Tag: Matt Hancock

The comments made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 28 November 2020.

Because of the incredible sacrifices made by the British people to control the virus, many of us have spent more time indoors this year and could be deficient in vitamin D.

The government is taking action to ensure vulnerable individuals can access a free supply to last them through the darker winter months. This will support their general health, keep their bones and muscles healthy and crucially reduce the pressure on our NHS.

A number of studies indicate vitamin D might have a positive impact in protecting against COVID-19. I have asked NICE and PHE to re-review the existing evidence on the link between COVID-19 and vitamin D to ensure we explore every potential opportunity to beat this virus.

The comments made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 16 November 2020.

Today’s announcement is excellent news and an encouraging step forward in our fight against COVID-19.

We have moved swiftly to secure 5 million doses of this hugely promising vaccine meaning we are even better placed to vaccinate everyone who will benefit should the rigorous safety standards be met.

But we are not there yet. Until science can make us safe, we must remain vigilant and keep following the rules that we know can keep this virus under control.

The speech made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 12 November 2020.

A wise man once said that “the NHS is the best gift a nation ever gave itself”. And throughout this incredibly tough year, at this national time of need, the NHS has been there – as it always is – standing tall to protect us.

But, we all know that this battle against coronavirus is not over yet. And you know better than anybody that the number of hospitalisations are on the rise and we must get this virus under control. And we have seen the very real risk of the NHS being overwhelmed, and so we have acted quickly to make sure that we put in place our new national measures. Because we cannot do this without you, without the NHS. People understand, people feel very deeply, the need to do what they must do to make sure the NHS can be there for us all.

And while we are rightly focused at this moment on the demands of the pandemic and we have thrown everything we have got at making sure that the NHS has what it needs this winter:

– with the extra funding and the Nightingale hospital standing ready once again if needed
– with the increase in the number of doctors and nurses and other staff
– the returners which come back to our wards
– and the upgrades to almost every emergency department in the country

We all know what a huge task is going on right now. But I also today want to cast our eyes forward, to look ahead beyond this critical day-to-day work that we are doing in response to coronavirus and ahead of this winter. I want to ask some crucial questions about the long term, about how we can use the lessons that we have learnt during this crisis to build a better health service for us all.

I have seen so many examples this year of systems working together for the benefit of patients, because that is what system working is all about. I have seen it where hospitals are under pressure with numbers of coronavirus patients. And making sure that the whole NHS comes together to ensure care can be provided.

I have seen healthcare teams working side by side with charities and community groups to offer clinics for hard-to-reach patients. I have seen the phenomenal effort to look after rough sleepers – working together across the system, with local authorities and the NHS side by side. From housing to the NHS, to public health. All to protect the most vulnerable.

I think, in fact I know, that the system works best when it is empowered to work together, when the relationships are strong. And crucially when we remove barriers to our cooperation wherever we find them. To support a better, less fragmented set of decision-making. And to allow the well-rounded care which is vital in a world of complex interrelated conditions.

So, while we work on the day-to-day, so we must learn from how the day-to-day works well and drive this agenda forward, building on the NHS Long Term Plan and working towards a system as the default approach by next year. A systems approach can best serve the interests both of patients and of course of those who are giving the care within the NHS. Because it can give leaders the backing they need to empower them to solve problems in their area. So, whether it is, for instance, breaking down the barriers between community and hospital care, whether it is the joining up health and social care, making sure that prevention and public health agenda are tied together with treatment.

Integration of course is not a ‘silver bullet’ for all problems in healthcare, not by any means. But if we bring to bear the whole wealth and diversity of experience that exists in a local community and learn from where things go well, then we will have a much better chance of helping people live healthier and happier lives for longer. That, after all, is what it is all about.

But building a better NHS is not just about the structures and the systems. I know from talking to so many of you that it is about the culture too. Now of course the culture is underpinned by the legislation in which we operate and by the financial structures that are put in place. But there is an unspoken ethos that drives any organisation. And we must ensure that the culture of how we work together embraces innovation and new ideas and embraces collaboration rather than a silo approach.

During the demands of the pandemic, we have seen how people do their best work because they were trusted to do their job. And here too I want to take forward the lessons that together we have learnt by:

– shedding unnecessary bureaucracy that gets in the way of doing your job
– intensifying our use of the most transformative technologies so that people and clinicians can do their best work and spend more time with patients
– and making it easier to bring the right qualified people to the front line, like of course those returnees
– and like the way we are allowing more people with more clinical qualifications to be trained in order to participate in the vaccination programme

So this is what is behind our People Plan. For the first time ever we have a Chief People Officer in the NHS and Prerana Issar is absolutely brilliant. She has put together a People Plan which is not a single document, it is a whole series of interventions all about showing how we will improve the support we offer to colleagues across the NHS. From practical support like better rest facilities which are so important to people, to the emotional support that is so vital. Every single person working in the NHS has contributed to the unprecedented national effort to beat back this virus and save lives.

And I will do my utmost to protect and support you through this pandemic and beyond. And through our People Plan we will constantly strive to make the NHS a brilliant place to work, that is central to delivering on the promise that the NHS holds out for the people of this country and the patients who we look after and the citizens who we serve.

Now of course coronavirus has also shone a light on some of the inequalities of our health system and the disparities you can find in your health and healthcare depending on your background, where you live, what job you do. We all need to keep working to level up health and care provision. In the same way that as a government we want to level up in education, and housing and so many other areas of our society. And one of the ways that we can do this is by strengthening our public health systems. Not just the standing capacity to respond to future threats to public health through the new National Institute for Health Protection. But also the vital health improvement work. Improving people’s health, which of course improves quality of life and making sure that we support people to get the very best that they can out of life, by making sure we support people to improve their own health.

Now central to this is tackling obesity. And in fact, the coronavirus epidemic and the link from obesity to morbidity has shown yet again how important this agenda is. Our new obesity strategy, which builds upon work of the past, is full of measures to help people make healthier choices.

But there is so much more to do across the whole spectrum of health improvement. We want to embed health improvement more deeply all across the board. And I see this as a critical moment to ensure that we don’t parcel out health improvement and see it as something separate. But see how health improvement is and must be embedded in the work of the NHS, local authorities and so many government departments.

We know that we can help more people to stay out of hospital in the first place. Just as we know that they will get the very best possible medical care when they do come into the NHS. And we all have to lean into the health improvement agenda, especially in primary care. When done right, health improvement has always been at the core of its responsibilities.

Now I know that this has not been an easy year for the NHS. But I also know that when people look back on this tough time in our history, they will be awed by the outstanding contribution that has been made by so many people. And so many people that are taking part in this conference today. You have been there for us, just as you always are. So, I would like to thank you once more, for your incredible efforts and for the efforts that are still to come. You show the country at its best and all of us are in your debt. Thank you.

The statement made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 5 November 2020.

Issues of life and death are some of the most difficult subjects that come before us in this House, and the question of how we best support people in their choices at the end of their life is a complex moral issue that when considered, weighs heavily upon us all. My right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell) asked an important question and I want to set out the precise position. Under the current law, based on the Suicide Act 1961, it is an offence to encourage or assist the death of another person. However, it is legal to travel abroad for the purpose of assisted dying where it is allowed in that jurisdiction. The new coronavirus regulations, which come into force today, place restrictions on leaving the home without a reasonable excuse; travelling abroad for the purpose of assisted dying is a reasonable excuse, so anyone doing so would not be breaking the law. These coronavirus regulations do not change the existing legal position on assisted dying.

As this is a matter of conscience, the Government do not take a position. It is instead a matter for each and every Member of Parliament to speak on and vote according to their sincerely held beliefs, and it is for the will of the House to decide whether the law should change. The global devastation of the coronavirus pandemic has brought to the fore the importance of high-quality palliative care, just as it has shone a spotlight on so many issues and, as difficult as it may be, I welcome this opportunity to have this conversation about assisted dying, as it is one of the most sensitive elements of end-of-life care.

I have the greatest sympathy for anyone who has suffered pain in dying or suffered the pain of watching a loved one battle a terminal degenerative condition, and I share a deep respect for friends and colleagues in all parts of the House who share and hold strong views. I am pleased that the House has been given this opportunity to discuss the impact of the pandemic on one of the most difficult ethical questions that we face.

The speech made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 8 October 2020.

Good afternoon.

I’m very glad to have the chance to talk to you today. Because we are at a perilous moment in the course of this pandemic.

I am very worried about the growth in the number of cases, especially in the North West and North East of England, and parts of Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and parts of Yorkshire.

You have all had the most extraordinary 9 months, and in my view you have risen to the challenge.

But in parts of the country, the situation is again becoming very serious.

Hospitalisations in the North West are doubling approximately every fortnight.

And have risen by 57% in just the just last week alone.

Unfortunately, we are seeing hospitalisations of the over 60s rising sharply, and the number of deaths from coronavirus also rising.

And we know from bitter experience that the more coronavirus spreads, the harder it is to do all the other vital work of the NHS.

Yesterday, we heard from the Academy of Royal Colleges.

Helen Stokes-Lampard said: “If we don’t act fast we risk the NHS being overwhelmed and risk all the good work done to restore services.”

And then this morning, we heard from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

When Katherine Henderson said: “If we do not come together and take effective precautions, COVID will continue its explosion across the country, the consequences of which could be the implosion of the NHS this winter.”

The message to the public must be that we all have a part to play, to control this virus.

Our strategy is simple: suppress the virus, supporting the economy, education and the NHS, until a vaccine can make us safe.

My message to you, and to everyone who works in the NHS, is that we can, and we will, get through this.

Sadly, there will be more difficult times ahead.

But we will get through it together.

And one of the good things that has happened this year, and there have been some good things, is that the whole public, has shown just how much it appreciates the NHS.

There’s only one organisation that can inspire people to applaud from their doorsteps and balconies, come rain or shine.

That can inspire colourful support in windows across the land.

There’s only one organisation that can inspire a heroic centenarian to walk laps of his garden and inspire millions of people to sponsor him.

The NHS. The best gift a nation ever gave itself.

And this year, when all nations faced peril and adversity, the NHS was there for us, as it always is, and always must be.

The spontaneous outpouring of admiration that we have seen from all corners of this country, I think that is testament to how much people cherish this amazing institution.

We all pulled together to protect the NHS.

But crucially, it’s the NHS that protects us all.

Not just the doctors and nurses, and I want to say this very directly, but the cleaners, porters, mental health teams, ambulances, and all the diverse and varied parts of this incredible system.

During the greatest public health crisis in a generation, you have been the linchpin of our national effort.

And we must work together for the population who we serve, through this pandemic and beyond.

Today I want to say a few words about how.

People

First of all, of course, the NHS is only as good as its people.

And if the last few months have shown us anything it is that the NHS is blessed with exceptional people.

And we are doing everything in our power to support them, and boost their number.

During the crisis, we put out a call for former health and care professionals to return to the front line – and 47,000 volunteered to play their part.

I think this is an incredible testament. To them, and to every single one of our 1.4 million strong team – and the over 2 million in social care – I want to say, on behalf of the nation, thank you. Thank you for your service.

Our returnees were supported by people from all walks of life who stepped up.

Furloughed cabin crew redeployed into call handling roles.

Clinically trained firefighters provided surge capacity for our ambulance services.

Volunteers delivered hot food to the vulnerable, and to NHS staff.

This was a phenomenal effort from so many, new recruits and established colleagues.

And we all learned just how flexibly we can work when needs must. This sort of flexibility helped the NHS really deliver, and it is something we should hold onto for the future.

And, of course, we are looking to expand the workforce for the long term, through our plans to recruit 50,000 more nurses, and more clinical staff.

This work is bearing fruit.

This year we have seen doctors numbers at their highest ever.

And over the last year, we’ve seen the number of nurses increase by over 14,000.

And we owe it to them, and all our NHS colleagues, to take forward some of the positive changes that we’ve seen during this pandemic.

From my point of view I’ve seen that the white heat of the crisis showed us a lot about our health service.

And for me, what was most illuminating was to see how some of the things that I know frustrate you all.

Like some of the bureaucracy and the hierarchy that too often gets in the way of caring for patients.

How a lot of this melted away.

Of course, it is important that we have the guide rails so we can measure performance and hold ourselves to the highest standards.

But in a health and social care system like ours, that has evolved over the course of over 70 years.

It is easy for layers of overlapping and disproportionate bureaucracy to build up over time.

I hear from providers what this can mean on the ground – multiple requests for information that don’t add value.

Multiple layers of instruction when we need to devolve trust.

Not enough support for the frontline staff who are doing a really stressful job.

So, we must learn from this illumination.

We must look at every rule and process afresh, and ask whether it makes sense after what we’ve learnt from the pandemic.

And we must increase our support to the frontline.

A few months ago, I launched our Red Tape Challenge within the NHS and social care, inviting views from colleagues on how we could bust bureaucracy.

How we could free up our colleagues’ time to focus on what matters – giving care.

And our team has been interviewing people from across the system.

And we have received hundreds of submissions directly from staff, with over 1,000 suggestions of where things could be improved.

The responses themselves have been illuminating.

As one frontline member of staff told us: “All of a sudden we could do everything we needed to do quickly and efficiently because of COVID.”

And that: “We have coped fine without endless meetings and forms.”

Hallelujah.

I can hear lots of you relating back to seeing the same experience.

We also heard from providers that they welcome the ability to act with more flexibility – for example, greater freedom around redeploying staff and contracting.

And I heard, too, of the multiple reports that have proposed reduced bureaucracy in the past, but haven’t been acted on.

Many times I was told that this question has been asked and then nothing has been done about it.

So we will act on the suggestions we’ve heard.

We will act on the recommendations of the reports that have already charted the way, but been left to one side over the past decade.

I want to keep this momentum going, working with you with the goal of making it easier for you to do your jobs.

So that we build a better health service, ultimately for our patients and for our colleagues on the front line to deliver care.

Now, I know how difficult these past few months have been for so many.

And the survey published by NHS Providers this week showed that many colleagues are feeling tired and burnt out.

Believe me, I get it. I want to do everything I can.

The People Plan has already set out our commitment to investing in health and wellbeing in the future.

Through increased flexible working.

Through creating an inclusive and diverse workplace. That’s a culture change that we know we need to see.

And through boosting opportunities for education and training.

And today I can announce a new research project to understand and address the impact of this pandemic on our NHS staff.

Researchers will work across England to identify those most in risk, and most in need of tailored support.

And we will place a particular focus on colleagues from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, who we know, tragically, have been particularly affected by this virus.

There is more to do.

And I pledge, every day, that I will do whatever it takes to protect the people who do so much every day to protect us.

Systems

The next thing I want to turn to, is how we make sure the systems work as well as possible. Even if people are healthy and happy, they can’t perform at their best if the system isn’t set up to support them.

No one designing the NHS would set it up in the way it is set up now.

A system where primary care, community care, pharmacies, mental health trusts, and many, many, other parts, exist – at least in law – as atomised and isolated institutions.

No. A collaborative approach is essential for us to have better, less fragmented decision-making.

To treat complex conditions better.

And to provide the best care for everyone who needs it, in the setting that is best for them.

And to provide preventative care to keep people healthy in the first place.

Now, I don’t believe in reorganisations designed in Whitehall offices, based on management consultants’ spreadsheets.

I am allergic to all that. It is my job to improve the system we’ve got so it works better for everyone. It is the hard yards of incremental reform.

In fact, it’s every single person’s job to improve their part of the system, so that it works better for everyone.

All 1.4 million of us ought to be working together to improve the system that we’ve got.

I know there is a strong and growing consensus behind the systems-led approach.

Streamlining work by bringing together commissioners, providers and local authorities, to plan services for the populations we serve.

And we will move to the system by default. We will remove barriers that prevent collaboration, and follow the approach set out in the Long-Term Plan.

We will improve, rework, join up and tie systems together so we can all focus on the people that matter: the populations we serve.

When battling coronavirus, we have been able to solve problems together at a systems level that previously would have been impossible to crack.

We will deliver ICSs in all geographies by April, and take them further still.

We will strengthen how systems operate, across all parts of the NHS, and tie in tightly with local authority colleagues who share our mission to the populations we serve.

So bringing to bear the whole wealth and diversity of experience that exists in a local area.

All with the shared goal of helping people to live healthier lives for longer.

Recovery

We must make these improvements, even while we battle coronavirus, because they will help us to battle coronavirus.

And we must learn from how we have battled coronavirus.

And we’ve got to recognise the Herculean efforts, both to keep services going, and to get us ready for winter.

And I want to touch on what I think is a seldom-discussed success during this pandemic, which was just how much urgent non-COVID work we were able to keep going at the peak.

As well as treating COVID , cancer treatments continued at 82% of usual levels between March and July.

Our A&Es stayed open.

Primary care and outpatients switched to telemedicine faster than I could ever possibly have imagined.

It has been a phenomenal team effort and I would like to thank and pay tribute to everyone who has been involved.

Not just to those who maintained and delivered the services, but everyone who created the infrastructure – including that digital infrastructure – that made it possible.

We will keep doing everything we can to keep non-COVID treatments and diagnostics going over the next few months.

And the more coronavirus is under control, the more we can continue the recovery and keep essential services open.

As we prepare for the tough months ahead, I have no doubt that we will see the same dedication and care that we have seen all the way through 2020 – the NHS’s most challenged year.

Conclusion

And I pledge you this:

This year has proved beyond measure the importance of our nation’s most cherished institution.

At our best moments in our lives, and at some of our worst.

The NHS is always there for all of us.

And at a time when it is being tested like never before, for this pandemic and into the future, it will be always at your side.

The comments made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 26 September 2020.

Genomics has the potential to transform the future of healthcare by offering patients the very best predictive, preventative and personalised care.

The UK is already recognised around the world as a global leader in genomics and this strategy will allow us to go further and faster to help patients right here in our NHS and give them the best possible chance against a range of diseases.

The UK is using its expertise in genomics right now to advance our understanding of COVID-19, develop new treatments and help us protect the most vulnerable.