Speeches by Beales.

“I thank the Minister for his condolences and for his strong condemnation of this horrific terror attack. In recent days, I have been contacted by hundreds of families in my constituency who have been horrified by these events. It is clear that the awful terror attack in Kashmir has sent shockwaves through the British I…”

“We need to think not just about buildings, but about digital infrastructure and investment in a whole range of capital investment needs for the NHS for it to be a modern, fit-for-purpose service. It sounds like the measures the hon. Gentleman suggests are sensible. There is a strong desire in the emerging 10-year plan …”

“I am glad that we are taking the time today to discuss the immensely important issue of the state of our NHS hospitals. Nowhere is it more obvious that our NHS has been broken over the past 14 years than in our crumbling NHS estate. Our NHS has been starved of capital funding, and the backlog maintenance bill now stand…”

“Those clinical leaders at a national organisation presumably must drive clinical leadership.”

“Lastly, NHS England is a source of significant clinical leadership and clinical expertise. It hosts specialist clinical networks of various sorts and has national clinical directors. What is the future of those? Are they likely to shift to the Department? Are you seeing more of a local leadership model rather than nati…”

“Presumably, on that basis, we will not see any new bodies established nationally. You said there is a desire to reduce them, so, on that basis, we will not see any new national bodies created?”

“I think we have heard that there is a general view that they should be looked at and assessed by case.”

“Do you envisage other, broader changes to the national landscape? We are talking about NHS England and functions moving to the Department of Health, but obviously there are other national bodies and infrastructure—NHS Property, the CQC, the MHRA; the list of acronyms goes on longer than your arm. As well as changes int…”

“That is clear, thank you. In terms of the functions that are currently performed by NHS England that could be transferred to the Department, in your earlier answer you talked about these enablers of the whole system that are crucial at a national level, I inferred from that: procurement, data and AI, digital infrastruc…”

“In your own comments, you talked of the importance of having one HQ for health. Could you not argue that having one HQ for Health and Social Care locally and nationally is an important step forward in reducing overlap and regulation? Is this Bill an opportunity to do that?”

“There has been discussion of a national care service, there is—”

“I note the desire to resist reorganisation of the NHS, but we kind of are undergoing a major reorganisation of the NHS. Having opened the box of NHS reform, is now not an opportunity to finally grasp some of the nettles that have not been grasped? Obviously, there is Baroness Casey’s review of social care taking place.…”

“Are there issues that you—”

“Diplomatically done. We know that that will be brought in legislation, but what other aspects of change to the system are you considering being part of that legislation, as well as formally abolishing NHS England?”

“Would you like to see it in the next King’s speech?”

“Thank you very much, Secretary of State, for your answers so far. In your letter to the Committee previously, you outlined the need for legislation primarily to formally abolish NHS England, which was established by legislation. I want to press you a bit more on the timing of possible legislation. Are we likely to see …”

“Thank you, Secretary of State. Lastly, the shift of this clinical knowledge, expertise and capacity is obviously evolving, but how will we ensure, in this time of change and flux for expertise and capacity, that work currently under way on specialist areas—the National Cancer Plan, the HIV Action Plan and other areas—i…”

“In terms of highly specialised services, NHS England has traditionally taken a lead. There has been some movement back towards a local level, but many patients with highly specialised conditions sometimes worry that local leadership ultimately means local variation. If your ICB do not prioritise your specialised condit…”

“That is really helpful. Thank you. Andrew and Tim, do you have anything to add? That was quite a comprehensive response about the things needed to support that cultural shift. Is there anything further that you think is needed to enable it?”

“You are telling us what you are already doing. Do you think that what you are already doing is enough to enable the cultural shift, or do you think more is needed? You are telling us what has happened.”