Palliative Care

Marie Rimmer Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) for securing this vital debate. Her knowledge, understanding and compassion for people are outstanding and cannot be matched.

Most people, when they are seriously ill, want to be at home, surrounded by the people who love them and whom they love. I know this personally from my own family’s experience. When my mother was dying, we were told that she had only a short time to live. She lived for another 22 days. During those 22 days, her hand was never left unheld by one of her children. Not once was she left alone. We laughed and talked, and we were able to be there with her. That experience stayed with me and all my family, and we treasure it.

However, not everyone has that support. Some people reach the end of life alone, and we have a duty as a society to care for them too. That is one of the reasons I helped to establish the Willowbrook hospice in St Helens. Like many hospices, Willowbrook was created by the community itself. It was founded in 1993 by people who, like me, believed that families in our area deserved the same compassionate end-of-life care as those anywhere else. Today it is a wonderful place, with beautiful surroundings and gardens, and care that focuses on comfort, dignity, compassion, and people’s family and friends. It is rated outstanding by the Cheshire and Merseyside ICB, and provides short-term in-patient care for people with complex needs, alongside outreach, outpatient care, therapy and education services. The hospice has supported more than 10,000 patients since opening its doors, and it now receives over 1,000 referrals each year.

Hospices exist to care for the individual person and their family. They give people a choice about where and how they spend the final part of their lives. They allow people to be treated not simply as patients, but as people—surrounded by family and friends, supported with compassion and dignity, and cared for in a way that recognises the humanity of those at the end of life. However, the reality is that, as charities, hospices are under enormous financial pressure.

At Willowbrook, around 30% of funding comes from the ICB; the remaining 70% must be raised locally. That comes from 10 charity shops in St Helens and Knowsley, donations, the occasional legacy gift and, of course, sponsored walks. It costs £3.8 million each year to run the in-patient unit alone. In a community that is not particularly affluent, raising that level of funding year after year is incredibly challenging. The hospice is currently facing a large deficit. If this pattern continues, it could be forced to close within five years. The annual increase from the ICB was 2.2% last year and is 2.3% this year, but it is dependent on efficiency savings. The increases do not keep pace with inflation and are confirmed to the hospice partway through the year, which is very late, forcing it to set its budget without certainty. In truth, it is operating on a knife edge. The solution must be fairer funding.

Patients who are medically fit for discharge, but who have no care package available at home, will be told that they do not meet the criteria for residing in a hospital, which is there for patients receiving treatment. Not many people know this until they get to that stage. There is no ready solution for people at the end of their lives if they are not receiving treatment in hospital or at home. We need funding for Willowbrook because it cannot meet the NHS nursing pay awards and is losing staff to NHS employers that can offer higher salaries, yet it is delivering NHS-commissioned care. The funding must reflect that reality, and it should pay NHS rates for hospice staff.

However, we also need wider reform. The Government must get down to facing our end-of-life care crisis. It is not good enough to finance existing hospices, although such finance is needed, because a holistic infrastructure must be developed. Hospices are established only where individuals have developed them; they are not equally distributed everywhere. That means we need a clear national strategy for end-of-life and palliative care, including a national service framework; better data to understand where care is needed most; clear goals for improvement; and proper palliative training and resources for health and palliative care staff.

Hospices such as Willowbrook show what compassion and end-of-life care can look like. Many people want that at home, and as I know, it can be provided at home, but without sustainable funding and a coherent national approach, such a service cannot continue to do the extraordinary work that so many families depend on and that the staff in nursing homes and hospices provide.

Budget Resolutions

Marie Rimmer Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)]

I want to turn to another measure in the Budget that speaks to fundamental fairness in our society: the high value council tax surcharge, known as the mansion tax. Under the last Government, a band D home in Darlington or Blackpool would cost nearly £300 more in council tax than a £10 million mansion in Mayfair, which cannot be right. Working families are paying more to support their local public services than owners of luxury penthouses, but the Chancellor’s Budget will put an end to that. Her high value council tax surcharge will ensure that those living in multimillion-pound homes who have long escaped their fair contribution pay more, easing the burden on other households.

However, this is about more than domestic fairness. For decades, London’s most expensive properties have served as safety deposit boxes for corrupt wealth from around the world. Russian oligarchs have poured billions into luxury London property—not to live in, not to contribute to our communities, but simply to park their wealth beyond scrutiny. These properties sit empty, increasing in value, while some families struggle with overcrowding and soaring rents and many people attempt to sleep on the streets. The mansion tax sends a clear message: if people own property in Britain, they will contribute to Britain; if they use our capital as a private vault, they will pay their fair share; and if their wealth is tied to Putin’s regime, corruption and the exploitation of the Russian people, London will no longer offer sanctuary.

Our Government have intensified pressure on Russia through widespread sanctions. Just in the last year, we have sanctioned Russia’s two largest oil companies—Rosneft and Lukoil—as well as the vessels it has been using to transport its oil and gas around the globe, but we must go further. It is not enough to freeze Russian assets; we must ensure that those assets are put to work rebuilding what Russia has destroyed. In October, our Government joined forces with those of France and Germany to signal our readiness to use frozen Russian Government assets to help Ukraine, and now the time has come for us to put words into action. I urge the Government to continue working with our European partners to establish a clear mechanism for using those frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction. The principle is simple: Russia bombed it and wrecked it, and Russia should pay for its damage. The proceeds from sanctioned oligarchs’ frozen wealth should not remain static while Ukrainian families live without electricity, heating or homes, and with minimal food.

This Budget shows that our Government are prepared to make difficult choices in pursuit of fairness. The mansion tax and our strengthened sanctions regime are two sides of the same coin. They represent a Britain that will not tolerate a system rigged in favour of the corrupt and the powerful.

Obesity and Fatty Liver Disease

Marie Rimmer Excerpts

Tuesday 28th October 2025 Westminster Hall

[Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship again, Mr Efford. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Worthing West (Dr Cooper) for securing this important debate. It is a pleasure to follow all the hon. Members who have spoken; we are all concerned about what is happening in our constituencies. This issue was brought to my attention by a constituent whose father had died—I will go into her human story later. After speaking to her in Portcullis House, I wrote to every practice in my constituency highlighting the facts of St Helens, in case they did not know them—and that is no disrespect to our medical professionals.

Before I go into some facts, I thank the British Liver Trust and the Foundation for Liver Research, which have worked closely to prepare a joint debate briefing for MPs. I also recognise the excellent work by the Foundation for Liver Research at the Roger Williams Institute of Liver Studies, which continues to drive world-leading research in metabolic liver disease to help to shape how it is diagnosed and treated.

Sadly, St Helens has the highest rate of deaths from liver disease in England, at 43.5 per 100,000, and the second-highest rate of deaths from fatty liver disease. The north of England consistently has the highest rates of liver disease and obesity, and premature mortality from liver disease is as much as six times higher than in the least deprived areas of the country. My constituency suffers at the knife-edge of this crisis: premature death rates from liver disease in St Helens were the worst in the country in 2023, at 43.5 per 100,000—double the England average of 21.9 per 100,000. Premature death rates from fatty liver disease in St Helens were twice the national rate, and the rate of overweight or obese year 6 children is 41.2%, which is markedly higher than the national average of 35.6%.

The NHS Cheshire and Merseyside integrated care board that covers my constituency has in place only a partial pathway for the early detection of liver disease, despite the north of England having the highest rates of death and hospitalisation from liver disease. As of 2023, it did not have a named person responsible for liver disease, and only Liverpool carries out proactive case-finding for patients at high risk of liver disease. The inconsistencies in care that face my constituents and many more people are played out across England, placing thousands of patients at high risk of developing serious liver outcomes.

I will turn now to the human impact of obesity and fatty liver disease, speaking on behalf of one of my constituents, Sara, the young lady I met with her widowed stepmum. They have asked me to speak out and share their story. Sara’s dad, Stephen, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2000 and told he had a fatty liver in 2014, but not to worry about it. He received a liver scan two years later, after which no further action was taken. It was only when Stephen was admitted to hospital in 2024, for an unrelated condition, that he was diagnosed with advanced fatty liver disease, and he sadly died from the disease a few weeks later, aged 62.

Sara said:

“I know everyone thinks their dad is amazing, but mine really, really was. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word and was so kind, loving and generous. To say we’re shocked, devastated and heartbroken at his death due to MASLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease) and HE (hepatic encephalopathy) is an understatement. He was just 62 and had so much to look forward to.

My dad Stephen wasn’t a drinker, but liked a sweet treat every now and then when he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2000. His diabetes was well managed and he didn’t need much in way of medication due to his healthy lifestyle. Dad especially loved cycling and walking in the Lake District. He did everything right, but it wasn’t enough.

In 2014 blood tests revealed deranged LFTs and in his annual diabetic reviews my dad was told he had an abnormal liver but not to worry about it. He was never referred to anyone and the only scan I can see in his medical notes was in 2016, then nothing.

In April 2023 he was feeling really lethargic which his doctors thought was an iron deficiency and prescribed tablets. He told my sister his blood results had come back fine, adding: ‘Nothing to worry about, love, I have a fatty liver, but I’ve always had a fatty liver’. By September Dad was quite withdrawn, forgetful, slurring his words, and kept going back to bed. The doctors were doing lots of tests and thought it might be something neurological like Parkinson’s Disease, but still weren’t looking at his liver. By December my dad was like a zombie and I thought could it be depression. If only we had known then that they were mild HE episodes.”

As Stephen’s family come to terms with their loss, his daughter Sara and widow Dorothy have been campaigning with the British Liver Trust to raise awareness of fatty liver disease and its causes, and the urgent need for early diagnosis and effective national liver care pathways. It is those two ladies who brought this issue to my attention. One of their key asks is as follows:

“We need assurance from government that the NHSE Liver Transformation Programme will be extended (as NHSE transition into Department of Health) and that the programme will be properly funded and resourced to ensure consistent care and early detection across England.”

I will add to that a request for ICBs to look at the illnesses in their area and focus their attention on their community and our constituents.

New Hospital Programme Review

Marie Rimmer Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

I say two things to the hon. Gentleman. First, we recognise the need for investment in Torbay hospital. We are committed to it, and that is what this programme commits us to deliver, with pre-construction work beginning from 2030 to 2032 and construction beginning in 2033 to 2035. Secondly, I say to him and other Opposition Members who oppose the decision that the Chancellor took in the Budget that they cannot welcome the investment on one hand and oppose the means of raising it on the other—unless, of course, they spell out which services they would cut or which alternative taxes they would increase. That is the challenge we face. The Chancellor has had to do a hell of a lot of heavy lifting to clean up the mess left by the Conservatives, and I support her decisions.

[Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State—he is doing what he should be doing and what should have been done before: telling truth to the people and the Commons. I will not waste any time. I urge the Secretary of State to get his appropriate Minister, if not himself, to visit Whiston hospital and St Helens local authority. They will show him how things can work better than at present with proper integrated health and social care. I ask him to please pay a visit. It is worth it; he cannot afford not to go.

[Wes Streeting]

There’s an offer I can’t refuse. My hon. Friend is a great champion of health and care services in her community and has enormous experience in local government. We are always looking for best practice. We want to take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS, and we would be delighted to hear more about the success in her community.

Income Tax (Charge)

Marie Rimmer Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)]

This Budget will deliver to communities such as mine. May I begin by welcoming the mineworkers’ pension scheme resolution? It means that £1.5 billion of miners’ pension payments to their fund will be distributed among 112,000 former miners and their families. It is absolutely right that an injustice has been corrected, for those people have waited far too long. It is also shameful that the last Government failed to budget for the resolution of the Post Office Horizon and infected blood scandals, and I applaud our Chancellor for correcting that now. I urge the pensioners who will not receive the winter fuel allowance—those who are just missing out—to apply for universal credit; in St Helens, £6.5 million remains unclaimed. I regret that we have been unable to remove the two-child cap, or deal justice to the WASPI women.

Let me now turn to the issue of local authority funding for adult and children’s social care. Local councils bore the brunt of austerity; successive Government cuts since 2010 have left them in dire straits, which disproportionately affects the people who are most likely to access social care. There have been increasing pressures to find savings, which has not only cut services and jobs but seriously limited the ability to invest in cost-effective preventive services. Some 73% of the budget of St Helens borough council is spent on adult and children’s social care. I welcome the Chancellor’s 3.2% real-terms increase in local government funding, including the £600 million to support social care—

[Graham Stuart]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Ms Rimmer]

No.

It is good that, in the short term, a Labour Government will target additional grant funding at the councils that are most in need, but that needs to be the start of a process that will reverse years of financial decline. For too long, local council funding formulas have worked against underprivileged communities, and the areas that need funds the most often do not receive their fair share. Sadly, that creates a downward spiral, with an ever-increasing percentage of local government funding being spent on social care. This is not sustainable.

As I have said, 73% of our council’s budget is spent on social care. Moreover, the 48 members of the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities are unable to invest in their local areas in the same way as their counterparts because of the funding formulas. One in four households in England live in a SIGOMA council area. At present, social care services are a postcode lottery, and that needs to be addressed. We need a methodology that takes actual needs into consideration, and ensures that the funding follows. However, I applaud the Chancellor for providing £250 million for children’s social care and £600 million for adults.