Lords
Oral Questions
20 October 2025
HIV: Testing and Medical Care
I certainly agree that giving people who are attending an emergency department a blood test as part of a routine examination—unless they opt out—has assisted very much in engaging people in care and in identification. We have 79 emergency departments in the programme and they are making a substantia…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 October 2025
Telegraph Media Group: Ownership
The noble Lord’s point is exactly the point that the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, has been raising with the Government. It will be addressed by the statutory instrument that is intended to be laid by the end of the month.
Lords
Oral Questions
15 October 2025
Unpaid Carers
The noble Lord highlights a crucial point. We are saying all the way through that there needs to be greater coming together at a local level. NHS England is taking this exceptionally seriously, working with local authorities, GPs and ICBs, for example, to make sure that they come together. One of th…
Lords
Debate
19 September 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I thank the noble Baroness for her intervention. As I understand it, it is within the gift of the Select Committee to determine who will be called for evidence. I have sought to set out the key people, but of course there will be many other suggestions. Obviously, conscious of the tight timetable, w…
Lords
Oral Questions
18 September 2025
Genome Screening: Newborn Infants
As I mentioned to the noble Lord, Lord Kakkar, the matter of ethics is crucial in this development. It might help if I restated— I absolutely understand the noble Lord’s point—that that is why the Generation Study, which is directed at newborns, is for treatable conditions that may develop in the fi…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 September 2025
Independent Commission on Adult Social Care
The noble Lord has made me aware of Purple Shoots on other occasions and, to broaden things out slightly, this links to the NHS 10-year plan in terms of shifting more resources into the communities so that organisations can thrive and benefit and reach people who need them. I am absolutely happy to …
Lords
Oral Questions
16 September 2025
National Health Service Regulations
The noble Lord makes an important point. There is absolutely no intention that people will be disadvantaged in any way. This is about equalising access, which means keeping all forms of access open. That may be online, but it will also be possible to deal with things in person and on the phone. Obvi…
Lords
Oral Questions
15 September 2025
Plastic Pollution
Our ambition at the moment is to try to get the global treaty that we have been pressing for. We believe that the more countries that we can bring into that treaty, including those that produce the plastics and the materials for them, the more likely we are to have a larger global impact. But we are…
Lords
Debate
12 September 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, although I am the first Liberal Democrat to speak in this debate, I am not speaking on behalf of all Liberal Democrat Peers because, as in all the other groupings in your Lordships’ House, there is a divergence of views on these issues. The divergence is not just between Members; it is oft…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
Merck Research Site
I have indeed tried to continue the brilliant work of the noble Lord on bringing together parts of government in this area; I met people from many different departments about this as recently as yesterday. We are joining up the life sciences sector right the way across government. On the point about…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 September 2025
Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Vaccination Programme
My Lords, I am sure we are all in agreement in our thanks to my noble friend Lady Ritchie for securing this important debate and for her very thorough and considered introduction. Acknowledgement has also rightly been paid to my noble friend for her campaigning and her raising of awareness of this i…
Lords
Oral Questions
8 September 2025
Suicide Reduction
The noble Lord is right that there is disparity, which is often linked to priority risk factors, including, for example, financial difficulty, physical health, alcohol and drug abuse, harmful gambling, domestic abuse, social isolation and loneliness. Those priority risk factors are, sadly, more at p…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 September 2025
Prostate Cancer
My Lords, this has been an extremely valuable debate on what is a very important matter. I find much to commend in the points noble Lords have made. I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Mott, for bringing this debate forward, for his work in raising awareness of prostate cancer and for his con…
Lords
Oral Questions
24 July 2025
Minimally Invasive Cancer Therapies
The noble Lord has identified an unexpected spin-off of being a Minister or shadow Minister in this place.
The noble Lord makes a very important point. The fundamental basis of the 10-year plan is how we move to earlier diagnosis, with the three shifts, including moving treatment into the community…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Givinostat
I cannot comment on this case as the decision has not been made public yet; that would be completely inappropriate. If NICE does give its approval, the Secretary of State has committed to bringing it in. We are looking at ways in which we can get the medicines for rare diseases to which NICE gives i…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
Independent Commission on Adult Social Care
I thank the noble Lord for making reference to the work of our noble friend Lord Lipsey, who will be greatly missed on all sides. I cannot pre-empt what the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, will say—I have made that point repeatedly; it is absolutely right. The noble Lord raised an interesting point of v…
Lords
Oral Questions
21 July 2025
NHS England: Staff Costs
There is an absolute commitment running throughout this that front-line services will not be affected by the work that continues. The decision was taken to move swiftly, and impact assessments will be done as we go through the journey. The Government have also committed that this will be as transpar…
Lords
Oral Questions
21 July 2025
Weight Loss Medication
Quite a few points were made there. I think the noble Lord is referring to reports about acute pancreatitis, for example. The MHRA has done a thorough review of the suspicions around these medicines. No new safety concerns were identified but, every time something comes up, it will be looked into. T…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 July 2025
Specialty Medical Training
My Lords, I apologise to the Committee; I should have declared my interests. I am an observer on the Medical Schools Council, I chair the Bevan Commission in Wales and I hold the chair at Cardiff University.
Lords
Proceedings
16 July 2025
Resident Doctors: Industrial Action
My Lords, I begin by paying tribute to those conscientious resident doctors who have decided not to take industrial action so that they can continue their vital work and care of their patients. From these Benches, we find it deeply regrettable that a minority has decided to take this unjustifiable a…
Lords
Oral Questions
15 July 2025
Housebuilders: Information Sharing
The issue of skills and capacity in planning departments has been a real focus of this Government since last July when we were elected. We know that that is one of the areas in which we need to support local authorities. We have put large sums of money into creating 300 new skilled planning roles in…
Lords
Oral Questions
14 July 2025
Advertising Restrictions on Less Healthy Food
I completely agree with the noble Lord and I have personal experience from my background. It is empowering when a parent presents at a community organisation with a child who has an eating disorder or who is becoming obese, and they work together through cooking, education and shopping. All those th…
Lords
Proceedings
9 July 2025
2 contributions
NHS 10-Year Plan
My Lords, before I begin, it is the first opportunity for me from these Benches to wish the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, a speedy but restful recovery over the summer. I look forward to seeing her back after recess. I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement. As she will appreciate, for many q…
It will be next year.
Lords
Oral Questions
18 June 2025
Care Workers: Foreign Worker Visas
While I absolutely agree about the value of volunteering, as we have discussed before, I should make clear that volunteering is not a substitute for employment on the right pay, the right terms and conditions and with the right status. I also absolutely agree with the noble Lord about the contributi…
Lords
Committee Stage
17 June 2025
2 contributions
Human Medicines (Amendments Relating to Hub and Spoke Dispensing etc.) Regulations 2025
My Lords, I thank noble Lords on all sides of the Committee for their helpful contributions to today’s debate. I get a sense of support for where we are going and questions about how it will happen, which I completely accept. This instrument is part of a package of measures to relieve pressure in co…
It would be fair to say that the review will be on how well this is working rather than an attempt to move to model 2. In all the modelling, we believe this is the best way to go. Patient safety is paramount, as it always should be, as is the expansion of services to individuals, but we will keep th…