A Cumbrian MP has told the Health Secretary that people were at the end of their tether because of the broken NHS.
Julie Minns, who represents Carlisle, was speaking during a debate in the House of Commons about Lord Darzi’s investigation into the NHS in England.
The independent investigation was published on Wednesday following a nine-week review. It identified a series of failings.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting told the house: “This Government will be honest about the problems the NHS faces and serious about fixing them. That is why I asked Lord Darzi, an eminent cancer surgeon who served both Labour and Conservative-led Governments with distinction, to conduct an independent investigation.”
During the debate, Ms Minns said: “I declare an interest as the mother of an NHS nurse. It is important that we remember what is at the centre of this issue: people.
“Three individuals came to my Carlisle surgery last week because they were at the end of their tether about the care that their loved ones had received, or not received, at our local hospital.
“One is the husband of a woman who has profound physical disabilities and cannot leave the house unaccompanied.
“She now has no trust in her local hospital because, among other things, her recent care involved her being fed food that she was known to be allergic to.
“I also saw the parents of a young woman who has epilepsy, a physical disability and profound anxiety.
“The failure to put in place a care plan to account for all that means that she is now self-harming.
“The other case was that of an elderly woman whose husband was discharged from the hospital without her consent. He is now in a care home 20 miles away, and she cannot visit him.
“Will the Secretary of State assure those people that this Government will not only fix our NHS, but restore their broken trust in it?”
Mr Streeting replied: “I look forward to working with her to improve health services there and across the North West, especially in the rural and coastal communities that rely on the hospital in Carlisle, as well as on more local neighbourhood services.
“I must warn new members that one of the most depressing things about the last nine years has been constituency advice surgeries, where people would come to see us about the consequences of the failure of Government and the failure of this place.
“We owe it to them to do better—better integration of health and care services, better access and outcomes, and better joined-up care.
“As she has painfully described, if we do not tackle the problems early, they become multiple, higher-cost and personal tragedies. We have seen enough of that.”
