Speech and Language Therapy

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Monday 27th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Dave Robertson) on introducing this important debate, and on the passionate, moving and powerful way in which he spoke, particularly about his mother. I would really like to thank him for sharing those personal experiences. I also thank every Member who has spoken today. We have heard really compelling accounts about access to speech and language therapy for both children and adults.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Minister for giving way, and my apologies, Mr Vickers; I had to leave earlier for a ministerial appointment.

In 2018 my father suffered a stroke, and the staff at my local hospital, the George Eliot, could not do enough for him—they were absolutely fantastic. I know that my father stayed in hospital longer than he needed because that was the only way in which he could access the speech and language therapy that he needed, as well as the help to enable him to swallow. It was fantastic to see him recovering that speech because of their intervention. As he had served for nearly 50 years as a volunteer magistrate, it is wonderful to see him now being able to challenge my ideas and give his comments on my contributions in this House.

Last week, I held a consultation event in my constituency where a dietician told me that she felt there was not enough ability for her and her team, as well as speech and language therapists, to give help in the community. She was quite excited about our ideas for virtual wards and asked me, on her behalf, to plead with the Minister to ensure that we give recognition to putting more speech and language therapy in the community. I know that my dad would have been very pleased to receive that.

[Martin Vickers (in the Chair)]

Order. Interventions should be brief— I was very generous.

Puberty-suppressing Hormones

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Wednesday 11th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for what he said. These issues weigh heavily on my conscience. On what he says about the safety and efficacy of puberty blockers, the simple fact is that we just do not know enough. That is why building the evidence base and research is important. I want to ensure that young people with gender incongruence and dysphoria are receiving the best quality healthcare to improve their safety, welfare and wellbeing as children, and that they live long, healthy and happy lives as adults. That is the basis on which we are taking decisions, and we are approaching the issue with care and sensitivity, as I know my counterpart in Northern Ireland also does.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

Today will be a difficult day for trans young people, not because of the Secretary of State’s statement, but because of how our media might choose to portray what has been announced in the House. I welcome the remarks of the shadow Secretary of State, and I hope that we can take things forward together.

I know that one of my constituents will be upset, but will reflect on this with his mum, who has been supporting him. He was referred by his GP for gender dysphoria when he was in year 8. He has still not been seen by a specialist, and he is now in his first year doing his A-levels. He has had to endure going through periods, and suffering at school with the embarrassment of that. He decided to stop eating and was diagnosed with anorexia because that was the only way that he felt he could stop his periods and stop his breasts growing. Those are the kinds of things that trans young people go through day in, day out. Three and a half years later, it is not good enough that he has still not been seen by a medical professional. He is in the west midlands, which is one of the areas where we are not yet announcing that specialist services will be extended.

I welcome the gravity with which the Secretary of State has dealt with this matter. In particular, he responded to me when I asked him to meet trans young people, which he has done. I hope that we can move forward together and improve the mental health of all our young people. We must take this issue seriously and work together, rather than make this into a culture war.

[Wes Streeting]

My hon. Friend demonstrates powerfully why waits of the length that she describes in that case are simply unacceptable and unjustifiable. She also details the real pain that is being experienced by young people who are not being seen by the NHS, and not receiving the care and support they need. That is why I am determined to improve waiting times and quality of care. It is also why those of us in positions of influence or power, or those who have access to the microphone or the pulpit, need to think very carefully about the way that we talk about this group of children and young people, and trans people more generally. It is why headline writers and editors in our media have a responsibility to think carefully about how they exercise their freedoms in the media responsibly—freedoms I strongly support—and create a culture where we are not adding to the harms of that group of children and young people. That is for the exact reasons that my hon. Friend describes with that utterly heartbreaking case.

NHS: Independent Investigation

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Thursday 12th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

Every time the right hon. Gentleman praises my zeal for NHS reform, Labour Members get very nervous. Let me reassure him that I have looked at other countries, and I will definitely continue to do that. I genuinely do not think that it is the model of funding that is the issue—the publicly funded, public service element. I hope that he knows me well enough to understand that if I did think so, I would be more than happy making, and would quite enjoy taking on, the argument, but I think that the equitable principle that underpins our NHS is one that we should cherish and protect. The single-payer model has enormous potential for the century of big data, AI, and machine learning. There is huge potential there that we must unlock, but that does not mean that we cannot learn from the way that other countries organise care, particularly in the community and particularly social care. This week, I met virtually with my friend the Health Minister in Singapore. I will continue to work with my international counterparts to learn from other countries whose health outcomes are far better than ours.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

In my constituency of North Warwickshire and Bedworth, patients wait far too long for GP appointments. The Conservative party has presided over sticking-plaster solutions, papering over the cracks in our health service rather than making it fit for the future. Does the Secretary of State agree that today’s report is a chance to get the right diagnosis of the problems, so that this new Labour Government can come up with the right prescription, and my constituents can once again get the treatment that they so desperately need?

[Wes Streeting]

I am delighted to see my hon. Friend in her place. She is absolutely right. We will take Lord Darzi’s diagnosis to write the prescription and ensure that our reform agenda benefits every part of the country—not just big cities and the wealthiest communities—so that every person, wherever they are from, grow up and live, has access to the very best health and care services.