Women’s Health Strategy

Baroness Verma Excerpts

Thursday 23rd April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma (Con)]

My Lords, on osteoporosis and post-menopause in particular, we could save a lot of money in the health service if interventions came in earlier. I am very concerned that we do not talk enough about this, and we certainly are not looking particularly at lower-income households and women, especially from minority communities, who do not always have diets that enable their bone health to be good. Will the Minister tell us what she is doing there?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I would be pleased to. This is an important point because MSK conditions disproportionately affect women. We are investing in diagnosis, and this financial year we are funding 21 new DEXA scanners in priority locations. That will mean some 60,000 scans per year, so we will be upping the game in that respect. On the noble Baroness’s important point, we aim to use polygenic risk scores to identify those at higher risk. It is about being proactive, not reactive. A study by Our Future Health, which is currently focused on cardiovascular disease, will be expanded to osteoporosis and dementia in the future. As your Lordships’ House knows, we will roll out fracture liaison services in every part of the country, and we have set an expectation for ICBs to roll out community service models in line with the 10-year plan.

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Baroness Verma Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 19th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma (Con)]

My Lords, I refer to my interest in the register as a founder and director of an adult social care business of 25 years. Over those 25 years, there have been many times when we have seen people who had to be looked after at the end of their lives. I have only got a few points to make. I have listened to the excellent contributions from around the House, but my mind remains firmly that we need to be a society that is willing to care to the last minute of every single human being who comes into this world.

I am a Sikh with Hindu practices. The core of my faith is to serve, protect and uphold the law. I would not want to uphold a law that takes life, because life is absolutely the most precious thing that we have. I do not want to see a change in relationship between the medical practitioners and the patients. We will slip down a very slippery slope if we start introducing things that we will have very little control over afterwards.

I was really pleased to hear from my noble friend Lord McColl last Friday when he said, in his expertise, that everything can be managed. We need to give pain relief not when pain is too much but at the beginning of when pain starts, to ease it and make sure that the person is comfortable.

A few years ago, my uncle received a diagnosis of stomach cancer. He was really well looked after by Macmillan nurses and stayed in LOROS for a while. Then, when he felt he wanted to come home, because he knew he was coming to the end of his time, he came home, and his family were around him to see him slip away. It was not an easy death, but it was one where we all shared time with my uncle.

It is hard for me to stand here and say that all people will be well informed. I know there are many among my own community, such as women in relationships where they have suffered abuse and coercive behaviour—how can they be given the option to make those choices for themselves when most of their decision-making will not be in their hands? I worry very much for those people who cannot, for circumstances they have no control over, take those decisions. I really want to make sure that whatever we pass and whatever we do has protections for those in our communities who do not have control over their lives, as we all think we should have.

I will finish with the wonderful words of my noble friend Lady Berridge. The family, the village that we live in, is surrounded by people we love. We would never knowingly want to inflict pain on anyone, but what we would willingly do is stand up and help everyone in our family to go through the journey as smoothly as possible.

Carers and Poverty: Carers UK Report

Baroness Verma Excerpts

Thursday 21st November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I very much appreciate the point my noble friend makes, and the point made in this very important report. As well as the increase to the carer’s allowance earning limit, which I mentioned in my initial Answer, there will be an update to the Accelerating Reform Fund, which provides funding to local authorities, including for support for unpaid carers. In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Research has commissioned an evaluation of unpaid carers’ support funded through the better care fund.

[Baroness Verma (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. Will the Minister look at respite relief for not just unpaid carers but paid carers? There is just not enough respite relief for people who are doing this 365 days a year, and they need to have that. Will the Minister also look at families taking unpaid care work and the winter fuel allowance? This will impact a lot of families, and unpaid carers are usually well over 60.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I understand the point the noble Baroness is making. I was pleased that my ministerial colleagues Stephen Kinnock, the Minister for Care, and DWP Minister Stephen Timms recently attended a Carers UK-hosted round table to discuss all these points, including poverty and finances. I hope your Lordships’ House will acknowledge and welcome the steps we have already taken and be assured that we know there is much more to do. We will continue to work cross-government on this.