Hospitals

Lisa Smart Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alex Brewer (North East Hampshire) (LD)]

My constituents are predominantly served by two hospitals: Frimley Park to the east and Basingstoke and North Hampshire to the west. Some 65% of Frimley Park is RAAC concrete, known to be highly unstable, so it is right that it is included in phase 1 of the new hospital programme and prioritised as urgently needing a complete new build. Basingstoke and North Hampshire hospital, however, has been moved to phase 3 and building is now scheduled to begin some time between 2037 and 2039, leaving staff and patients to endure the crumbling buildings for another 15 years.

That decision was made without a single ministerial visit—not one. However, I have visited the hospital and seen what is needed, so I can tell Ministers about the repairs needed to the ceiling to stop rain coming into patient wards and the windows that cannot open, cannot close or are not double-glazed. I can tell Ministers about the air conditioning and filtration systems that keep the air clean in the hospital’s operating theatres, which are already at their maximum capacity. Replacing those systems will become essential within five years, and there is no physical room to add to what is there.

I can tell Ministers about the flooring that connects two important parts of the hospital over a car entrance, which is in a poor state and held together with industrial tape. Patients are being trolleyed across that uneven, unstable flooring on a daily basis. The tape holding the site together is both literal and a metaphor for the state of the system and of hospitals right now in this country. Ministers would know that if they had visited the hospital. One third of the repairs needed are high-risk—not a phrase we want to hear associated with our hospital structures and systems.

[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend that in none of the repairs we are talking about to our hospital infrastructure do any of us want to use the phrase “high-risk”. Stepping Hill hospital serves my constituents; I have met the Minister about it and I look forward to welcoming her to visit it later this year. Despite needing a reported £134 million spent on it, Stepping Hill is not on the new hospital programme. I am sure my hon. Friend agrees that the health of our nation is directly related to the wealth of our nation, and that investing in hospital infrastructure is thus an extremely good investment in all of our population.

[Alex Brewer]

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. Health and wealth are two sides of the same coin and we need to invest in both, which is why the delays are a false economy. Maintaining Basingstoke and North Hampshire hospital for the next 15 years will cost almost as much as the rebuild, making it a false economy and a categorically bad financial decision as well as a bad health decision. There is no point in investing in a multimillion-pound brand new air filtration system in a building that is falling down.

In June 2024, the Prime Minister who was then the Leader of the Opposition visited Basingstoke town but not the hospital. Assurances were given and reported in the Basingstoke Gazette that the hospital would be built by 2030. In February after the announcement, I asked the Prime Minister about the logic of the delay, given that it will clearly be a significant financial burden for taxpayers while continuing to limit healthcare delivery. I was told that the hospital would be built, but not when. This is a clear step backwards. With the exception of the shadow Minister, we all know the situation in which the previous Government left the country, but that is not a reason for economically and medically unsound decisions now. I invite the Minister—or any Minister—to visit Basingstoke and North Hampshire hospital with me to understand the full financial and health implications of this decision for local people in North East Hampshire.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

The very first thing I did when I came to this place was write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care—along with my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Cheadle (Mr Morrison)—about the state of Stepping Hill hospital. It is consistently the biggest issue raised with me by patients and staff, many of whom are my constituents, and there are few ways to see more clearly how the last Government let down my constituents than by considering the state of the buildings at Stepping Hill hospital. A number of buildings have had to be closed because they were deemed unsafe, placing more pressure on staff and services. The press reports that the repairs backlog at Stepping Hill exceeds £130 million, with millions needed to eradicate the most high-risk problems.

That sounds abstract—that amount of money is difficult to get your head around—so what does it mean to staff and patients? It means that my constituents write to me about having experienced major health issues, like cardiac arrest, and having been forced to wait in overcrowded areas without seating because there is not the space available. It means hospital corridors flooding and medics having to wade through the water to get to their patients. On one occasion, it means a constituent writing to me about what should have been the utter delight of having a baby delivered safely into the world—but 30 minutes before the baby arrived, the light fitting in the delivery suite fell down in the middle of active labour.

Stepping Hill sees about half a million patients each year. When I ask my constituents about their experiences of Stepping Hill, many tell me that they are worried about the buildings, but so many of them praise the phenomenal staff. I will share a few of those remarks with the House. Chris said that the staff could not have been kinder or more efficient.

Alan said:

“All staff at Stepping Hill, from top to bottom, were absolutely brilliant”.

Brenda said that the staff remained dedicated despite the state of the buildings. Amanda said,

“Without Stepping Hill and the wonderful doctors and nurses there, my son would not be here today”,

and Sheila said:

“Staff were run ragged but were amazing.”

The previous Government failed to provide the funding that Stepping Hill needs, and despite the huge repairs bill, it was left out of the new hospital programme. The legacy of that decision and of the failed Conservative Government hangs over my constituents, who deserve better. That Government broke their promise to my constituents, and I will continue to work with this and any future Government to get Stepping Hill what it needs. In part, that involves a new site in Stockport town centre. I am working closely with Stockport council and the trust to push for that. It could act as a diagnostic centre and an out-patient centre, and it is surely part of a strong, long-term solution to ensure that patient needs are met and my constituents get what they need.

The health of our nation is directly linked to the wealth of our nation and my constituents, whether patients or staff, are looking for the Government to have their back, to fund the repairs in Stepping Hill and to deliver the new additional site in the town centre.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lisa Smart Excerpts

Tuesday 25th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the innovation and the impact of virtual wards. I have seen at first hand the impact they can have—not just in providing better value for taxpayers and freeing up hospital beds for those who genuinely need to be in hospital, but in providing what everyone wants, which is to receive high-quality care in the comfort of their own home wherever possible. That will be a big part of our 10-year plan, and of course, it will be underpinned by really good community nursing and community healthcare teams.

[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

Stepping Hill hospital in Hazel Grove has a huge repairs backlog. Patients are having to park miles away to get to the hospital, corridors have been flooded and there have been frequent power cuts. Alongside Stockport council, the local hospital trust and the community, I am calling for an additional site in Stockport town centre, whether that is a diagnostic centre or otherwise. What assurance can the Health Secretary give my constituents that they will be able to get the health services they need closer to them, and what support can he provide?

Oral Answers to Questions

Lisa Smart Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Karin Smyth]

I thank the hon. Member for that point. As he knows, I am always keen to ensure we share good practice across the United Kingdom so that his constituents, like mine, can benefit. We will work through the usual processes to ensure that happens.

[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

10. If he will provide funding for the repair of Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport.

[The Minister for Secondary Care (Karin Smyth)]

I thank the hon. Lady, along with my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra), for her continued support for Stepping Hill hospital. I know that she is working hard on this issue. We are backing the NHS with over £4 billion of funding for integrated care boards for capital priorities, with a dedicated £750 million estate safety fund next year to address the poorest quality hospitals. I am pleased that the replacement of Stepping Hill’s outpatient facility is already under way, backed by £11.5 million this year. I look forward to visiting as soon as my diary allows.

[Lisa Smart]

I am grateful to the Minister for her response and our ongoing correspondence on this issue. I very much look forward to meeting her on site at Stepping Hill so that she can see for herself the reported £134 million repairs backlog at the site. The most recent board papers mentioned a £19.9 million significant risk backlog, which is having a detrimental effect on the hospital team’s ability to see and treat patients. What hope can the Minister give that there is a plan for the funding of buildings at Stepping Hill so that my constituents get the treatment that they deserve?

[Karin Smyth]

The hon. Lady outlines for her constituents what many across the House will recognise: the state that the last Government left the capital estate in. The autumn Budget committed over £13 billion into next year, with £4 billion for ICBs to start prioritising some of this work. We have allocated £1 billion for critical backlogs, maintenance and upgrades. A longer-term capital plan will follow the 10-year plan that we are currently developing to offer the hope for her constituents that she asks for.

Women’s Health Strategy

Lisa Smart Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[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.

[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

If you are black and having a baby, you are more than three times more likely to die than if you are white and having a baby. I am sure that the Minister and Members across the House will agree that that is a national disgrace. I was encouraged to hear the Minister mention a target for maternal mortality disparity in her opening remarks, but I would be grateful if she could confirm that the elimination of that disparity is the target and update the House on when the NHS plans to achieve that.

[Karin Smyth]

The hon. Lady makes the point about using targets. This is something that is a high priority, but it is not happening. That is absolutely why I mentioned it in my opening comments—to ensure that that happens.

Health and Social Care: Winter Update

Lisa Smart Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

My hon. Friend brings expertise and experience to the House, and I am particularly grateful for his support and concern for the colleagues of the nurse who was so brutally attacked in Oldham, because I know that they will be acutely affected. In fact, the NHS workforce right across the country will have felt the shiver down the spine that I felt when I read about that horrific case.

My hon. Friend is right that I am fortunate to be able to call on every single one of my Labour predecessors, from Alan Milburn to Andy Burnham, to ask for their advice, experience and insight. As our great late friend John Prescott said, we need

“traditional values in a modern setting”.

I am bringing that modernising tradition to our approach to investment and reform, because the combination of both delivers results. That is how the last Labour Government delivered the shortest waiting times and the highest patient satisfaction in history.

[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

The Secretary of State will know that Stepping Hill hospital in Hazel Grove has a repairs backlog reported to be £130 million. That means that local teams at Stepping Hill are under even more pressure to tackle the winter crisis. His colleague the Minister for Secondary Care, the hon. Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth), wrote to me and my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Cheadle (Mr Morrison), in October to agree that she was deeply concerned about the condition of healthcare infrastructure at the hospital. Following the Budget, when should we expect clarity on funding per hospital so that my constituents and Stepping Hill patients get the hospital that they deserve?

[Wes Streeting]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for raising those concerns on the Floor of the House. Thanks to the decisions that the Chancellor took in the Budget, the Department has an additional £26 billion available for investment in our health and social care services, including estates. I cannot promise to fix the backlog that has built up over the past 14 years in a single budget year, but I can confirm that we will publish our mandate for NHS England and, following that, planning guidance and financial allocations, very shortly.

Hospice Funding

Lisa Smart Excerpts

Thursday 19th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Karin Smyth]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s comments, and I am very pleased to thank Compton Care hospice for all its work. He is right to highlight that the care is 365 days a year, around the clock.

[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

Hospices such as St Ann’s in Stockport provide really high-quality care to my constituents and others at what is often the toughest point in their lives, but they are struggling in a system that is no longer fit for purpose. It is of course welcome that the Government are providing additional funding for them. One of the challenges that the hospice sector faces is a really high rate of staff vacancies, so I would be grateful if the Minister would confirm whether the 10-year plan for the NHS includes a specific workforce plan for our hospice sector, so that it continues to care for our constituents at the toughest point in their lives.

[Karin Smyth]

The hon. Lady makes an excellent point about the stability of the workforce across the piece, from diagnosis to the end of life. We absolutely need to consider support for all parts of that through the 10-year plan. I encourage hon. Members and others to ensure that they keep making those points. We are getting excellent contributions from the public, patients and staff, and we look forward to developing the plan over the next few months and years.

Access to Primary Healthcare

Lisa Smart Excerpts

Wednesday 16th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Helen Morgan]

That is a really important point. A lot of people in my constituency have contacted me for help with drugs—for example, to deal with ADHD. People need to be able to access important medication readily.

We must not forget the dentistry element of primary care. A generation of children are at risk of poor oral health because of the mess in which dentistry has been left by the previous Government. Tooth decay is the biggest cause of children being admitted to hospital, with over 100,000 admitted since 2018. That is totally unacceptable. Some 4.4. million children have not been seen by an NHS dentist in the last year, according to the House of Commons Library.

Dentistry is really important for children—they have to keep their teeth for the rest of their lives—but this issue affects adults too. My constituent Ron Kelly, who is 62, is disabled and lives in Market Drayton. Members who have been around a while might know that it is not easy to catch a bus to anywhere from Market Drayton. He has not been able to find a dentist since 2019, and my caseworkers have rung every NHS dentist in our constituency. None of them is taking on new patients, so even if he was able to use the bus, he would not be able to find an NHS dentist in North Shropshire at the moment.

Office for National Statistics data released last week shows that, in the midlands, 99% of people who do not have an NHS dentist, and who are trying to find an appointment, cannot access one—99%! It is just unbelievable in a modern country in the 21st century.

[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

My hon. Friend mentions the challenges that many of our constituents face when trying to get access to NHS dentistry. I am thinking about some of my own constituents who have talked to me and, indeed, shown me their home dentistry results. [Hon. Members: “Urgh!”] Yes. Does my hon. Friend agree that we should learn from good practice that is taking place across the country? My Hazel Grove constituents were struggling to find dentists, but because of some reallocation of existing funding in Greater Manchester, new appointments have been made available. Does she agree that we should look at good practice to learn what can be delivered elsewhere across the country?

[Helen Morgan]

Flexibility of contracting is critical, and learning from best practice elsewhere in the country will help to address the problem.

I want to highlight how silly it is that people cannot find an NHS dentist when they need one, because NHS dental funding is actually going unspent. In Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, the area I know about, £1 million was clawed back in 2022-23 because dentists were unable to spend the money allocated to them; they do not have enough staff to work the contracts with them. I met someone last year who had not had a day off work—we were in October by that point—and he had to hand back his contract. The Government have proposed golden handshakes, but I have heard on the ground that they do not work, certainly in Shropshire. We need a reformed contract, flexible commissioning, a proper statutory requirement for workforce planning, and the ability for dentists to use their funding to manage their own practices in a way that allows them to make a bit of money out of treating patients on the NHS.

I also want to highlight the public health grant cuts by the Conservatives and how important it is to reverse them is. It is a complete false economy to cut programmes that help with oral health and prevent poor teeth and future dental problems, when we could spend the money up front so that it would cost far less in the future.