PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Topical Questions - 14 July 2026 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

As you know, Mr Speaker, the Minister for Secondary Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth), is not here this morning as she is attending the graduation of her son Will. I am sure that the whole House will join me in congratulating Will on his achievement.

Since I last updated the House, we have opened a new meningitis B vaccination programme for 1 million young people, committed to extending Martha’s rule across all maternity services and resolved a long-running dispute with resident doctors. We have not wasted a second in strengthening and improving our health and social care system for people across the country, and in building an NHS that is fit for the future.

Now that the capital spending plan has been published, can the Minister confirm whether Warrington and Halton will receive funding for a desperately needed new hospital? The existing hospital estate has not been substantially upgraded since the 1960s and no longer has the capacity needed to serve the growing local population. Will he commit to delivering a modern hospital for the next generation, including the residents of Runcorn and Helsby?

We want to improve the NHS estate across the country, and that is why we are increasing capital investment to £15 billion a year by 2028-29. I am happy to write to the hon. Lady with further details on the specific investment in her constituency.

I thank my hon. Friend for raising the situation. Clearly, we should ensure that NHS rooms are being used for the benefit of patients. On that specific case, I understand that Central East ICB is developing a plan to reoccupy the Houghton Regis health centre this month, but I am happy to discuss the detail with her.

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

Is the number of patients waiting for admission for an operation or procedure today higher or lower than when this Government took office?

I am proud of the fact that the waiting list for NHS services is more than 340,000 less than when we took office two years ago. People are being treated faster than ever before, satisfaction with GP services is increasing and we are making progress for people across this country. There is a lot more work to do, but we have laid the right foundations and are moving in the right direction.

Well, that was clearly no answer to my question, so let me give it: the Government’s own figures show that the number is higher. Additionally, in response to concerns that I have raised, the Office for Statistics Regulation confirmed that the published figures do not clearly distinguish between patients who are treated and those who are removed from waiting lists without treatment. With consultants now taking strike action and the situation potentially getting worse, how can the Secretary of State prove that patients are actually being seen faster, rather than that statistics are being massaged?

The vast majority of people who come off the waiting list do so because they are receiving the care they need. I am confused: is the right hon. Gentleman advocating that people should stay on the waiting lists when they no longer need NHS care? Are the Opposition advocating that we should spend NHS resources chasing people who no longer need care, or should we keep the waiting lists up to date, as previous Governments have done, and ensure that everyone who needs care gets it?

We are determined to reduce waiting times across the country. Where there are cases of individual hospitals or trusts like the case my hon. Friend mentioned, we will send in teams from the national health service to help improve the service provided in local areas. It is also important that where trusts or hospitals have done well and have solved problems, their expertise goes to help other trusts and hospitals who need their support, because we want to ensure that the improvement in the NHS happens right across the country.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

The NHS Resolution annual report for the year to March 2026 shows that maternity made up almost £35 billion of the £60 billion set aside for future negligence payments, and £1.3 billion—or 40%—of the total clinical negligence payments last year. The Secretary of State has promised to put in place an action plan by the end of the year, but the recommendations of Baroness Amos and Donna Ockenden have already been published. Will he accelerate implementing those national recommendations and putting in place a maternity commissioner, because mothers cannot afford to wait and neither can the taxpayer?

As the hon. Lady will know, I have committed to introducing a maternity and neonatal commissioner. I will meet the national taskforce, which I chair, later this afternoon to discuss the scope of the role to ensure that the taskforce has discussed it and is content with it. We will then ensure that we get that on a statutory footing as quickly as possible—I hope through the Health Bill, though that will be subject to discussions with the Commons and Lords authorities. But I want to ensure that the role is statutory and in place and can help us drive change through maternity services across the country.

Women have been dismissed for far too long, and that must change. The renewed women’s health strategy commits to redesigning clinical pathways for heavy periods and pelvic pain in order to reduce repeat appointments, unnecessary referrals and long waits. Menstrual problems, including endometriosis, will be prioritised through NHS Online in 2027, which will give people across the country the choice of getting the specialist care they need from home.

I thank the hon. Lady for raising that important point and drawing attention to the impacts that iodine deficiency can have. I am happy to look into the matter further and respond to her in writing.

Medicine supply chains are global in nature, but we are taking steps to strengthen resilience by exploring opportunities to diversify supply chains, reduce reliance on single sources and undertake targeted monitoring of vulnerable supply chains. We also hold stockpiles for pandemic and serious infectious disease scenarios, including of antibiotics.

The fundamental problem is that dentists have not been incentivised to do NHS work. When we came into office in July 2024, we had a crazy situation where there was a £392 million underspend. We have sorted that now; the underspend is right down at about £30 million. As a result, we have delivered 2.5 million additional courses of treatment in NHS dentistry.

South Norfolk is one of the fastest growing constituencies in the United Kingdom, but that population growth is putting increased pressure on local GP services like the Humbleyard Practice. Given the Government’s ambition to expand neighbourhood health provision, will the Department consider funding a neighbourhood health centre or community diagnostic centre in Long Stratton and Hethersett?

My hon. Friend is a doughty champion for his constituents. We are working with local NHS systems to identify the most appropriate places for new community diagnostic centres based on local need and health inequality. We are rapidly working to deliver our commitment of 120 NHCs by 2030 and 250 by 2035. ICBs submitted their centre proposals in May, and we have now completed the initial review.

Quality and consistency of care are vital in improving cancer outcomes. How will the cancer manuals support earlier diagnosis, and will they include specific guidance to improve outcomes for children and young people?

The national cancer plan has a dedicated chapter on children and young people, as the hon. Member is aware, recognising the unique challenges they face. Cancer manuals will set out clear quality standards to reduce variation in care, and we are developing criteria for specific tumour types within those manuals.

The public must have confidence that where there is clear misconduct, action will be taken by medical regulators. However, freedom of information requests that I submitted to the General Medical Council found that only 6% of doctors accused of rape were suspended or erased from the register. My FOI request to the Nursing and Midwifery Council found that about a quarter of those accused of rape or sexual misconduct were suspended or erased from the register. Does the Minister agree that the priority for regulators must be patient safety and not protecting their registrants?

I commend my hon. Friend for his campaigning in this area. He is absolutely right: where serious misconduct takes place, action must be taken. That is why our programme of regulatory reform will enable regulators, starting with the GMC, to act more swiftly. We are consulting on proposals that will give the GMC a duty to remove registrants convicted of murder, rape and many other sexual offences without going through a fitness-to-practise process.

Air ambulance charities like Devon Air Ambulance are vital to easing pressure on ambulance trusts and A&E, yet they receive no direct Government funding and rely almost entirely on public donations. Their operational costs are rising—fuel duty alone adds over £200,000 a year to what they will now need to find. Does the Minister agree that services delivering NHS-level care should not depend on public generosity to survive, and will he commit to assessing how to support their continued sustainability?

Air ambulance charities are a lifeline to communities across the country, and I want to celebrate the extraordinary volunteers who keep these services flying. The Royal Devon and Exeter hospital near the hon. Member’s constituency has a state-of-the-art helipad funded by a £1 million donation from the HELP Appeal. The facility is fully equipped with advanced lighting to allow landings 24/7 and can accommodate the latest generation of larger air ambulance helicopters.

Mr Speaker, as you are fully aware, we have had over a decade-long campaign to see the full reinstatement of the A&E at Chorley and South Ribble hospital. The public support it, the staff support it, the local NHS trust supports it, and the neighbouring hospitals at Preston, Wigan and Blackburn support it, but NHS England is blocking full reinstatement and will not say why. Will Ministers please meet with local MPs and all key stakeholders to get the A&E at Chorley and South Ribble hospital fully reinstated?

Well, Secretary of State, what are you going to say?

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this long-standing campaign, which I know is of great interest to many people in the Chamber. I welcome the fact that the trust, as I understand it, has now completed a feasibility study, which concluded that there is an evidence-based case to explore extending to a 24-hour emergency department. This work is now being developed with the ICB, and I look forward very much to seeing those proposals progress.

And a meeting with me, of course.

The Basingstoke and North Hampshire hospital rebuild has been delayed by up to two decades. The buildings are in a dire state and becoming increasingly expensive to maintain. Land for the new hospital is secured, so what possible justification can there be for further delay in building this new hospital?

We want to ensure that hospitals in our new hospitals programme across the country are built as quickly as possible. We inherited a programme where there was no funding to deliver that, or funding that was completely unreasonable and with unrealistic delivery timescales. We have changed that to ensure that we have a clear programme with waves of delivery over the coming years.

I am happy to look into the particular situation raised by the hon. Lady, but I emphasise that the lack of capital funding that our health service has had for so long began with funding being cut back under a Government of whom her party was a part.

Research shows that specialist palliative care can deliver palliative care in the community, saving the NHS 1.5 million bed days, as well as £817 million. It is important that funding accompanies the modern service framework, so that we have an invest-to-save model moving forward. Will the Minister meet me and Baroness Finlay, to consider the work we have been doing in this area, and see what more the Government can do to enable that?

I thank my hon. Friend for that question and all the campaigning she does on this issue. Our modern service framework will transform palliative care by basing it on strategic commissioning. That will enable us to tackle rising demand, identify patients much earlier, and ensure that quality of care no longer depends on someone’s postcode. I would of course be happy to meet her and Baroness Finlay to discuss that further.

When will the Government implement changes to the vaccine damage payment scheme recommended by Baroness Hallett in her report in April?

Officials at the Department of Health and Social Care are looking closely at that matter, and will publish the Government response in due course.

We have had 23 reviews into social care since 1997, but no agreement on how care should be funded. Does the Minister agree that the way we fund cancer care should also be the way that we fund care of those with dementia?

Dementia is a vital issue, and we are of course committed to creating a national care service. Baroness Casey’s independent commission will set out recommendations to deliver that. She recently made recommendations in her speech at the Nuffield Trust, and we are already implementing those, including the creation of a dementia tzar to push forward all those issues, in terms of both psychosocial care and clinical research.

Following recent evidence of a long-term increase in colorectal cancers in the under-50s, the Scottish Government are calling on the National Screening Committee to extend eligibility for bio-screening kits to improve outcomes. I understand that Australia has reduced its screening age to 45. Will the Secretary of State join the Scottish Government in urging the NSC to review the recommended age for starting screening, so that more lives may be saved?

The National Screening Committee plays a vital role in providing clinical and evidence-based advice on how to target screening programmes. In my time as Secretary of State over the past few months, the committee has made a number of recommendations, but the benefits of greater screening must be balanced with the risks of doing so, and I know that the National Screening Committee takes that responsibility seriously. I have clearly made the point that the committee must continue to keep its advice up to date and, as new diagnostic and treatment methods become available, it must ensure that its advice keeps pace with those.

The Health and Social Care Committee is publishing its report tomorrow on fixing the food environment, and it will be making several recommendations to support everyone to eat more healthily. Will the Minister commit to engaging positively with the details of our report, and will she set out the steps that the Government are already taking in that area?

I thank my hon. Friend for her question, which gives me an opportunity to say how much I enjoyed appearing before her Committee to discuss these matters. The Government are very much looking forward to receiving the report from the Health and Social Care Committee, and I will ensure that I respond to it in due course with full details.

Young people with cancer often face severe isolation during treatment, separated from their friends and everything that is normal to them at that critical age. In Leicester South, at Leicester Royal Infirmary it has been left to charities like the Teenage Cancer Trust to provide vital care and support, funded through donations and philanthropic grants. What steps is the Secretary of State taking to ensure that those charities are sustainably funded so we can support them as much as they are supporting our young people with cancer?

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point about the loneliness often faced by people who are being treated for cancer—particularly for young people, whose loneliness can be acute when they are separated from their friendship groups and peers as they undergo treatment. I pay tribute to the work of the Teenage Cancer Trust. The Government want to ensure that we are working with that charity to provide a comprehensive service, not just on diagnosis and treatment but on the important emotional support that people across the board, particularly young people, need.

I call David Baines to ask the final question.

Due to a long-running dispute with the building’s landlord, Billinge medical practice in my constituency has been given a deadline of September to vacate the premises. I have previously spoken to the Minister about this and I am grateful for the help he has given me so far, but the integrated care board has now decided to move the practice out of the village entirely, to Garswood. I am worried about the impact of that on patients for many reasons, not least the fact that the new location is not easily accessible by public transport. Does the Minister agree with me that places like Billinge deserve their own medical practice? Will he or his officials agree to meet me to discuss the way forward?

I have discussed this issue with my hon. Friend and I know he feels very strongly about it. I would be delighted to meet him to follow up. It sounds as if some progress is being made, but we need to ensure we get this sorted.