Health Bill

Baroness Grey-Thompson Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 28th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Young of Cookham (Con)]

My Lords, I will briefly follow in the slipstream of the noble Baronesses, Lady Tyler, Lady Pitkeathley and Lady Watkins, and speak about carers. They all spoke very movingly. I will speak in particular about young carers.

Last week, at Oral Questions, I pointed out that there were 15,000 schoolchildren spending more than 50 hours a week looking after their parents or siblings, and 3,000 of those were aged between five and nine. In that context, I pointed out the disadvantages they face in the field of education: being suspended, arriving late and underachieving. Young carers also underperform —if that is the right word—in terms of mental and physical health. They are rarely identified by the relevant authorities until, on average, three years have passed. In health terms that could include the GP, other health practitioners or those providing mental health services. It takes an average of three years to identify the young carers. Carers Trust polling found that just under a third of young carers said that they felt stressed or worried simply because of their caring role. The GP Patient Survey shows that young adult carers are notably more likely to live with long-term physical health conditions themselves—around 40% for young carers as opposed to 29% for young adults who are not carers.

Despite these health inequalities, very few young carers are identified by health professionals. That was brought home by the recent tragic case in the child safeguarding practice review Cooper and Harris. Two boys were living with their mother who had multiple health issues and had regular emergency hospital admissions. She told the hospital and medical staff several times that her young sons looked after her at home. The ambulance staff recognised the distress experienced by the boys when their mother had a particularly bad fall. Despite this, neither boy was identified as a young carer. Tragically, because the support for that family was not adequate, one of them found his mother lifeless one morning and had to call the emergency services. While the previous NHS long-term plan included specific measures relating to young carers, such as top tips for GPs on improving access to local support for young carers, the current long-term plan does not mention young carers at all.

Amendment 88, as has been explained by the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, would go a long way to helping improve the identification of unpaid carers of all ages, including young carers, by placing requirements on ICBs to identify them, mirroring the responsibility of local authorities. Amendment 89 would introduce a duty for integrated care boards to promote the health and well-being of carers, including young carers. Through my role as the vice-chair of the APPG for Young Carers and Young Adult Carers, I routinely hear about the impact of caring on the health and well-being of young carers.

The Sutton Trust’s study found that young carers are more likely than young people without caring responsibilities to report severe psychological distress and are more vulnerable to self-harm and attempts on their own lives. The harrowing child safeguarding practice review Molly showed that even though the young carer was identified, professionals supporting Molly’s mother, such as GPs, did not sufficiently consider the needs of Molly, who took her own life with her mother’s medication when she was just 14.

I turn finally to respite care, mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Watkins. The provision of regular respite breaks can help support the health and well-being of unpaid carers. One of the things that carers always say makes the biggest difference are breaks. For young carers, respite can take many different forms: young carer groups; trips in the school holidays, which so many miss out on; or even being supported to access opportunities as a family. The Welsh Government actually do this.

These amendments complement the recent Unpaid Carers Action Plan: Recognise, Refer, Reach, which I welcome. I very much hope that the Government can respond sympathetically to this group of amendments.

[Baroness Grey-Thompson (CB)]

My Lords, Amendment 214 complements other amendments in my name. It concerns people with high support needs when they go into hospital and the care that they receive.

At two of my stays in hospital in the summer, I was repeatedly asked whether I had a carer. It felt very patronising as opposed to supportive. However, Second Reading of this Bill gave me another opportunity to have a lived experience of the NHS. This time I spent a week in St Thomas’ Hospital, which was an entirely different experience. It also gave me the opportunity to talk to people who would be affected by this amendment.

Nurses might be trained but not able to offer the appropriate support that someone with high care needs requires. If a person is unwell, it might be difficult for them to explain quite complicated care. There is a real fear among disabled people with high support needs about going into hospital in terms of the impact on their personal health budget—that it might be taken away or changed and about who pays for that care while the individual is in hospital. At a time of great worry, you do not want people to avoid going into hospital because they are worried about their personal health budget.

Hospitals might be accessible but not have the appropriate facilities for disabled people. This is where carers can make a real difference. Another individual contacted me to say that the nursing staff did not know how to use the hoist. It took four members of staff to operate it. It takes one person at home, but that one person was not allowed on the ward to help the individual. In another case, someone with cerebral palsy who was awaiting surgery could transfer to a hospital bed but was told that if they cannot transfer to the surgical bed—which they cannot do—they cannot have the surgery. Their carer is not allowed in to help them, so they are wasting all the pre-operative time. They know that they will be told that they cannot have the surgery.

We need to explore some of these issues further and might be able to in further groups. The current system is, at best, disjointed. We should be able to do better around the whole issue of carers.

[Baroness in Waiting/Government Whip (Baroness Hyde of Bemerton) (Lab)]

My Lords, this would seem to be a convenient time to pause proceedings for the day.