Spending Review: Health and Social Care

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Thursday 12th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Karin Smyth]

We are committed to ensuring that those RAAC hospitals are sorted and fit for purpose, and I was able to visit Airedale myself recently. We are asking people on the ground to do a really difficult job, keeping hospitals going and serving patients while remedying the problem of RAAC. I do not have in front of me the exact timescale for the hon. Gentleman’s hospital, but I encourage it to work very closely with the team at the Department of Health, which I think is working really well. As long as a clear timetable has been put forward, I will ensure that the hon. Gentleman gets a response to his question.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for her statement. The NHS is the No. 1 issue for my constituents, and I know that they will welcome the investment in the spending review. My constituency is a rural area, and one thing people often raise with me is ambulance waiting times, which I am pleased to report have improved in every category over the past year. Can the Minister explain how the spending review will ensure continued improvements in ambulance waiting times, supporting my constituents to get emergency care when they need it?

[Karin Smyth]

My hon. Friend is right to raise the issue of ambulances. We ensured that they were a key part of our urgent and emergency care plan, which was issued the week before last, I think—I cannot remember the exact date. We recognise how crucial that issue is, and how much more can be done by ambulances by the roadside. I was privileged to go out with the South Western ambulance service recently; it is so impressive to spend time on the frontline with people who are dealing with whatever comes at them. We know that they can do more, including remotely. We are very keen to ensure that ambulances do not spend time outside hospitals; that is why we have introduced a 45-minute turnaround time through the release to rescue scheme, which has worked very successfully in many parts of the country. We are keen to see that scheme rolled out across the country, so that we do not have ambulances queuing outside of hospitals with people, but put them back on the road where they need to be.