Healthy Life Expectancy: England

Debate between Baroness Merron and Baroness Nargund

Monday 18th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Nargund (Lab)]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and I declare an interest as founder and trustee of the charity Health Equality Foundation.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)]

My Lords, the fall in healthy life expectancy over the last decade is unacceptable and underlines the scale and complexity of the challenges we face. Through the 10-year health plan, we are taking action to tackle the drivers of ill health and inequality, including reviewing the Carr-Hill funding formula, to better match resources to need, and creating a smoke-free UK.

[Baroness Nargund (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend the Minister for that response. The Health Foundation’s report, Healthy Life Expectancy Trends in the UK: A Watershed Moment, published in April this year, makes it clear that healthy life expectancy is a key measure of our population’s health. The gap between the most deprived and the most affluent areas has grown, with those in the wealthiest areas now living up to 20 years longer. Social determinants of health affect healthy life expectancy—

[Baroness Nargund (Lab)]

I am coming to that. What plans do the Government have to address the social determinants of health across all government departments, because a single department cannot handle this? How can we close this gap?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

My noble friend’s assessment of the situation is right. That is why we are working across government on the wider determinants of health, including matters such as the Warm Homes Plan and the homelessness strategy. Alongside that, the 10-year health plan focuses on prevention and narrowing inequalities. The aim is to improve all conditions that will support longer, healthier lives across the whole country.

Miscarriage Care

Debate between Baroness Merron and Baroness Nargund

Monday 18th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The most reverend Primate makes a very sensitive point, which is of course correct. That is why NHS England has published a new policy to support NHS employees who are affected by baby loss, including paid leave. Our development through the Employment Rights Act will apply to NHS workers, including giving leave from work. We are currently consulting on the detail of this. It is about acknowledging the extreme effect on individuals of losing a baby, no matter at what stage.

[Baroness Nargund (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome the Government’s commitment to review the graded models of care so that women can be helped, regardless of the number of miscarriages. How will the Government make sure that the needed services, particularly for support as well as investigations, are equitable throughout the country and not subject to a postcode lottery?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The 10-year women’s health strategy is absolutely focused on ensuring that services and support are available equally, no matter where people live. They are variable, and that is not where we want them to be. I have just spoken about the bereavement services, for example. As of January this year, all ICB areas are expected to provide a seven-day-a-week bereavement service across maternity settings. That was not in place earlier, and it gives a sense of the trajectory.

Women’s Health Strategy

Debate between Baroness Merron and Baroness Nargund

Thursday 23rd April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

That is an interesting invitation to consider. It would probably be helpful if I reiterate or explain better the points about the patient power payments. As I said in response to the Front Benches, its strength—by the way, I emphasise that it is a pilot—is that women’s voices are the voices that are least heard, and we know that creates the biggest problem in women’s healthcare. We know that just asking women what they think—we will be doing that, and we will be transparent in publishing the results, which will drive improvement—will not be enough. The reason for the financial point is that if the provider—it could be a private or a public provider—is not providing the right service then why can women not be heard on that? What will happen is not a cut in funding but the direction of an amount to go into the improvement of the service. In other words, at present there are no consequences for giving poor service. I do not see why women should have to put up with that.

[Baroness Nargund (Lab)]

My Lords, having served as a front-line doctor in women’s health for more than 40 years, 30 of them as a consultant gynaecologist in the NHS, I warmly welcome the new women’s health strategy and congratulate my noble friend the Minister on her efforts in making it happen. I also applaud the Government for the commitment to address the gender health gap and to tackle health inequalities in our country. Will the community hubs function as genuine one-stop clinics, with ultrasound and other facilities, to give women the diagnosis that they need without any delay, and will they take into account the needs of the local population so that women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnic minorities are not left behind?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I am glad that my noble friend, with her professional experience, welcomes the women’s health strategy. I assure her that community diagnostic centres are absolutely key, as I mentioned earlier, to the ambition and intent to shift care closer to home and improve women’s experience. By their very design, they are streamlined and more convenient; they offer a wide range of tests, often in a single visit and, increasingly, same-day testing and consultation, where that is clinically appropriate. There are about 170 CDCs operating across the country; many have extended hours to fit around people’s lives—and, on the point about inequalities, we are working with local systems to make sure that they are located and developed according to the needs of the population.