General Medical Council: Internal Guidance

Debate between Lord Markham and Baroness Gohir

Tuesday 17th October 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I can definitely confirm that we are taking it very seriously. The Secretary of State was clear in his speech at the recent party conference that it is vital that we recognise the importance of the different biological health needs. That means being clear about describing a woman as a woman. I apologise: the noble Baroness was quite right to pick me up on that point, but we are very clear that biological sex is absolutely vital in addressing people’s health needs. It is clear that we are addressing women as women and men as men.

[Baroness Gohir (CB)]

My Lords, under the Government’s watch there have been attempts to erase the word “woman” in various government departments and public bodies. One example is the NHS Race & Health Observatory, which the Government fund. I wrote to it last year and it said that it would address my concerns. What assurances can the Government give that all incidents anywhere where they have oversight have been addressed? Are there any central mechanisms where the public and staff can share concerns, because it is not feasible to report concerns to a line manager when it could result in bullying? Us women will not be erased.

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I absolutely agree. That is why, as I say, we could not be firmer in saying we want to make sure it is very clear in the NHS Constitution that we are referring to women as women—that has to be the absolute primary descriptor—and men as men. We could not be clearer on that, and I am very happy to take that up across government as well.

East Kent Maternity Services: Independent Investigation

Debate between Lord Markham and Baroness Gohir

Monday 24th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gohir (CB)]

My Lords, I thank noble Lords for being patient with me, as I am still learning the rules. I draw attention to my interests in the register. Given the continuous maternity concerns raised in this and many other reports, including by women’s groups, is it time to have a maternity commissioner? As the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, mentioned, what needs to happen to ensure that we get that change? Could the answer be a maternity commissioner who is independent and who then holds the Government to account?

[Lord Markham (Con)]

The noble Baroness is right to say that it is clear that we have not got it right to date, as shown by the fact that these instances have come up. We are taking the right steps with the Maternity Safety Support Programme that we have put in place, and its ability to put trusts into special measures—as I say, that has already been done on 23 occasions and it is being considered for another 10. I believe we have got those early warning indicators in place now, and trusts are being held to account. At the same time, we have to be open, to make sure that we continue to look at and review this, to see whether it has sufficient teeth and, dare I say, intelligence to properly identify these areas. If it does not manage to do that, we must make sure we put in something else, in addition to what is there already.