World ME Day

Helen Morgan Excerpts

Wednesday 1st May 2024 Westminster Hall

[Sir Sajid Javid]

I assure my hon. Friend that that is definitely what I want to see in the plan; perhaps more important now, however, is to hear that commitment from the Minister. It is touched on in the interim plan, but we all want to see that issue, among the others, addressed in that final cross-Government plan.

The interim delivery plan set out some of the current challenges that we must address to improve outcomes and experiences for individuals with ME. We must ensure that the final delivery plan focuses at least on two key areas: outcomes and experiences. However, making progress in these areas also requires us to address more fundamental problems. For example, there is a huge cultural problem, when it comes to ME, with a lack of medical understanding and awareness. There is a critical lack of data and research, and there is still no existing cure or even treatments. It is estimated—this number is often cited; I use it myself—that about 250,000 people are living with ME in the UK, but even that figure is 10 years old, highlighting the lack of data and research in this field. Without a clear dataset and understanding, tackling the issue of course becomes an even bigger uphill battle.

That is why there are research projects such as DecodeME. They are vital because they help to increase understanding and they serve as a critical platform for future work.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree with me that another issue faced by constituents is that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines that were introduced are not being used by every single trust in the country? I think that only 28% of NHS trusts are using the NICE guidelines. Does he agree that consistency of treatment and approach would be an important step in ensuring that people can get the care that they need?

[Sir Sajid Javid]

Yes, I agree with the hon. Member. Indeed, those guidelines were changed while I was Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. I remember welcoming them, but the expectation of course was that they would be properly followed. As the hon. Member says, in some 70% of cases that does not seem to be the case. We all want that to be addressed. I hope that the Minister will be able to pick up that point when he responds.

Another example of research is a groundbreaking project on long covid and ME diagnostics called LOCOME. It is co-led by Action for ME, the University of Edinburgh and a computational biology company called PrecisionLife. It is hoped that that new project, which is utilising the data that has been gathered from the DecodeME project, will provide insights that will be able to create the first predictive diagnostic tools for ME and long covid. I take this opportunity to thank the charity Action for ME for its world-leading work on the project, its crucial support and the research and campaigning that it does to improve ME research and outcomes.

It is vital that we continue to support organisations such as Action for ME and researchers in this way. The focus of World ME Day in 2024, this year, will be to build a “Global Voice For ME”. In that spirit, it is important that we collaborate with allies across the globe to further research in this area. However, we know that, even with more research, it will be a long journey to achieve our desired outcomes. That is why improving the experiences of those living with ME, and their families, is also vital.

I know from my own engagement that individuals with lived experience often feel dismissed. I recall a recent Channel 4 report that even highlighted the case of a family who saw social services investigate the care of their daughter because they believed that she was being kept in bed against her will. If it were not for campaigning organisations such as Action for ME, the ME Association, the all-party parliamentary group on myalgic encephalomyelitis, Forward ME and the World ME Alliance as well as the work of incredible individuals such as Sean O’Neill, who I believe joins us today and who has led an inspiring campaign in memory of his daughter, Maeve, the situation would feel almost hopeless. That is how it would feel if we did not have these people battling for more work to be done on ME. It is because of them that the case of this community is being heard, and having served in Government for so long myself, I know that when people speak up with the support of many honourable colleagues from right across the House, the Government must listen.

This year, 2024, marks 55 years since the World Health Organisation officially acknowledged ME. For too long, we have failed to recognise the severity of the condition for thousands of people across the UK. As we mark World ME Day on 12 May, we must renew our commitment to improving outcomes and experiences for everyone affected. It is great to see so many hon. Members from across the House in the Chamber, and I am grateful to everyone who has attended today’s debate in the Public Gallery, as well as those who may be joining online. Where such support exists, there is always hope.

The ambition is to improve the lives of people with the condition today, and to ensure that future generations have a brighter future. Helping make that ambition a reality is now the responsibility of the Minister, and I look forward to his response and the contribution of other hon. Members.

Oral Answers to Questions

Helen Morgan Excerpts

Tuesday 5th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

I know that the hon. Gentleman is a great campaigner on this issue; he has worked very hard on it with me in the past, and he now does so with my right hon. Friend the Minister for Health and Secondary Care. I assure him that we are in the process of revising the draft strategy, taking on board feedback from patients, their families, charities and the NHS, and we will publish the strategy in due course. I thank all stakeholders for their continued efforts.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

In January, the average category 2 response time for west midlands ambulance service was over 43 minutes. We know that the problems are worse in Shropshire, following stories such as that of a lady who waited 18 hours before seeing a doctor, having contracted an infection following radiation therapy for her cancer treatment. The situation in Shropshire does not seem to be improving as fast as we would like. What steps is the Minister taking to resolve the problem?

[Helen Whately]

Across the country, ambulance response times have come down by a third. We have worked very hard, particularly with areas that face greater challenges, including Shropshire. I have spoken to leaders in the local health system about the ongoing challenges. We are learning lessons about what has worked over the past year, and from where we have not made so much progress, to ensure that we do better in areas such as the hon. Lady’s over the year ahead.

Pharmacy First

Helen Morgan Excerpts

Wednesday 31st January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dame Andrea Leadsom]

I would be very happy to meet my right hon. Friend.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

The community pharmacy in Wem in my constituency has struggled to find a full-time pharmacist, relying instead on locums. That means that opening times are erratic, people cannot rely on the service, and the pharmacy is loss-making because locums are so expensive. How will the Minister help pharmacies in rural areas to recruit the full-time pharmacists and reduce their reliance on locums?

[Dame Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Lady will be aware that, although a few are owned by GP practices, community pharmacies are usually private businesses. We are training the registered community pharmacists that we need. Obviously, it would be for that local area to put in place its own recruitment policies, but I would be happy to meet her to discuss that further.

NHS Dentistry

Helen Morgan Excerpts

Tuesday 9th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Victoria Atkins)]

I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from “House” to the end of the Question and add:

“recognises the impact of a once-in-a-generation pandemic on NHS dental services, with 7 million fewer patients seen in England across 2020 and 2021; notes these challenges were reflected in both Scotland and Wales; acknowledges the steps already taken to recover services in England including the introduction of a minimum rate and increased payments for complex dental activity to better reward dentists for their work; welcomes the publication of the Long Term Workforce Plan which committed to expanding dental training places by 40 per cent; and supports the upcoming publication of the Government’s plan to further recover and reform NHS dentistry and promote good oral health throughout life.”

It is a pleasure to update the House on the work the Government are doing to strengthen NHS dentistry across the country. We are reforming our NHS and social care system to make it faster, simpler and fairer. Dentistry is a vital part of our NHS and improving dentistry is one of my top priorities. The hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) represents a deeply urban seat, so I am pleased that he has presented me with an excuse to boast about the fact that I represent, and am very proud to represent, a rural and coastal constituency. That is why fairness is one of my three priorities for our NHS. I know the challenges that rural and coastal communities face when it comes to accessing an NHS dentist appointment, and the disparities in health that we see between rural and coastal communities and city centres. I will come to some statistics in a moment.

I am determined to fix these issues, and the other problems facing NHS dentistry, so that anyone who needs to can always see an NHS dentist, no matter where they live. Indeed, one of my very first acts as Secretary of State was to respond to the Health and Social Care Committee’s recommendations on dentistry. We agreed to the majority of those recommendations, and we stand firmly behind the ambition that NHS dentistry should be accessible and available to all who need it.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

rose—

[Richard Foord (Tiverton and Honiton) (LD)]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Victoria Atkins]

In fairness, I will give way to the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) first, because she rose earlier.

[Helen Morgan]

Like the Secretary of State, I represent a rural community, and the reason dentists are handing back their NHS contracts where I live is that they cannot recruit another dentist to come and help them. They have not had a day off, they cannot meet their commitments under their contracts, and they cannot recruit. They have offered golden hellos of 25%, but they have not been able to get anyone to come and work with them. What will the Secretary of State do to recruit the dentists whom we need to see the people in dental deserts such as North Shropshire?

[Victoria Atkins]

As I have explained, in relation to dentistry but also in relation to wider healthcare, the long-term workforce plan, which was requested by NHS England and by clinicians, is the means of laying those foundations for the future of the NHS. I will now give way to the hon. Member for Wallasey (Dame Angela Eagle).

NHS Winter Update

Helen Morgan Excerpts

Monday 8th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

I most certainly can confirm that—those doctors have already received the rise. As I said, I wanted to continue discussions on more fair and reasonable settlements for junior doctors, recognising as I do how tough their job is and the conditions under which they work. May I thank my hon. Friend for the leadership he has shown with his local trusts and clinicians? I agree with him that the one thing we have not heard from the Opposition is that they condemn the strikes. They seem to prioritise union harmony over patient safety.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust has one of the most challenged A&E departments in England, for a number of reasons. In August last year, the Government awarded a grant of £21 million to provide extra beds to ease some of the issues in A&E, but those beds are not online and operational yet. What assurances can the Secretary of State give us that the measures that have been taken to ease winter pressures will be in place to help people before the winter is over?

[Victoria Atkins]

I will ask the Minister for Health and Secondary Care, my right hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Andrew Stephenson), to liaise with the hon. Lady directly. As I say, the latest figures I have from NHS England, working with local trusts, is that more than 3,000 of the extra 5,000 beds were in situ in December, and we expect the 5,000 deadline to be met very shortly. I hope she will see that at local level in her hospital very soon.

Seaton Community Hospital

Helen Morgan Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

The hon. Gentleman says it cannot be used for health purposes. What I understand is that what is being looked at is what healthcare it can be used for, albeit recognising the shift of more care into the community and the changing model of care. On the way the system works, in essence the philosophy behind NHSPS is to ensure that best possible use is made of property. If there are no charges associated with the use of buildings, we could get lots of buildings sitting empty and there is not the same incentive to ensure the best possible use of facilities and resources. That is the philosophy behind having this kind of system. I think he mentioned in his speech bringing specific expertise together as part of the organisation that is NHSPS. I hope that addresses his query.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Helen Whately]

I will make a bit of progress, if that is all right.

As I outlined, the ICB is required to pay for the costs and it is not sustainable for the ward space to remain empty for a further lengthy period of time. When an ICB decides there is no long-term healthcare use for an asset, it will usually be sold to allow the funds to be reinvested elsewhere. I have been told that that is not the plan in the case of Seaton community hospital, not least because half the building is an operational health facility and the ICB is fully committed to keeping those services open. I also appreciate that a huge fundraising effort was put in by the local community to build the wing at the hospital in the first place, a point that my hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Simon Jupp) made when he intervened earlier, and so selling the facility would not be what the community wants.

We know that providing high-quality care and support in the community benefits patients, and their carers and families, helping people to stay well and independent for longer. Across the country, we have achieved a lot as part of our commitment to move more care out into the community. For example, urgent community response services are doing a great job of helping to keep people out of hospital when they are at risk of a crisis. Virtual wards or hospital-at-home services are providing hospital-level care in people’s own homes, helping to avoid admissions to hospital and allowing earlier discharge, and ensuring extra support is there if somebody is concerned about being discharged home, or, as I heard the hon. Member mention, is concerned about a family member being discharged home.

Building an NHS Fit for the Future

Helen Morgan Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

It is my pleasure to speak in this debate in response to the King’s Speech—the King’s first—on behalf of my North Shropshire constituency. I particularly welcomed the Government’s ambition to cut NHS waiting lists, but, frankly, I was shocked to see no reference to some of the most pressing health emergencies in my constituency. There was no mention of emergency care and ambulance waiting times, and no acknowledgement of the lack of access to NHS dentists and GP appointments and, indeed, of our catastrophic cancer treatment situation. Some of those issues are literally ones of life and death in North Shropshire.

The proportion of patients at Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin integrated care board who started cancer treatment within 62 days of an urgent GP referral was just 38% in June, according to Macmillan. The national target sits at 85%. It is shocking that in 2023 access to timely NHS cancer treatment is still a postcode lottery. Liberal Democrats have pledged to give people a legal right to cancer treatment within two months of an urgent referral, and I urge the Government to make a similar commitment, rather than watering down their targets for lifesaving treatment.

I was also disappointed that the crisis in NHS dentistry was overlooked in the King’s Speech. In North Shropshire, the number of adults seen by a dentist between 2019 and 2022 fell by more than 10%, down to just 35.4%, and less than half of local children have seen a dentist in that time. Local dentists report a shocking increase in child tooth decay when a parent is unable to register and take their child along. Seven months ago, the Government promised that a dental recovery plan would be published specifically to deal with this problematic issue, so I am concerned that no reference at all was made to it in the King’s Speech. I would be grateful if the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions provided an update on the progress of the plan in his closing remarks and confirmed on what date we should expect to receive it.

I was frustrated to see a lack of reference to adult social care and carers in general in the King’s Speech. The support that carers provide is a lifeline to elderly and rural residents in my constituency, yet the workforce is shrinking at an alarming rate. In the last few years, the number of vacancies nationally has skyrocketed to 165,000. Of course, that is having an impact on A&E departments and on ambulance services, because hospitals cannot discharge patients and allow a good flow through the hospital for those who are admitted when critically ill. I hope that the promised plan to transform the workforce of the NHS will not ignore the vital but creaking care sector. The Government must resolve the crisis there by reforming staff retention and recruitment; tackling the importance of pay in a sector that is in competition with retail and hospitality for new recruits; and recognising the importance of carers’ roles by providing the sector with minimum professional standards.

In Shropshire, the care sector faces the logistical challenges of delivering these vital services over a large rural area. I hope that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions will agree that it is vital to consider rurality when drawing up NHS and care workforce plans.

People in North Shropshire know that accessing healthcare is nigh on impossible without access to their own car. I have spoken in this place many times about how poor the public transport links are in my constituency. They prevent people from accessing vital health services, and from accessing job opportunities and higher education. It is welcome that the Government want to improve journeys in the midlands but, to be blunt, in my constituency there are very few public transport journeys to improve. People without a car rely on friends and relatives for lifts—we are resilient and we get by—but when will the Conservatives realise that rural Britain is home to 20% of the population and that we are worth investing in, rather than simply taking us for granted?

The Government have also said, and I welcome it, that they want to ease the cost of living and provide help for businesses. I am glad that both statements were included in the King’s Speech, but I feel it is necessary to spell out exactly what it might look like to deliver that for constituents in places such as North Shropshire. For rural residents, the cost of living has only exacerbated long-standing inequalities. Rural residents earn 7.5% less on average than people in urban areas, but because council services are much more expensive to provide, their council tax payments are on average 20% higher.

Not only that, but off-grid energy users are still waiting for the Government to provide substantial support with their energy costs. The Countryside Alliance has reported that, on average, rural households spend £800 a year more on fuel than those on the grid. The Government need to reassure people in North Shropshire and the rest of rural Britain that their commitment to easing the cost of living crisis includes them, by addressing the lack of an energy price cap for people who live off-grid and extending rural fuel duty relief to those forced to drive long distances for work, for education or to access essential healthcare.

Rural businesses obviously have to battle with the cost of supplies and energy bills, but they also struggle because of a depleted workforce and the lack of digital connectivity. Just 46% of rural businesses have a stable 4G broadband connection, so it is no wonder that the Federation of Small Businesses reported that in 2022, 6% fewer rural businesses reported that they planned to expand. If the Government want to help with this issue, they need to understand the factors that have put rural businesses on the back foot and put in place policies to help them cope with the discrepancies that come with sparse and spread-out populations. I suggest that allowing rural roaming on mobile networks would be a great place to start. Much of my constituency is in a notspot or a partial notspot. Anyone who has tried to phone me will know that a continuous conversation is almost impossible across large swathes of North Shropshire.

The Government have committed to promoting trade with economies in the fastest-growing regions of the world through the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership. It is crucial to ensure that our farming industry has the opportunity to promote the fantastic produce that we grow in the UK and expand its export activities, but the deal endangers farmers’ businesses as well as animal welfare and environmental standards. Because of the deal, imports that have a lower production cost but a much higher animal welfare and environmental one will be for sale in this country, which risks undermining our world-leading British farmers and food producers. Surely future trade deals must avoid any further damage to this vital sector.

I was glad to hear the Government commit to the promise to reform the archaic leasehold system—something that Liberal Democrats have been calling for since Lloyd George. I hope the leasehold legislation will include new protections for homeowners with a freehold who have been trapped into a fleecehold arrangement because the shared areas on their development are managed by a private company and not the local authority. I have been campaigning for this issue to be resolved following shocking cases in my constituency, and I have been contacted by freeholders throughout the country with unbelievable stories of their experiences with rogue developers.

In conclusion, 95% of the land in North Shropshire is used for agriculture. We are typical of rural Britain. I am disappointed to stand here and explain to the Government, yet again, the ways in which they have failed to address the challenges we face. The Government have proven that they have run out of ideas for rural Britain, having taken its votes for granted for so many years. Now, here we are in a debate to discuss ways to get the NHS back on its feet. After eight years of disastrous Tory management, the only viable answer to that question is surely to hold a general election and start afresh.

Countess of Chester Hospital Inquiry

Helen Morgan Excerpts

Monday 4th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

I hope that my hon. Friend will note that the appointment of a Court of Appeal judge underscores the seriousness of the inquiry into the murders by Letby. The decision before the summer to place the Essex inquiry on a statutory footing again underscores our commitment to giving answers to those families in Essex, particularly where there are concerns that staff have hitherto not engaged with the inquiry in the way they need to do.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

My thoughts and prayers, and those of my party, are with everyone affected by the unspeakably evil crimes of Lucy Letby. In this instance, we have had a serial killer in play, and that makes it unique, but it is clear that there have been management failings—a failure to listen to senior clinicians, and potentially even a cover-up—and that unfortunately is not a new situation for the NHS. As the MP for North Shropshire, I have seen management failings at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, and my hon. Friend the Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) has highlighted the failings at Morecambe Bay. We have had numerous inquiries into management failures in the NHS, we have said “never again” so many times, and we are still here. How can the Secretary of State reassure parents and people being treated in the NHS that this time, when we say “never again”, we will mean it?

[Steve Barclay]

Again, I very much agree on the imperative of learning from the various reviews that have taken place. That is why I have personally spoken to the chairs of those reviews over recent days and weeks. I point out that these events took place before a number of the reviews’ recommendations were made and given to the Government, and those recommendations—whether on the medical examiner role, strengthening under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, the use of “get it right first time” to review the data, the freedom to speak up guardians or the new patient safety commissioner role—have been implemented. So significant actions have been taken following those reviews, and those actions have been taken since these events. However, through the inquiry we will of course test whether further action is needed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Helen Morgan Excerpts

Tuesday 11th July 2023 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

1. What progress his Department has made on improving access to NHS dentists in North Shropshire constituency.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Steve Barclay)]

Last year, we announced a number of reforms to the NHS dental system, making the NHS more attractive and helping patients to access care. Treatments and dental care delivered in England went up by a fifth between 2021 and 2022.

[Helen Morgan]

In North Shropshire, the number of adults seen by a dentist between 2019 and 2022 fell by more than 10%, from 47.5% to 35.4%, and the number of children seen by a dentist in that time has fallen by just about 10%, from 59% to 49.8%. Constituents report not being able to access a dentist, and are being turned away from their NHS dentists as they seek to take on only private work. Can the Secretary of State reassure me that he is taking steps to ensure that dentists in rural areas will continue to provide NHS services, because this healthcare problem will continue into the future?

[Steve Barclay]

We recognise that we need to do more. That is why we are making NHS dentistry more attractive by creating more bands of units of dental activity, having a minimum UDA value, and increasing to 110% the amount of activity that dentists can do. Indeed, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin NHS trust, for example, was above the national average in the 24 months until June 2022. We are putting reforms in place to build more capacity.

NHS Long-term Workforce Plan

Helen Morgan Excerpts

Monday 3rd July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

Without repeating my previous answer on specialty, we are boosting a number of areas. There are 5,000 more doctors and almost 13,000 more nurses this year than last year. I have already touched on increasing the numbers in primary care. There are 44,000 more nurses, so we are on track to deliver our manifesto target of 50,000. There are 25% more within the workforce of the NHS compared with 2010. We are boosting the workforce overall. The plan is iterative and further work will go into which specialities are developed and how resource is prioritised as services are redesigned.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

The Secretary of State will be aware that the recruitment and retention issues facing the NHS are particularly bad in rural areas. We felt the brunt of that in North Shropshire, with some of the worst ambulance waiting times, cancer treatment rates and diabetic care rates in the country. The plan does not go into much detail on what will be done to help rural areas, but it does acknowledge that by 2037, a third of all over-85s will live in rural places. I urge the Secretary of State to rural-proof this plan and to find ways to work on both the retention and the recruitment of healthcare professionals across the whole spectrum in North Shropshire and the rest of rural Britain.

[Steve Barclay]

The hon. Lady raises a fair point. It also applies to the issue of stroke. The elderly population has increased in many coastal and rural communities. That has created significant pressure: for legacy reasons, services are often in other parts of the country. We have five new medical schools in place, and we have looked at those parts of the country where it is often hard to recruit. Part of the expansion will be to look further at what services are needed in different areas. The hon. Lady’s point also speaks to that raised by the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee. By giving greater autonomy to place-based commissioning through the integrated care systems, we will enable people at a more local level to design the services and the workforce that they need, and that includes the flexibilities required to retain local staff.