Infants, Parents and Carers Bill

Amanda Hack Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 4th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jess Brown-Fuller]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, and for supporting that Adjournment debate. Every community should have a Jodie; mine was a Julie, and she was constantly chasing funding to keep Milk alive. When my daughter was born, five years after my son, that Milk group, which I had relied on so heavily, was now being run out of a broom cupboard. It was by appointment only, and parents could not take their older children along. The whole thing had just crumbled, so I feared for those coming after me who would not be able to find their village.

Six months after my daughter was born, the pandemic hit. Her 12-month health visitor review was done on Zoom, and my daughter was not even in the room with me. The baby movers classes that I had loved so much with my son ceased to exist, so I ended up running them on Facebook Live—I would message everybody at 10 o’clock and say, “I’m going to go live in half an hour, and we’re all going to shake our beanbag together in our own lounges.” The local children and family centre in Chichester never reopened in the same way after the pandemic, and the children and family centre in Selsey—a coastal community in my constituency—is now permanently closed.

The clearest example of the effectiveness of early support and intervention, as cited by many hon. Members across the House today, was Sure Start. Last May, that service was described in a study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies as having had an “overwhelmingly positive” effect, with the benefit estimated to be over £2 in societal value for every £1 spent. However, when budgets were tightened during austerity, it was services such as Sure Start that were cut to the bone. The provisions in this Bill are so important because they add statutory foundations, assessments and accountability to protect infant support services for the future.

This Bill should allow Parliament to recognise the importance of services such as feeding support, to ensure that provision is maintained and services are improved. The impact is stark, especially when it comes to infant feeding. Through the work of the APPG for infant feeding and inequalities, I had the privilege of hosting the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative in Parliament last year for the launch of its 2024 report, which was looking at breastfeeding in the UK against metrics measuring other countries. The key takeaway from that report is that the UK has some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. Importantly, however, the data also shows that the majority of mothers do set out to breastfeed; despite this, by six to eight weeks, around 70% of babies in the UK receive some formula, and by six months, only 1% of babies are exclusively breastfed. The majority of mothers who stopped breastfeeding early wanted to breastfeed for longer, but did not receive the help they needed to resolve the problems they were facing.

In my constituency of Chichester, most of the support—as cited by the hon. Member for Exmouth and Exeter East (David Reed)—is run on a voluntary basis. There is now a brilliant support group that runs out of the Graylingwell chapel, and it is run by retired midwives who give up their time and run the group for free. I know what a lifeline that has been for so many mothers, but at the point when those midwives choose not to do that any more, the service will disappear, because it is not on a statutory footing. Many of the midwives in my local maternity unit at St Richard’s run support groups in their spare time on their days off.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

Breastfeeding is one of the reasons that this Bill is so important, because breastfeeding is about what happens before birth as well as in the first two years. When we look at the data, the trigger point for people not taking breastfeeding forward is about 16 hours after birth, so if they are given support before they have their baby, and they know where they can go straightaway, that will give them the confidence to breastfeed for longer. Does the hon. Lady agree that we have to make sure that this Bill covers both pre and post labour?

[Jess Brown-Fuller]

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. It is very much my opinion that mothers should all have the right to choose how we want to feed our babies, and that choice should be based on information. If parents are not given the information they need before making those choices, they do not have a choice—it has been taken away from them.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Allison Gardner (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab)]

I have spoken in this House before about Stoke’s rates of infant mortality, which consistently rank among the highest in the country. In the latest data, the infant mortality rate in Stoke-on-Trent was 7.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, almost double the national average. It is a stain on our society that in 2026 a child’s chances of reaching their first birthday can be influenced by where they are born. Infant mortality is explicitly linked to socioeconomic deprivation and is a consequence of deep-rooted inequality.

Tackling our infant mortality rate is a goal that is deeply important to me, and I want to take this opportunity to tell the story of one of my constituents, Ashley Wilshaw—I will get upset—and the short life of her baby daughter, Chloe. It is upsetting, so if anybody who has experienced baby loss wants to step out, I am sure that Madam Deputy Speaker will understand.

Chloe was born prematurely, just before 26 weeks, on 28 April 2011. That may sound like a long time ago, but it is not to Ashley. She was, in her mum’s words,

“a settled, healthy and happy baby, a baby who knew what she wanted and fought so hard to be here.”

As a premature baby, Chloe was at high risk of necrotising enterocolitis, or NEC, a serious bowel condition that can become life-threatening without quick intervention. Chloe had received blood transfusions and had been given formula milk, which are both risk factors for NEC. Chloe began to show signs that something was wrong. She became pale and quiet, her body temperature lowered, her heart rate rose to 200 beats per minute, she struggled to breathe, she began vomiting profusely and she refused feeds. Her abdomen became hard and distended, and blood appeared in her feeding tube—a clear sign of a perforated bowel, which leads to sepsis.

Ashley did what any concerned parent should do—she asked questions, but she was not listened to. She was told that the blood was Gaviscon and that Chloe needed to continue being fed and medicated, causing Chloe agony. Ashley still was not listened to. When she persisted in raising concerns about Chloe, one nurse described her as an “over-the-top mother”. Chloe’s symptoms worsened. The investigations that may have identified the problem sooner were not carried out when they could have made a difference. Lactate levels were not checked. Blood gases were not carried out as appropriate. Scans focused narrowly on her lungs, and feeding continued despite signs of feed intolerance.

Tragically, little Chloe died on 4 June 2011, aged just 37 days old. Leaving behind a very traumatised mum who, 15 years later, still struggles every day with her mental health to cope with the memory of the unnecessary pain and death of her precious baby girl.

[Amanda Hack]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way in such an emotional debate. Does she agree that looking after mothers before, during and after having a baby is vital, particularly when birth trauma or, sadly, baby loss is suffered?

Sudden Cardiac Death: Young People

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Tuesday 1st September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Greg Smith]

I entirely agree with my right hon. Friend and commend his constituents’ wonderful fundraising, but his master point that it should not be left to individuals to have to fundraise for that is absolutely correct and well made.

To conclude, I have seven requests: first, that the CQC regularly assesses call handlers’ skill in recognising cardiac arrest and abnormal breathing; secondly, a fully independent review of NHS Pathways’ effectiveness and culture; thirdly, a correction to the record on which triage system was used, and how that error occurred in Adam’s case; fourthly, a dated review of how genetic findings are communicated to relatives, including funding—currently dependent on British Heart Foundation charity money—to embed genetic testing into coronial pathways; fifthly, proper consideration of the FIFA 2025 statement and the JACC study by the National Screening Committee before it reaches its conclusion in November; sixthly, a statutory duty requiring NHS hospitals in one devolved UK nation to co-operate with coronial inquests in another, so that no hospital anywhere in this United Kingdom can again refuse to disclose records relevant to a child’s death; and seventhly and simplest, a meeting between a Minister and Adam’s parents. The Football Association has already met this family, and I struggle to see why the Government cannot manage to do the same.

Adam’s family deserve answers, and they deserve action. Every organisation that responded to the coroner has been sympathetic, and I believe that sympathy is sincere, but sympathy did not bring Adam home and it will not stop the next 17-year-old collapsing on the next pitch this winter. What will stop it is somebody in Government saying, “This is mine to fix and here is the date.” Adam’s family have shown extraordinary patience throughout an inquest, a prevention of future deaths process, and now this debate. What they are asking for is not extraordinary: that the Government read the evidence, tell the truth about what their own agencies have and have not done, and commit—with dates—to ensuring that no other family buries a child because a system could not tell the difference between a boy fighting for breath and a boy breathing normally. I look forward to the Minister’s response.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

rose—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I am conscious that another Member has risen, but we have only 10 minutes left. The hon. Lady might prefer to confine her comments to an intervention on the Minister in the interests of time.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Frith]

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. I would be very happy to discuss those requests in person. I also pay tribute to the families of Wilson and Vicky. The impact of more and more defibs being available is incredibly important, and I am very happy to speak in more detail on that issue.

[Amanda Hack]

In the summer, I went to Glenfield hospital to talk to staff about the amazing genetic testing done there. Something that strikes me through all the conversations I have had as the former chair of the APPG is how much work could be done in A&E to strengthen that pathway. What can the Minister tell us about looking at ECGs after people have been tested in A&E, which could go back to cardiologists?

Heart Disease and Stroke: Premature Deaths

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2026 Westminster Hall

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble (Mr Foster) for securing this important debate and for his opening remarks on his own health. We all wish him well.

My speech today will focus on heart health. I am a former chair of the all-party parliamentary group on cardiac risk in the young, where unknown heart conditions among young people are discussed. Keeping hearts healthy carries a broad message around prevention, lifestyle and early intervention, but what tools are we giving people? Diet is a key example, and it starts with our young people.

We cannot talk about reducing premature deaths from heart disease and stroke without talking about the environments in which people live. As an active member of the APPG on school food, where I was proud to serve alongside the Minister, I know how important it is for school food to meet nutritional standards and build healthy lifestyles and eating habits from an early age. Last year, 34% of year 6 children in my constituency were classed as obese. Meeting them where they are at with healthy habits when they are young is crucial. That is why I am so pleased to see free breakfast clubs rolling out across the country—I have two in my constituency—as well as plans to overhaul school food standards for the first time in over a decade.

It is now about convincing parents that school food is healthy and nutritional for their children, particularly when under 2% of packed lunches meet the current school food nutritional standards. Will the Minister outline what steps will be taken to change the perception of school food, in line with the valuable work the Government have been putting in to change it?

Meeting people where they are at with lifestyle changes is also crucial when we look at exercise. The majority of my constituents work in logistics, manufacturing and retail, doing physically demanding jobs that are often shift-based, which can make it really hard to maintain regular diet and exercise routines. Will the Minister outline what steps the Department is taking to ensure that infrastructure in semi-rural constituencies like mine can support walking, cycling and everyday physical activity, as well as allowing access to good, nutritious food? For example, my constituency is home to the heart of the national forest, a beautiful green space that encourages physical activity and exploration, but the only way to get there is by car, which seems counterintuitive.

On a positive note, the recently announced £8 million investment to improve community healthcare and access to weight management services across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland through the Government obesity pathways innovation programme is greatly welcome. Having served on the health scrutiny committee for five years as a county councillor, I have seen at first hand the impact that providing easier access to support can have on improving people’s health outcomes and reducing pressure on our NHS later in life. That investment will make it easier for people to access the support that they need in their own communities, whether that is advice on healthy living, behavioural support or clinical support where needed.

Like the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois), I pay tribute to the service of our colleagues in the NHS. We are incredibly proud that the children’s heart health facility provided by Glenfield hospital is still in the east midlands.

Although ambulance times have improved nationally, the east midlands is still a little way behind national standards. As of May this year, we have the second highest average ambulance wait time across England for category 2 responses, which would include a suspected heart attack or a stroke, at 36 minutes. That is 11 minutes longer than the current national target, and twice as long as the target set pre-pandemic. For those who are aware—I thank the British Heart Foundation for its continued support for me in my role here—every minute counts. Every minute that somebody suffering a heart attack spends away from crucial health advice can mean a 10% lower chance of survival. It should therefore not be a surprise that as of February last year, the survival rate among people who had an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the east midlands was only one in 14. Will the Minister set out what further action her Department is taking to bring down wait times, focusing on regions such as the east midlands, which is far behind the rest of the UK average?

As the former chair of the all-party parliamentary group on cardiac risk in the young, I want to highlight the importance of cardiac health screening, of which I am an avid champion, as the Minister knows. Screening is a crucial way to target premature deaths. With the National Screening Committee consulting on whether to expand the recommendation of screening to people below 39, now is a pressing time to engage with it. In Italy, which introduced such screening in the 1980s, cardiac deaths among young people have dropped by 85%. We know that early detection through cardiac screening allows timely interventions that can save lives.

In my constituency, we have also been trying to build resilience. Rural communities are so much further away from main hospitals and health services, so we have been looking at how we can ensure that people know where their nearest defib is. We will now be doing an annual defib dash to encourage people to recognise where the defibs are. We have also been increasing CPR training and access in my community. The British Heart Foundation and the ResusReady campaign have been key to helping me deliver that.

Ultimately, reducing premature deaths from heart disease and stroke is about building a system and building the resilience that supports people at every stage, in every area of our country. I look forward to the Minister’s response.

Nottingham Maternity and Neonatal Services

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Wednesday 24th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

The right hon. Gentleman raises an important part of the dynamic that has been exposed through Donna Ockenden’s review: people not feeling able to challenge what is happening—feeling that they are being intimidated or forced to stay silent—even when they want to raise issues of great importance. We must ensure that the right structures and culture are in place not only so that women and their families can raise their concerns, but so that staff, midwives and others working in maternity and neonatal services have the confidence to raise their concerns through whatever mechanism is most appropriate in the circumstances. They must have confidence in the mechanism to raise their concerns.

The right hon. Gentleman spoke about clinicians who refused to take part in Donna Ockenden’s review in Nottingham. As I said earlier, although more than 800 members of staff contributed towards the review, I was appalled at the number of senior clinicians who did not agree to take part. That is why it is so important that we change the law—applying the duty of candour through the Hillsborough law to ensure that this can never happen again.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and the confirmation that he will expand the Hillsborough law to apply to those clinicians who did not speak but should have spoken. I also want to put on record my thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh) for her leadership and courage, as well as my heartfelt sadness that so many families endured so much harm.

This report has been so thoroughly and expertly delivered by Donna Ockenden, and it has to be the watershed moment. A key feature of this report and every meeting with Donna and the families has been an overwhelming sense of failure at every single level: failure to listen, failure to react and failure to prevent harm. The experiences of the harmed families will stay with me forever. Will the Secretary of State outline how the immediate and essential actions, including the first one—listening to women and families—will be the catalyst for the change that we need? What steps will he take in his first day of taking forward this report to ensure that we do not have Nottingham repeated elsewhere?

[James Murray]

My hon. Friend asks about the immediate actions that the Government are taking in response to Donna Ockenden’s review. For me, above all else—above all the shocking, harrowing detail—the review highlights the fact that women simply were not listened to. That comes up time and again. I know that it comes up in other aspects of healthcare as well, but it came up so strongly in this report and underlined so many of the shocking failures that have occurred.

As a first step, extending Martha’s rule to all maternity services across the country means that when women or their family members are concerned that they are not getting the treatment or care they need, they can get a second opinion—an urgent, independent review. That is an important first step, but this must be a watershed moment that does not rely simply on one action or a small handful of actions. There must be a comprehensive plan to tackle this issue from every angle and to ensure that we have the systemic change that so many Members today have said is crucial.

Community Pharmacies

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2026 Westminster Hall

[Rachel Gilmour]

I have had that discussion with the Minister, who reassured me that the Jhoots scenario has been at the front of his mind and he will seek to resolve it.

There is also the question of business rates. It seems manifestly unfair that community pharmacies, which are frontline NHS providers in every meaningful sense, are required to pay full business rates, while GP surgeries and dental practices do not face the same burden. I ask the Minister how that disparity can be justified and whether the Government intend to address that.

Pharmacies are the engine of community care and offer an opportunity that the Government have not fully grasped. The thrust of the Government’s health strategy has been care in the community, devolving healthcare back to local settings, with neighbourhood health structures and a shift away from hospitals to primary and preventive care. All of that is absolutely right but cannot be delivered without the community pharmacy network. Pharmacies are already doing the work the Government say they want the NHS to do: local, preventive, accessible care, delivered by trusted professionals in the heart of communities. The funding must match the words.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

The hon. Member is making a powerful speech about the importance of community pharmacy. There are pharmacies on the edge of my constituency, serving Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The inconsistency of integrated care board delivery can create problems for local communities trying to get medicines. Does the hon. Member agree that we need consistency of approach?

[Rachel Gilmour]

I assure the hon. Lady that some of the most frustrating conversations I have are with my local ICBs. Properly resourced pharmacies could release a staggering 51 million primary care appointments through an expanded Pharmacy First service, prevention services and a greater role in managing long-term conditions. That is 51 million appointments freed up in general practice, allowing more people to escape the infamous 8 am scramble. Pharmacies often meet people where they are, offering more accessible services to those who might not otherwise engage with the health service at all. They are arguably the most accessible arm of the NHS.

Type 1 Diabetes: Infant Testing

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Monday 9th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. I thank John, Lyla’s father, for starting the petition. It was signed by 227 of my constituents in North West Leicestershire, and I would like to share as many of their experiences as I can in the time available. Throughout these stories, I heard over and over again the four Ts —“toilet”, “thirsty”, “tired” and “thinning”. In all the emails I have received on the matter, the one consistency has been families having to advocate for their children to get the care that they so obviously needed.

Jade, mum of Harry, said:

“Harry is not your ordinary child, he has a long list of disabilities, and he is nonverbal autistic. Harry could not tell me how he was feeling…but he lost so much weight.”

After weeks of trying to see a GP, she finally managed to get a doctor to take his blood sugar levels. Harry’s blood sugar was at 30 millimoles and he was in DKA, with ketones so high that he was on the verge of cardiac arrest. Jade said that day will haunt her forever.

Mark’s story with his daughter Katrina is similar. Katrina was diagnosed at two and a half years old. Although, unlike Harry, she did not suffer from DKA, it was a traumatic experience. Katrina was a healthy child, and when she started having night terrors, waking up drenched in sweat with heavy nappies and craving pasta at 11 pm, they knew that something was desperately wrong. The nurse recommended a urine test, and Mark got a phone call while his daughter was in nursery asking him to take her to the hospital immediately. She was admitted for 10 days in hospital.

A third constituent shared that her son was diagnosed with type 1 in May last year, just weeks before his seventh birthday. Fortunately, he was diagnosed early, and it was a non-emergency situation. It should not be a life-threatening situation just to get a diagnosis. Too often, healthcare professionals miss the key symptoms. When symptoms are missed, sadly, children like Lyla have their lives cut short. Screening for type 1 is crucial in infants so that we can help save lives.

Healthcare in Rural Areas

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Wednesday 4th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson) for giving us the opportunity to talk about how living in a rural area can impact our access to healthcare.

As time is short, I will focus on two things. When I became an MP, one of the first things I was contacted about was the experience of getting a service on a Sunday. A resident of Ashby was given an appointment at an out-of-hours service in Leicester city. The taxi just one way cost about 40 quid. That is just one example of how the rural penalty is creating real problems in healthcare.

I am glad to see the Minister in his place, because I want to focus specifically on pharmacy and that is his area of responsibility. I have met many of my local pharmacists over the time that I have been a Member of Parliament. Our community pharmacies are often our lifelines, yet access to them is not equal, and certainly not simple, for many of my constituents.

North West Leicestershire is not just a semi-rural constituency, but a proud post-industrial one with a strong coalmining past. However, that means that we have our own unique health issues, particularly respiratory ones. For example, 8% of my constituents are living with asthma—higher than the average for the east midlands and the whole of England. Many residents rely on regular inhalers, medication reviews and preventive advice delivered via their local pharmacy, which is a vital service.

If the local pharmacy is facing a shortage, or a rural pharmacy does not open as frequently, that can have detrimental impacts. In a city, people can pop along the road to the next nearest pharmacy. Castle Donington, which has the highest rate of asthma in my constituency, has just one pharmacy. It does an amazing job for my constituents, but the next nearest pharmacy is more than 5 miles away. With 62% of our bus services cut under the previous Government, it is not easy to just hop on the bus to the nearest town. The isolation of our pharmacies has a detrimental impact in a rural area, because there is simply nowhere else to go.

When patients cannot access their medicines promptly, their conditions can worsen. They will turn to a GP for urgent appointments or to their nearest A&E. Pharmacy provision can provide us with an invaluable capacity for our entire healthcare system, the rural services of which have been hit the hardest.

National Cancer Plan

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Ashley Dalton]

Harnessing technology right across the cancer landscape is what this plan is about. Where it is appropriate for less invasive treatments to be used, we are looking to explore how we can roll them out across the country, regardless of postcodes. Lots more people are surviving cancer with treatment, but what is important is that the side effects of invasive cancer treatment can be significant—I know: I have several of them—so, where possible, we want to use innovative, less invasive treatments so that people can live longer, more fruitful and less painful lives.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for her powerful statement. There are clearly differences in cancer treatment depending on where someone lives, whether a rural or coastal community. My semi-rural constituency sits on the edge of three hospital trusts, leading to difficulties such as those highlighted by a constituent who attended my coffee morning earlier this week. She spoke of the difficulties she faces in getting consistency in her cancer treatment, as she sees a Leicestershire GP but gets care from the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS foundation trust. Will the Minister set out more on the neighbourhood element of the treatments addressed in the national cancer plan?

[Ashley Dalton]

The cancer plan sets out policies that have been developed specifically to tackle geographic inequalities in cancer care, with increased medical training places in rural and coastal areas, improved data transparency on the quality of care and performance of trusts, and investment in cancer alliances that proactively support local communities, while treatment support from neighbourhood care leads will help people to navigate their cancer pathways. Cancer outcomes should not be dependent on someone’s location in the country, so we are working to bring postcode lotteries to an end. We are using the NHS app so that patients can manage their cancer treatment themselves. More widely—this relates to what we announced in the summer for the 10-year health plan—single patient records will also allow patients to access services more easily, particularly across different ICBs.

Sudden Cardiac Death in Young People

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Monday 15th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Chris Vince) for securing this important debate and for speaking so passionately about the issue at hand. As a reminder, 12 young, fit, healthy young people a week die of an unknown heart condition. That means that by the time we get to Christmas, 20 young people will have lost their lives. By this time next year, it will be 600 people. All of those deaths could have been prevented.

I first became aware of the scale of this tragedy when I bumped into an old school friend for his 40th birthday. He was fundraising for the brilliant Cardiac Risk in the Young, or CRY. Unbeknown to me, he had lost his brother to a sudden cardiac arrest when we were just in our teens. The second time I came across CRY, it was much closer to home. My niece’s boyfriend sadly passed away in his sleep three years ago. He was fit and healthy, having gone on a run earlier that day. His mother Lesley and my niece Izzy have been steadfast in their campaigning for CRY ever since.

What is CRY all about? It does vital work in raising awareness, supporting bereaved families and, most importantly, screening young people. CRY offers electrocardiogram screenings to all young people between the ages of 14 and 35. To date, it has screened more than 340,000 young people since its formation 30 years ago. I was lucky enough to see one of its screening days first hand at Cambridge University sports centre, organised by Hilary Nicholls, who has already been mentioned this evening, in memory of her daughter Clarissa, who passed away aged just 20 while hiking in France.

CRY is calling for the National Screening Committee urgently to review and reconsider evidence supporting the roll-out of a national screening programme, and for a national screening strategy for the prevention of young sudden cardiac death. I would welcome the Minister’s comments on that. When a similar programme was introduced in Italy in the 1980s, it saw a reduction in young people dying of 85%.

Over the past year, I have been speaking to national sporting bodies alongside my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham and Penge (Liam Conlon) to identify which were already screening their players and how they do it, as well as meeting organisations that represent sports facilities. Just the other week, we heard the excellent news that cardiac screening is being introduced across the netball super league here in England as a requirement from next season, and every player will be screened before the season starts. I also understand that it will be working with CRY to provide screenings for clubs and players where there is nothing already in place. This comes after Kaitlin Lawrence collapsed while warming up for a netball match and hospital scans showed that she had an irregular heartbeat. Lawrence was asymptomatic, young, fit and an elite netball player, and her experience shows just how crucial it is to screen young people playing sport.

I should, however, make it clear that many people can still play sport after receiving a diagnosis. Wonderful tools are available, along with fantastic cardiologists across the country, to facilitate that. We need only observe how successful Christian Eriksen has been since his collapse on the pitch during an international game. This need not be a deterrent; it is information. It is simply not good enough to say that screening young people will put them off sport and should therefore not be widely carried out. Crucially, however, the necessary level of screening is not being undertaken, which means that we must ensure that we have access to defibs and understand how to carry out CPR, which is just as important.

My hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham and Penge (Liam Conlon) and I met Arsenal’s team doctor, Zaf Iqbal, at the club’s training ground earlier this month. Zaf is passionate about cardiac health, and has been using his position at Arsenal—and at his previous clubs—to champion greater awareness of CPR and defibs among school-age children. I also want to draw attention to the incredible work that Brentford FC is doing with its Heart of West London campaign, opening up its ground to offer cardiac screening to the surrounding community; it carries out about 1,000 screenings a year. That kind of engagement is exactly what we need to get the message embedded in our communities of how important it is to be ready in the event of an emergency.

The fact is, however, that our defib network is nowhere near fit for purpose. I recently held a “defib dash” in my constituency, which effectively worked like a small-scale community audit of our defib network. The results were deeply concerning. Most of the constituents who took part had to dash for eight minutes or longer just to get to their nearest defib. Let me remind Members that every minute CPR or a defib is not used on someone suffering from a cardiac arrest, that person’s life expectancy falls by 10%.

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech, as my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Chris Vince) did earlier. May I pursue the question asked earlier by my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton West (Phil Brickell)? Defibrillators can be incredibly useful when they are rolled out to communities, for all the reasons given by my hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack). It is hard to find an area in my constituency without a defibrillator that has been fundraised for and installed by volunteers, but I must admit that I do not know how to use one. Following this debate, I will go away and make sure that I do know how to use one, but how can we roll out defibrillator training nationally to ensure that as many people as possible know how to use them in an emergency?

[Amanda Hack]

I thank my hon. Friend for that important intervention. Defibs talk to you; there is no need to be mystified by their use. They are clever bits of kit, and a 999 emergency responder will talk people through the process. I ask everyone please to go and be trained, because this is really important stuff.

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the hon. Lady for making that point, and I thank the hon. Member for Leeds South West and Morley (Mark Sewards) for his intervention. Throughout my constituency and indeed Northern Ireland, defibrillators have been supplied to every school and community centre. The communities in Ards, Ballynahinch and the Ards peninsula have defibrillators in their city and village centres. We have an organisation called Ards Peninsula First Responders, which provides speedy training every month for those who want to learn how to use a defibrillator. On our defibrillators in Newtownards and elsewhere is a small diagram—an ABC for how to use them. I have not had to do this, but I have been told by First Responders, “If you follow these three directions, you will be able to use a defibrillator as well as anyone else.” Does the hon. Lady have the same opinion?

--- Later in debate ---

[Amanda Hack]

The key thing that we have been trying to do in my constituency—and I would encourage other Members to do the same—is to demystify defibrillators. There are some very easy tools online that can show people how to use them, and they are such clever bits of kit that no one should be afraid of looking into it.

[John Slinger]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the activities of charities such as the Our Jay Foundation in my Rugby constituency are critically important? Naomi Rees-Issitt created the Our Jay Foundation in memory of her son Jamie. Not only has it installed hundreds of defibrillators in Rugby and the surrounding area, including bleed control kits, but—to her point—it holds training sessions in the community given by qualified paramedics and nurses. I have attended one of them, and they are lifesavers just as much as the defibs that go into our communities. All of this helps to reduce the number of sudden cardiac deaths in young people.

[Amanda Hack]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I think the conversation on defibs has been a really interesting one, but that is obviously just part of the solution to cardiac risk in young people. The main point I was trying to make is that, until we can roll out an effective programme of screening, we need to make sure we have the CPR and defibs tools in our toolkit to make sure we can support a person if they are going into cardiac arrest.

Finally, CPR training and knowing where the nearest defib is are important parts of the solution, but when we are looking at cardiac risk in young people, it is about how we make sure that asymptomatic individuals are screened and made aware of information about how they may react if they have an undiagnosed cardiac condition.

I want to put on record my thanks to CRY, the British Heart Foundation, Resuscitation Council UK, Brentford FC, Arsenal FC, the East Midlands ambulance service, Kerrie from Vitalise Health and First Aid Training, and all the bodies that have supported me in my questions on health screening, as well as fantastic campaigners such as Hilary. The truth is that we could be doing far more to tackle sudden cardiac death in young people, so why are we not doing so? I would really love to hear from the Minister.

Terminal Illness: Mental Health Support

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2025 Westminster Hall

[Mr Rand]

I am sure that there is recognition on both sides of the House of the incredibly important work that hospices do to support patients in our communities. I am sure that the hospices that the hon. Member mentioned will be grateful for the recognition of their important work. Of course we need to ensure sustainable funding. As he will be aware, this Government have already invested a significant amount in hospice care, but I appreciate the pressures that many hospices still find themselves under.

I would be grateful if the Minister would meet Mike and me to discuss Mike’s policy recommendations in more detail and to see if they could form part of the Government’s welcome review of palliative care services and the framework that has been announced. It feels particularly pressing at this juncture, as the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill progresses through Parliament. Although I support that legislation, I worry about the prospects of those with a terminal diagnosis. I am sure that the Minister will want to reflect on that in his response.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for sharing the story of Sarah and Mike—he did it justice. It is really important to think about the whole care of people going through a terminal diagnosis—both the patient and their loved ones. We should make sure that the mental health of those people who are supporting the person going through a terminal illness is also considered in this conversation.

[Mr Rand]

I could not agree more that throughout treatment we need a whole-person approach. It is the stated aim of the Government to develop that offer in our communities and in our national health service. The extraordinary toll it takes on friends and families is something that our health system should think more about, and we should give more consideration to.

The issue is so important that if we do not get it right, as I think Members across the House would reflect, the consequences may be tragic for people going through their most difficult times and experiences. For Sarah and Mike and the countless other people touched by cancer, I urge the Minister to work with me and Mike on improving mental health support for those with a terminal diagnosis.