Lord Loomba, speaking in the House of Lords last week, questioned the government on issues ranging from care sector assessment to the number of GPS, privacy issues, the track and trace system, and the rule of six.
On the accountability of care home providers to their residents when problems arise, he queried about protections for residents when homes are forced to close. He asked what measures the Government is taking to ensure that existing residents are not traumatised by being forced to move home due to financial pressures, forcing the closure of their current care homes.
Regarding payments to victims of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, he asked if the Government was committed to shortening the time that it will take before payments are made.
On the shortage of GPS in England Lord Loomba stated that waiting times to see a GP have always been long, and appointments limited to five or six minutes only. Pointing out that now many patients are only given a telephone appointment, Lord Loomba asked the Minister how and when these vacancies will be filled.
He also queried the robustness of the track and trace system as well as privacy issues. Lord Loomba wanted to know, what measures are in place to protect citizens from data loss and breaches of privacy, so that they can have faith in using the system.
He also challenged the government on the rule of six. The legislation underpinning the rule required any measure to be proportionate. According to him, there does not appear to be any scientific basis for the number of people being curtailed to six.
