Commons
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
12 contributions
Topical Questions
We are committed to delivering 250 centres by 2035, with a progressive roll-out over this Parliament. Early sites are focused on areas of greatest need, with consideration of factors including deprivation and access. Integrated care systems are in the process of planning the best holistic local conf…
My hon. Friend is right that NHS mental health, ADHD and autism services have never fully met the needs of the population in a tailored, personalised or timely way. The independent review into prevalence and support for mental health conditions, autism and ADHD will explore the current challenges fa…
+10 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
2 contributions
NHS Dental Services: Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes
As my hon. Friend knows, we inherited an NHS dentistry system in crisis. This Government are determined to fix it with fundamental reform of that vital service by the end of this Parliament. Since last April, we have delivered extra urgent dental appointments nationwide, and last month we announced …
I congratulate my hon. Friend on the pun in her question. There is good news, in that we are making progress on children’s oral health, but we accept that we still have a way to go on the broader picture. We are making 27,196 additional urgent appointments available in the Humber and North Yorkshire…
Commons
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
4 contributions
Primary Care in Epping Forest: House Building Targets
Rapid housing and population growth can put real pressure on GP services. That is why we are investing an extra £1.1 billion in general practice, taking total GP funding to £13.4 billion. We are also creating 250 neighbourhood health centres, upgrading surgeries through a £102 million fund, and work…
I am not familiar with the details of that case, but I get the impression that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is. A really important part of our manifesto commitment was to end the 8 am scramble, which is all about access, and that is precisely what we are doing. In September 2024, pati…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
2 contributions
NHS Dental Services: West Dorset
This Government are committed to ending the gaps in teeth by filing the gaps in local provision, including in rural areas such as Dorset. We will work to introduce fundamental changes to the dental contract before the end of this Parliament, but already from April the reforms to NHS dentistry that I…
The hon. Gentleman will have noted that we have committed to tie-ins for future dentists going through the training programme. It costs the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds to train a dentist, and we believe it is absolutely right that a significant percentage of their time should be put int…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 December 2025
3 contributions
Palliative Care: North Derbyshire
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq, and I really thank my hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins) for raising this important issue.
This year, I have seen at first hand—at the Wigan and Leigh hospice, the Noah’s Ark Children’s hospice in Barnet, and Katherine H…
Oh, okay. Does my hon. Friend wish to intervene?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
8 December 2025
4 contributions
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
I beg to move, That this House agrees with Lords amendments 19B and 19C.
It is a privilege to return to the Mental Health Bill in this House for what I hope will be the final time in its passage. Thanks to the constructive and collaborative approach from Members across this House and noble Lords in…
Yes, we absolutely do agree. As the hon. Gentleman will hear as I proceed with my speech, we have three options in respect of what will happen in exactly the scenario that he has mentioned, and that has been very much the spirit of the amendment on which we have agreed with the other place.
We will…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
6 contributions
Topical Questions
I thank my hon. Friend, who is a tireless campaigner on this issue. We want to see more dentists in Burton and Uttoxeter, and across the country, which is why we are offering dentists £20,000 to work in underserved areas. We are making it a requirement for new dentists to practice in the NHS through…
My hon. Friend raises an important point, and I would be more than happy to meet her to discuss it, because I think the complexity of what she raises needs some detail.
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
3 contributions
Palliative Care Strategy
I am delighted to have announced in a written ministerial statement yesterday that the Government are developing a palliative care and end-of-life care modern service framework for England. The modern service framework will be aligned with the 10-year health plan, prioritising shifting care out of h…
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. I notice he did not welcome the fact that we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost and £80 million in revenue funding for children’s hospices over three years. We also notice that Conservative Members do like to welco…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
3 contributions
NHS Dental Services: Norfolk
NHS dentistry is out of reach for too many people, and that issue is felt particularly acutely in rural areas such as Norfolk. This Government are rolling out extra urgent dental appointments across the country, and we will be making further improvements for patients to come in from April 2026. NHS …
I, too, am absolutely delighted that more patients can see a dentist in Norfolk but, as my hon. Friend says, there is a long way to go. We are certainly not complacent, but we are showing that it is possible to turn things around. I am also pleased that the University of East Anglia has been approve…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 November 2025
5 contributions
Unpaid Carers: Inequalities
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) for securing this vital debate. I pay tribute to her for her career-long dedication to adult social care and so many of the issues we are debating today. I also pay tribute to all the p…
As a ballpark figure, we are looking at 50,000 residents, but we will be open to developing multi-neighbourhood infrastructure that would cover closer to something like 250,000 residents. It will depend, to some extent, on how it works in the 43 pilot sites in our neighbourhood health implementation…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
19 November 2025
7 contributions
Suicide: Reducing the Stigma
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney) for securing this debate on such a vital topic. I pay tribute to her constituent Philip Pirie, who has been such a strong advocate on this issue. His campaigning and…
I absolutely join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to Rugby borough council. That sounds like an excellent initiative that we should explore in other parts of the country, if that is suitable. He is right that there is almost an ecosystem of different groups now. In my constituency we have the Men’s…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
8 contributions
Topical Questions
As my hon. Friend will know, the consultation closed on 19 August. We are now considering the outcomes, and expect to publish a response very shortly. These reforms will improve support for patients with complex or urgent needs by better incentivising dentists to deliver this care on the NHS.
I did not hear the hon. Gentleman welcome the fact that we provided £100 million—an unprecedented amount—in capital funding for hospices, and £26 million a year and £80 million over three years for children’s hospices. We recognise that hospices benefit from being rooted in their communities, with a…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
3 contributions
Hospital to Community Care
The Darzi investigation found that NHS resources are too focused on hospitals at the expense of community care. Our reforms will turn the NHS into more of a neighbourhood health service. We have already recruited an extra 2,000 more GPs, we are rolling out 700,000 extra dental appointments, and we h…
I thank my hon. Friend for that question, and congratulate him on his work campaigning on this issue. Regular support and advice from a Parkinson’s disease nurse specialist is highlighted as a key intervention in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on Parkinson’s disease…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Virtual Wards
I welcome the Chair of the Select Committee back from parental leave and greatly look forward to working with her again. Virtual wards allow patients to get hospital-level care in the comfort of their own home, speeding up their recovery while freeing up hospital beds for the patients who need them …
The hon. Lady makes a very valid point: this is about the shift from hospital to community, which we have to drive forward. In September 2025, 12,522 virtual ward beds were available—an increase from 12,497 in September 2024. Slowly but surely, we are increasing the number of virtual ward beds and t…
Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Employer’s National Insurance: GPs
Thanks to the decisions taken by the Chancellor at the Budget, we are investing an extra £1.1 billion in general practice—the biggest increase in a decade. That funding has allowed us to recruit an extra 2,000 GPs, agree a contract for the first time in four years, and introduce online access. Does …
Again, I find it extraordinary that Conservative Members have the brass neck to ask those kinds of questions. They created the mess, and now they are criticising us—it is a bit like the arsonists heckling the firefighters. Patient satisfaction in general practice has risen from 67% last year to 75% …
Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
3 contributions
Children’s Hospices: Ringfenced Funding
Children’s hospices provide crucial support, but for too long they have faced the cliff edge of annual funding cycles. I am really proud that we have provided certainty with a three-year funding settlement of £80 million, giving children’s hospices the stability and predictability they need to plan …
I am delighted that Julia’s House hospice received £525,000 from the allocation. I am sure that was very welcome to the staff and the families. It is also worth noting that, of the £100 million allocation that we made to capital funding, £12 million went to children’s hospices. That is an increase o…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
16 October 2025
2 contributions
Children’s Hospices: South-east England
I thank the hon. Member for Mid Sussex (Alison Bennett) for securing this vital debate. I also thank all those who work or volunteer in the palliative care and end-of-life care sector for their care and support—the compassion that they provide to patients, families and loved ones when they need it m…
The hon. Lady will know that children’s hospices are in a different situation from adult hospices: there has always been a centralised grant for children’s hospices, whereas the funding for adult hospices goes through ICBs and is part of the broader budgeting and commissioning process. Clearly, we w…
Commons
Debate
15 October 2025
22 contributions
Jhoots Pharmacy
I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this important urgent question.
Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. They are at the heart of our high streets and are the cornerstone of communities up and down the country. That is why this Government have given pharmacies a funding boo…
I agree with everything the hon. Gentleman has said. It is completely and utterly unacceptable if a business such as Jhoots is not paying its staff. If there are indeed these reports that controlled drugs are not being handled properly, I would strongly recommend that any mishandling of drugs be rep…
+20 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
14 October 2025
7 contributions
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
I thank everyone in the Chamber for their contributions to today’s debate. I will start by talking about the deeply moving contributions regarding the tragic death of Ruth Szymankiewicz. I extend my heartfelt condolences to Ruth’s family, and I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wi…
I will, but I have got little time and a lot of amendments to address, so I will not take any further interventions.
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
3 September 2025
6 contributions
Maternity Care
It is unacceptable that women are experiencing poor maternity care. An investigation has been launched to understand the underlying systemic issues and develop national recommendations so that women receive the care that they deserve. We are also taking immediate action to improve accountability and…
My hon. Friend is a strong campaigner on this issue for his constituents. The Care Quality Commission has committed to monitoring maternity services at Bedford hospitals closely, including through further inspections, to ensure that people receive safe care while improvements are implemented. The in…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 September 2025
5 contributions
Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I begin by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) on securing today’s debate and speaking so bravely and movingly about his family. I pay tribute to his work in the all-party parliamentary group on eat…
I agree that Healthwatch did some important work, but what we are doing is changing the culture of how our NHS works. As the hon. Gentleman will have seen, we are abolishing NHS England. That is of a piece with our belief that proper leadership, proper accountability and proper management of a compl…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
6 contributions
Topical Questions
I commend my hon. Friend for bringing his personal experience to bear on this important matter. NHS England’s independent ADHD taskforce is looking at how to provide support for people with ADHD and how to improve it. We are considering the taskforce’s interim report and look forward to the final re…
We have inherited a system that is utterly failing to meet the needs of children with special educational needs. This Government are reforming the SEND system, ensuring that there is joined-up support across education and healthcare. We are also supporting inclusive environments and earlier interven…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
2 contributions
Urgent Eyecare: East Yorkshire
The right hon. Member’s constituents can access urgent eyecare services from Hull University teaching hospitals NHS trust 24 hours a day, seven days a week and from a range of high-street optical practices locally. Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning primary and secondary eyecar…
I am very sorry to hear of Scott’s experience. What the right hon. Gentleman has outlined is clearly unacceptable. I will absolutely follow up on that issue with officials and report back to him. We cannot allow that sort of poor performance to exist, and those responsible must be held to account.
Commons
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
3 contributions
Mental Health Research Funding: Eating Disorders
Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Department is committed to finding new ways of tackling eating disorders through research. We are supporting research projects, including the eating disorders genetics initiative—one of the largest studies of its kind—and have a £4.25 …
I know that this subject is close to my hon. Friend’s heart, and I pay tribute to him for his work on it. We recognise the devastating impact that an eating disorder can have, and the earlier the treatment is provided, the greater the chance of recovery. The Department continues to work closely with…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
2 contributions
Neighbourhood Health Centre: Long Crendon
This Government aim to establish a neighbourhood health centre in every community by 2035. We are starting in areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels. Planning work has already begun. The hon. Gentleman will…
The hon. Member is clearly a doughty campaigner—I am sure that will mean something good will happen for him in the reshuffle that we are all watching with bated breath. I am happy to have that discussion with him. As I said, the neighbourhood health process will be driven primarily by identifying ar…