Speeches by Smyth.

“Phlebotomists are paid on an “Agenda for Change” pay scale, which is underpinned by the job evaluation scheme. It is something the Secretary of State and I discussed with the trade union Unison last week; I should declare that I am a member of Unison. It is working closely with the trust in question, but I am happy to …”

“The business case for the rebuild of the health centre has been submitted to NHS England for review, and NHS Property Services will in parallel be asked to approve the capital funding. Subject to those approvals, a new health centre will be fully completed in 2027.”

“The provision of car parking remains an issue for trusts. I recognise the stress caused by trying to get patients to hospital, particularly if they have mobility problems. I commend the many hospitals across the country that have really good active travel plans and are working with their local communities to resolve so…”

“As the hon. Gentleman knows, the discussions about any advanced works arising from the new hospital programme are ongoing. I am very happy for the Department to continue to discuss with the trust how future investment can best meet the needs of the future.”

“The Department has published guidance that trusts are expected to follow to manage the provision of car-parking spaces for patients, hospital users and staff. Responsibility for hospital car parks lies with each individual trust, and provision must be managed alongside the existing policy, providing free parking for th…”

“My hon. Friend outlines a horrific case in her constituency, where she has been a fantastic campaigner since last year. Information sharing between 111 and 999 already exists in many places. We want standards in place to ensure that that happens safely across the country. That is a key part of what we are trying to do …”

“The hon. Gentleman highlights the serious problem of staff operating in an analogue age in the NHS, which we keenly highlighted in the 10-year plan. We want to move the system into a more digital age. We would be very happy to hear more about the scheme that he outlines and the great work that staff are doing to get ov…”

“I commend my hon. Friend, and our hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Leigh Ingham), for their diligent work with their trust and local system. Progress is being made on that EPR, which will have huge benefits. I will ensure that he has a clear outline of progress to the final planned operating of the go-live date for…”

“My hon. Friend will know that trusts have responsibility for securing—using the approved procurement framework—an appropriate electronic patient record system that delivers all the core capabilities set out in the digital capabilities framework. Since 2022, £1.9 billion has been invested in digital transformation, incl…”

“The hon. Lady has raised a really important issue. She highlights the work that the Secretary of State is putting in place to address these issues and finally bring all that together to produce a plan that will assure people, and we are working at pace to ensure that those recommendations are implemented.”

“The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point about the important need to share the learning across the United Kingdom, and I will make sure that we do indeed make efforts to do that.”

“I recognise my hon. Friend’s great work in this place to support women on this issue. We recognise that newly qualified midwives are experiencing challenges in gaining that first role. That is partly due to the record number of midwives in post and to better retention rates. NHS England is working with employers, unive…”

“The 10-year health plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including for women during the perinatal period. During the year to April 2025, a record 64,805 women accessed maternal mental health services or specialist community perinatal mental health services, such as those at th…”

“The hon. Gentleman highlights yet another mess that we inherited due to his party’s lack of proper engagement with the workforce over the last decade to resolve the disincentives to making the system work more effectively. Making the system work more efficiently and more effectively is a key part of our 10-year plan an…”

“We are working very closely to ensure that resident doctors do not go on strike. We are very clear that we cannot negotiate on pay this year, but we will work with everybody to improve conditions. Some of those conditions are shocking, and we want to work constructively with them to avoid disruptive strike action.”

“I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on, yet again, shoehorning in a reference to his local hospital, for which he does a great job. People are determined to work in and support the national health service. We take remedying confidence in pensions seriously. I will not give further deadlines before we hear from the assess…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for that really constructive suggestion. In my discussions with the NHSBSA, the reviewer and officials at the Department, I have raised similar issues. I am a member of the NHS pension scheme and the parliamentary pension scheme. I tell my young people that this is a really valuable asset, and I e…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for those questions. She highlights a number of important issues regarding the complexity for the NHS Business Services Authority of dealing with this. There is a large number of high earners in this scheme. With regard to tax liabilities, that makes the system complex, as does the movement of doc…”

“I thank my hon. Friend, who is a superb advocate for his constituents. I met him again yesterday as he advocated for services in his constituency—that is the focus of Labour Members. He is absolutely right; as I said in my statement, this is part of the overall mess that we inherited from the Conservatives. As I said i…”

“As I outlined in my initial response and further to the written ministerial statement, we have asked for an independent review of the process and will report back as soon as possible with a realistic deadline for that. With regard to the strikes, we will continue to be open to discussing the avoidance of those strikes,…”