Speeches by Morgan.

“I also remind hon. Members—as the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham, has already—of our potential future Prime Minister’s support for his local healthwatch. In November, the right hon. Member for Makerfield praised his local healthwatch organisations for their impartiality, deep relationsh…”

“Healthwatch organisations shape services as well as report problems. As the Minister pointed out, they do not have a statutory complaint process role but they can alert to systemic problems within the local system. Without Healthwatch, the ICB and county council in Norfolk would have continued to ignore local residents…”

“Finally, my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Manuela Perteghella) notes that the surveys and data of Warwickshire Healthwatch have helped to reveal that her constituency is a dental desert. That problem is now being addressed by the ICB, which is trying to deal with it.”

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“Moving on to Cromer in north Norfolk, my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) got in touch with me to note that in 2023 the Conservative-led county council decided to close the Benjamin Court reablement centre with no proper public consultation. Healthwatch Norfolk stepped in to carry out an extens…”

“I have a list of examples from Lib Dem colleagues from constituencies across the country that show where Healthwatch works well. My hon. Friend the Member for Torbay (Steve Darling) notes that his local healthwatch identified and investigated failures by care providers. After Healthwatch exposed the problems, the provi…”

“I beg to move amendment 78, in clause 58, page 43, line 40, at end insert— “1. (8B) Regulations under subsection (8A) must include provision about the period within which NICE guideline NG206 on myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) must be complied with. 2. (8D) The Secretary of State must publish an annual statement on comp…”

“The amendment was tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Wells and Mendip Hills (Tessa Munt) on behalf of the approximately 1.2 million people in England who live with myalgic encephalomyelitis, because five years after the introduction of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline NG206, little has c…”

“I thank the Minister for her words, particularly on amendment 78. As I said, I will not press the amendment to a vote, but I hope that the Minister will continue to bear in mind that provision for people with ME is extremely patchy and that a number of our constituents are suffering in the long term. I beg to ask leave…”

“I declare an interest as a member of the all-party parliamentary group on patient safety, which is opposed to the changes to HSSIB proposed in the Bill. Over the last couple of weeks, we have been reminded why we need an appropriate safety landscape when things go wrong. We have had the Donna Ockenden review into Notti…”

“I wonder whether the right hon. Gentleman has had the experience that I have had as a constituency MP of very senior clinicians who work in the NHS attending my surgery and explaining that if they have raised concerns within their organisation, they have been encouraged either to leave or to retire. They feel frightene…”

“We heard in evidence that the reason for that variability was a lack of funding. Would the hon. Gentleman support our new clause 78, which tries to deal with the lack of funding and ensure a consistent service from Healthwatch across the country?”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“For the record, I tabled amendments to delete those clauses, so there was consistency of intention.”

“I tabled amendments to delete the clauses that will remove Healthwatch, but they have not been chosen for debate, because we can just vote against those clauses standing part. New clause 78, which would ensure that Healthwatch is funded properly, was tabled alongside amendments to ensure that Healthwatch is retained.”

“I am very grateful to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. My hon. Friend the Member for Winchester has made some general points about Healthwatch and the importance of an independent patient voice; I will not reiterate them, because he made them very well, but I want to speak specifically about local healthwatches a…”

“The hon. Member will know that Healthwatch was introduced almost as a direct consequence of the Francis review of Mid Staffordshire, so that was certainly the intention. I have discussed the variability of healthwatch organisations across the country and the fact that they are not as well funded as was originally inten…”

“I am going to go on and give some examples. Central to the value and success of the Healthwatch network is its local focus and the fact it is centred in communities. Where it has worked well, that has allowed Healthwatch to earn trust and build relationships, especially with harder-to-reach communities, as we have disc…”

“The hon. Lady raises a good point. I do not want to revisit an earlier part of the debate, but it is certainly relevant that where there is not a local authority representative on the ICB and there is not a mayor in place, and the ICB’s area is not coterminous with the local authority boundary, that adds another elemen…”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.”