Commons
Debate
11 July 2025
2 contributions
Rare Cancers Bill
I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) for bringing this Bill before the House, and I congratulate him on getting it to Report. Amendment 1 allows amendment 2 to be inserted into the Bill. Amendment 2 would require the Secretary of State, having carried out t…
I again congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur). It is a huge achievement for a colleague who has only served in this place for just over a year to have got a Bill this far. I thank hon. Members across the House who have spoken in the debate so powerfully and movi…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 July 2025
2 contributions
Glaucoma Awareness
Thank you, Mr Pritchard. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship.
I thank the hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam) for securing this important debate to raise awareness of glaucoma. I enjoyed our meeting some time ago, when we discussed this and other related issues at length. I am…
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. In our manifesto, we of course set a target of 2 million additional appointments within the first year of a Labour Government, and we have delivered 4 million. The key thing is to ensure that we get people off the waiting list. Regarding the figure o…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 July 2025
2 contributions
Down’s Syndrome Regression Disorder
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank and pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for securing this important debate. I commend her for the work she is doing to raise such an important issue, and for sharing her personal experiences in a moving…
As the Government have made clear throughout the debate on reforming the welfare system, those who need to be supported and protected will be supported and protected, so I can reassure the hon. Gentleman on that point. There is clearly a lot of work to do through the review that will be led by the M…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 June 2025
11 contributions
GP Funding: South-west England
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I thank the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Martin Wrigley) for securing this debate and raising this important issue. I pay tribute to every hon. Member who has taken part in the debate for their insightful contributions.
The health…
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and for that fun fact. I will come on to it a bit later in my speech, but the £102 million primary care utilisation fund will make a major contribution to upgrading the creaking primary care estate. He is right to identify that as a major challenge. It…
+9 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
23 June 2025
8 contributions
Access to GPs
I thank the hon. Member for North Down (Alex Easton) for raising GP access, which is a vital matter for so many of our constituents. I congratulate him on securing his first Westminster Hall debate—well done on that. [ Interruption. ] His first Adjournment debate—sorry. We are not in Westminster Hal…
I agree absolutely with the points that the hon. Gentleman makes. We will very shortly publish our 10-year plan for the NHS. As I will say a little later in my speech, a big part of that is about the shift to a neighbourhood health service and shifting from hospital to community so that the front do…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
20 June 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I stand at the Dispatch Box alongside the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Sarah Sackman), not as the MP for Aberafan Maesteg, representing the views of my constituents—although I thank each and every one of them who took t…
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
17 June 2025
7 contributions
Topical Questions
I am sorry to hear about the issues that my hon. Friend’s constituents are experiencing. I understand that he has raised the issue with the North East and North Cumbria ICB, which is investigating his concerns. I would be happy to be kept informed, and if he is not happy with the outcome of that inv…
We have provided hospices in England with a record £100 million in capital funding, as my hon. Friend will know. ICBs are responsible for commissioning palliative and end-of-life care services, including hospices, to meet the needs of their local populations. NHS England has published statutory guid…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
17 June 2025
6 contributions
Care in the Community
We are getting the NHS back on its feet and making it fit for the future by shifting care to the community with £889 million more for GPs, 1,700 additional frontline GPs, 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments annually and a 19% uplift to the community pharmacy contract. Looking to the future, our…
It is really good to hear about the fantastic work going on in my hon. Friend’s constituency. We are working with systems to move to a neighbourhood health model by building on existing good practice, particularly around the development of multidisciplinary teams. Aylesbury is an outstanding example…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
17 June 2025
5 contributions
Health of the Elderly
The spending review announced increases in NHS spending alongside more money for adult social care. By investing in DEXA scanners, we can more rapidly treat conditions such as osteoporosis, which particularly affect elderly women. Our urgent and emergency care plan promotes falls prevention technolo…
I carefully note the fact that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who is sitting next to me, has an interest in this issue, so I will tread very carefully with my answer. I understand that the hon. Gentleman has discussed this matter with the Minister for Secondary Care. The North Ea…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
17 June 2025
3 contributions
Mental Health Services: Staffing in Rural Areas
I know this is an important issue for the hon. Member from the meeting we had about it last year. This Government are supporting local providers by recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament. We are also expanding NHS talking therapies and piloting six new 24/…
I thank the hon. Member for that. There is no doubt that the NHS, universities and others need to do more to get students, trainees and qualified doctors and mental health specialists in places where the NHS and patients need them. We will publish a refreshed workforce plan later this year to ensure…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
17 June 2025
35 contributions
Mental Health Bill [ Lords ] (Sixth sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris, not least because I understand you have just returned from New Zealand, where you had duties as the Government’s trade envoy. I thought perhaps we should do a haka in your honour to mark it, but you might rule against that.
I have no comment on that, and we are not going to divide on it either.
Let me address the questions raised in this morning’s debate. First, I was asked how disputes will be resolved when the nominated person and clinicians disagree. Where a specific nominated person, power or right is being used, …
+33 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
17 June 2025
6 contributions
Pharmacies
After years of underfunding, the Government agreed a record uplift of £3.1 billion for ’25-26 for the pharmacy sector. The pharmacy access scheme provides £19 million to support pharmacies in areas with fewer pharmacies, including in rural areas, but funding must always come with reform. Our hub and…
The pharmacy sector is facing huge challenges after massive cuts over the past 14 years. We are beginning to rebuild, but the hon. Lady is right that there are particular challenges for rural pharmacies. We are looking at comprehensive reform in the pharmacy sector involving the better use of techno…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
17 June 2025
6 contributions
Mental Health Bill [ Lords ] (Fifth sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I will discuss a number of issues concerning community treatment orders and ensuring sufficient resources for community-based care.
Clause 22 will add the community clinician as a third key decision maker for community treatment orders…
Where is the evidence for that?
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
13 June 2025
3 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I associate the Government with the words of the Opposition spokesman regarding the tragic incident in India.
As Members will know, the Government remain neutral on the passage of the Bill and on the principle of assisted dying. We have always been clear that this is a decision for Parliament. Howe…
I can confirm that it is absolutely the policy intent of the sponsor for that to be a backstop. The Government are working on that basis to ensure that it is a backstop and not a target.
Amendment 42 seeks to remove the four-year backstop. Although that is a matter for Members to decide, we note th…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
12 June 2025
34 contributions
Mental Health Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers.
I turn to amendment 11, tabled by the hon. Member for Winchester. Under the Bill, English qualifying patients subject to the Mental Health Act 1983, including those on a community treatment order, will be covered by a new opt-out approach …
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her expertise and am pleased to hear that she feels reassured by my remarks. It is absolutely the Government’s ambition to bring more consistency and clarity to this area. A number of hon. Members have raised issues around racial disparities; I plan to come on to …
+32 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
12 June 2025
4 contributions
Mental Health Bill [ Lords ] (Third sitting)
I beg to move amendment 26, in clause 5, page 11, line 22, leave out—
“by a constable or other authorised person”.
One of the tests for detaining a person under the mental health legislation is that harm may be caused, or that treatment is not possible, without detention. This amendment and amendm…
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss.
Government amendments 26 to 29 seek to remove previous amendments to the clause tabled by Lord Kamall, Earl Howe and Baroness May of Maidenhead, which added police and other authorised persons to sections 2, 3 and 5 of the Mental Health Ac…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
10 June 2025
20 contributions
Mental Health Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers.
I thank the many hon. Members who spoke on Second Reading. It is clear that in this place, as in the other place, the Bill will proceed in a collaborative and constructive spirit, with the single motivation of getting the reforms right. On…
I thank the hon. Member for that intervention, not least because it gave me the opportunity to remember the constituency of the hon. Member for Dorking and Horley—please pass my apologies to him for forgetting that important point. He has been a tireless campaigner and I believe that we can find a w…
+18 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
10 June 2025
17 contributions
Mental Health Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss.
I thank the hon. Members for Winchester and for Guildford for tabling this group of amendments. I will address each in turn, beginning with amendments 1, 4 and 51. We recognise that a lack of appropriate housing can be a barrier to dischar…
The shadow Minister is right, and one of the overarching objectives of this Government is to take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS. We are very keen to ensure that we identify best practice right across the board in all the services that we provide, and that it is then replicated and scale…
+15 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
3 June 2025
2 contributions
Dementia Care
I thank the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) for securing this debate, and I commend her for her work as a member of the all-party parliamentary group on dementia. It has been a thoughtful and constructive debate, with a number of truly powerful and moving personal contributions from Me…
We are absolutely on the record with the 66.7% target.
I want to take this opportunity to set out what appears to be a philosophical difference between this Government’s approach to our health and care system and that of many Opposition Members. We believe in devolution, we believe in decentralisat…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
2 June 2025
2 contributions
Draft Human Medicines (Amendments Relating to Hub and Spoke Dispensing etc.) Regulations 2025
I beg to move,
That this Committee has considered the draft Human Medicines (Amendments Relating to Hub and Spoke Dispensing etc.) Regulations 2025.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. These regulations amend the Medicines Act 1968 and the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to…
I will endeavour to answer all the questions that have been asked, but there may well be some that I am not able to. I will be more than happy to write to hon. Members accordingly.
Let me say a word on the rationale for choosing model 1. The main driver was the view that the most important aspect i…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 May 2025
2 contributions
Parkinson’s Disease
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart.
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) for securing this important debate. He spoke with real passion and conviction, as did hon. Members from across the Chamber. I do not know whether we have a full…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right; our system could not survive without the amazing and heroic work of our unpaid carers. One of our Government’s actions that I am most proud of is the change to the carer’s allowance. We increased the number of hours for which a carer can work and still keep their …
Commons
Debate
19 May 2025
3 contributions
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
It was truly a privilege to be in the Chamber this evening to hear so many moving, powerful and thoughtful contributions. It really was Parliament at its best, and it is an honour for me to close the debate.
The Bill has been a long time coming. Patients, practitioners, campaigners and charities ha…
We are already working to reduce inequalities under the Mental Health Act. The patient and carer race equality framework is now a contractual requirement for all providers of NHS-commissioned care. It will support trusts to improve their interaction with racialised and culturally diverse communities…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
16 May 2025
9 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank Members across the House for their excellent contributions to the debate. As Members will know, the Government remain neutral on the passage of the Bill, promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater), and on the principle of assisted dying,…
I will just make a little progress.
Amendment 60 may similarly prevent access to an assisted death for those residing within a care home or hospice, if that care home or hospice decided it would not allow such assistance on its premises.
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
6 May 2025
9 contributions
Topical Questions
The Government have launched a scheme to provide 700,000 urgent dental appointments. There are 57,500 allocated to my hon. Friend’s integrated care board. He will know that ICBs are responsible for commissioning primary care services based on the needs of the population, but I know that he is a stro…
My hon. Friend will know that we have hired 1,500 more GPs, which will help with access. We have also renegotiated the contract, so there will be online booking systems in every practice in the country, and we have changed the contract to incentivise continuity of care in order to bring back the fam…
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
6 May 2025
3 contributions
Emergency Dentistry: Access
We are already rolling out our manifesto commitment of 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year. These appointments are available across the country for those experiencing painful dental issues such as infections, abscesses or cracked or broken teeth. We are committed to reforming the denta…
The hon. Member is right to say that the dental contract is fundamentally flawed and needs reform. I met representatives of the British Dental Association on 8 April, and had a productive discussion with them about dental contract reform. Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care are w…
+1 more contribution in this session