Women’s Health Strategy

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Karin Smyth]

I will try to be brief, but this is hard to explain—[Interruption.] No, this is to answer the right hon. Gentleman. Targets in the NHS have not been met since 2015, which was under his Government’s watch but, actually, this target has been met—there are only three places in the country that do not have a hub—so there is no target for them because that has already been met. The issue now is to look at the outcomes from those hubs to see how they are performing. We think, and the system thinks, that they do a good job. That is why they are staying, why we are committed to them, and why we want to learn from them.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

Bedford hospital once had a gold-standard home-birth service, but in recent months it has been run down within the wider trust due to unfilled vacancies. Many of my constituents are concerned at the prospect of losing that service, which puts women’s needs and health choices first. Will the women’s health strategy ensure that women can access a consistent midwifery service that provides genuine choice for safe home births?

[Karin Smyth]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about maternity services, which are inconsistent and not good enough around the country. It is a source of great alarm for many people. Maternity absolutely remains a high priority within the overall women’s health strategy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

I was in Cumbria recently, and I was struck by the fact that the care home I visited in Carlisle is delivering great intermediate care for the NHS at half the price of a hospital bed—a really good example of how social care often delivers better value and better care. However, the hon. Gentleman is right about the recruitment challenges. We are determined to work with local training providers and the local university to make sure that we recruit social care workers, grow our own in Cumbria and keep them in Cumbria.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

T8. The East of England ambulance service NHS trust remains at the highest escalation level—level 4—as call handlers in Bedford remain under immense pressure after responding to 39,000 calls between Christmas and new year. Despite the unprecedented demand, the trust is considering closing the Bedford emergency operation centre, putting nearly 200 jobs at risk. Given that resources are already stretched to the limit in Bedford, does the Secretary of State agree that we must keep experienced staff who have helped to save countless lives in the region?

[The Minister for Secondary Care (Karin Smyth)]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the particular problems in his constituency. Decisions on the configuration of call centres are a matter for local trusts in consultation with staff and representatives, and I encourage him to continue to engage with the trust in the interests of his constituents.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Tuesday 19th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Kinnock]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that follow-up question, but he will recall that, when we met, I and my officials made it clear to him that the UEA has not yet submitted its bid for a dental school. In that meeting, we said: “Please go back to the UEA and encourage them to submit that bid. When they do, we will look at it very carefully.”

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

Many of my constituents in Bedford are struggling to get an NHS dentist. I am also hearing from those who have tried to book an appointment only to discover that they have been removed from the NHS list without any warning. The Government have committed to improve the dental contract. In doing so, will they ensure that dentists can no longer drop people from their books—leaving them without any access to care—without prior notice?

Healthcare Provision: East of England

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Westminster Hall

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

Thank you, Sir Christopher. You said you would surprise me, and you really did. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship.

Like those in many other areas, Bedford’s residents are suffering when it comes to GP and dentist appointments. One of the reasons my constituents are struggling is that we have shortages of GPs. We are trying to recruit from other countries, but we need local GPs. I am pleased that the Government have pledged to train more GPs locally.

Data from the 2021 census showed that the populations in each of the local authority areas covered by the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes integrated care board grew much faster than average, ranging from a 10.9% increase in Luton to 17.7% in Bedford. The population in England only grew by 6.6% in that period—

[Sir Christopher Chope (in the Chair)]

Order. I am afraid I have to call the hon. Gentleman to order because we have run out of time. I am sorry that a lot of people will not be able to give their speeches.

I try to promote self-regulation, but it is worth reminding ourselves that paragraph 7 of the “Rules of behaviour and courtesies in the House of Commons” says that even if time limits are not imposed, Members

“should speak with reasonable brevity and be mindful of others. Brevity in debate will give other Members a greater opportunity to speak and increase…chances of being called early”,

on the next occasion on which a Member seeks to speak. I read that out as this is the first Westminster Hall debate of this Parliamentary Session. It is important that Members take into account that although I would prefer not to have to impose time limits, people then have to regulate themselves.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Kinnock]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her re-election; it is wonderful to see her back in her place. She is absolutely right that the tie-in consultation deadline was 18 July. We are considering those responses with an open mind. On the broader issues that she mentions, our rescue plan is 700,000 more appointments, incentives for new graduates to go to under-served areas, reform of the dental contract and making work pay for dentists. That plan is at the heart of the reforms that she mentioned and that is what we will be doing.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

9. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to NHS mental health services.

[Tim Roca (Macclesfield) (Lab)]

20. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to NHS mental health services.

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bedford (Mohammad Yasin) on his re-election and my hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield (Tim Roca) on his election. More than a million people with mental health issues are not getting the support they need. This Government will fix our broken NHS. That will include recruiting 8,500 mental health workers, including specialist mental health professionals in every school and rolling out young futures hubs in every community. As announced in the Gracious Speech, we are bringing forward legislation to modernise the Mental Health Act 1983, which is a hugely significant step that has been warmly welcomed by service users, campaigners and, indeed, the former Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May.

[Mohammad Yasin]

I welcome the Minister to his place. Funding to bring desperately needed in-patient mental health services back to Bedford has been sitting in the accounts of our local mental health trust for years, but it cannot be used because of the previous Government’s capital expenditure limits. Will the Minister therefore meet me to discuss a way forward to get this urgently needed mental health facility back in Bedford, so that my constituents do not have to travel miles to access this vital service?

[Stephen Kinnock]

I know that my hon. Friend has been campaigning with great passion and conviction on this issue for some time, and I am in no doubt that his integrated care board will have listened carefully to every word that he has said today. I would be pleased to meet him so that we can discuss this matter in greater detail.