National Cancer Plan

Katrina Murray Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Gwynne]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. NICE is there for a particular reason: to ensure that the drugs being developed are available on the NHS when they meet the required threshold. Of course, we want to ensure that as new treatments become available, they are available for British patients. The work that is being done with Moderna and other pharmaceutical companies will ensure that British patients have access to some of the latest treatments as they come through the pipeline.

[Katrina Murray (Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch) (Lab)]

One of my earliest memories is being in a hospital room as my grandfather was dying of cancer. Ten days ago, I was in the same hospital as my father died with the same cancer—50 years in between, almost to the week, but no significant change in prognosis. Can the Minister assure me that what are termed the less survivable cancers, which are not necessarily rare cancers, are included as part of this work?

[Andrew Gwynne]

My heart goes out to my hon. Friend. I lost both my parents to cancer, and it does not matter when it happens in your life; it is just heartbreaking. As the children of those parents, you never get over it. Of course, we will have a concerted effort on less survivable cancers. In part, they are less survivable because the research has not been done, or not to the extent that we can develop better treatments for them. That is where we really have to shift the dial in the next decade. We have to make sure that people who have a cancer diagnosis have the best opportunities to live a long and fulfilling life after cancer.

Income Tax (Charge)

Katrina Murray Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Katrina Murray (Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch) (Lab)]

Lord Darzi’s independent report pronounced that the NHS in England was in a critical condition. By commissioning the report and through the announcements in last week’s Budget, the Government have declared their intention to fix our NHS and set a firm foundation for the future.

I particularly commend the decision in the Budget to invest in mental health crisis centres, in order to move those experiencing a mental health crisis away from the accident and emergency unit. Although we will always need crisis support, mental health provision—like physical health provision—should focus on intervention at the earliest possible juncture, rather than relying on emergency care.

So often, those in need of mental health care face barriers to accessing help. They face difficulty in getting GP appointments and being referred to the appropriate waiting lists, and they then spend years on those waiting lists. Young people with neurodevelopmental conditions might spend years not being seen by local child and adolescent mental health services, until their case is referred to the private sector because they are about to turn 18 or they are transferred to the bottom of the adult waiting list. The Budget is clear that there is a need for investment.

My Scottish constituents have been failed by two Governments. The previous Conservative Government have rightly been the focus of much of today’s debate, but the current Scottish Government have been asleep on the job, quite frankly. All the signs that made Lord Darzi say that the NHS was in crisis in England apply just as much to Scotland. One in six Scots are on a waiting list for treatment, tests or appointments. Hospitals post on social media telling patients not to go to accident and emergency unless their condition is life-threatening—my local hospitals did so on 27 October. GPs are at breaking point, with a prescription system that still requires paper and fax machines, and there is no NHS app or e-prescribing for Scottish patients. I commend the largest budget settlement for the Scottish Government in the history of devolution. Now, the Scottish Government must use it to fix the system that they broke.

Devolution is massively important to me—I knocked on doors to campaign for the creation of the Scottish Parliament—and I will defend it with my life, but we want to ensure that it works for everyone, so that there is no chance of “big boy done it and ran away.”

Oral Answers to Questions

Katrina Murray Excerpts

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Katrina Murray (Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch) (Lab)]

14. What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of patient access to primary care services.

[Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)]

17. What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of patient access to primary care services.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Kinnock]

The hon. Member is absolutely right: there are seriously under-doctored areas of the country. Given the finite resources that we have, we must focus on areas with the greatest need. I would be more than happy to meet him to discuss how that might best be reflected in his constituency.

[Katrina Murray]

Access to GP appointments is consistently raised with me in Cumbernauld. A number of constituents have informed me that, having made complaints, they have been removed from the list of the general practice at which they have been patients for many years. Will the Minister raise the matter with the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, so that we can get some resolution for my constituents?

[Stephen Kinnock]

Patients have an absolute right to complain about NHS services, and they should not be removed from a practice’s list because of a complaint they have made. Health is of course devolved, but I have asked officials in the Department to engage with their Scottish Government counterparts on that matter to ensure that patients in my hon. Friend’s constituency are treated with the respect and compassion that they deserve.