Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 4th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a real pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Roe of West Wickham, and to congratulate him not only on his excellent maiden speech but on the wealth of experience and expertise that he brings to our House. I look forward to a lot more—but I will not be meeting him in a boxing ring.

If you read a quick resumé of my noble friend Lord Roe’s career—university. Sandhurst, distinguished military service, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade—you might be astonished, as I was, to realise how much he has achieved in so little time; he is really quite young. Although he is too modest to have gone into the detail, we can all guess what two tours in Northern Ireland, where he was wounded, must have involved. We should also note, as he said, that he rose through all the ranks in the London Fire Brigade, including being incident commander for the Grenfell Tower fire, before being appointed London Fire Commissioner.

I am sure I speak for the whole House in joining my noble friend Lord Roe in paying tribute to the heroism of his fellow soldiers and firefighters. I welcome his determination to give voice to those he met during his uniformed service. We are delighted to welcome our first ex-firefighter to the Lords; I am sure I also speak for all in saying that we look forward to hearing his future contributions, and indeed those of my noble friend Lord Duvall, when he comes to speak.

Turning to the Bill before us, it is good to have confirmed that its aim is to address issues created by the current approach to allocating places on the foundation programme and medical specialty training in the UK. However, while the Bill deals with process, it does not deal with the content of courses. While I get the importance of having medical staff trained within the NHS, should the 10-year health plan of which it is part not also have an engagement with the curriculum content?

To give an example of what I mean, I ask my noble friend Lady Merron: how do His Majesty’s Government intend to implement the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers’ recent recommendation on equal rights for intersex persons? I declare an interest as a person born with hypospadias, which is an intersex condition. Implementing this recommendation could require significant changes in the academic training of our doctors and surgeons, which surely need to be monitored. For example, it includes: prohibiting non-consensual medical interventions on intersex children, ensuring such procedures are postponed until the individual can provide informed consent; strengthening anti-discrimination measures and ensuring access to justice, including protection from hate speech and crime; addressing inequalities in healthcare, education, employment and sports, including the need for inclusive policies and safe environments for children; ensuring that family laws, including those relating to legal recognition and parentage, are accessible to intersex people without discrimination; and calling on member states to take concrete legal and non-legal measures to uphold the dignity and rights of intersex people.

Some of these recommendations have already been legislated for in the UK, most notably the law against female genital mutilation. But the recommendation is seen by many people as a landmark, as it shifts the focus from medicalising what are often seen as disorders towards protecting fundamental human rights and ensuring equal participation of intersex people in society. It seems important that these things are fed into the medical curriculum, and I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response to that.

I appreciate that this is a complex issue and that this Bill may not be the most appropriate place to introduce such changes but, when she comes to respond, I hope my noble friend will recognise that my underlying point is about how the content of the courses provided within the foundation programme and medical specialty training in the UK can take account of policy initiatives of this type. I would of course be happy to meet with her to discuss how best to take the issue forward.