Live webchat with Andy Burnham, Shadow Health Secretary: home births, Mumsnet miscarriage campaign and more, TODAY, Wednesday November 16, 11.45am-12.45pm

[RowanMumsnet]

We're very pleased to announce that Andy Burnham will be joining us for a webchat on Wednesday lunchtime between 11.45 and 12.45.

Andy is MP for Leigh, and was Secretary of State for Health during the last year of the Labour government; he is now Shadow Secretary of State for Health in Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet, and as such is Labour's leading spokesperson on the changes being made to the NHS and other health issues.

He is spending Wednesday morning giving a keynote speech to the Royal College of Midwives' annual conference in Brighton, during which he's going to focus on giving women the right to choose where to give birth, with the aim of encouraging more home births.

He's also open to questions about Labour's health record (including what they got wrong) and his support for the Mumsnet Campaign for Better Miscarriage Care - along with anything else you'd like to ask about.

Do join us for the webchat. As ever, if you can't make it, please post up your advance questions here.

Thanks,
MNHQ

Gosh the pressure of asking the first question.

My question is about what the current govt. changes actually mean. I've heard the rhetoric on both sides, but if possible would like a straight answer. I'm a big fan of the NHS in general terms, but personally also know that there are that in some cases big improvements are needed. Is there genuinely any merit in the changes, and if not, what would you do to make sure the NHS does get to be the best it can be.

How can we stop the Tories privatising the NHS? Giving services to any willing provider will mean doctors might find themselves working for a private company, thus losing their pensions etc and having no further incentive to stay as NHS doctors. Patients are not consumers, choice is a red herring.

What will you do when Labour get back into power, to give us back our NHS, or at least to mitigate the disaster caused by the Tory changes (given that the Labour government seem to have started the privatisation ball rolling in the first place)?

Andy, I live in your consituency and have worked for the NHS since 1980. At that time it was compulsory to join the NHS pension scheme. I was promised an 80th per year final salary scheme with retirement at age 60. On the recommendation of a Labour Peer, this will not now happen.

Am I right to strike on the 30th?

Since moving abroad I've come to really appreciate how fantastic the NHS is and I miss it. Not having to worry about whether you can afford treatment or the insurance payments when you are ill makes the NHS precious. Are you genuinely concerned that the Government's health Bill will destroy the NHS? Is there any chance the Government will halt their plans, what are Labour doing to make them think again?

Also, I read that the Government had scrapped lots of targets. Do you think national targets are important?

Ooooooo......
So many questions

if the government is truly wants the nhs to exist, then why is my PCT and local hospital a private company?
What makes the government think private companies can do better?

I don't trust the private companies with my health as they are not transparent like my old hospital used to be. So that's why I refuse to use them, also they were awful to my Nana. (sorry I could help write my opinion)

Lw

Hello Mr Burnham. Is it true that the Labour government was in talks with Circle Healthcare about taking over running Hinchinbrooke Hospital before the last election? If so, does that not make a mockery of your partys position?

My question is about mascara.

What's the secret of "Andy Burnham Sexy Eyes"? I think it's a thin application of Rimmel eye pencil in Tory Blue, very close to the lower lash line. My best friend thinks it's 2 coats of Lancome Definicils in Brown, over a cil primer. Who's right (or left)?

Hi Andy

What's your position on Robbie's Law? Don't you think the duty of candour to patients should apply to all health providers, including GPs?

That patients should be told when there has been a harmful medical accident/intervention, and told what the outcome of an investigation is - and indeed that there has been an investigation?

I really do feel there should be a statutory obligation on all healthcare providers to be open with patients when things go wrong and cause harm in healthcare. Otherwise, how can we take responsibility for and look after our own health, our own bodies, if we don't know what's been going on?

Hello Andy

As the mother of a child who is over 18 with mental health issues, I am very worried about the almost total lack of respect accorded to his dad and to me. As if, frankly, we didn't exist and had no part to play in his health care.

If (when!) you get back in, will you, please, as something of a priority, tighten legislation regarding the rights of carers to be treated with dignity and to be supported through care plans that actually mean something.

I think the NHS has to wake up to the fact that as carers/parents we're in it for the long haul and we care best when we too are cared for.

Hello Andy,

I wonder if you could comment on Occupational Therapy for children with sensory issues (such as ASD or sensory processing disorder). Despite the fact that its well known that a sensory assessment can be very beneficial for these children, many OT departments are not currently carrying them out because of budget cuts. In fact where we live (in Nottinghamshire) they are not currently seeing anyone with a sensory issue.

How do you propose that more home births will be encouraged at a time when more and more midwives are being removed from community work by the current government? Surely the shortage of employed midwives and the lack of time they have to spend with each patient is a pertinent question. There is no shortage of trained midwives, and indeed some newly qualifieds are unable to find positions. How are you going to rectify this?

I have had very mixed experiences of the NHS. For my mother, who had Alzheimers and cancer the 'care' (in East London) was truly appalling. Likewise in Yorkshire for my terminally ill mother-in-law when the attitude of the nursing staff was enormously upsetting ("If you don't take this you'll die in great pain" and "Why bother (with lipstick) you're dying anyway") etc

In contrast I am currently receiving fantastic maternity care in Norwich - I have gestational diabetes and the approach and level of care both in the hospital clinic and in the community is fantastic - I can't fault a thing. I also had good care in London with two very well supported home births. The maternity care I have had has been under Labour and the current govs and regardless of the administration, the staff have been motivated and genuinely caring.

I also have some experience of minor things with private health care and found it equally mixed. How would Labour develop consistency of care across all medical disciplines and age groups, and most particularly the attitude of nursing staff which is so important in making patients keep up morale?

hello Andy

I am not British (yet) but have lived here for 20yrs and love the NHS, personally I find it the mark of a civilised country

But I think Labour failed in bringing an honest debate on future cost given the increase in ageing population and the extra health problems that currently come with it. I would have liked to have seen a true debate and reform where ideological fuelled dismantling of the NHS was not in the agenda as is currently the case
what do you propose?

I think many of the changes needed in care, such as the changes proposed in the miscarriage charter have little to do with extra running cost but they do have a lot to do with careful selection, training and supervision of healthcare staff, from consultants to the housekeeping staff

how do you propose increasing the profile of nurses and other healthcare professionals, help them feel valued and that their careers are worthwhile?

apologies for 2 questions but feel free to ignore one
many thanks

I just wanted to thank Andy Burnham for being here today :)

I would like to say that I cherish what the NHS has given our family. I know it has its problems but I have lived in a country where you have to pay for emergency care and the NHS is so important. You would miss it truly you would if it were gone.

MY daughter has a rare genetic syndrome, thankfully she is doing well, in no small part down to the ongoing care from the
pediatrician who was learned enough to give an early diagnosis
the dietitian
the physio
the genetics service
the occupational therapist
the opthalmologist
the orthotics centre
the sensory impaired service
the cardiologist (24 hour appointment given)
the ongoing support from the local hospital for her cyclical vomiting syndrome.

that is all :0)
Oh and for saving my life after an ectopic pregnancy, and for my surgeon refusing to helicopter me to another hospital when I appendicitis when I was pregnant - the HA wanted to move me, he refused, that saved mine and my baby's life.

Personally I love the NHS...

And Andy you would be a great leader, I did vote for you ;)

I would like to ask what plans the party has to encourage home birth both in terms of promoting the safety and the reduced cost of a home birth (around £800) versus hospital birth (around £1500) in a low risk pregnancy?
The outcome of a pregnancy can vary wildly depending on which health board a woman is served by. How do you plan to rectify this? IME women's issues are often put on the back burner and to protect women a babies I think a possible way forward is to make free access to certain vital services a statutory right.

Hi Andy

Thanks for coming on here.

NHS dentistry - patchy provision and where it exists, difficult to get onto the dentists' books. When there was a NHS dentist locally, I had to withdraw my kids from it because they insisted on amalgam ie mercury fillings and wouldn't believe accept the arguments against ie toxicity.

Anyway, now we go to an excellent private dentist ( there's virtually NO NHS dentistry locally now) but it is barely affordable, even with insurance. I am struggling to pay the bills but, of course, my children's health is paramount.

1. What would you do about this sorry state of affairs?
2. Will you encourage NHS dentists to take preventative dentistry seriously and engage with the increasingly popular and successful ideas within holistic dentistry?

I second welshcerys question but my child is under eighteen. I think the amount of help for psychiatric problems is woeful and despite asking for help was treated as if I was failing my son!!! I had to force the hand of social services and then my family family suffered as a result. My son was treated as a 'client' despite being 13/14 and we had no help or say. What is going to be done about child and adult mental health services?

Andy's just come off stage at the Royal College of Midwives conference and is logging on as we speak.

Welcome Andy, and thanks to everyone who's posted questions.

Do you think it is acceptable for an english trust (Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust) to move maternity services from Shrewsbury to Telford thus placing women and babies from Powys at risk of death or serious brain injury as they would have to travel an extra 20 minutes on top of the already long journey from rural parts of Powys? Do you agree that the lack of any support from Powys LHB for maternity and children's services to retain services in Shrewsbury because they want to keep welsh money in Wales is disgusting when the nearest Welsh hospital is over a hour and a half away for some women as well? Do you even care if women and babies in Powys die because of this move because Adam Cairns, Cheif Executive of SaTH clearly doesn't because Shropshire won't be picking up the bill for these severly damaged babies, Powys will be.

As the mother of a premature baby who had the benefit of excellent neonatal care in a large teaching hospital I am extremely grateful to the NHS, but want to ask why the labour party failed to implement one to one neonatal intensive nursing care in the last government and what steps they would take when they are reelected to not only reverse the savage cuts which are currently impacting on nursing staff in neonatal wards but to invest in this crucial care when the money is spread so thinly. Personally I don't see it as rocket science to invest in neonatal care given it would improve outcomes for a group who are much much more likely to have significant additional needs as they grow older, but am concerend (given my experience) that hospitals and maternity srevices are too stretched and without significant investment the weakest of children suffer more than the weakest of adults (who get one to one intensive care nursing)

Hello everyone. Sorry to be late joining you - just been speaking to Royal College of Midwives and it over-ran a little