Caroline Johnson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  Does it concern my hon. Friend that the person who raised the concerns about the trial then recused himself from further involvement in it?

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I would like to move the new clause. We see hospices in huge financial distress at the moment, and we need to get their funding on a more certain footing. New Clause 109 Hospices revenue funding “The Secretary of State must ensure that any funding for hospices is allocated for three-year periods.” This new clause places a duty on the Secretary of State to ensure that funding allocations for hospices is made on a three year basis. — (Dr Caroline Johnson.) Brought up, and read the First time. Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I will take an intervention.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  The Minister said that the plan is being developed with the pace that is needed, but it is not. It was due to have been published already, but it has not been. It was due to have been published, then a later promise was made, and now she is making another promise with an uncertain date. I just do not think it is good enough. A theme of our consideration this afternoon has been all the different things the Government have promised but have failed to deliver.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  Correct.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  The new clause deliberately says that applicants would be prioritised based on merit, and it gives examples of ways in which merit might be judged. I understand what the Minister says about some people getting the job of their choice, but the people who do not have no control over the process, and no ability to influence it through their own hard work and effort. That is fundamentally wrong in principle. Although I recognise that the current method was brought in as a result of consultation, I feel confident that the same consultation, done now, would reject it. We would like to vote on the new clause. Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. Under the Government’s preference-informed allocation scheme, when a doctor is applying for a foundation post, they are allocated randomly to a job. They get to express a preference, but there is no work they can do to make them more likely to get where they want to be; there are no certificates they can earn, there is no research they can do, and there are no exam results they can get that would improve their chances. That is fundamentally wrong. The Government say that many people get their first choice, which is true. That is great for them, but it is not great for the people who do not get their choice and have no control over their future. We had a very good debate on this subject, attended by many people in this room, in January, and there was widespread agreement on both sides of the House that it was the wrong thing to do. The Minister said at the time that the Government would keep the system under review. Has the Minister reviewed the system? Does she believe that we should prioritise medical graduates with the most relevant qualifications, clinical experience and skills? Does she think that doctors should have the opportunity to have control over where in the country they work and what jobs they do? Should doctors be able to work harder, aim for better results or do additional activities in order to get themselves the job they want, or does she think it should all be done by a computer? I would be interested to hear the Minister’s thoughts. The new clause makes clear our position that meritocracy should prevail and people should be rewarded for the work they do and the results they get, and that we should be hiring the best clinicians who apply for the jobs.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  For generations, it has not needed to be the law: doctors did not go on strike, because they recognised what would happen to patients if they did. Now that we know that doctors will go on strike, the landscape has changed. Consultants—I should say that I am an NHS consultant—have just balloted to go on strike, which will be fundamentally unsafe. The Government have a duty to keep people safe; first and foremost, that is the Government’s job. Doctors going on strike is fundamentally unsafe and should not happen. I agree with the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket that morally it should not need to be the law, but I think the evidence suggests that it does. New clause 82 would make it “an offence for medical practitioners to undertake strike action”, and would provide for the Secretary of State to repeal any necessary clauses of other employment regulations in order to do so. New clause 81 concerns the minimum service levels provided across the NHS. There are staff who provide an important and valuable service but whose jobs may not be clinical; for example, services may be able to run with slightly fewer porters if they want to go on strike. I hope that no member of NHS staff would want to go on strike. I hope they would want to make sure that patients were getting care, and I hope they would recognise that, in a universal service, they are essentially causing harm to the patients around them, who are their friends, their neighbours, the people who live on their street and the people who would look after them. However, the evidence suggests that that is happening, so I am afraid that these new clauses are necessary. We need to put a minimum number of staff in place to support the doctors, and doctors should be at work to make sure that patients are safe.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I am very happy to take an intervention.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. Advice and guidance services were an improvement. Previously, if a general practitioner wanted to refer someone to hospital, a consultant would triage the referral. Sometimes, the referral was not needed, so a message would be written to the GP saying, “I wonder if you’ve tried this” or “Could you give more information, please?” Improving that process was the advice and guidance service, which in many ways is beneficial. I am, however, concerned by the suggestion earlier in the year that advice and guidance will become a compulsory feature, and that only after advice and guidance has been received will there be potential for referral. Instead of a GP being able to refer to a consultant and a consultant being able to accept that referral, advice and guidance will have to be sought first. That will cause a delay in patient pathways and flow. It may mean that the date on which the person is added to the waiting list for an appointment is a couple of days later. That may slow things down and improve the figures, but I cannot see any clinical benefit from mandating it. There is also a concern that there would be what is called a diversion rate of at least 25% by March 2027 for at least 10 high-volume specialties. I am concerned about that. If someone gets to the point of being given a hospital appointment, that is because the clinician who saw them in primary care used their clinical judgment to decide that the patient needed that appointment, and the consultant triaging the referral used their clinical judgment to decide that the patient needed to be seen.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I am not aware of any clinical trial that has provided potentially extremely harmful medication to children who have a self-limiting issue and who are physically healthy, to change their physically healthy bodies by changing puberty or anything else to a physiologically abnormal state from a physiologically normal one. These are children going through normal, physically healthy puberty. Their normal puberty is being stopped. I think the trial is badly designed, and I wish to press the new clause to a vote. Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  There are fewer than 100 students who are British citizens studying in Malta this year. Many of them have struggled to get a role on the foundation scheme. The Government have created a situation in which a British student doing a British degree at a British university with an overseas campus is put into the foundation scheme behind a foreign student studying here, or indeed in the same prioritisation group as a foreign student studying at a foreign university. That cannot be right, so I would like to push the new clause to a vote. Question put , That the clause be read a Second time.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  New clause 87 would amend the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 so that British citizens who have studied at international branch campuses of UK higher education institutions can be prioritised for foundation programme training places. Prioritising British students in the selection process would have been the right thing for the Government to do, but way the Medical Training Act has been drafted places British students who studied at international branch campuses of British universities at a disadvantage. On Second Reading of the Act, a Member spoke of a constituent who had been given “a formal guarantee that he would be at no disadvantage if he chose to study at the Malta campus.” —[ Official Report , 27 January 2026; Vol. 779, c. 801.] Another Member said that he had “representations from all quarters, both in the UK and in Malta, about the impact on Malta of this.” —[ Official Report , 27 January 2026; Vol. 779, c. 802.] My right hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) asked about “British students who for various reasons train at, for example, St George’s in Cyprus or St George’s in Grenada and who then want to come back and practise in our national health service”. —[ Official Report , 27 January 2026; Vol. 779, c. 803.] The hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Danny Beales) spoke of a constituent who was schooled and grew up here and was “given a guarantee by the university that she would face no disadvantage compared with students on the London campus.” —[ Official Report , 27 January 2026; Vol. 779, c. 842.] These concerns are shared across the House. Young British people who have trained at a British or London-based university and gone to study in Malta, perhaps in an adventurous spirit—it is a beautiful place to go—and have graduated with a British degree have found themselves at the back of the queue, unable, round after round, to get jobs in the foundation programme in their home country. That will not just be the case for students who are due to start their degree; it is the case for students who have just completed their degree. They have done the five years of training, they have worked really hard and they have passed their exams, but suddenly they cannot get a job on the foundation scheme in their home country to complete their full registration with the General Medical Council. Our new clause would ensure that British citizens who studied at international branch campuses of UK higher education institutions can be prioritised. I invite Members to do right by our constituents and the NHS and to vote for it.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  Yes, I accept that it has taken too long, and that is the point. I assume that it must be ready to go, because the Minister has been working on having it published by the end of June, and we are in the middle of July. The Minister can inform us whether that is the case. We have reached a point where the Government keep saying “later”, “soon”, “imminent”, “in due course” and “working at pace”, but that is not helping to get this done. The new clause would force the Government to get on with it. That is what I think needs to be done, and that is why I will press it to a vote.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  If the hon. Lady is correct, she will not be perturbed by the new clause, which simply says that general practitioners must be able to directly refer patients to consultants when clinical need requires it. I would like to press the new clause to a vote. Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion. Clause, by leave, withdrawn. New Clause 52 Access to dental provision: Dental deserts “(1) Within six months beginning on the day on which this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must establish a scheme to improve access to dental provision (‘the Scheme’). (2) The purpose of the scheme is to end dental deserts. (3) A dental desert is defined as any local authority area with fewer than ten active dental practices per 100,000 people. (4) The scheme must make provision to support integrated care boards to— (a) guarantee emergency access to an NHS dentist, (b) provide free dental checks up for— (i) children, (ii) mothers within one year of having given birth, (iii) pregnant women, and (iv) low-income households, and (c) guarantee dental appointments for persons commencing— (i) surgery, (ii) chemotherapy, or (iii) transplant procedures. (5) The Secretary of State must, before publishing the scheme, issue a reformed dental contract. (6) The Secretary of State must, within six months of the establishment of the scheme, publish a dental workforce plan to support delivery of the scheme.”— (Helen Morgan .) This new clause would establish a scheme to support integrated care boards to end dental deserts. Brought up, and read the First time. Q uestion put, That the clause be read a Second time.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I understand the Minister’s interest in the balance between trade unions and patient safety. My personal view is that we should focus on patient safety. I am aware—anecdotally, to be fair—of examples of individual clinicians who were asked during previous strikes to come off the picket line to help and did not. I am also aware of many instances in which clinicians did, so it works both ways, but ultimately the Government’s job is to protect patients and put patient safety first. I will therefore press the new clauses to a vote. Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I rise to discuss new clause 104, which stands in my name. The Labour Government’s general election manifesto made a bold pledge: “Never again will women’s health be neglected.” The Government have been in power for two years, and I am not convinced that they are doing all they can for women’s health. The latest NHS statistics show that waiting lists are rising under this Government. The trend is particularly acute for gynaecology services. More women are awaiting admission to hospital for gynaecology treatment or procedures than in July 2024. How does that square with the Government’s ambition to improve and prioritise women’s health? We talked this morning about fracture liaison services, which is another treatment that would predominantly have benefited women if the Government had kept their promise and rolled it out as they said they would. The previous Conservative Government commissioned the Hughes report. The Labour Government have repeatedly pledged to address the issue at the earliest opportunity, but when will the Minister respond to the women who have been waiting so long? The Government published their renewed women’s health strategy in April, but where are the timelines, steps and milestones to deliver and implement improvements to women’s health? Where is the plan to reduce gynaecology waiting lists? Where is the timetable for delivering on long-acting reversible contraceptives, for example? I have no doubt that the Minister has a desire to improve outcomes for women and improve their care, but I am concerned about the actual delivery, which has been a theme throughout the day. I tabled new clause 104 because this Labour Government have made promises to women that they need to keep, and that they need a plan for how they will keep them. My new clause would ensure that they have a plan to deliver, rather than just making promises in glossy brochures.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I wish to press new clause 83 to a vote. Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  A couple of points. Does the Minister recognise that the cancel culture associated with much of the work in this area, and in looking after those vulnerable groups of children, means that the tendency among those who get involved is to have a particular view? How has she worked to ensure no bias among those on the committee involved in producing the trial? Does she recognise that by choosing a cohort of children—226 of them—to do this experiment on, she is selecting a group of children of whom most will have a gender incongruence that will get better by itself? There are two effects of that. First, these children will have unnecessary treatment. Secondly, even if there were in theory a benefit to the small group of children who would have persisted in a trans identity, that would affect the reliability of the results; therefore, whatever the results, people would think them unreliable.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 16 Jul 2026 · Health Bill (Seventeenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. The new clause is a probing amendment. The aim is to press the Government to explain why the Bill does not include provisions to implement statutory regulation of NHS management, as they had said they would, and to commit to a timetable for bringing the regulations they promised into force. I am an NHS consultant paediatrician and am regulated as such by the General Medical Council. The GMC regulates doctors, the Nursing and Midwifery Council regulates nurses and midwives, and different bodies represent other professionals in the health service—but not managers. The Government said that there would be such a register. I know that there are many excellent managers—the Minister was one—but as in every profession, bad apples need to be identified and managed appropriately. The Times has reported that senior bosses at Leeds teaching hospital NHS trust asked consultants and nurses to work in ways that lie outside the national service recommendations. We have also heard from Donna Ockenden that of the 66 former senior staff members in Nottingham she approached, only 35 agreed to be interviewed. The former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the right hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting), has said that he finds it “unconscionable that people who worked for the NHS would deny them”— the families— “an honest account of what went wrong”. Establishing a register would be the first step in ensuring that bad apples can be held to account. Those who bully staff, cover up problems, endanger patients or misappropriate funds should not be allowed to fail upwards. The NHS benefits from having outside experience, including from the private sector and the armed forces, so I am looking not for full occupational licensing, but simply for a register of those who are not suitable to be appointed. We should not see managers going from one trust to another and another after they fail at the first. I should finish by declaring that I worked at Nottingham University hospitals NHS trust during late 2012 and early 2013.