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Department of Health

I ask hon. Members to allow me to reply to the many points that have been made. I take on board the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford about accident and emergency targets and I agree with what he said about follow-up appointments. On the point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire, Moorlands (Charlotte Atkins), ambulances are reaching more patients more quickly than ever before, and not just in Staffordshire. She has repeatedly said how important the structure of the ambulance service is in Staffordshire. Ambulance services are extending the range of care that they provide to transform patients’ experience and improve efficiency. Notwithstanding the comments of the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Dr. Taylor), we have begun to improve the lives of 17 million patients suffering from long-term conditions such as diabetes, mental health problems and coronary heart disease. Those improvements have been enabled by innovation and new treatment methods, but have largely been delivered in the community through improvements to general practice and general practitioners’ services. It is true that we have thousands of extra clinicians throughout the country, old buildings are being replaced with new hospitals or surgeries, and new ambulance stations, ambulances and equipment are being provided. We are upgrading the NHS’s IT systems with the largest civilian IT project in the world. The increased spending will be backed up by key reforms—payment by results, new work force contracts, PCT commissioning, foundation trusts, independent inspection and regulation and an efficiency plan to deliver better value for money. In addition, we have made significant investments in pay reform for NHS staff. The hon. Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames) raised the issue of costs. I do not apologise for addressing the scandal of low pay in the health service.