Oral Answers to Questions

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ashley Dalton]

Yes, I would be more than happy to support that. That is part and parcel of this Government’s aim to shift the NHS from hospitals to community.

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

2. What steps his Department is taking to improve access to mental health services.

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

After 14 years of Tory neglect and incompetence, we inherited a broken NHS, and nowhere is that more apparent than in our mental health services. Too many people are waiting too long to access the care they need. To fix that, we will recruit 8,500 more mental health workers; provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, as the hon. Member has called for; roll out Young Futures hubs in communities; and modernise the Mental Health Act 1983.

[Munira Wilson]

With the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill being amended to include a panel that will involve psychiatrists who will determine whether a request for assisted dying should be granted, as well as a number of cross-party amendments rightly calling for the involvement of mental health professionals earlier in the process, what assessment have Ministers made of whether there is sufficient capacity in mental health services, which the Minister has just noted are overstretched, to meet those demands, and on the potential knock-on impact on both waiting times and treatments for those with mental health conditions?

[Stephen Kinnock]

The hon. Lady will know that the Government’s position on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is one of neutrality. I am on the Bill Committee simply to speak about the Government’s position on the workability and operationalisation of the Bill. We look forward to seeing the amendment that will be brought forward by my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater). Any comment we make or position we take will be based on the operationalisation of that amendment, should it become part of the Bill and, ultimately, should the Bill gain Royal Assent.