My Lords, the report on the NHS by the noble Lord, Lord Darzi, casts light on a range of health inequalities which are both stark and unacceptable. In response, our 10-year plan for the NHS in England sets out a re-imagined service designed to tackle inequalities in access and outcomes for everyone,…
I can indeed give that assurance, and I am grateful to my noble friend Lady Brown for her voice on the matter of women’s poor hysteroscopy experiences. These are unacceptable and part of a wider issue of women’s pain being normalised. Women must be given the opportunity to discuss pain relief with a…
My Lords, we recognise the vital contribution of unpaid carers and are committed to improving support through the NHS and social care. The 10-year health plan sets out how we will systematically capture data on unpaid carers, ensuring recognition and support and involving them in care planning. The …
I thank my noble friend for her long-standing commitment to the cause of unpaid carers and for contributing to strengthening their rights under the Health and Care Act 2022. I reassure her and the House that the Government recognise the concerns raised in the recent Carers UK report. The Hospital Di…
I thank my noble friend for those helpful, although concerning, observations. That is why I very much look forward to the first phase and later phases of the independent commission into adult social care, chaired by the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, not least because it will inform the modern service …
As always, my noble friend raises a very pertinent point, which pinpoints the fact that we should never make any assumptions about people and their responsibilities, regardless of the circumstances that they are in. I am very happy to have a conversation about all the different aspects that we are w…
I agree with my noble friend. In the contract changes, we have removed caps on the number of GPs recruited. Importantly, we also expanded reimbursable roles to include practice nurses, to do the very thing that my noble friend asked about, which is to increase workforce capacity.
I must point out to your Lordships that the new clause proposed by Amendment 21 would be in substitution for the new clause “Rights of life peers to sit in the House of Lords” agreed by the House earlier today in Amendment 17.
My Lords, I should inform your Lordships that if this amendment is agreed to I will be unable to call Amendments 195A to 197A for reason of pre-emption.
Clause 29: School uniforms: limits on branded items
Amendment 195
My Lords, the Government are committed to developing an integrated health and care workforce which is skilled and well supported and has opportunities for high-quality learning, to enable staff to develop and progress their careers across an integrated system. We are also implementing joint inductio…
I very much agree with my noble friend about the importance of integration. As she explained, it is not necessarily about training to be joint, but about the approach. I will feed back her particular suggestion about job rotation to Minister Karin Smyth, who is responsible for developing the workfor…
The noble Baroness has made the case for us all. As we know, one of the main pillars of changing the health system we have is to move from sickness to prevention. I believe you can transfer that logic and thinking to this area. We have fantastic examples of different neighbourhoods having stepped up…
I am grateful to my noble friend for her question and I wholeheartedly agree with what she says. Civil society organisations play an absolutely vital role in speaking out and advocating on behalf of their beneficiaries. This role is a fundamental part of a thriving democracy. We have a rich history …
My Lords, the Government are facing up to the challenges of adult social care reform. The Prime Minister has tasked the noble Baroness, Lady Casey of Blackstock, to lead an independent commission into social care, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transcend party politics. The noble Baroness is …
My noble friend makes very strong points, which I absolutely concur with. This is an issue that needs to be able to stand the test of time and changes, whether they be in leadership or of Government. That is why we are taking the approach that we are. My noble friend will have seen the terms of refe…
My Lords, I support Amendments 135 and 144, which relate to unpaid carers. It is always a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, who is always so sound on carers’ issues. I declare an interest as vice-president of Carers UK.
Amendments 135 and 144 would provide employees with a s…