It was great to meet with members of the Mental Health Policy Group, alongside our Shadow Minister for Mental Health, Rosena Allin-Khan. We had the opportunity to hear about the work they have been delivering on mental health and wellbeing, and the vision they have put together for […]
In my Leicester Mercury column this month, I talk about Leicester’s second lockdown and the support we need from the government to beat this virus. We still don’t know what criteria the government will use for its review of lockdown on July 18. This has created a sense of uncertainty […]
Reforming social care is the challenge of our generation. We need a long-term plan on social care funding, that doesn’t place the burden on individuals. I spoke to Channel 4 news about the crisis facing social care following Boris Johnson’s comments on care homes yesterday – watch the full […]
Instead of denying delays and problems in social care, ministers should learn from mistakes, so they can put the right measures in place, and keep all elderly and disabled people safe. You can watch my urgent question about this to the Health Secretary here.
I recently wrote to Helen Whately, the Social Care Minister, about two issues which I believe require further attention: the impact of Covid-19 on people with learning disabilities and ensuring openness and transparency about local council ‘easements’ to the 2014 Care Act. There is long established evidence that people with […]
Almost 8,000 people have died in care homes, and we are still seeing serious problems with getting personal protective equipment (PPE) to frontline care workers. I’ve heard directly from care staff who have only just received PPE, and many are having to re-use the same mask all day. This is […]
Today I joined the BBC News Panel reacting to Prime Minister’s Questions. One of the main topics we talked about was the Government moving to publish daily figures for COVID-19 related deaths outside of hospitals, including in care homes. This is something I had been pushing the Government to do, […]
Today the ONS and CQC published statistics showing one third of deaths due to Covid-19 were in care homes in the week ending 17th April. These new figures show the devastating impact Covid-19 is having on care homes, and will be desperately worrying for residents, their families, and staff. Urgent […]
Yesterday I took part in the GMB Union’s virtual Rally4Carers. Carers are risking their lives on a daily basis. I was really pleased to be able to show our solidarity and discuss our key demands. You can watch my speech here, and you can watch the full rally here.
I was recently a guest on ITV’s Peston. On the show I talked about social care, coronavirus testing and how as we emerge from this crisis we must build a better, fairer country. You can watch a clip of me speaking about this last point here, and you can watch […]
The latest ONS figures show how badly coronavirus is affecting social care. Sending care workers miles away for testing, especially if they don’t have a car, simply doesn’t make sense. We need more local testing centres and mobile testing, alongside proper PPE for all frontline staff. You can watch me speaking […]
Alongside the work I have been doing on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme as part of the Treasury Select Committee, I have written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, about the need to deal with problems faced by those who have recently started a new job. Under the […]
