Oral Answers to Questions

Lloyd Hatton Excerpts

Tuesday 13th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

The hon. Member is right to describe the appalling state of corridor care in this country. In fact, under the previous Government, not only was this allowed to emerge as an NHS issue, but it was normalised, with benign nomenclature such as “temporary escalation spaces” used to endorse that normalisation, which should never have been considered normal or acceptable. We will set out our plans shortly to publish data, so that the Government can be held to account as well as the system. I am clear that I want corridor care gone over the course of this Parliament, and I am confident that when we publish all the data for this winter, it will be better than last winter. However, I want to be honest with the House and the country: even on the best days of this winter, patients are still being treated in corridors and in conditions that I do not believe are acceptable and that we should never allow to be normalised. That is why we are committed to year-on-year improvement.

[Lloyd Hatton (South Dorset) (Lab)]

2. What steps his Department is taking to move clinics and routine appointments into community hospitals.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Wes Streeting)]

Rural and coastal constituencies, like South Dorset, are at the heart of our shift in the 10-year plan from hospitals to communities. Not only does everyone deserve care closer to where they live and work, but people in rural and coastal areas often see the sharp end of health inequalities. After 15 years of damage, this Government are determined to change the current postcode lottery of where people live determining the care they receive. As announced in the Budget, we are committed to delivering 250 neighbourhood health centres across every part of England. There are also now 100 community diagnostic centres across the country, offering out-of-hours services, 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Lots has been done but there is lots more to do.

[Lloyd Hatton]

I have been campaigning to restore the rheumatology clinic at Swanage community hospital and the chemotherapy clinic at Wareham community hospital. Both of those clinics were closed despite good health outcomes and high levels of patient satisfaction, and local NHS bosses agreed that they were successful clinics before they were mothballed. With all that in mind, does the Secretary of State agree that we must deliver key services and clinics closer to where patients actually live? Will he take the opportunity to encourage local NHS bosses in Dorset to restore our much-needed chemotherapy and rheumatology clinics?

[Wes Streeting]

I can well understand why my hon. Friend is particularly concerned about the impact of changes on cancer patients. I know that his integrated care board has heard his representations, and it will have heard them again today; I am sure it will be happy to meet with him, as will my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Health. It is important that people have the services that they need on their doorstep. That is one of the reasons why we are devolving so much power, responsibility and decision making closer to communities so that services can be designed around the differing needs of communities in different parts of the country.