in NHS England than there were before. Obviously, I want to bring t…”

“The principle here is that there are tons of checkers in the system. We need a few more doers, and we want to streamline to make sure that we have the right people doing the right jobs and diverting as much resource to the frontline as possible.”

“I will come back to that in a second. I am about to set out what we want to do with the modern service framework, which is linked to that. I think I have said this before: I am personally uncomfortable with the extent to which the hospice sector is reliant on voluntary donations as opposed to statutory funding. We unde…”

“I wish I had certainty on this issue, and in some ways I envy my hon. Friend for his certainty. Having occasionally found myself to be a lonely voice in my party when sat on the Opposition Benches, I respect the fact that it is not easy to be a minority, dissenting voice, especially when one feels so strongly about an …”

“The CQC is independent and is the independent regulator.”

“Absolutely. I want to be up front about the fact that one of the things I am worried about, particularly in relation to the hospice sector, is that in common with the wider voluntary sector we are seeing real pressure not only in terms of costs, but in the ability to raise money through regular individual giving, which…”

“The first thing to say is that we are not going to incorporate HSSIB into the CQC until the CQC is in a fit state to receive it. Secondly, we will make sure, through the governance arrangements and accountabilities, that we do not lose that sharp focus on investigation and the expertise that HSSIB has, which I am deter…”

“My hon. Friend is correct that the study is about building the right evidence so that we get high-quality, safe healthcare for this vulnerable group of children and young people.”

“Yes, and to be honest, it is the third issue of redress that so often causes the hold-up. The reasons for hold-up are, more often than not, financial. The reasons for hold-up are because responsibility sits across different Government Departments. I say this by way of explanation rather than an excuse, as you can proba…”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“We will have to keep the costs under careful review. I obviously talk to the Chancellor and the Prime Minister all the time about how we are managing the pressures in the NHS and the impact on services, so those will be ongoing discussions. As we can see across the board, and this is one of the points that needs to be …”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that we need a strong evidence base, that we need to conduct these conversations with great care, consideration and compassion, and that we need to recognise the vulnerability of this particular group of children and young people, and the fear that so many trans people in our coun…”

“Yes, I appreciate that. We have committed to progress on initiatives to improve clinical service provision before the second anniversary. We are beginning to see progress already on both sodium valproate and pelvic mesh, but in terms of broader redress I would put this under the same category as a number of other patie…”

“So it does have an impact on the opportunity cost, as you suggest.”

“We are working with our colleagues at the Cabinet Office to address a whole number of issues from the Hughes report. Obviously, work on infected blood is now well under way, but we have other issues, particularly about the vaccine-injured community. There are a whole bunch of patient groups who have been failed by the …”

“Since coming into office, we have increased mental health investment. In fact, investment in mental health care has increased by an extra £688 million this year, which has enabled us to hire 8,500 more mental health workers, deliver more talking therapies and roll out more mental health support in schools, as we set ou…”

“Yes, you are.”

“Two things. First, no child in this study is able to give consent and therefore be a participant in the trial and receive puberty blockers. In order to participate in a trial, a young person would need to give informed assent by repeating back to the clinician what the risks are and why they would want to go through th…”

“There is an opportunity cost—absolutely. That is why I think the strikes are ultimately self-defeating for the BMA and its members. I know that the sense from BMA members, reflected in the ballot—both in terms of turnout and the margin of the ballot response—is to give the Government a good kicking.”