Sudden Cardiac Death in Young People

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Monday 15th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

I thank the Speaker’s Office for finding time for this important Adjournment debate, and my hon. Friend the Minister for being in her place to hear it. I look forward to her response. I know that many Members feel passionate about this issue and look forward to taking as many interventions as I can.

There have been plenty of high-profile examples of sudden cardiac arrest in young people, but I want to speak about a case brought to my attention by one of my constituents, Maureen, who was the aunt of Clarissa Nicholls. Clarissa was studying French and Italian at the University of Cambridge. She was a keen runner and hockey player. Just days before her 21st birthday in May 2023, she collapsed and died while hiking in France with friends. It was later found that she had an undiagnosed life-threatening condition: arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. In June 2024, Clarissa was posthumously awarded a first-class honours degree from the University of Cambridge.

I have had the honour of meeting Clarissa’s mum Hilary, both privately and at a recent event in Westminster held by the Cardiac Risk in the Young campaign. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack) for organising that event. Hilary said:

“Despite a journey cut tragically short we want to celebrate her achievements alongside her cohort, as it should have been. We know that we would have been very proud of her today and we remain proud of her dedication, determination and resilience as she set out to be the very best she could be.”

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. I have also met Hilary, Clarissa’s mum, and heard about her death and the fact that a simple electrocardiogram test can save lives. It is chilling to think that my daughters could face this. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is shocking that exercise can triple the risk of sudden cardiac death, but 80% of cases show no symptoms at all? The Government could act now to issue clear guidance, as we have done on concussion, and encourage and enable more young people to have the simple test that could save so many lives.

[Chris Vince]

I do agree with my hon. Friend. Clarissa was a young girl who was very involved in sport. There is no reason why young people with these conditions cannot continue to take part in sport, as long as they are aware of their condition and able to take the necessary precautions.

Hilary said that her daughter

“put everything into her studies, the friends she made here and the staff that supported her along the way including while she was on her year abroad. We are grateful for the happy times she clearly took away with her to the next life.”

When I applied for and secured this Adjournment debate, what really struck me was the number of people who came up to me and shared their personal experiences. In fact, only this morning, two Doorkeepers shared their experiences of this condition. I pay tribute to one of those Doorkeepers, Kieron, whose son Connor—who was born on 13 January 1994—died in 1995 at only 14 months old. When the post-mortem was conducted, it was found that he died of sudden cardiac death through a thickening of a heart muscle. That was over 30 years ago, but I know from talking to Kieron the huge impact it has had on his life; he will always carry that loss with him. It is important that we recognise how long we have been aware of these issues, and that it is time to talk about what action we can take.

This morning, I was in my constituency of Harlow, talking to one of our headteachers, Vic Goddard, who is the head of the Passmores co-operative learning community. He spoke about a young boy dying of cardiac arrest during his time as a PE teacher, and feeling so strongly that every school he works in should have a defibrillator. Again, having spoken to some of the staff in this place, I want to emphasise the huge difference that access to a defib can make to survival chances.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ashley Dalton]

The hon. Member will know that all vaccines are assessed and are not issued unless they are considered safe. We collect data on conditions and potential impacts right across the medical estate. I have not seen any data that would suggest there is a link to any particular vaccine, but if there is, the data would show us that and it would be considered.

My hon. Friend the Member for Harlow and I stood on a manifesto to tackle the biggest killers, including cardiovascular disease, to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions in England, and to reverse the legacy left to us by the previous Government. Through his work with the CRY campaign and everything he said in the Chamber this evening, it is evident that he is staying true to those promises. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack) for further highlighting the work of CRY. Any MP who campaigns on prevention is pushing at an open door with this Government. We are shifting the focus of our NHS from sickness to prevention. As my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow rightly points out, it is a tragedy when young lives are lost to preventable illness. He and others make a powerful case for a national screening programme, so let me address that point head-on.

I fully support a national screening programme, as long as the experts agree that it would do more good than harm. Our National Screening Committee gives advice based on a range of factors and while balancing the pros and cons of screening population level groups, the committee has previously given evidence that introducing mass screening for sudden cardiac death could cause harm by misdiagnosing some people. For example, receiving a false diagnosis could lead to people being prescribed medication they do not need; people undergoing medical procedures they do not need, such as having an implantable defibrillator fitted; and people living in fear of sudden cardiac death when they are not genuinely at risk. However, the committee is currently reviewing the evidence for sudden cardiac death screening and will open a public consultation in early 2026. We will look carefully at the findings of the consultation and I know that the CRY campaign will make its voice heard.

Several Members discussed defibrillators, and their training and use. NHS England runs training sessions on first aid, CPR and the use of defibrillators both in the community and in schools under the Restart a Heart programme. NHS England has trained over 35,800 adults and children in CPR and defibrillator use in the past 13 years, and 2,134 so far this year. NHS England delivers the sessions via its resuscitation team and via its community first responders, and also runs lifesaving skills workshops for harder to reach communities and ethnically diverse groups. It has trained 407 people in lifesaving skills in that group so far this year.

It is important to remember the care and support that loved ones receive when they lose a loved one to sudden cardiac arrest, or when they find out that a family member has an inherited heart condition. NHS England’s service specification sets out how that care should be provided by specialist teams in a way that is tailored to meet the needs of families.

[Fleur Anderson]

I thank the Minister for giving way and for the good news about looking into the possibility of rolling out screening across the whole country, especially bearing in mind the evidence from Italy, where the good has been shown to outweigh the potential downsides. I look forward to getting involved in that consultation. The amount of training on CPR and the use of defibrillators has been extensive. The choice of song to sing along to, to get the rhythm right, is really important. Will the Minister share with us whether she would use “Stayin’ Alive” or “Pink Pony Club” as her defibrillator singalong song?

[Ashley Dalton]

I think “Stayin’ Alive” is a bit of a sharp one, really, isn’t it? Given that once “Pink Pony Club” is in my head I cannot get rid of it for weeks, I think I will probably opt for that one! My hon. Friend makes a really important point, which is that learning CPR and how to use a defibrillator properly is a crucial life skill. I am really pleased and proud that NHS England is continuing to roll that out in our schools and communities.

NHS England is also keeping under review the specialist service specification for providing care to families, working closely with the Association for Inherited Cardiac Conditions, Cardiomyopathy UK, Heart Valve Voice and the British Heart Foundation. We are also working with the NHS genomics programme to align the service specification with genomics resources. I will talk briefly about our vision of genomics.

We are going through a revolution in medical science that means we can transform the NHS over the coming decade from a service that diagnoses and treats ill health to one that can predict and prevent it. If we can harness the power of life sciences to the health service, we can achieve many of the aims my hon. Friends and others have set out today. Within a decade, every newborn will undergo whole genome sequencing, which assesses future risk of hundreds of diseases, including cardiovascular conditions. Every baby will have their DNA mapped, allowing people to receive tailored healthcare, long before symptoms begin.

Those advances could one day put an end to blanket screening and rudimentary health MOTs. Instead of mass screening, increasingly patients will be offered personalised health checks and targeted medicines far earlier, and adverse drug reactions will be avoided. That will help to transform the NHS from a reactive healthcare system into a proactive one. This ambition will be funded by a £650 million boost to genomics as part of the Government’s life sciences sector plan. We are just scratching the surface of what genomics, gene editing and life sciences can do.

Under this Government, NHS waiting lists are falling, ambulances are arriving faster, and we are lifting hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty. Our 10-year plan is building on the founding principle of the NHS so that it provides healthcare free at the point of risk, not just at the point of need, and now we are shifting the focus of our NHS from sickness to prevention. Wherever we can go further on prevention, we will.

I have heard the case made by my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow this evening. He is a powerful advocate for those who have lost loved ones to sudden cardiac death, and we are listening to him and others who are pushing us to go further. I shall update him and, of course, the House next year, following the review of evidence and the public consultation.

Question put and agreed to.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Wednesday 19th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Ashley Dalton]

I will come later in my remarks to the training that is being rolled out as part of the delivery plan.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis—better known as ME—and chronic fatigue syndrome, which I will refer to from now on as ME/CFS, is a condition that affects an estimated 390,000 people in the UK. Its symptoms can be profoundly debilitating, impacting every aspect of daily life, from work and education to family and social life. For those with severe or very severe ME/CFS, even basic tasks such as sitting up, eating or speaking can become impossible. We recognise the devastating impact this condition has on individuals and families. For too long, people with ME/CFS have faced stigma, misunderstanding, disbelief and inconsistent care.

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

The Minister is a passionate advocate for women’s health. Does she agree that the reason for this disease often being overlooked and for the stigma she has talked about is that women are five times more likely than men to get it? Will she support clear funding, accountability and deadlines within the welcome plan that has been delivered, and a service for very severe ME for all ICBs?

[Ashley Dalton]

I recognise my hon. Friend’s points, and I will cover some of them in my remarks. She will be aware that the women’s health strategy is currently being refreshed, so we hope to dovetail wherever possible.

I want to set out the steps that this Government are taking to change the misunderstanding, stigma and inconsistent care that patients have experienced. Through our ME/CFS final delivery plan, we will deliver better care, boost research and ensure that every person living with ME/CFS is treated with dignity and compassion.

First, let us acknowledge the reality. ME/CFS is a complex multi-system condition. Its fluctuating nature makes diagnosis and management challenging. Historically, services have been extremely varied, and in some cases patients have felt dismissed or rejected by the healthcare system. That is unacceptable. We have heard those concerns loud and clear through our extensive consultation on the interim delivery plan and through ongoing engagement with patients, carers, clinicians, researchers and charities. Last year’s prevention of future deaths report following the tragic death of Maeve Boothby O’Neill further highlighted the urgent need for reform, pointing to a lack of specialist beds and inadequate training for clinicians. We cannot and will not allow such failings to continue.

In July, we published the ME/CFS final delivery plan, marking a significant milestone in our commitment to improving lives. The plan is built around three core themes: boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and enhancing care and support. With a clear commitment to ensure that people with ME/CFS can live as independently as possible and see their overall quality of life enhanced, that plan will help us to take an important step towards achieving that, but we acknowledge that there is more to do. We will continue to build on the foundation of those actions well beyond the publication of the plan. It is the springboard—the beginning, not the end.

Although the final delivery plan does not include every suggestion received through the consultation responses or through the task and finish group, it does not mean that those proposals will not be considered in the future, subject to resource and funding. We look forward to continuing those conversations.

Baby Loss

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Monday 13th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

I welcome this important debate, and I thank my hon. Friends the Members for Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh) and for Rossendale and Darwen (Andy MacNae), and the right hon. Member for Godalming and Ash (Sir Jeremy Hunt), for bringing to the House, during Baby Loss Awareness Week, this debate on a grief that touches thousands, who often grieve in silence.

I will use this debate to call for a UK-wide perinatal death reduction programme, and will talk about foetal growth restriction monitoring. I am really glad that the Secretary of State for Health is in the Chamber; that shows his commitment. This debate is well timed to inform the rapid review of maternity and neonatal safety in England.

For many, baby loss is invisible and misunderstood. This week breaks that silence, honours lives cut short and stands with families who carry their babies’ memory every day. Like other Members, I pay tribute to charities like Sands, Tommy’s and the Miscarriage Association. Their work must be supported and recognised.

I speak with a heavy heart to share the story of Maia Devlin Corfield, a beautiful baby girl who should be here today. Her parents Sherena and Jack came to my advice surgery to tell me about Maia’s stillbirth at Kingston hospital. Though Sherena’s pregnancy was low risk, Maia showed signs of growth restriction. Staff reassured Sherena but failed to act. Maia was born still on 29 November 2024. The autopsy showed she was healthy, but died due to a placental condition that halted her growth and breathing.

Babies with growth issues like Maia are eight times more likely to die, and it was Kingston’s foetal growth monitoring system that failed her. It diverged from national standards and, despite early warnings, many unsafe practices like that remain. The Government’s own maternity and neonatal safety investigation into Maia’s death made nine recommendations, yet risks still persist and are not listened to. Sherena and Jack often feel that they are not being listened to, but bereaved parents need to be heard because by listening to them, we can identify those areas that need to change. It is that culture and the regulation and standards that all need to work together to see real change.

Freedom of information requests by Sherena and Jack have revealed that at least 27 trusts cannot properly identify babies with growth issues. The issue is that many hospitals use a global growth monitoring system that under-detects small babies in high-income countries like the UK because it uses data from across the world. Safer UK-developed systems based on NHS data do exist and are used by many units, but Maia was failed by outdated growth charts still in use at Kingston and St George’s and at many other hospitals. A key part of the system is those growth charts. Donald Peebles, NHS England’s clinical director for maternity, has confirmed that a national safety alert will soon advise trusts to stop using these intergrowth charts, but is there a system to track which hospitals still use them, and how can we update foetal growth monitoring systems urgently?

I have also talked to the chief nurse for the South West London integrated care board, who highlighted issues of midwife retention and recruitment and, in particular, maternity triage, which needs reform with a universal standard that would ensure consistency of safety and access—those early warning systems that failed Maia and are failing others. Just as we have a mental health investment standard, we should consider a similar maternity services standard as well.

I turn to the demands for change. The “Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle” published by NHS England in June 2023 outlines three key elements for foetal growth monitoring, but they are not consistently adopted and then monitored to ensure that they are implemented. There are too few of those deaths in each trust to rely on the trust to take the action; it has to be done at a national level. In fact, it has to be done across every nation—Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England—otherwise there will be inconsistencies as there already are between the different nations. Will the Minister work with counterparts across the UK to ensure that no nation falls behind? Will the Minister meet Sherena and Jack to discuss how to improve maternity care and look at the findings they have? We owe it to Maia. We owe it to every family shattered by preventable baby loss to demand accountability, enforce standards and ensure that no parent is ever told that everything is fine when it is not.

Non-surgical Aesthetic and Cosmetic Treatments

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Thursday 11th September 2025 Westminster Hall

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship today, Sir Desmond. I welcome this debate and congratulate the hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Bradley Thomas) on securing it. I agree with much of what he said, especially the issues about negative body image and the harm being done. I welcome the Government action that was announced recently. The announcement on 5 August of the forthcoming consultation and crackdown on unsafe cosmetic procedures is very welcome. The last Government did not do enough in this area, despite my pushing on one particular area of it, so I am glad that this Government are taking action. I look forward to hearing more about those actions from the Minister.

I am here because in 2022 my constituent, Jan Spivey, came to my surgery with a lot to say. She was one of those surgery appointments where someone bursts into the room. She had so much to say that I had to encourage her to take a moment to sit down. She had been campaigning for a very long time on the Poly Implant Prothèse breast implant scandal, something that I have been raising ever since on behalf of Jan, who has been so affected by this personally, and on behalf of all the women across the UK. Up to 47,000 women have been affected by the scandal. It has really opened up to me the dreadful issues of surgical and non-surgical cosmetic treatments that need to be addressed. I welcome the comments from the hon. Member for Bromsgrove about how this is about cosmetic and non-cosmetic surgery. If we do not tackle one and get the regulation right for one side of it, we will not get it right for both sides, and they are really important.

The company Poly Implant Prothèse, or PIP, was founded in France. It began distributing breast implants made from non-medical silicone, and it was later found that what had been put into the breast implants was basically mattress filler. The implants were far more likely to rupture and lead to long-term health conditions: they were found to have a 500% higher risk of rupturing or leaking and a direct link to a rare form of cancer.

In 2010, PIP pre-emptively liquidated, but between 2001 and 2010, 400,000 people globally and 47,000 people in the UK received PIP breast implants. Many of those in the UK probably received them through implant surgery in another country. In 2011, following the death of a woman from the rare cancer, the French Government recommended that 30,000 women in France seek the removal of their breast implants, and removals were carried out. A criminal trial was held, and the founder of PIP was sent to prison for four years.

In 2022, my constituent Jan came to talk to me about the health issues that she had faced as a result of these implants. She said that doctors were not listening to her. That is a pattern for both non-cosmetic and cosmetic treatments: going to the doctor, being told, “You’re an older woman; it’s menopause”—for younger women it might be ME or something else—and being written off. That is why we are discussing this matter today: for a long time women with these issues have not been listened to.

There is an accountability gap. Many of the private healthcare providers that implanted those breast implants declared themselves bankrupt but then restarted, in the same premises under a similar name. There is also a data gap, because there is no good register of who received these implants. That is also the case with many other non-cosmetic treatments. Who is receiving these treatments and who is doing them? We need to know.

In 2023, I secured a debate in the House to discuss this matter, but I felt that it was pushed aside by the responding Minister. The Minister agreed to produce implant cards with more information about the risks of having an implant put in, but did not agree to tell all the affected women what might be happening in their own bodies and why they were experiencing so many health issues—that it might be because of breast implants—or to remove them and solve the issue.

The PIP scandal is not an isolated event; it is part of a broader, systemic failure in the regulation of medical devices. Both the UK and global systems have long-standing structural weaknesses that create recurring cycles. That is why I am glad that this debate has been secured and the matter brought to the attention of the Minister. There is inadequate pre-market oversight, excessive commercial secrecy, under-researched women’s health impacts, regulatory capture, financial conflicts and poor post-market surveillance. Who are the women affected? Where are they? What is happening to them? Patient compensation mechanisms are weak, and as I have said, women are routinely not taken seriously when they raise these issues.

The key asks from the PIP campaigners are for the Minister to work with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which has absolutely failed them in this instance, and the NHS to recognise and publicise the risks associated with PIP breast implants. If there is a link between breast implants and health issues, the data should be easy to find. The Minister should urge the NHS to collect data to establish how many people have received these implants and how many have had them removed, and to proactively contact everyone affected through their GPs to give them advice. The Government should also conduct a review into the risks associated with PIP breast implants.

I welcome the fact that the Women and Equalities Committee has begun an inquiry into this matter. I hope that the Minister will look closely at the outcomes of that inquiry—I am sure she will. I would welcome the Minister meeting me and PIP campaigners—I am sure that she will find Jan as inspiring and informative as I have—to discuss what actions can be taken to right this injustice and improve the health of thousands of women.

World ME Day

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Wednesday 1st May 2024 Westminster Hall

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain, and to be speaking at this important time, ahead of World ME Day on 12 May. I congratulate and thank the right hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Sir Sajid Javid) for securing the debate and for continuing to champion the cause, which is so needed. I also thank Action for ME for its research and campaigning, and for providing visibility for so many people who have ME who are bedbound and housebound, and cannot speak for themselves. That is why I have been championing this condition, because so many of my constituents have been in touch with me.

To be honest, when I was pregnant, I had very severe morning sickness. It was not morning sickness: it meant that I was bedbound for many months. I got an inkling, I think, of what is suffered by people who have ME. However, they suffer for so long with such little hope because, as the right hon. Member said, there is no treatment and no cure. To raise those issues, and to talk about the research and treatment that are needed, and the understanding that is needed in workplaces, schools and the healthcare system, is important. This debate will mark a huge step forward for that.

ME is a chronic illness that affects multiple body systems and leaves those suffering unable to take part in everyday activities. In the UK, we know that at least 250,00 people suffer from ME. However, that is an outdated statistic that has not been updated for over a decade. The real figure is likely to be far higher. An estimated 1.3 million people live with ME or ME-like symptoms, and 50% of people with long covid have symptoms that mirror ME. One in four of those is housebound. Women are five times more likely to develop ME, and to have more symptoms from their ME, than men. I think that might be at the heart of why it has been such an underfunded and neglected disease, because it is predominantly women who are suffering more than men.

People with ME suffer disproportionately high levels of stigma and lack of understanding compared with other major chronic illnesses. That ignorance makes it more of a challenge to address and treat, and they suffer misunderstandings in education, work and healthcare. Many constituents have shared such stories with me. They have told me stories about personal independence payment assessments as well, which do not meet the needs of a fluctuating condition, and do not take account of the condition in the timings and the way that people are assessed, leading to them receiving less support from the state.

Over the last 10 years, only £8.05 million has been spent on ME research. If that had been equitable to other illnesses, ME would have received over £10 million or more. Without urgent research, those estimated 250,000 people in the UK living with the illness—and many more—will continue to feel unseen and left behind. That inaction comes at a significant cost. Without research, people living with ME will continue to suffer from a range of debilitating symptoms that push them towards the edge of society. The links with long covid offer hope for research, and should be entirely embraced. I hope that it will be embraced in the plan that we hope will be published soon and that the Minister will tell us about in his speech.

The Government claim that they want to get people back to work, yet they continue to underfund vital investment in ME that could help thousands of people to rejoin the workforce. While the Government continue to dither and delay on that plan, others are stepping up. Action for ME is co-leading a pioneering research project into ME to uncover its genetic causes. It is called DecodeME and is funded by the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research. Understanding how ME affects people is the first step towards developing effective treatments.

Although I and others welcomed the Government’s announcement of the cross-Government ME delivery plan, which was announced by the right hon. Member for Bromsgrove on ME Day in May 2022, the publication of the final plan, as has been outlined, has been delayed again and again, but it is badly needed by sufferers across the country. My constituents are feeling the direct implications of the lack of funding for research. I especially want to highlight the inadequacy of secondary care.

Zoe, one of my constituents, wrote:

“I’m lucky that my GP is great and recognised the symptoms early and found me a good clinic to go to. But ongoing support in secondary care is non-existent. Compared to others, I was…lucky to have what I got, but it was six appointments with a consultant and his team and that’s it. No ongoing care, no ongoing support. Because of the complex nature of the illness I’ve had to be referred to multiple secondary care clinics to manage all my ongoing symptoms. I go to St George’s, Bart’s, Kings, UCL and the Royal Free, at best they’re well meaning, but not well educated about ME, at worst I experience a huge amount of medical gas lighting or complete indifference, disbelief or disinterest in the ME. (I had such a poor experience with secondary care this week that the stress of dealing with the doctor/clinic has further exacerbated the flare of symptoms.) It’s a lot to expect a person with ME to manage.”

Just yesterday, I was walking through Putney and Donna in my constituency came up to me to tell me about the hugely life-limiting impact that ME has had on her. She was in a wheelchair and said that that trip out to get a prescription means that she will not be able to go out again for the next two weeks. She said she is constantly misunderstood and neglected in the health system.

Recently, the cases of Carla, Milly and Karen—all young women in hospital with severe ME and struggling to access the care they need, the appropriate feeding, tests and medical care—paint a picture of a broken system. They have been treated as psychological cases, not medical and physical. Carla, Milly and Karen have been let down time and again. I urge the Government not to permit the growing cases of ME across the country to morph into a health crisis for which there is no cure.

I will end with a call for five actions: first, ending the stigma and taboo in healthcare situations, work and schools; secondly, the full implementation of NICE’s 2021 guidelines on ME and chronic fatigue syndrome, including diagnosis across the country; thirdly, funding research into severe ME and joining that up with research into long covid; fourthly, looking into the situation in care for Carla, Milly and Karen and poor hospital care for all other sufferers of ME; and fifthly, publishing, funding and implementing the cross-departmental ME delivery plan before the general election.

I hope the Minister has written all of that down. I hope to hear about it later, and I hope that this debate will mark a step change in the understanding of people with ME and hope for the future.

Tackling Obesity

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Tuesday 27th February 2024 Westminster Hall

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Sir David Evennett) on securing this important debate. As he said, it affects all MPs because it affects all our constituencies. It affects families across the country.

I am here because I recently visited Putneymead Group Medical Practice in my constituency. It is a really large surgery, which serves 25,500 people and employs 23 GPs. They know what they are talking about; it is an excellent facility. I asked the doctors what the main issues were they were facing, and they said that the main issue was childhood obesity. They were worried that the current state of the NHS meant that it was unable to provide services to combat childhood obesity, and they were also worried about the lack of services for primary school children. Early intervention is very important in tackling childhood obesity, but they were also concerned about secondary education. They mentioned Wandsworth Borough Council provision for primary school children, but that ends at year 6. In secondary school, there is even less provision and support for tackling obesity, and they identified that as a key issue.

Today, two in every five children in England are overweight or obese by the time they finish primary school. That has lasting consequences for their physical and mental health and for their quality of life. The national child measurement programme found that in 2021-22, 10% of reception-age children in England were obese. The proportions were higher among year 6 children, with 23.4% being obese. Something is going wrong in our provision and support programmes for primary school children.

Childhood obesity is a significant concern in my borough of Wandsworth, where more than one fifth of children in reception are overweight or living with obesity. In year 6, that figure rises to 37.7%, which is higher than in the rest of the country. Wandsworth Council has several programmes to tackle the issue. The Health4Life team runs the Mums, Minis and KickStart programmes for primary school-age children and their families. The children’s school food strategy and the campaign targeting takeaways near secondary schools are also having an impact, but that needs to be amplified and supported by having the same programmes across the country. As I said, this support needs to be maintained and to continue through secondary education, as well as through primary. In the United Kingdom, the prevalence of obesity among year 10 children is still 23.4%, so one in four children are still classified as obese—in London, the figure is still 37.4%.

It is essential to continue promoting healthy lifestyles, but there are also significant infrastructure issues. There is an issue around planning and having shops with healthy produce in the right places so that they are easier to access for people who do not have the same transport options as others. We also need to tackle takeaways near secondary schools, which Wandsworth Council is starting to do, and there are elements of good practice that can be learned. In addition, we need to tackle inactivity in schools. Many playing fields have been sold off, which has reduced access to physical education classes in school. I have seen that with my own children, who have gone through secondary school with significantly less access to PE lessons than I had when I was going through school.

There is also the issue of healthy eating and teaching cookery. I pay tribute to a great community organisation in my constituency called Bags of Taste, which teaches people how to eat better for less. It has a really high take-up, and people really enjoy making the kind of food they would get from a takeaway but can cook for less money in their own homes. That is to be applauded and supported.

There could also be much more action taken by supermarkets, and action on advertising unhealthy food. Another excellent programme that I have seen really working, but that is not taken up comprehensively enough, is the Daily Mile. Having started off with a school in Stirling in Scotland, it has been taken up by many primary schools around the country. It is tackling this issue and making a difference.

To conclude, Labour will tackle childhood obesity through a range of measures, including by implementing the 9 pm watershed for junk food advertising, getting kids moving through a mandatory national curriculum with a wider range of physical activities, providing free breakfast clubs in every primary school and taking action to end the promotion of junk foods targeted at children. We will take action. The current obesity figures are a damning indictment of 14 years of Tory rule that have not worked. It is time for Labour.

Building an NHS Fit for the Future

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

I am not going to stand here and explain whipping policy, which is not my job as a Health Minister, but I am delighted to see the potential of this legislation. As with so many other worthwhile Government policies, such as increasing funding for the national health service, I would be delighted to see the right hon. Gentleman and other Opposition Members support this policy.

We are also cracking down on the alarming rise in vaping among children. There is no doubt that vaping is safer than smoking and is a terrific tool to help adult smokers quit, but, like Members across the House, I am concerned that one in five children has tried vaping, which can be hugely damaging to their health. The whole House knows that no child should be using nicotine.

The rise in youth vaping is no coincidence. Disposable vapes are consistently marketed at children and are available at pocket-money prices, with many retailers ignoring their duty not to sell them to young people. With more than 5 million being thrown away every week, disposable vapes are also damaging our planet. We are acting now to protect our children and our planet. We are looking at banning child-friendly flavours, restricting colourful packaging and mandating that vapes are displayed only behind the counter. We are also exploring a ban or a restriction on disposable vape sales and empowering local authorities to dish out on-the-spot fines for selling vapes to children. All these proposals are being developed with parents and teachers across the UK, and they will strike a balance between giving adult smokers a choice to switch to vaping and preventing our children from taking it up.

I recognise the disappointment that the mental health Bill was not included in the King’s Speech, but I can assure hon. Members that this Government are committed to achieving genuine parity between mental health and physical health, improving the care of those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 and bringing forward the Bill when parliamentary time allows.

We are not going to wait for legislation to make change. We will continue to pilot models of culturally appropriate advocacy, providing tailored support to hundreds of people from ethnic minorities to better understand their rights if they are detained under the Mental Health Act. This comes on top of the record investment and staff numbers we are putting into mental health. Since 2010, the mental health workforce has grown by more than 20%, and by March we will have invested over £2 billion more in mental health than four years ago, meaning that 2 million more people, including more than 300,000 children and young people, will benefit from mental health support.

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

One of the biggest issues raised by every school I visit in my constituency is mental health support, and I am disappointed not to see the mental health Bill in the King’s Speech. Will it be addressed in any other way? Where is it?

[Helen Whately]

As I said a moment ago—let me remind the hon. Lady of this—we are not waiting for legislation in order to bring forward mental health reforms. That is why, for instance, we have already been rolling out mental health support teams in schools. We are already ahead of schedule on that; we are giving a quarter of England’s school and college children access to mental health support teams a year ahead of schedule. In addition, thanks to this Government, dormitory accommodation for mental health patients will soon become a thing of the past.

It has been a pleasure to work with the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Steve Barclay), and a huge honour to work with my hon. Friends the Members for Colchester (Will Quince) and for Harborough (Neil O'Brien) as part of a Government taking the long-term decisions to build a health and care system for the future, one with more doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physios and care workers, better mental healthcare for adults and children, more proactive care in the community, greater capacity, the newest technology and more choice, where conditions are diagnosed quicker or prevented altogether, thus helping people to live longer and healthier lives.

--- Later in debate ---

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

It is an honour to speak in this historic debate on the first King’s Speech for 72 years, but, to be frank, it is not a pleasure. When I go around and talk to people in Putney, Southfields, Roehampton and Wandsworth town about what I can say for them on their behalf in Parliament, many just shrug their shoulders and say, “Where do you start?”, because there are so many things they feel that the Government should be doing that they are not doing, whether that is: the climate crisis; the cost of living crisis; a million children living in destitution in the UK; the damage to our international reputation; or the NHS crisis, with 125,000 vacancies in our NHS and nearly 8 million people on waiting lists. Those are all things that my constituents think should be tackled by the Government, and I just have not seen that in the King’s Speech. It is disappointing.

Before turning to the pressing issue of healthcare, I put on record my disappointment at the lack of legislation to move us towards a net zero green future in the King’s Speech. There could have been so much more in that legislative programme. It is being left to Labour to pick up the pieces, but we will do so in all our actions for Government. There is also welcome reform for leaseholders, but the legislation is too weak and is mainly not for current leaseholders, but for future and new-build leaseholders. I am pleased to see that the Government have reintroduced the Renters (Reform) Bill in the King’s Speech, but the long delay has caused suffering across the country and across London. Will the section 21 eviction ban actually see the light of day, as we need it to?

I will focus on three serious issues of concern on healthcare for my constituents: the dropping of any reform to the Mental Health Act; dental health; and, support for GP surgeries and primary healthcare.

Last week, the Government broke yet another promise to reform the Mental Health Act—a promise they have been making for six years. There has long been cross-party support for reforming the Act. A Committee met from summer last year to January, and a report was made, but it has not received any Government response. Legislation is there, waiting to be put into place.

The Mental Health Act 1983 is outdated and unfit for purpose, yet it remains the main piece of legislation outlining the rights of people who are being detained in hospital for mental health treatment. There are huge problems with it. Black people are five times more likely to be detained under the Act and more than 11 times more likely to be given a community treatment order than white people.

The Government are letting down people with autism and learning disabilities. In September alone, more than 2,000 autistic people and people with learning disabilities were detained in mental health hospitals in England, including 205 children—often in solitary confinement. The Care Quality Commission has said that these people

“continue to be in hospital inappropriately when they should be receiving care in the community.”

There were concrete plans to tackle that in the draft Mental Health Bill, but that has been dropped. What are the Minister’s plans to take action on this issue going forward? The reforms were a crucial chance to give people more dignity and independence, yet the Act continues to fail children and young people in particular. It takes away agency from those detained to have any say over their treatment.

Mental health is not the only area in which the Government are failing our NHS: my constituents are unable to get GP appointments. The most recent GP appointment survey data found that the proportion of people who secured an appointment when wanted has fallen to just 51%: the lowest level in five years. Too often, our GP surgeries—the premises—are unsuitable, with a report from the Royal College of General Practitioners finding that 40% of GP staff consider their premises unsuitable. I was told in a recent letter from a GP in Putney how far too many surgeries are

“stuck in tiny residential buildings”,

which really affects GPs’ ability to provide the services—prevention services in particular—that they want to provide. Will the Minister tell the House what is being done to improve the GP estate—GP surgeries in particular—and to expand it in future?

Labour would reverse the decline in GPs by doubling the number of medical school places to 15,000 a year, rapidly improve GP appointment performance and provide a public service that has time for people with more complex needs. Labour’s NHS workforce plan will train a new generation of doctors and nurses.

Also missing from the King’s Speech was any mention of dentistry. At my most recent visit to a local GP surgery, I said, “What is the main issue that you face?” I expected all sorts of issues that we might think would be bigger, but they said that it was NHS dentistry for children. They are seeing the impact of that—people cannot get an NHS dentist appointment, so they come to their GP—and that problem is growing, especially for children. It is increasing the health inequalities in my constituency, which I see from one part of the constituency to another in dentistry more than anything else.

During covid, I took part in many debates in which we laid out how the NHS dentistry contract was going to fail local people and how it was not fit for purpose, yet it was not changed then and the problem has been exacerbated since. Labour will address the immediate crisis in NHS dentistry by providing 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruiting more dentists. In the long term, it will reform the NHS dentistry contract as well so that everyone who needs an NHS dentist can get one.

Alongside reform of the Mental Health Act, Labour will transform mental health services in Britain so that timely support is available to those who need it. We will recruit thousands more mental health professionals, provide mental health hubs in every community and put mental health support—that crucial early prevention work—into every school.

The Government must now make way for a party with a vision for a revitalised NHS that works for everyone or risk running our healthcare service further into the ground. It is time for a general election now.

Mental Health Treatment and Support

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Wednesday 7th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Neil O’Brien]

I will make a bit of progress before I give way.

The long-term plan will ensure that 345,000 more children and young people can get the mental health support they need when they need it.

We are committed to ensuring that children and young people can access mental health support in school, so that they can access help with anxiety and depression and other common mental health services before problems become more serious. In that way, we can prevent—in exactly the way we all agree on—the problems from becoming more serious. That includes continuing to roll out mental health support teams to schools and colleges in England.

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

The picture that the Minister is painting does not quite tally with the experience that I am seeing in families, many of whom are watching with a feeling of helplessness as their children’s mental health deteriorates while they are on long waiting lists. In the NHS South West London ICB area, there are over 10,000 young people on waiting lists, and many have their cases closed without even getting the support they need. That leaves them with deteriorating mental health and it leaves their families in despair. How is it that the money the Minister is talking about does not seem to get through to the young people who need help?

[Neil O’Brien]

I will come to the point about waiting lists in a moment.

Let me complete my thoughts on prevention, which I think we all agree is important. There are 3.4 million pupils covered by mental health support teams in 2022-23, which equates to about 35% coverage of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England. We expect around 500 teams to be up and running by 2024, covering around 44% of pupils and learners, so it will be up from 35% to 44%. Over 10,000 schools and colleges now have a trained senior mental health lead, including more than six in 10 state-funded secondary schools in England. On prevention, the Government are also providing £150 million of capital investment in NHS mental health urgent and emergency care infrastructure over the next two years.

Draft Mental Health Bill 2022

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Thursday 26th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Dr Poulter]

I agree with the Minister. He is right to suggest that this is an important step forward and this piece of legislation will make a significant difference to patients, but it is part of a process, not the end of the journey. In particular, I draw the Government’s attention to the potential unintended consequences of some of the well-meaning changes being proposed in relation to patients with learning disabilities and autism and to changing the grounds for detention; for example, it might be harder to detain patients who are the most unwell, with chronic and enduring mental illness and psychotic conditions. I hope the Government will take on board those concerns and ensure that what comes back to this place is a stronger Bill that works in the best interests of patients.

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

I welcome this report, and in particular the section on racial inequalities, which have been highlighted in my constituency by organisations such as the Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network for many years. Is the hon. Member optimistic after hearing all the evidence from organisations that the inequalities affecting black and minority ethnic groups, especially in terms of culture and policy, will be improved?

NHS: Long-term Strategy

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

I am worried and angry about the complacency that I have seen from the Secretary of State towards the NHS. Look, I knew that the situation was bad, but I did not realise how bad until I visited St George’s A&E last week. That hospital, which serves my constituency, had to declare a critical incident because of the situation in its A&E. All the doctors and nurses I spoke to agreed that it was the worst time that they had experienced in their whole careers. The winter ward was opened last year but had to stay open for the whole year, so there is no more space for the extra winter surge. Sixty nurses have resigned from that department because of the stress of the workload and being underpaid.

The additional winter payments that came from the Government were paid only in December and must be spent by March, giving them hardly any real impact. The situation is chaotic. The doctors and nurses are having to practise corridor care for patients for the first time in the hospital, and they are broken-hearted that they have to do so. They have had to stop elective heart surgery since the beginning of December. Mental health patients are being treated in A&E for five days. We need a long-term plan, not to be surprised by winter every year.

Four areas are seen as having critical community care shortages: eating disorders; Korsakoff dementia patients; frail patients who have a stroke after a fall; and functional neurological disorder. Those huge gaps in community care were raised by the staff. I am glad that the Secretary of State is in his place to hear me raise them.

The Conservatives are failing the people of Putney, Southfields and Roehampton. The Conservatives are failing the British people. Labour has a plan to fix this, but they do not. Pain, suffering and preventable deaths are up, GP waiting times are up, A&E waiting times are up, and mental health and cancer assessment times are up. There is only one conclusion: the Conservatives’ time is up.