NHS 10-Year Plan

Helen Morgan Excerpts

Thursday 3rd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

I thank the Secretary of State for early sight of the plan this morning. After years of Conservative failure, a plan for the future of the NHS is welcome and Liberal Democrats support the Secretary of State in his vision to shift the NHS to a community-focused, preventive service. However, I seek his reassurance on some questions.

In the 143 pages of the 10-year plan, there is only a passing reference to social care. Everyone knows that we cannot fix the NHS without fixing social care. With so many people unable to return home from hospital to get the care they need, solving the crisis in social care is a huge part of moving care out of hospital and into the community. Will the Secretary of State bring forward the Casey review, so that it reports in full this year, and reinstate the cross-party talks, so that consensus can be reached on the future of care?

I welcome the idea of a neighbourhood health centre, but how does that interact with the plan for GPs? The 10-year plan implies that GP contracts will encourage them to cover a huge geographic area of 50,000 people. In North Shropshire, that would be two or three market towns combined and would span dozens of miles. Can the Secretary of State reassure me that there will still be a physical health centre, accessible to all, and that in areas with little public transport in particular, people will be able to access care when they need it?

Finally, the plan hinges on the shift to digital solutions, and that is not without risk. The use of the NHS app is critical to what happens. How will the Secretary of State ensure that those without a smartphone—because they cannot afford one, do not feel confident using one or simply do not have adequate broadband or internet—can access the NHS? Many elderly and disabled people in particular who are digitally excluded will feel worried by today’s announcement.

[Wes Streeting]

I welcome the Liberal Democrat support for the plan, and the constructive way in which Liberal Democrats have sought to work with us since the general election in pursuit of better health and social care services. I understand the point the hon. Member makes on social care. I will not repeat at length the points I made to the shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Melton and Syston (Edward Argar), but I hope the House is reassured by the action we are already taking on social care, whether through greater funding, the expansion of the carer’s allowance, increasing the disabled facilities grant, the fair pay agreements, and ensuring a partnership with social care to deliver better neighbourhood health services.

Given what we have said about the importance of data, digital connections and better systems, I should say that in some parts of the country, the social care system is ahead of the NHS; it makes better use of data, and joins up systems in a more effective and efficient way. The NHS can learn lots from social care, as well as the other way round. I will take on board the representations of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative Front Benchers on speeding up the Casey commission—that is duly noted.

I absolutely reassure the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) on the point that she raises about neighbourhood health centres. One of the reasons we want to devolve so much power in the NHS is that I genuinely think that the closer decisions are made to the communities they serve, the better the outcomes and the provision. A one-size-fits-all approach to neighbourhood care simply will not work. My constituency is on the London-Essex border, and there are three hospitals within a 15-to-20 minute drive of where I live. In many rural towns, coastal communities and villages across the country, there is not even one hospital within that distance. In fact, people are driving huge distances across the country to get to a hospital. On our priority of rolling out neighbourhood health centres, I want to reassure Members on both sides of the House that we will start with the areas of greatest inequality and need, and communities where people have to travel far to their nearest hospital, so that people can genuinely receive care closer to home and, indeed, at home. Technology can play a big role in that.

I understand the cynicism about digital roll-out. Government IT projects do not have a great reputation historically; let us be clear about that. We are learning from past mistakes and ensuring that we have the right experts in the room to help us. So much of that is about the digital clinical leadership helping to marry the best scientific and technological minds in our country to the best clinical and scientific experience to ensure that we get this absolutely right. We cannot afford to fail or be left behind. The tragedy in the country today is that there are so many brilliant innovators in life sciences and med tech who are designing and making things here in Britain, but when it comes to scaling up, they are shipping out, because the NHS has been a poor partner and a poor customer. We will change that; we will create more in Britain, and ensure that it is rolled out right across the country. Staff will be liberated from the drudgery and toil of unnecessary bureaucracy and admin that can be automated, and patients will have more ease, convenience, choice and control at their fingertips. This revolution is happening, and it is crucial that no one is left behind.

I take seriously the point the hon. Member made about the digitally disconnected, and there are two responses to that. First, people like me who book via the touch of a button free up telephone lines, get out of the way of reception desks, and free up more capacity for face-to-face and telephone appointments. I believe strongly in horses for courses, and in patient choice. Those patients who want to pick up the phone or who want to be seen face to face must be given that choice and control, and we will give it to them.

Secondly, working with the Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary, we will deal with the fundamental problem of digital disconnection in our country. I knocked on the door of one of my party members when I was canvassing down her street because I had heard she was ill. She opened the door, and I asked if she was okay and if she needed anything from the shops. She looked me up and down as if I had just said the most ridiculous thing and said, “Oh no, dear. Thank you very much, but I do my shopping online with my iPad.” We should not assume that because people are older, they are naturally digitally disconnected. They are some of the most tech-savvy people, and we have to ensure that those skills are enjoyed by all, in keeping with the NHS’s principle of ensuring that healthcare is available universally to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.