§ 3. Mr. Paul Goggins (Wythenshawe and Sale, East)What steps he is taking to ensure that young people are consulted on the future development of the NHS. [57351]
§ The Minister for Public Health (Ms Tessa Jowell)The involvement of all who use the health service, young and old, is essential in rebuilding a public service that is open and accountable to the people whom it serves, shaped by their experience and responsive to their needs. That is why the voice of patients will be heard at every level, whether through primary care groups, the national institute for clinical excellence or the increased involvement of local people on trust boards. That involvement is part of building a national health service in which people have confidence— no longer one governed by a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, or where people are treated as numbers, but a partnership to build quality and responsiveness.
§ Mr. GogginsI thank my right hon. Friend for that detailed and encouraging response. May I draw her attention to Manchester's healthy school initiative, under which 50 school children recently communicated their views about the national health service directly to managers and providers in south Manchester? Does she agree that such events are important in ensuring that young people have a say, and because they can lead to real improvements in the delivery of health care services?
§ Ms JowellI commend the initiative of my hon. Friend's health authority. It is part of the health action zone, and I hope that that example of the involvement of young people in developing the national health service is one which other health authorities will seek to copy.
§ Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood)Many young people would regard the Minister's response as totally at variance with their experience locally. There may be a consultation exercise for NHS development, but all too often it is a total charade. The wishes of thousands of people, including young people, appear to be ignored. What practical steps will the Minister take to ensure that their wishes are translated into action inasmuch as they pay for the health service and those in my constituency want to see their local hospital, Mount Vernon, built up rather than run down?
§ Ms JowellPerhaps one of the most important changes that has marked the past 18 months is that consultation in the NHS no longer means simply a period of time. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say that, where a consultation is undertaken and the views expressed are completely disregarded, people's confidence in the process will begin to diminish. We regard consultation and the views of those who use the health service as essential to developing it, which is why, for the first time in the history of the NHS, we are now conducting a patient survey of about 100,000 people who are being asked about their views and experiences of the service. The feedback from that survey will be vital in assessing the performance of the health service against the national performance framework.
The hon. Gentleman had better accept that nothing effective happened to involve local people, young or old, under the previous Government. We are developing a programme of consultation and partnership with people who use the health service.
§ Mr. Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield)Has my right hon. Friend considered communicating with young people, especially young women, through the medium of their magazines? A visit to any newsagent would show how many such magazines are published. Is she not disturbed when she analyses their contents? There may be a lot about breast enhancement surgery, but there is very little about the dangers of smoking or the causes of breast cancer and other cancers. Given that young women do not read newspapers, will my right hon. Friend use those magazines to get through to them?
§ Ms JowellMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why I have recently had two meetings with the editors of teenage magazines, at which we discussed young people and smoking, and young people and teenage pregnancy. He is right that, if we want young people to listen and to hear what we have to say, it is much better if the information comes from the magazines that they read and the people to whom they relate rather than from middle-aged Ministers.
§ Mr. Dafydd Wigley (Caernarfon)In projecting to young people the future developments of the national health service, will the Minister bear in mind the need to project the attractiveness of NHS careers for nurses, dentists and doctors? Unless that is done more positively and the attractions are underlined more effectively, there is a danger that there will not be enough people to train for that important work.
§ Ms JowellThat is absolutely right. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State recently launched a competition for school children specifically to awaken their interest in a career in the national health service. We must inspire young people with the prospects that a career in the NHS can offer. If any young people in the right hon. Gentleman's constituency would like to enter the competition, it is still open.