Lord Kamall — Hansard — Westminster Brief

Lords Oral Questions 23 March 2026

We very much recognise the concerns that people may face unnecessary hurdles when trying to access CGRP treatments. NHS England is working with integrated care boards to ensure that the pathways being followed are consistent and timely. It would perhaps be helpful for me to mention some of the natio…

Lords Oral Questions 19 March 2026

Unpaid Carers: Patient Hospital Discharge

The whole system needs to do better, as the noble Lord outlines. It will be helpful that we are also looking at commissioning research in this area to look at best practice, as well as barriers and solutions, regarding the involvement of unpaid carers—I think that has been somewhat overlooked, if I …

Lords Proceedings 17 March 2026

GP Contract

My Lords, I am grateful to the Government for this repeat. The Minister in the other place pointed to 1.3 million referrals being diverted through something called “advice and guidance”. This means that GPs must seek input from a specialist before making a referral, but some professional bodies have…

Lords Oral Questions 16 March 2026

NHS: In-house Software Capabilities

That seamless movement is an important point generally, but the federated data platform does not centralise or sell patient data. Data remains firmly under NHS control, and access is strictly governed. It is fully auditable and used only for approved patient benefit and NHS benefit. Palantir operate…

Lords Oral Questions 12 March 2026

NHS: Heart Valve Disease

The noble Lord is quite right: women are underdiagnosed, they are undertreated and some ethnic minority groups face poorer access. That is why I very much welcome the fact that, in the framework to which I referred, dealing with inequalities will be absolutely key. Research, in which we are partneri…

Lords Debate 9 March 2026

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

My Lords, we have now reached the conclusion of what many will see as a landmark Bill. I thank all noble Lords who have contributed throughout the various stages of its journey through your Lordships’ House, which began with its introduction as long ago as March last year. From these and other Bench…

Lords Oral Questions 9 March 2026

Independent Commission on Adult Social Care

The noble Lord does not have to wait because, in addition to the work by the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, which, as I have said, is independent, she has set out immediate recommendations, which we are working on. We have already made commitments on the disabled facilities grant for housing, so that p…

Lords Oral Questions 4 March 2026

Maternity Commissioner

The noble Lord gets to the point of what the taskforce will be doing. It would be wrong of me to try to pre-empt the outcomes and recommendations that come forward. As I have said before, right through this work, the voices of families and women in particular must be paramount. I am delighted that t…

Lords Debate 3 March 2026 3 contributions

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

My Lords, I was very happy to give way to my noble friend to allow him to heap more praise on to the Minister. Sometimes Government Ministers cannot always be assured of receiving praise from other Benches. My noble friend Lord Howe and I welcome these government amendments and are grateful to the …

My Lords, before I respond to the specific amendments, I will touch on two things that the noble Earl, Lord Russell, said. First, I was previously in the European Parliament and worked on a number of technology regulations, and we can never be absolutely certain that we have legislated for the futur…

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Lords Oral Questions 2 March 2026

NHS: Violence Against NHS Staff

I understand the point. All NHS staff have access, for example, to a helpline for support and to Practitioner Health for when they need more complex mental health support. Of course, anyone who is experiencing violence or abuse should report it to their line manager so that it can be properly invest…

Lords Debate 25 February 2026

Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill

My Lords, I know it is not normal to speak at this stage, so I will be brief. I thank the Minister and everyone who has worked on this Bill, but I want to raise one or two anxieties which have already been touched on. I believe that the Bill fundamentally challenges one of the principles that I hav…

Lords Debate 24 February 2026 5 contributions

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

My Lords, my noble friend has tabled a number of amendments on heated tobacco products. Although there may be some concern about what is behind them, they raise important questions that I am afraid the Government have yet to answer with any real precision. As I noted in Committee, there appears to …

Before the Minister sits down, she talked about research that was done on tobacco products between 2020 and 2025. In that time, was any specific research done on heated tobacco as part of tobacco products?

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Lords Debate 24 February 2026

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

My Lords, since this is the first time I have spoken on Report, I declare my interest as a professor of politics and international relations at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, where I teach an MBA module on healthcare policy and strategy. I also work with the Vinson Centre for the Public Understan…

Lords Debate 23 February 2026

Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed of Tinsley, for opening the debate on this group—and the numerous noble Lords who spoke to it. I redeclare my interests. I am a professor of politics and international relations at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, where I teach a module on healthcare…

Lords Debate 12 February 2026 4 contributions

Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill

My Lords, in speaking for the first time in Committee, I refer to my interests as a professor of politics and international relations at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, where I teach an MBA module on healthcare policy and strategy, and where I also co-operate with the school of medicine, which wil…

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who spoke on this amendment. I recognise the answer that the Minister gave about the impact report that the Government have announced. I will reflect carefully on whether what I intended with this amendment aligns with that impact report. If this is just a …

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Lords Oral Questions 10 February 2026

Better Start Longitudinal Programmes

This will not be a top-down approach. We are ensuring that Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies are in every local authority area. That is a major development, because from April it will reach more than 500,000 more children. It will also help us transition to neighbourhood health services. How…

Lords Oral Questions 10 February 2026

Under-16s Energy Drinks Ban

As we discussed on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in this Chamber, the whole issue of age verification is crucial. I feel that businesses are used to seeking age verification. What matters is that they feel empowered to ask for it and that staff are trained. That is why we are indeed working with busine…

Lords Oral Questions 9 February 2026

Hospitals: Delayed Discharges

I reassure the noble Lord that the Department of Health recognises the issues that he raises. That is why £2 billion is being put into NHS digital transformation to modernise systems, expand the use of electronic patient records and improve productivity across the service. It simply is not good enou…

Lords Oral Questions 5 February 2026

Civil Service Pensions: Capita

The noble Lord is absolutely right and there are various mechanisms being put in place, not least the call centre, which people should be able to access. I want to touch on something explicitly because the noble Lord has raised an important point. Some of the most heartbreaking issues that have come…

Lords Oral Questions 29 January 2026

Battery Shortage for NHS Hearing Aids

Well, it is of course a matter for local ICBs to decide what their best response is, depending on their local community. I should emphasise to your Lordships’ House that the reason for the increased demand is that there was a cyber attack on the alternative supply of batteries. That was an unpredict…

Lords Committee Stage 28 January 2026 2 contributions

Medical Devices (Fees Amendment) Regulations 2026

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his interest in this important subject and for expressing his concerns, which I will address. I know that he is more than supportive of patient safety and taking a risk-proportionate and pro-innovation approach —I hope that is not putting words into his mouth, but…

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Kamall, asked further questions about the timing of the full impact assessment and why it is not being done this year. The reason is that the full impact assessment will refer to 2027-28, when the fees will be paid in full. Currently, because they are being subsidised …

Lords Debate 23 January 2026 9 contributions

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

I am sorry to interrupt. If I am correct, the noble Lord can speak again, but he cannot intervene on an intervention.

My Lords, this has been a long and comprehensive debate, and a number of points have been raised. I will try not to hasten it—

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Lords Oral Questions 20 January 2026

Maternal Mortality

I am glad to say that my noble friend Lady Amos will be very much focusing on this area. I referred earlier to the maternal care bundle, which focuses on the five main causes of maternal death and harm, as well as on setting up best practice. A number of the risk factors are particularly associated …

Lords Debate 16 January 2026 4 contributions

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

My Lords, this has been another rather long but interesting debate. It is important that noble Lords who wanted to speak had their voices heard. It touches on something we touched on very early. Noble Lords will remember when we debated another version of motivation and talked about coercion. A numb…

My Lords, I have been very clear throughout this debate that any noble Lord who wants to speak and participate should be allowed to do so.

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Lords Debate 16 January 2026

Rare Cancers Bill

My Lords, I am delighted to pledge the Government’s full support for this Bill. It is very much aligned with our commitments, it strengthens the research ecosystem and, most importantly—I agree with many comments today—it gives hope to patients and families affected by rare cancers. I am glad that t…