Topical Questions

Question

During their free NHS 40-plus health checks, women are assessed for conditions that may affect them as they grow older, but menopause is not included. To include it would be cost-neutral and would not only help millions of women to recognise the symptoms, but prevent needless GP appointments when those symptoms start to develop. Along with Menopause Mandate, I have been campaigning tirelessly on this issue. Will the Secretary of State please look into it as a matter of urgency?

Question

In opposition, the Secretary of State described the 35% pay rise demand by the junior doctors committee as 'reasonable'. What he did not tell the public was that this single trade union demand would cost an additional £3 billion, let alone the impact on other public sector workers. Will he ask the Chancellor to raise taxes, or will she ask him to cut patient services to pay for it?

Question

I am afraid I do not like it when Secretaries of State do not answer questions, and I am sorry to say that the right hon. Gentleman gave another non-answer, as has been the case for those on the Government Front Bench. I have a question that I hope he will be able to answer. The final act of the Conservative Government was to protect children and young people by banning private clinics from selling puberty blockers to young people questioning their gender. Will the right hon. Gentleman confirm that he will resist the voices of opposition on the Benches behind him and implement in full all of Dr Cass's recommendations, including exercising “extreme caution”, as she said, in the use of cross-sex hormones in young people? They and their parents deserve certainty from this Government.

Question

After 14 years of Conservative mismanagement of our NHS, the waiting list at Southampton general hospital is close to 60,000. I welcome my hon. Friend's commitment and plan to bring down waiting lists, but can she also outline what support will be offered to those waiting for treatment, many of whom are in pain, as we tackle the shameful backlog we inherited?

Question

The Government have announced ambitious house building targets but, as far as I could tell, the Labour party manifesto was silent on the GP estate upgrades. Does the Secretary of State agree that the Conservative policy of rebuilding or refurbishing 250 GP surgeries in England is a sensible policy to implement?

Question

Last week, Worthing hospital came close to having to consider downgrading its maternity services due to a shortage of specialist neonatal nurses and midwives. Will the Minister please update the House on the Government's plans to build an NHS that is fit for the future, including by addressing staffing shortages?

Question

In one month alone at the West Hertfordshire teaching hospitals trust, we lost 843 days because of the social care backlog. The burden of that cost is often taken up by families and individuals, which impacts not only on them, but on the rest of our NHS healthcare. I welcome the talk about working together across parties, but would the Secretary of State also consider introducing greater support for unpaid carers, including paid carers leave and a statutory guarantee of regular respite breaks?

Question

The Keep the Horton General campaign in my constituency has recently catalogued the poor experiences of tens of Banbury-based mothers who gave birth at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford. Will the Secretary of State or a member of his team meet me to discuss these concerning reports of poor maternity care?

Question

During the election campaign the Prime Minister came to Basingstoke on a visit and specifically promised to replace Basingstoke hospital by 2030. Can we rely on that promise?

Question

I appreciate that this is early days, 16 days in, but does the Minister have any idea why that may be, and what can be done about it?

Question

Will he agree to meet me and my fierce campaigner constituent Sacha Langton-Gilks, who lost her son to a brain tumour, to discuss how NHS England could be persuaded to do more to inform and educate parents to identify the symptoms?

Question

Specifically in the Royal Free trust area, which covers the community that I now have the honour of being the MP for—Chipping Barnet in North London—there are 100,000 people on the NHS waiting list. So what steps will the Minister take to reduce the waiting list in places such as mine so that we can see more people getting the treatment and support that they need from the NHS?

Question

Will the Secretary of State please now assure me and the people of Ashfield that this will never happen again?

Question

I welcome the honesty and urgency of reviewing the new-build hospitals programme. Residents in Uxbridge and South Ruislip are sick and tired after 14 years of broken promises on a new hospital. Board minutes have revealed that no business case was agreed under the last Government. No funding was released for a new hospital, and not a brick has been laid. Does my right hon. Friend agree that urgent investment is needed at Hillingdon hospital? Will he come back to the hospital, a year later, to visit staff and discuss their plans?

Question

Does the Secretary of State agree that handing over powers to the World Health Organisation, undermining the UK's ability to make its own sovereign decisions, would be unacceptable?

Question

I congratulate the Secretary of State and welcome him to his post. Eye healthcare services are in crisis due to the Tories breaking our NHS. Ophthalmology is the busiest out-patient service, making up nearly 10% of the entire waiting list. My national eye health strategy will seek to tackle some of these issues, so will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how we can tackle the eye healthcare emergency?

Question

My constituents have struggled to get pre-diagnosis ADHD and autism support for their young daughters. We cannot diagnose children at a very young age, but that does not mean that families do not need help. Can the Minister confirm what engagement he will have with support organisations such as the National Autistic Society to ensure that best practice means that families are not struggling for support?