Defibrillators

Liz Twist Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 Westminster Hall

[Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) for securing this important debate. I know that the subject matters a great deal to constituents who have contacted me about defibrillators over the years.

I recently met a young woman in my constituency who told me about the cardiac arrest that her father experienced on the Derwent walk in January this year. Her dad was in his early 50s, with no prior major health issues, when he and his wife decided to take a walk in the snow. They were about two miles away from their home when he suffered a cardiac arrest. Although they were on a popular route for people across our region, and part of the famous coast-to-coast cycle path, there was no defibrillator within easy reach of him. Thankfully, nurses and policemen nearby were available to do CPR until the ambulance arrived about 20 minutes later, and he was able to make a recovery.

In April, however, he suffered a further cardiac arrest. He was found by his teenage daughters, who both work as lifeguards at Consett leisure centre in my constituency, and they were able to administer CPR while they waited for the ambulance to arrive. They were just 16 and 18 at the time. Their actions clearly saved their dad’s life. I commend their bravery at what must have been an incredibly frightening moment, but sadly people all too often cannot be revived by CPR after suffering a cardiac arrest. That is why it is so important that we make sure that defibrillators are easily accessible and that people know how to use them in emergencies.

As we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland, MPs are regularly contacted by organisations that seek to fundraise and to tell us about incidents in which defibrillators have been used, which is really important. I say a massive thank you to all my constituents in Blaydon and Consett who have organised the installation of defibrillators across our communities, including the councillors, community partnerships and groups of volunteers who have fundraised to provide them. I applaud the efforts of those at Stargate and Crookhill community centre, who are currently doing exactly that to ensure that they can maintain their defibrillators.

Once there is a defibrillator, it is not a done deal. The machines need new batteries and pads or replacements when parts can no longer be replaced owing to the age of the machine or after use. Communities who fundraise to set up defibrillators may be left to cover those costs, which puts areas with fewer resources at a disadvantage. Perhaps that is why research has shown that distance to the nearest 24/7 defibrillator increases with deprivation levels in England.

Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths

Liz Twist Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 Westminster Hall

[Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) for organising this important debate.

I come to this debate through my work with the all-party parliamentary group on suicide and self-harm prevention. There is a clear link with eating disorders, which has been drawn to my attention by the charity Eating Distress North East. Up to a third of people with eating disorders have made suicide attempts, and they are 18 times more likely to die by suicide. Measures to prevent this are really important and must be a priority. The suicide prevention strategy does highlight the need to tackle issues for eating disorders, but I know that lots of organisations in the field would like to see more done in that area.

I want to talk about the role of online harms, which are really problematic. Attention has been drawn to particular sites, and I know that the Government will want to work with Ofcom to make regulations effective for these people, but it is also about the impact of less harmful content. We need greater agency for people to control what they see. Saying that they are not interested is not sufficient. AI, of course, presents new issues.

Eating disorders are devastating and on the rise. Eating Distress North East recorded 78% more referrals in 2024-25—

[Sir Desmond Swayne (in the Chair)]

Order. I call the spokesman for the Liberal Democrats.

Spending Review: Health and Social Care

Liz Twist Excerpts

Thursday 12th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Karin Smyth]

I agree that this issue absolutely needs to be resolved. There was agreement previously, under the coalition, and it is so disappointing that it was so unceremoniously dumped when I came to this place in 2015; that was one of the first things that the subsequent Tory Government did. It was a great disappointment to many people across the country, particularly those who were responsible for supporting an older person or a disabled person. We have ensured that we will address this issue, and have appointed Louise Casey to lead the interim report. I know that she will continue to work with everybody, and that all hon. Members will take an active interest in that work.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)]

I welcome the additional £29 billion of day-to-day funding and additional capital announced yesterday. Our investments are already paying interest, in the reduction of waiting lists. May I remind hon. Members of the announcements made earlier this year? I was particularly pleased that the Shotley Bridge hospital replacement in Consett was announced in wave 1, and I thank the Minister for her personal interest in ensuring that wave 1 happens. The 10-year plan will soon be announced. How will the comprehensive spending review announcements help us to shift from a sickness model to a prevention model?

[Karin Smyth]

I thank my hon. Friend for welcoming the Government’s investment in the health service. She has been such a strong campaigner for Shotley Bridge, and it has been a pleasure to work with her; I know she has continued to advocate strongly on behalf of her local population. The hospital is needed, but as she knows, in her community—and all our communities—patients should not always be expected to travel to hospital for care that can be delivered closer to home. We see massive improvements in virtual care and technology, which is why we have announced a £10 billion increase for technology over the spending review period. We are improving the NHS app and ensuring that people are enabled to do more digitally, but I recognise that does not suit everybody, so we will ensure that parallel processes are available for everybody. Our constituents deserve and need care closer to home, and want more of it.

Male Suicide in Rotherham

Liz Twist Excerpts

Monday 24th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jake Richards]

There is a direct link and we should not shy away from acknowledging, confronting and talking about it. When we talk about tackling poverty, we are talking about saving lives, too.

Secondly, we must save our NHS. This Government inherited a dilapidated health service and a particularly severely under-resourced mental health service. Fourteen years of under-investment and chaotic reform have hindered efforts to grasp this crisis. Long delays for treatment and diagnosis mean that so many men cannot get the support that they need and face worsening mental health in the meantime.

Thirdly, in my view we must be bolder in acknowledging the role that technology and social media have played in this crisis. New technology and social media can help efforts to combat men in difficult times: the internet can allow faster access to mental health provisions and can provide a network. However, it has been clear for more than a decade now that technology and social media can be deeply damaging to mental health, eroding confidence, often siloing rather than enhancing our communities, and exposing people to potentially harmful material. I know that many colleagues in the House have been moved by the Netflix drama “Adolescence”, which shines a light on the way the internet can remould ideas of masculinity and purpose—completely unbeknown to those closest to the 13-year-old boy in that drama.

Men, especially our young men, are spending less time outside and less time meeting people and communicating in person—all things that make us far happier and healthier. They are often sat alone for hours being bombarded with algorithms showing unrealistic representations of life, or communicating through anonymous group chats. Research shows that self-harm content has sometimes been allowed to flourish on social media by companies failing to remove explicit images and encouraging those engaging with such content to befriend one another. The arrival of smartphones has taken place in parallel with sharp rises in depression and anxiety in our young people. Of particular concern is the impact that mobile phones have on our young people. The average 12-year-old now spends 29 hours a week on their phone—equivalent to doing a part-time job.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)]

I commend my hon. Friend for securing the debate and for speaking so powerfully. Does he agree that we must also consider the employment-related, sectoral issues in tackling male suicide?

[Jake Richards]

Absolutely, and my hon. Friend has done so much admirable work in this area, long before my time in the House, so I can only learn from her. One point about suicide and male suicide is that an array of policy issues feed into it. This should not be a policy concern for the Government in silo; it should be part of every policy area, and every Department should have those concerns about mental health and suicide protection at its heart.

I was talking about mobile phones and the effect they have had. Since 2010, the average time that teens spend with friends each day has fallen by 65%. I applaud recent Government announcements about reviewing those policy areas, but I urge them to grasp the nettle when it comes to technology, phones, young people and mental health. In a decade’s time I believe we will wonder why we did not do so far sooner.

New Hospital Programme Review

Liz Twist Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

On the hon. Gentleman’s final point, I can well understand why people across the country will be cynical about commitments made on hospitals, given the experience that they had under our Conservative predecessors. Even if not every decision that we are taking is universally popular, I hope that people will appreciate our up-front candour and honesty in not trying to pull the wool over their eyes, and in setting out in today’s report, in terms, the timetable for pre-construction work and for starting construction.

In the particular case that the hon. Gentleman raises, I hope that the fact that land was acquired by this Government in December 2024 signals our absolute commitment to the scheme. If we were not committed to the scheme, we would not have made the land purchase up front ahead of pre-construction works, which are planned for 2030. We did so because we absolutely accept the case that he makes about the desirability of the site and the need for investment and the new hospital locally. In addition to the representations from the hon. Gentleman, my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Wyre (Cat Smith) wins the award for being the first MP to collar me straight after the election to say, “Buy this land and do it now.”

[Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)]

After years of broken Tory promises on new hospitals, can the Secretary of State confirm today that, following this review, my constituents in Blaydon and Consett can at last be confident that we have an honest, realistic and deliverable timetable that they can believe in?

[Wes Streeting]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the representations that she has consistently made since before the general election. I think her constituents will particularly welcome the investment in Shotley Bridge community hospital, which will be in wave 1, with construction starting in 2026-27. I know that that is not the only need for health and care provision in her constituency; we will continue to work together to make sure that her constituents experience an improving NHS, as opposed to being lumbered with the broken one that was left behind by the Conservatives.

Respiratory Health

Liz Twist Excerpts

Thursday 14th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Rosindell. I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for securing this debate. We spent many years working on these issues together, when I was in opposition.

[Jim Shannon]

I am still here in opposition, but the hon. Lady is now over there on the Government Benches.

[Liz Twist]

We worked together as part of the APPG for respiratory health. I pay tribute to the work of that APPG’s members, as well as to the clinicians and patient organisations involved, including Asthma and Lung UK and Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Respiratory illnesses have a disproportionate impact on the most deprived communities. In my constituency of Blaydon and Consett, the rates of conditions such as COPD are particularly elevated, and I have seen at first hand in my surgeries over the years how debilitating they can be; they can affect every part of a person’s life, from their mobility to their mental health, and tackling them is key to tackling health inequalities. Deprivation is linked not only to heightened rates of respiratory illness, but to faster rates of progression and poorer outcomes. That is true for terminal diagnoses such as pulmonary fibrosis, which has outcomes similar to common cancers, as well as for more common conditions such as asthma, which has seen a 25% increase in deaths over the past 10 years.

We know that the biggest driver of preventable lung disease is smoking, which is responsible for half of the difference in life expectancy between our richest and poorest communities. I am pleased that this Government are taking the decisive action that is needed to protect future generations through legislation, and I am particularly proud of the work that has been done over a number of years by Fresh, which sees public health and ICBs working together to tackle this issue.

Access to timely diagnoses and appropriate clinical pathways is vital for ensuring that people get the best possible treatment, but such access varies between conditions and areas of the UK. Of about 1.7 million people living with COPD in the UK, 600,000 are undiagnosed. Meanwhile, one person in every three has never heard of pulmonary fibrosis, which can lead to people receiving incorrect diagnoses, such as asthma. Incorrect diagnoses of severe asthma are common among children with the genetic condition primary ciliary dyskinesia. It is not a mild condition. In fact, children with PCD—I am not going to try to say it again—have a worse lung function than children with cystic fibrosis. It is vital that we do what we can to raise awareness of these conditions, including the rare condition of PCD, and their impact, whether they are primarily genetic in nature or driven by preventable causes.

We know that our NHS is in a really difficult place, following 14 years of Conservative mismanagement. We lost 14 years in which we could have made progress to improve the lives of people living with these conditions, but instead, they were left extremely vulnerable to the pandemic, following a decade of under-investment and disastrous top-down reorganisation by the previous Government. That is not the fault of our NHS staff, who are working hard to provide services in very difficult situations—I want to be clear about that—but the state of our health service at present was laid bare in the Darzi report just a few weeks ago. Among many other things, the report specifically notes the poor outcomes for respiratory conditions in people with learning disabilities, as well as the link between the rise in these conditions and the growing levels of damp often found in the private rented sector.

We have a long road to travel to fix the problems we have inherited, but I am proud to serve under a Government who are committed to huge investment in our NHS, and who have already made key steps towards a prevention agenda. Better public health and community care will be really important for tackling respiratory conditions and the shocking health inequalities that follow from them. I know that the Government have a sharp focus on preventive measures, such as those mentioned by the hon. Member for Strangford, and will look at how we can best improve our access to diagnostics and treatments, including biologics, for respiratory health.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd May 2024 Westminster Hall

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

Constituents have been in touch with me about this. A member of my staff has been in touch with me as well. They tell me just how difficult life is with EDS. As one person put it,

“these are horrendous afflictions to live with, and some people can work and live with it, but some can’t. Any Personal Independence Payments that are received are spent on transport to and from appointments, medications and private treatments just to make life bearable.”

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that we must do everything we can not only to improve standards of healthcare, but to make sure that the welfare system can continue to support them?

[Andrew Selous]

I agree with the hon. Lady, and I have experience of assisting constituents through the PIP process, which is tortuous for those with EDS so I am very grateful to her for putting that important point on the record.

The 13th type of EDS is not rare and cannot be tested for, which is really significant. Recent studies have shown that the diagnosed prevalence of the most common type can be as high as one in 227 people, although most are not diagnosed. Those with the most common type are twice as likely to use hospital services, and there is evidence that the cost of secondary care for them is an additional 29%. This places a significant burden on the NHS, so if we understood and could diagnose it earlier, we could take some of the strain off hospitals. That is another important reason why we must make progress.

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Liz Twist Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 16th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

I would like to start with some figures from my local authority area and my constituency. Smoking prevalence is currently 9.9% in my constituency—that is 6,600 people who are smoking. The total cost of smoking to the constituency is estimated at £73.2 million: a productivity loss of £42 million, social care costs of £28 million, and healthcare costs of £2.9 million. The constituency spends £22.4 million on tobacco annually, and the average smoker spends £3,000 a year on tobacco.

Across Gateshead, the rate of smoking during pregnancy was 10.9% in 2022-23, compared with 8.8% nationally. The smoking rate among adults in different occupations showed that the more deprived areas were smoking more than those in other areas—as always, deprivation comes into these things. There were 688 lung cancer registrations between 2017 and 2019, and we know that smoking causes more than seven in 10 lung cancer cases. In 2019-20 there were 2,707 smoking-attributable hospital admissions in Gateshead. There were 825 emergency hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and we know that smoking is a key determinant of COPD cases. As such, I welcome the measures in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will take us one step closer to a smoke-free future, and I am pleased to see that my party has pledged to support those efforts.

Creating a smoke-free generation will radically level up the health and wealth of our nation, especially in regions such as the north-east. The north-east has traditionally had a higher prevalence of smoking than the rest of the country, although we have made very significant gains in narrowing that gap thanks to the tireless efforts of local councils and NHS trusts working together, not to mention Fresh, our brilliant regional tobacco control programme. Despite that progress, though, our communities still suffer terribly as a result of smoking. As I have said, in 2019-20 there were over 2,700 smoking-attributable hospital admissions in Gateshead—where my constituency is based—and 825 emergency hospital admissions for COPD. Between 2017 and 2019 there were just over 1,000 deaths resulting from smoking in Gateshead alone. Ending smoking for the next generation will safeguard them from the suffering that has afflicted previous generations.

However, we need to do much more to ensure that smokers in the most deprived groups are not left behind as we move towards a smoke-free future. The disparity between different groups is even more extreme for people with mental health conditions, with smoking rates as high as 26% for those with depression and anxiety, compared with 14% of the general population. Calculations by Action on Smoking and Health show that at the current rate of decline, smokers with a mental health condition will not achieve smoke-free status until after 2050, around 20 years later than those without a mental health condition. This Bill is a major step in the right direction and will have a profound positive impact on the health and wellbeing of the next generation, but we must go further to tackle the health inequalities that continue to afflict the most disadvantaged in our communities.

Smokefree Future

Liz Twist Excerpts

Thursday 11th January 2024 Westminster Hall

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Sharma. I congratulate the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) on securing this debate on the APPG on smoking and health’s tobacco control manifesto for a smoke-free future.

I welcome the Government’s bold smoke-free generation announcement, which has my full support and that of my party. The more we can do to prevent future generations from ever taking up this lethal and addictive product, the better. Parliament will stand firm with the Government against attempts to prevent crucial legislation from passing into law. On that note, I was pleased to see the guidance recently published by the Minister’s Department on how all parts of government should act to prevent the tobacco industry’s interference in public policy, in line with our international obligations.

My constituency of Blaydon is in the north-east, a region that has traditionally had a higher prevalence of smoking than the rest of the country, although we have made significant progress in narrowing the gap and lots of action is still being taken. That is thanks to the tireless efforts of local councils and NHS trusts in our region working together to continue the work on smoking cessation, and to the huge efforts of Fresh, our brilliant regional tobacco control programme. I thank Ailsa Rutter and her team for all the work they do locally.

Smoking costs my local authority, Gateshead Council, almost £170 million a year in lost economic productivity and NHS and social care costs. That does not include spending on tobacco, which costs the average smoker over £3,000 a year—a total of £54 million in Gateshead. That spending literally goes up in smoke, providing no tangible benefit to the local economy—not to mention the devastating impact it has on the health and wellbeing of my local community.

One of the groups hit hardest by the health consequences of smoking is people with mental health conditions. People with diagnosed and long-term mental health conditions are more than twice as likely to smoke than the general population. For those with serious mental illness, smoking rates are as high as 40%. That leads to people with mental health conditions dying up to 25 years earlier than the general population, depending on their condition, and smoking is a leading cause of this disparity. As we know, smoking can indirectly contribute to poor mental health through illness, unemployment, poverty and addiction. Helping people to break that vicious cycle is vital if we are to improve the physical and mental health of people with mental health conditions and the population more widely.

At the current rate of decline, people with mental health conditions will not achieve the smoke-free target until the mid-2050s, around 20 years later than the population at large. Although it is positive to see “stop smoking” support being rolled out in mental health in-patient settings, I understand that the roll-out of support in community mental health services has been paused. We need to think about how we support people with mental health conditions right across the board, regardless of whether that is in the community or in in-patient settings. That includes tackling the myth that smoking is an effective form of stress relief, which could not be further from the truth.

There is also far too little awareness about the mental health benefits of quitting. It is vital that we get the message out, but we are still awaiting the response to the Government’s consultation on pack inserts, which was due early this week, as the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) has already mentioned. I, too, ask the Minister when the response to the consultation on pack inserts will be available. When will the statutory instrument to take that measure forward be laid before Parliament?

I will finish by sharing an anecdote. Other Members have talked about the impact of vaping on young people and the approach that we should be taking, and I had a salutary reminder about that when I attended a Christmas fair in my constituency last year. I was buying bits and pieces to support traders and to make up Christmas eve boxes for some of the children I know. I bought some very pretty knitted bags from a craft store and was absolutely shocked when I got home to find a packet of Barbie candy sticks inside each one. I thought we had gone well past that sort of thing. Needless to say, I did not use them and they were thrown away. It is important that we are not complacent about how far we have come and how far we have to go, so that really struck me.

It is good to see the bold action that has been set out to tackle such a deadly addiction, but the Government need to do more to ensure that smokers in the most deprived groups are not left behind as we move towards a smoke-free future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Tuesday 5th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. NICE has yet to publish its final guidance and is continuing to work with all parties to address the issues raised in the draft guidance. The Government encourage manufacturers to work with NICE in setting a price that represents value for the NHS. I can assure the House that existing and new patients who are started on treatment while the NICE evaluation is ongoing will have access after it has issued its final recommendations, irrespective of the outcome.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

T3. As we know, there are strong links between financial difficulties, mental health and suicide. The poorest 10% are twice as likely to die from suicide than the wealthiest 10%. With so many people struggling to make ends meet, how is the Minister going to ensure that those seeking financial support get access to mental health support, and that those seeking mental health support get access to help with their finances?

[Maria Caulfield]

May I pay tribute to the hon. Lady for her work on the all-party parliamentary group on suicide and self-harm prevention? She knows that financial difficulty is a priority area in the suicide prevention strategy, because we know it is a high risk factor. That is why suicide is now everyone’s business—not just the Department of Health and Social Care, but our colleagues at the Department for Work and Pensions, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and all Government Departments. Anyone who has financial stress and pressure will be given support to reduce their risk of suicide.