Children and Young People’s Mental Health

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 16th June 2021 Westminster Hall

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under you as Chair, Sir Gary, and I thank the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) for securing this important discussion. This debate on young people and mental health is important to my constituents, many of whom have contacted me about it. As many other hon. Members have said, people come to explain their experiences and their difficulties in accessing services.

To provide some context, according to NHS Digital, in 2017 one in nine children was estimated to have a diagnosable mental health condition. That number has increased to one in six because of the covid-19 pandemic, but it is important to emphasise that the crisis existed before the pandemic. Research by University College London shows that in 2018-19, almost a quarter of 17-year-olds had self-harmed in the previous year and 7% had attempted suicide at some point in their lives. According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2017 suicide was the most common cause of death for boys and girls aged between five and 19. The figure for boys was 16.2% of all deaths, and for girls 13.3%. That is a sobering thought.

I have the pleasure of chairing the all-party parliamentary group on suicide and self-harm prevention. We have been looking at this area over the past year, including hearing evidence from organisations such as YoungMinds and from young people themselves. We received evidence that many young people who self-harm still struggle to access the support that they need in an acceptable time- frame. In fact, the NHS dashboard shows that 37% of young people—just over a third—with a diagnosable mental health condition can access NHS specialist support.

Respondents to our inquiry made it clear that the single most impactful change to improve the support available to young people who self-harm would be a system shift away from the current reliance on crisis interventions and towards a preventive model of support. However, budgets for preventive interventions have markedly reduced in recent years. Demands for specialist NHS mental health services such as CAMHS and improving access to psychological therapies has therefore increased exponentially, outstripping investment and exacerbating workforce issues. This has led to longer waiting lists, higher thresholds, and refused referrals of young people who self-harm. Even before the pandemic, people who self-harmed could struggle to access the support they needed.

There are also clear inequalities when it comes to children and young people’s mental health, with higher rates of mental health problems among young women than young men, and among LGBTQ+ young people, young people with autism and young carers. There are also clear links between mental health and race, and between mental health and financial insecurity. Experiencing mental health difficulties in childhood or adolescence can have a significant impact across the life course, and can affect young people’s educational outcomes, earnings, employment and ability to maintain relationships, as well as increase their likelihood of engaging in risk- seeking behaviour.

I want to talk about early support hubs. We need a shift towards preventive community-based interventions to urgently address the wider drivers of self-harm. That is why I support the call by the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, including YoungMinds and the Children’s Society, for the national roll-out of the early support hubs model, which would ensure that young people in every area across England can access early support for their mental health. We know that the earlier young people get support, the more effective that support will be, and the better the outcomes. Early support hubs offer easy-to-access drop-in support, on a self-referral basis, for young people who need urgent help but do not meet the threshold for children and young people’s mental health services or who have emerging mental health needs up to the age of 25. These hubs can be delivered through the NHS, in partnership with local authorities and the voluntary sector, and would offer support across areas of need. Services would include psychological therapies, employment advice, youth services and sexual health services. Finally, I stress the need for security of funding for organisations providing these services.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ms Dorries]

I am going to sit down.

[Liz Twist]

Will the Minister give way?

[Ms Dorries]

I do not think there is time.

Tobacco Control Plan

Liz Twist Excerpts

Thursday 10th June 2021 Westminster Hall

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mrs Miller. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham (Mary Kelly Foy) and the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) for securing this important debate to consider smoking cessation.

I will start with a few figures, just to show why this issue is important to me. It is very difficult to get constituency figures, as I am sure colleagues have found, so we are looking at local authority areas. The covid-19 pandemic recovery makes it particularly important to set out an ambitious national strategy to tackle smoking and to address, once and for all, the tragic health inequalities that smoking causes.

In Gateshead, 17.1% of the population smokes, compared with 15.3% across the north-east. That figure is well above the England average of 13.9%. It is estimated that smoking costs Gateshead around £48.3 million a year through smoking-related health and care needs, lost productivity and premature death. Between 2016 and 2018, there were 1,227 deaths attributable to smoking in Gateshead, which is significantly higher than the per population average for England. Between 2016 and 2018 in Gateshead, there were 515 deaths from lung cancer and 412 deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. More than 80% of those disease cases were caused by smoking. Between 2016 and 2018, there were, sadly, 29 stillbirths in Gateshead, which is above the per population average for England. Smoking during pregnancy has been shown to double the risk of stillbirth.

Although adult smoking rates have declined in recent years, inequalities in smoking rates between different groups have remained stubbornly high. The next tobacco control plan must go further in providing additional quick support for smokers in communities and groups with high rates of smoking. That is essential if we are to tackle the health inequalities in our society after covid-19, and indeed before that time comes.

I support wholeheartedly the recommendation of the APPG that tobacco manufacturers should pay the costs—on the “polluter pays” principle—of creating a smoke-free 2030 fund and helping to meet that target. Indeed, it is absolutely essential that we achieve that target.

Smoking during pregnancy is the leading modifiable risk factor for poor birth outcomes, including stillbirth, miscarriage and pre-term birth. The Government’s ambition is to reduce smoking in pregnancy to 6% by 2022, but with a rate of 10.4% in 2019-20, that target is unlikely to be met. National rates of smoking in pregnancy have only declined by 0.6 percentage points since 2015, although some regions—such as the north-east, I am glad to say—have seen much larger declines. Clearly, there is much to be done.

Ensuring that pregnancies are smoke-free and that there is greater consistency across the country must be a major focus of the next tobacco control plan, if we are to deliver a smoke-free start for every child by 2030 and give them the best start in life. The highest rates of smoking among pregnant women are in young pregnant women. Nearly a third of pregnant women in England under the age of 20 are smoking during early pregnancy and at delivery, compared to around one in 10 pregnant women overall. As well as being more likely to smoke in the first place, younger mothers are less likely to quit prior to conception, whereas older mothers are more likely to have quit when planning a pregnancy. As such, driving down rates of smoking in the younger population should have a rapid impact on rates of smoking in pregnancy.

A woman’s circumstances also greatly affect the likelihood that she will smoke in pregnancy, with smoking in pregnancy concentrated among those who live in an area of deprivation or high smoking prevalence, those who live with a smoker, those who smoked through a previous pregnancy, and younger women.

There is so much more we could say on this issue, but the key thing is that we need to consider ideas such as financial incentive schemes. Those that have been implemented in Greater Manchester and south Tyneside are highly effective at reducing rates of smoking in pregnancy among women from deprived backgrounds. They are also cost-effective, with an estimated return on investment of £4 for every £1 invested.

To finish, can the Minister assure me that the next tobacco control plan will include a national strategy for reducing rates of smoking in pregnancy, learning the lessons from the areas where the greatest declines in smoking in pregnancy have occurred? Will she commit to introducing a national financial incentive scheme to achieve the aim set out in the tobacco control plan? Will she also commit to consulting on raising the age for the sale of tobacco to 21, to reduce the number of young people who become addicted to smoking?

--- Later in debate ---

[Jo Churchill]

Indeed I do. Actually, the levelling-up agenda and our manifesto commitment to ensure five more healthy life years must be driven by achieving the targets we have set ourselves. Smoking has such a direct correlation with other illnesses. My right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West mentioned his interest with Cancer Research UK, and we know about the link to cancer, but there is also a link to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as well as other respiratory challenges and so on. As I say, a disproportionate burden is borne by those disadvantaged families and communities.

I thank the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr Sharma) for making an interesting point. I assure him that we are focused on the need to make these interventions local. The local directors of public health and PHE drive plans in localities. I would like to think that we have taken, and can take, much learning from the successful local interventions of the past 18 months, such as with the vaccination programme. There are also clever uses of technology, where we have prompted people to take a vaccination. That might be interesting to look at in connection with recommendation 11, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Windsor (Adam Afriyie) alluded—I think it was him—requiring people to be prompted annually. They might look at that particular behaviour in order to modify it.

I could not agree more with the person who said that data saves lives—indeed, it does. The more we understand about the data held across the NHS, the more we can use it effectively to target interventions and to ensure that people get not only the right treatment but the right care, at the right point on their life’s journey.

In the new plan, we will ensure that we have a strong focus to drive down rates across the whole country, ensuring that they are level to where rates are the lowest, because everybody deserves to live in an area where we have targeted smoking rates and are achieving success. For too long, the harms from smoking have hit those areas that already face challenges. One in 10 babies is born to a mother who smokes. It is estimated that one in five new mothers smokes in Kingston upon Hull, compared with one in 50 in west London. It is those disparities that we need to tackle.

We must also close the gap seen among smokers with mental health conditions and smokers in routine and manual occupations. Could we be cleverer? Could we work in workplaces, for example? It is vital we continue to support interventions that make the most difference, helping people to cease smoking and encouraging them to move to less harmful products.

[Liz Twist]

We have not had much time to talk about mental health in any detail. Will the Minister ensure that funding is found to deliver the original NHS long-term plan commitment to provide tobacco dependence treatment to all smokers accessing secondary mental health services?

[Jo Churchill]

If I have time, I will come on to that—I will try to speed up.

Many Members will be pleased to know that, within the plan, we will recommit to our evidenced approach to e-cigarettes. The products certainly have a role in supporting smokers to quit, and we will ensure that they remain accessible to smokers while protecting non-smokers and young people.

The fight against tobacco is not one we can win alone. It requires a joint effort through the health and care system and working across Government. There are good examples of that, because while NHS England is working to roll out the tobacco dependence treatment and the commitments in the long-term plan—we know there have been some delays—we are putting effort into driving the agenda forward, funding seven early implementer sites across England and establishing services as we speak.

Other Departments, such as HMRC, are tackling illicit tobacco. Her Majesty’s Treasury has taken action to raise tobacco taxation. We have also introduced a ring-fenced grant of £1 million to support an HMRC and trading standards intelligence cell called Operation CeCe. That was operational earlier this year. We are also working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the suitability of options for littering.

I shall have to come to a close, but I will address the question of my right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West about how we are working with the WHO. We are a global leader in tobacco control and were instrumental in the framework convention on tobacco control. We will continue to take our treaty obligations seriously, including the commitment under article 5.3. I was particularly proud that we have been recognised in that work. The recognised commitment to our global prevention work with the WHO is important.

I hope the Chamber is aware that I am determined to protect the population from the harms of tobacco. As we build back better, we must make smoking a thing of the past, to improve the health of the nation and level up society, freeing up the billions of pounds spent on smoking by disadvantaged families and protecting the NHS. Clearly, with investment and with us all pushing in the same direction, we can truly make that target.

A Plan for the NHS and Social Care

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 19th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

For a few glorious moments at the start of the debate, I thought that I might have five minutes, but this will be the abbreviated version of my speech.

First, I want to touch on social care. Many Members have mentioned the value and importance of social care in this pandemic, which has really brought out the value of the people who provide social care and the importance of doing so. It is disappointing, therefore, to see no concrete plans being brought forward. We need a plan for social care that looks at not only caps on care costs but properly resourcing and valuing social care workers and giving them parity of esteem with NHS staff. I would also like to mention the role of unpaid carers, who have done so much to support people through this pandemic.

Secondly, I would like to look at the NHS and say a big thank you to all its staff. They deserve so much more than the 1% that the Government are suggesting is appropriate. We have seen a tremendous response from the NHS, but we know that there is a great deal of catch-up to do to ensure that people are followed up. So many organisations have contacted all of us, I am sure, about that. This morning in the all-party parliamentary group for respiratory health, we talked about the importance of catching up on lung cancer tests; it is the same with breast cancer tests. I also want to draw attention to the need for mental health treatment to be improved and caught up with, as too many people have lost out.

I turn briefly to public health. I heard the Secretary of State talk about public health, but we need not just talk, but action and funding. The pandemic has shown the real value of public health, which we know lies behind so many other issues. It is important that we have an effective local public health system. That links to my next point, which is really about child poverty. End Child Poverty has today produced a set of figures that sadly shows that child poverty has increased in the north-east, where my constituency is. More than 4,300 children in my constituency are living in poverty. That must be addressed. We need to retain the £20 universal credit uplift, expand it to legacy benefits and focus on child benefit.

There is so much more that I would like to say about planning reform and accessible housing, but I do not have time. I end by commending the hon. Member for Aberconwy (Robin Millar) on his maiden speech, which showed that he knows his constituency well and cares about it; I wish him well in his future career.

Covid-19 Update

Liz Twist Excerpts

Monday 17th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I have just waxed lyrical about the value of Scotland working with the UK Government and of Northern Ireland working with the UK Government, and my hon. Friend almost chastises me for not mentioning Wales. Of course working with Wales is incredibly important—look at the Wockhardt fill-finish plant. The number of people who have been vaccinated in this country with a product that is manufactured in Wales measures in the tens of millions, including me. We should all be very proud of that, and I look forward to working with my new Welsh counterpart, the Minister for Health in Wales, and making sure that we use all capabilities across these islands to get us back on the road to recovery.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

Today sees the long-anticipated lifting of many of the restrictions on our life and social life. At the same time, this strain of the virus reminds us that we need to be cautious in how we mix and how we hug our loved ones. It is important that we have clear messages about interaction, so will the Secretary of State ensure that Government messages are clear, unambiguous and not mixed, as at present?

[Matt Hancock]

It is really clear that we are removing restrictions. I am delighted that we are able to remove restrictions, such as the absolute restrictions on close physical contact, and rely more on people’s personal responsibility. In order to do that, we are providing the best possible advice that we can, such as to hug, but cautiously. Everybody knows what that means: it means outside is better than inside, it means making sure it is in ventilated spaces and it means that those who have had the vaccine, and in particular two vaccines, are safer than those who have not.

It is incumbent on us all to communicate these messages from our scientists and to make sure that people understand them. I am pretty sure that the British public get that. Given how brilliantly people have responded to requests during the pandemic, I am highly confident that this approach will be successful and that people will be cautious, but enjoy the new freedoms that we are thankfully able to give.

UK Rare Diseases Framework

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 24th March 2021 Westminster Hall

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the implementation of the UK Rare Diseases Framework.

It is a pleasure to serve under you in the Chair, Mrs Miller. About one in 17 people will during their lifetime be affected by a rare condition. Around 70% of such conditions begin in childhood and are lifelong. Genetic Alliance UK estimates that rare diseases are responsible for about one third of infant mortality in the UK. Those living with a rare condition can face significant challenges in getting a diagnosis, getting access to treatment, and receiving co-ordinated care, as well as challenges with employment, education, social life and mental health.

The UK rare diseases framework, which was published earlier this year, presents an opportunity for the rare diseases community. There is hope that the framework will enable people living with rare, genetic and undiagnosed conditions to get access to the appropriate care and the treatment that they need to manage their condition. However, we have been here before. In 2013 the UK strategy for rare diseases was published, with the promise that no one would be left behind just because they have a rare disease. When the strategy expired last year, people living with rare conditions were confused and disappointed. Although the strategy had made some progress, it had failed in its commitment to transform the lives of all those affected by rare conditions.

A major factor that prevented the true potential of the strategy from being realised is the long delay from the Department of Health and Social Care or NHS England in developing and publishing an implementation plan. The strategy was published in 2013, yet an implementation plan for England was delivered only in 2018. Not only did that prevent progress in England; it also stymied developments in the devolved nations, which were unable to collaborate effectively without a plan. As yet, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have not published the outcome of the strategy. If we are to learn from the mistakes of the past, we must evaluate what happened with the strategy. Will the Minister comment on whether the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England will in fact report on the outcome of the strategy?

The UK rare diseases framework is the beginning of a new chapter. For it to be implemented effectively, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England must work together to deliver a timely and comprehensive action plan. That action plan is needed now more than ever because the rare diseases community has been waiting long enough for improvements in care and treatment. The pandemic continues to bear heavily on the health and wellbeing of those with rare conditions, who are among the most vulnerable to covid-19 impacts. There is a gap in detailed policy to drive improvements for people living with rare conditions in the UK, until action plans are published to implement the framework.

The framework covers four key areas and seeks to make progress. The first priority is to help patients to get a final diagnosis more quickly. On average, rare disease patients wait four years to receive a diagnosis, with some waiting over 20 years. For people with a rare condition, it is often a long journey, frequently with several misdiagnoses, until a final correct diagnosis is reached. Often this journey is labelled as the diagnostic odyssey. The framework describes what is already happening to improve diagnosis, but it does not talk about improving the screening service for people living with rare conditions. The UK National Screening Committee currently screens for just nine conditions using the heel-prick test. That compares poorly with many European countries: Italy and Iceland screen for more than 40, Poland and the Netherlands screen for more than 30, and Hungary, Slovakia and many others screen for more than 20 conditions.

Earlier this month, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved access to a new gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy. NICE said that for some babies who are diagnosed before they have symptoms, it might come close to being a cure. For it to have the chance to be a cure, however, we need to identify the babies before they begin to be affected by the condition. To do that, we need newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy. We need joined-up thinking that allows a screening programme to be developed in parallel as such medicines come over the horizon. Will the Minister confirm whether we will increase the scope of newborn screening in the UK or make changes to the UK National Screening Committee’s processes?

The framework also talks about Genome UK and the NHS genomic medicine service helping patients to get a final diagnosis more quickly, but it does not talk about how patients will access such services. The framework recognises that people with non-genetic conditions needs to be diagnosed through other means. We will need an action plan that sets out a realistic way to improve this, and we will need to demonstrate that the system becomes better at diagnosing everyone, not just those who are found through genome sequencing. Can the Minister confirm that that will be done?

Moreover, the framework does not talk about what happens after a diagnosis is delivered. We cannot abandon people after we have given them their diagnosis. My final point on diagnosis is this: what about the people who are stuck on the diagnostic odyssey? Do we know how many people have been waiting for five, 10 or 20 years for a diagnosis from the NHS? Will we track such people? Will we monitor whether everyone is receiving equitably the tests to which they are entitled? Will the Minister please comment on that?

The second priority of the framework is to increase awareness among healthcare professionals of rare diseases. People affected by rare conditions meet many healthcare professionals on their journey to find a diagnosis, and beyond while they live with their rare condition. For some it is a positive experience; for others it can be particularly challenging. This year, Genetic Alliance UK received an inquiry from an individual whose GP had told them that they could not possibly have the genetic condition that they were concerned about, because it is just too rare. Any individual clinician cannot be expected to know about all rare conditions, but they can be empowered to understand how to handle such cases. The framework does not address in detail how it will increase awareness among healthcare professionals of rare diseases. It does not provide details of how education programmes will be delivered, nor does it explain in detail how success will be measured. What measurements will be put in place to ensure learning for healthcare professionals in the NHS? Will there be a survey of experience now and in the future, to demonstrate improvement? Will that be included in the English action plan?

When clinicians do not engage with an individual who has a rare condition in order to understand their diagnosis and ensure that care is compatible with their needs, it can and has led to life-threatening situations. One way to prevent such situations from occurring is by providing rare disease patients with alert cards, which include information about the patient’s rare disease and any particular aspects of the treatment of that rare disease that need to be taken into account in providing care. In January 2018, NHS England promised that all rare disease patients in England would have access to a rare disease alert card. May I request an update from the Minister on alert cards specifically? How many rare disease patients have been issued with an alert card?

The third priority of the framework is to improve co-ordination of care. Many patients have numerous professionals involved in their care and therefore it is essential that there be co-ordination and communication among healthcare professionals, their patient and the family. The framework does not address how care co-ordination can be mainstreamed within rare condition care in the NHS. There are no details as to how the challenges of ensuring continuity of care during the complex transition between rare condition services might be addressed. Again, how will success be measured? Will there be outcome measures demonstrating increased care co-ordination services in the NHS, and will there be a survey now and in the future to demonstrate improvement in the experience of people living with rare and genetic conditions?

The final priority of the framework is to improve access to specialist care, treatment and drugs. Only about 200 medicines are specifically available for rare conditions, and fewer than that are available on the NHS now. Small patient populations and accelerated market authorisation mean that rare disease medicines can rarely have sufficient evidence to meet the expectations of health technology assessors in the UK. Few life-saving treatments are reaching rare disease patients, which means not only that the UK is falling behind other European nations in terms of treatments available, but that patients and their families can be left in the dark, unsure of what is next.

We have extremely frustrating situations such as that faced by families affected by phenylketonuria, who, 12 years after marketing authorisation for the drug, are not receiving access to Kuvan, despite the Prime Minister’s promises to work on the issue and the treatment being available in 24 European countries. Again, the framework does not talk about how success will be measured. Will there be outcome measures demonstrating increased access to specialist care, treatments and medicines, and will there be a survey now? Will the Minister comment on that?

My final point is this. Understanding the experiences and preferences of people affected by rare conditions is fundamental to providing care and treatment and to ensuring that support, information and services are available and targeted to meet needs. The national conversation on rare diseases on which the UK rare diseases framework is based does not reflect the whole rare disease community. It is important that the English action plan is created in consultation with a more diverse and inclusive group, so that we can understand and meet the needs of all those affected by rare, genetic and undiagnosed conditions.

I want to finish by talking about something that happened yesterday. I want to mention Norman Clayton, who watched Prime Minister’s questions last week and heard me ask my question on access to Kuvan for those with PKU. Norman is 91 years old and was moved, after all these years, to contact NSPKU—the National Society for Phenylketonuria—and tell us about his daughter, Denise, who was born in 1958, before newborn screening, and whose PKU was diagnosed late. Despite the best efforts of Norman and his wife, Denise’s development suffered and she disappeared off the radar of the NHS. She still requires a huge amount of care, because her condition was not recognised from birth. That story speaks to so many rare diseases and to the need to get the implementation of this framework right.

[Mrs Maria Miller (in the Chair)]

We now move to a three-minute time limit, to help as many hon. Members as possible to participate.

--- Later in debate ---

[Liz Twist]

I thank the Minister and all hon. Members who took part in the debate. The diseases we have mentioned—motor neurone disease, muscular dystrophy, PKU, thalassaemia, neurofibromatosis and Batten disease —are all important, but there are so many more rare diseases that we could have mentioned. I look forward to the Minister’s detailed reply, and I will certainly circulate it to all those Members who have taken part today.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered the implementation of the UK Rare Diseases Framework.

Health and Social Care Update

Liz Twist Excerpts

Thursday 18th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I would be very happy to ensure that the children of Bite Back 2030 meet the Minister for public health, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill), who leads on these matters, and my hon. Friend is right to raise that incredibly important point.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

Almost as soon as the Secretary of State sat down yesterday after his statement, I was contacted by a constituent who is shielding and is very concerned that shielding will now end on 31 March, but he has not had his second jab. Will the Secretary of State be issuing guidelines on what those people should do, as my constituent is asking?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, absolutely, and we will be writing to all those who are shielding to set out the details so that they get a personal copy of those guidelines. What I would say is that the rates of covid now are much lower than when we paused shielding in the past, so this is not just because of the vaccination programme—which of course has benefited many people who are shielding, and we know that the first dose brings huge safety and benefit already—but is also because the rates of covid are so much lower.

Maternal Mental Health

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 10th March 2021 Westminster Hall

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab) [V]]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I am glad to have the opportunity to take part in this important debate, and I begin by congratulating the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney) on securing it.

Most mums look forward to having a baby, and the birth of a child to family, friends and people we know is something that we all greet with joy, pleasure and anticipation for the future of the child. We know that for some women, however, pregnancy and the time after birth can, sadly, be difficult. They may not have been able to talk to people about it when everyone imagines that they are having a happy time. This year, it may have been more difficult than ever as a result of covid-19 and the social isolation that it has brought for so many. They have not had the support of, or been able to share the joy and workload with, family and friends, and it has been difficult to get the face-to-face support that they really need. Let us not forget that many have lost out on financial support that has been offered to others, as the campaigning organisation, Pregnant Then Screwed, has evidenced.

Low mood, anxiety and depression are common mental health problems that occur during pregnancy and in the year after childbirth. The pain that these conditions cause women and their families is significant, as is the negative impact on their health and wellbeing. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists states that up to one in five women develop mental health problems during pregnancy or in the first year after childbirth, and around a quarter of all maternal deaths between six weeks and a year after childbirth are related to mental health problems.

Sometimes, hearing in this House the lived experience of constituents really brings home the issues that we are discussing, and the need to address them. A constituent of mine has asked me to tell her story.

“In 2017 I became a Mum for the first time, I knew that I needed to provide for my child but I felt no more attachment than for someone I had just met. I started to Google ‘how to have my child adopted’ and felt like I was a failure as a woman.

I started to have panic attacks, I’d imagine walls falling on my child, people grabbing her and running away. I would lock myself in the house and was terrified to be alone.

It was when I started to record the times that the trains went past my house that realised that I was seriously contemplating suicide. I went to the GP who made an urgent mental health referral although it was five months after my child was born that I actually got any help…and…anything was done. I was diagnosed with severe post-natal depression and have been receiving help ever since.

When my second child arrived, I realised just how traumatic my first experience has been. The shame and anguish have been replaced by joy and love, and I was finally able to have those special moments with the newborn that people romanticise.”

Since that time, the local Newcastle Gateshead clinical commissioning group has invested in a specialist perinatal mental health service. That provides support, advice and planning of care and treatment following delivery, reducing the risk of significant illness and the potential for in-patient care. However, many women are not seeking the help they need, and the pandemic has had a huge impact on loneliness, making those early days so difficult.

This is an important debate and we must do much more to support women struggling with their mental health, before and after the birth of their child, to allow parenthood to be the joyful, if challenging and tiring, experience that it should be.

Covid-19: Government’s Publication of Contracts

Liz Twist Excerpts

Tuesday 9th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

I lost a few words of the hon. Lady’s question, but I think I know what she was asking about in respect of the Prime Minister’s remarks on 22 February. May I start by saying that her kind words at the start of her contribution are reciprocated? I have known her since I came to this House and I have the highest regard for her as well; so I am grateful for her kind words.

In terms of the specifics the hon. Lady asked about in respect of the Court judgment and the Prime Minister, as I understand it on the date the Prime Minister spoke 100% of the contract awards notices—the details of the contracts are contained within them—were published, and that, I believe, is what my right hon. Friend was referring to.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab) [V]]

Our NHS staff have made huge sacrifices during this pandemic and done all they can to support patients and their families, and now they are delivering a successful roll-out of the vaccine. Does the Minister think it is fair for millions, in some cases billions, of pounds to be spent on contracts that do not deliver but to deny those same NHS staff the decent pay rise they need and deserve?

[Edward Argar]

I am grateful for the hon. Lady’s question. She is right to highlight the amazing work being done in the roll-out of the vaccine by our frontline health and social care workers, and indeed many others, and I join her in paying tribute to them. What is important is that we worked flat out, as did senior officials, to make sure that the NHS and the frontline got what they needed last year: PPE to help keep them safe. I have to say to the hon. Lady that I hear the point she makes, but I make no apology for the efforts made by the Government to get the PPE in the quantities needed to keep our front- line safe.

Covid Contracts: Judicial Review

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 24th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

I suspect I can do no better than to quote the judgment, which stated that in respect of regulation 50 the Government “acted unlawfully”, but my hon. Friend is right to highlight the fact that—again, as the judgment set out—the Secretary of State is almost at complete compliance, which is exactly what the Government are committed to.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab) [V]]

The Government claim that this is just a case of a few PPE contracts being published a couple of weeks late, but in fact we know that hundreds of millions of pounds-worth of contracts also went to management consultants. Will the Minister confirm whether all the contracts for which the publishing deadline was missed, from the start of the pandemic until now, were in fact for PPE, or did they also include contracts that have gone to private consultants? Will he explain why those contracts were not published on time?

[Edward Argar]

My understanding is that this data relates to all contracts by the Department. If I am inaccurate in that, I will of course correct the record for the House, but my understanding is that this data refers to all contracts by the Department itself.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

Last autumn’s spending review included £1 billion of funding to address backlogs, tackle long waiting lists and support up to 1 million extra checks, scans and additional operations in the NHS. As the NHS recovers, for liver care, as for other areas of treatment, we will look to not only recover backlogs but continue to improve the care provided and help people to live healthier lives to prevent illness in the first place.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Matt Hancock)]

Yesterday, the Government published the road map that will put us cautiously but, we hope, irreversibly on the path towards reclaiming our freedoms once more. We are able to take these steps because of the resolve of people across the UK and the extraordinary success in vaccinating more than 17.7 million people—one in every three adults across the UK—and I would like to pay tribute to everyone who has played their part.

[Liz Twist [V]]

This coming Sunday is Rare Disease Day 2021. One in 17 people in the UK will be affected by a rare disease, and today people with PKU—phenylketonuria—are awaiting the outcome of a NICE appraisal of Kuvan, but 12 years waiting for Kuvan or other treatments is too long. Does the Secretary of State agree that our rare disease community deserves access to early diagnosis and treatment, and what will he do to make sure that this happens?