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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Pugh, Swales and George quiz Lansley on Breast Implants
January 14, 2012 11:11 AM
• [Jan 11] John Pugh (Southport, Liberal Democrat): IF the Government are paying for something that is needed, it is logical to assume that some private firms must be dodging their responsibilities. If those firms are not indemnified against the risks of surgery or willing to accept responsibility for its consequences, why on earth do we allow them to practise? Does the remedy not lie in our hands?
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Andrew Lansley (Secretary of State, Health; South Cambridgeshire, Conservative): I entirely understand my hon. Friend's point. The position we have inherited is that I have no powers in relation to the provision of private health care by private companies. As I said to Andy Burnham, the Health and Social Care Bill provides for the establishment of Monitor as a health sector regulator that will license such providers. I am not making any judgment at this point on whether it would be appropriate for conditions to be attached to such licences in relation to the continuity of service to patients, but it is one option that we can consider.
• . . Ian Swales (Redcar, Liberal Democrat): If the NHS stands behind private providers in such cases, it is effectively providing free indemnity insurance. Will the Secretary of State look at the insurance position of providers of such services and ensure that the taxpayer does not face open-ended liabilities?
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Andrew Lansley : As my hon. Friend points out, to that extent the NHS has always stood behind the private sector provision of health care. If things go wrong, people have the right to access NHS treatment as they must be looked after on the basis of clinical need. Referring back to points I made earlier, the Health and Social Care Bill gives us an opportunity to look more systematically at continuity of care for patients both in the NHS and the private sector and at the responsibilities of providers under their licence.
. . • Andrew George (St Ives, Liberal Democrat): I commend my right hon. Friend's initiative. However, he said the following, which may have been sloppy wording: "those who have had reconstructive surgery following a mastectomy, will have received PIP implants through the NHS." Of course, the majority will not have done so, and I have confirmed with surgeons in Cornwall that PIP implants have never been used in the NHS in Cornwall. Given that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency issued advice to stop using PIP implants in the UK in March 2010, can the Secretary of State confirm that this advice was acted on, no doubt within the NHS but across private clinics as well?
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Andrew Lansley : I hope I did not say what the hon. Gentleman ascribes to me. Some 3,000 women, we think, had PIP implants, and of course, that is only a fraction of the number having breast reconstruction surgery. I think I can offer him reassurance. The MHRA withdrew authorisation in March 2010, and given that there was only one distributor of these implants in this country-Cloverleaf-they will not have been distributed for use after that date.
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