PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
NHS Staff - 13 January 2026 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

May I associate Labour Members with your condolences, Mr Speaker?

I am hugely grateful to NHS staff for the shift that they have put in through what remains a challenging winter. It is because of them that waiting lists are going down and ambulance handover times are 14 minutes quicker this winter than last winter, and during periods of industrial action this winter, NHS providers kept approximately 95% of elective activity running. We have got to ensure that we invest not just in our service but in our staff, and we are working actively with health unions to achieve that goal.

Will the Minister join me in thanking the fantastic employees of Northumbria NHS foundation trust for their continued dedication and commitment, from the top surgeon to the ancillary workers? We know that the NHS is held together by their efforts, but that comes at a severe personal cost to many individuals. A recent YouGov poll showed that 73% of our heroes—the heroes of the NHS—reported suffering from burnout: that is severe exhaustion. Will the Minister tell the House what measures he is taking to ensure that those who put their own wellbeing on the line to protect the health of the nation receive the support and care that they so richly deserve?

I am hugely grateful to my hon. Friend for his question and he is rightly proud of his local trust. It is absolutely right that we cannot expect the NHS to rely simply on the goodwill of staff going above and beyond the call of duty to meet the needs of patients. That is why the Government are committed to publishing a new workforce plan, to create the workforce that is ready to deliver the transformed service set out in our 10-year health plan. We are already working with health unions, both on issues around pay, as people would expect, and the conditions that people are working in, recognising, as my hon. Friend rightly does, that this is not just about doctors, important though they are, but about the entire NHS workforce that is delivering the improvements with this Government that the country is crying out for so desperately.

One of the things that contributes to staff burnout is caring for patients in corridors. I recently visited St Helier hospital and saw that for myself, and it was very concerning and distressing. We are also seeing that at East Surrey hospital in Redhill, in my constituency. Will the Secretary of State confirm when we can expect to see the issue resolved for good?

The hon. Member is right to describe the appalling state of corridor care in this country. In fact, under the previous Government, not only was this allowed to emerge as an NHS issue, but it was normalised, with benign nomenclature such as “temporary escalation spaces” used to endorse that normalisation, which should never have been considered normal or acceptable. We will set out our plans shortly to publish data, so that the Government can be held to account as well as the system. I am clear that I want corridor care gone over the course of this Parliament, and I am confident that when we publish all the data for this winter, it will be better than last winter. However, I want to be honest with the House and the country: even on the best days of this winter, patients are still being treated in corridors and in conditions that I do not believe are acceptable and that we should never allow to be normalised. That is why we are committed to year-on-year improvement.