NHS 10-Year Plan

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Wednesday 9th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)]

My Lords, from these Benches, we too send best wishes to the noble Baroness, Lady Merron.

The stress on prevention in this plan is welcome, but it does not adequately address the commercial determinants of ill health. On every high street there is alcohol for sale which does not have minimum unit pricing, and that is not coming in. There are vape shops and betting shops, and poor quality ultra-processed food is the food available for purchase. Putting the onus on the individual under the name of choice is unfair when they do not have anything reasonable to choose from that they can afford. I really push the Government to look at these broader commercial determinants of ill health.

I was disappointed that palliative care was mentioned only once, because the Commission on Palliative and End-of-Life Care has shown that good care is less costly than poor care. It can avoid inappropriate admissions to hospital and support people to live well. When at peace emotionally and physically comfortable, they can gently let go of life and die gently in the place of their choice, which is usually their home. But for care at home, they need support 24/7. My concern has been that the plan does not really emphasise that there are times at nights and weekends when AI and technology are not the answer. You need a person who is available to come out and provide help and support to someone in the home. I hope that in the neighbourhoods, the 24/7 need will be addressed and that there will not be an excessive reliance on AI, thinking that it will be the answer to everything. I look forward to hearing the response.

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her questions and for her best wishes to my noble friend Lady Merron—I am sure that she will receive them. I thank her for bringing up the commercial determinants of health, which are critical. I reassure her that, outside of the health scenario, an enormous amount of work is happening. The NHS is going to work much more closely with local government—which has responsibility for trading standards, for example—and other local public services. We have certain things in place. Come the autumn, we will be bringing back the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, for example, with its huge opportunity to create a smoke-free generation. We are restricting junk food advertising targeted at children, banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to the under-16s, and we will be the first country in the world to introduce mandatory health food sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector.

The noble Baroness raised a few questions. I have to be brief to give other people the opportunity to come in, but palliative care is a real priority moving forward. I will leave it there, but I am happy to pick up anything that I have missed with her outside the House.