NHS 10-Year Plan

Jayne Kirkham Excerpts

Thursday 3rd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend— I know his constituency well, and he has been a powerful voice for his constituents since he arrived in this place. He is absolutely right that we need good general practice and accessible neighbourhood health services that are available to everyone, especially in areas of high need and health inequalities, as we see in the London borough of Newham. I hope his constituents really feel the impact of this plan as we roll it out during this Parliament and across the next decade.

[Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Secretary of State mentioned community health teams in Cornwall taking services directly to people, even in their homes. I am so pleased with the focus on how to deliver healthcare in sparsely populated rural and coastal areas. Can the Secretary of State confirm that this focus will run through the 10-year plan, so that across the country people can access care as equally as possible at local level—and specialist services such as robotic surgery and mental health emergency hubs—no matter where they live?

[Wes Streeting]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I have been delighted to spend time with her in her constituency to make sure that this Government understand the needs of every part of the country and different types of community. We need to ensure that, when we think about health services, the pitch we have in our mind’s eye is meeting the needs not just of big cities or large towns, but of rural and coastal communities that have been left behind for too long. I hope that my hon. Friend’s constituents will really feel the benefit of the innovation that is at the heart of this 10-year plan, and of the focus on community services and neighbourhood health. From what they have seen so far, they can trust that if we do not deliver for them, my hon. Friend will be the first to tell us.