Maternity Nurses, Nannies and the Infant Sleep Industry
Tom Morrison Excerpts(2 days, 16 hours ago)
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Mr Rand
Yes, I will come to some of that. Whether parents are following advice or performing these duties themselves, it is important that they think about safe sleeping extremely seriously—that is what any parent should be doing. It is very important indeed to understand the qualifications and medical expertise of those providing advice.
In May, the BBC used undercover filming to expose two prominent figures in the infant sleep industry who were openly giving parents advice on safe sleep that could result in the death of their children. That is not just my opinion; the NHS clinicians who observed the BBC’s footage said that it was “horrifying”.
Mr Morrison
I thank the hon. Member very much for getting this debate on the Floor. He references the BBC investigation, and the things that were put out on that were absolutely horrifying. Talking of experts, the Lullaby Trust is a huge leader, particularly around safer sleeping. I was horrified by the lack of regulation—the wild west, as he describes it—so would he agree that we need a proper, legal, regulatory framework to make sure that these charlatans who are putting this bogus safe sleep advice out there on social media and other channels are held to account, and to ensure that parents and their children are protected from these groups of people?
Mr Rand
Yes, I completely agree. I know that the hon. Member has worked with the Lullaby Trust, and I am grateful to have met its representatives myself and to have had their input into my campaign on regulation in this area. Of course, the Government have already begun to set out—quite rightly, after his campaigning work—the approach we need to take forward in early years settings, but it is critical that the whole sector, including advice provided in the home, should have a sustainable legal framework.
The figures who were exposed by the BBC in their undercover filming have thousands of followers online and have published widely bought books. To any parent, they would ostensibly look like an expert. That such unqualified people can operate in that way without any oversight at all is terrifying. How can it be right that an industry dedicated to the care of babies is totally unregulated? We know the answer to that. It is not right and it must change, because without change, more children will die. I do not say that lightly; I say it because of what happened in my constituency.
Two years ago, a four-month-old baby from Trafford died after being placed in an unsafe sleeping position on the advice of a maternity nurse who had no medical qualifications at all. There was no legal accountability for this death because no laws had been broken, but a family had been broken. I cannot begin to imagine what the parents of that child have been through. There are no words to describe it, and I will not try to do so, but what I will try to do is ensure that change is the legacy of their tragedy. It is not just me that is calling for change. The senior coroner who worked on the case issued a prevention of future deaths order to the Secretary of State and, in doing so, called on infant sleep services to be urgently regulated.
What does this change look like? I have three main asks of the Government and the Minister today. First, will the Minister explore the introduction of mandatory minimum safeguarding training and qualification standards in the baby sleep industry and the nanny industry, as has been called for by the National Nanny Association, the Lullaby Trust and other organisations. I am sure that we can all agree on the reason to do this—namely, that people looking after children should have basic medical and early years training, including on safe sleep. This change could introduce standards and safeguards to an industry badly lacking in both.
This change would support the majority of people who provide responsible, home-based care for children while cracking down on the dangerous minority who do not. It would give parents peace of mind and minimum legal standards to hold providers against, and the introduction of mandatory training and standards could lead to the development of a national regulated framework or register for all those providing home-based childcare. With a register, we would strengthen safeguarding, give parents clarity and professionalise the sector.
My second ask is that we need stronger legal protections for the title of “nurse”, and in response to the tragedy in my constituency, the Government announced that they would protect the title of “nurse” so that it could be used only by someone with appropriate medical qualifications. That is a really important step forward that I very much welcome. However, people in the infant sleep industry are also calling themselves “practitioners” and “consultants”, so I urge the Government to explore legal protections for those titles too, because, like “nurse”, they imply a level of expertise that is often not there and that parents might rely on. When announcing that the Government would protect the title of nurse, the then Secretary of State committed to seeking wide input on the proposals to get them right. I appreciate that there have been changes since, but can the Minister update me on that work and set out a timeline for when we can expect action?
My third and final ask relates to the context in which the infant sleep industry has boomed. As I mentioned earlier, this is a sector to which parents are increasingly turning as the support that used to be provided by the state has been stripped back. The number of health visitors has almost halved in the last decade, and home visits are not happening consistently across the country, as overstretched staff battle caseloads of up to 1,000 families. That is the vacuum that causes parents to walk into the wild west of dangers. I would appreciate the Minister setting out the Government’s plan to invest in health visitors and infant care, so that we can protect children and their parents with the highest-quality support possible in our national health service.
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
Tom Morrison Excerpts(6 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Adam Dance (Yeovil) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wells and Mendip Hills (Tessa Munt) for securing this vital debate and for her campaigning on this issue. In the brief time I have today, I will share the story of Iona, who was finally diagnosed with ME in 2019 after being unwell since 2014. Her ME comes with a range of horrible symptoms from physical and mental fatigue to muscle weakness. She was housebound for four years and cannot do anything independently. However, she told me that the biggest barrier to support is other people’s limited or incorrect knowledge of ME, which is damaging. She says:
“As a chronically ill young woman…I am constantly looked down on and dismissed, while at the same time expected to act as if I am not disabled”.
Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)
One of my constituents, Nick, has ME and has described feeling as though he is stuck in a well without anyone to pull him out. Does my hon. Friend agree that there needs to be more action from Government, the NHS, businesses, schools and colleges to counter the misunderstanding and neglect that ME sufferers receive?
Adam Dance
I agree. It is really important that the Government provide more support for ME, because it affects the lives of a lot of people.
Oral Answers to Questions
Tom Morrison Excerpts(7 months, 2 weeks ago)
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The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)
As my hon. Friend will know, the consultation closed on 19 August. We are now considering the outcomes, and expect to publish a response very shortly. These reforms will improve support for patients with complex or urgent needs by better incentivising dentists to deliver this care on the NHS.
Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)
Stephen Kinnock
I did not hear the hon. Gentleman welcome the fact that we provided £100 million—an unprecedented amount—in capital funding for hospices, and £26 million a year and £80 million over three years for children’s hospices. We recognise that hospices benefit from being rooted in their communities, with amazing charity and philanthropy support, but of course we know that the Government need to do their bit as well, and that is precisely what we were doing. I was very pleased to visit Noah’s Ark children’s hospice in Barnet last week and to speak to the chief executive, who warmly welcomed the stability and certainty that the three-year allocation has provided.
Baby Loss
Tom Morrison Excerpts(7 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)
Genevieve Meehan, affectionately known as Gigi, was born on 18 July 2021 at Stepping Hill hospital. She was small but perfectly formed, and by all accounts the happiest little person anyone could meet. Gigi loved dancing with her big sister, trying spaghetti bolognese and playing with her favourite green tambourine. Those are the precious, ordinary moments that make up a childhood—the moments that every parent treasures and that we photograph, remember and hold dear. Gigi had been reaching the magical milestones that fill parents with pride and wonder: she waved for the first time, she pulled herself up to stand and she said “Da-da”. Each of those was a cause for celebration and a promise of all the milestones yet to come.
Gigi’s parents, Katie and John, did everything right. They chose a nursery that was well known in the area, had positive recommendations from friends and had respectable Ofsted results. They visited multiple times and attended settling-in sessions. The staff seemed well trained and capable. It felt safe. They trusted that nursery with the most precious thing in their lives, but in May 2022, that trust was shattered. Gigi, a loving and happy 10-month-old girl, was left strapped to a bean bag, face down, without being checked by the nursery staff. She died at nursery. The nursery was not safe, it was not caring and it failed Gigi at the cost of her life.
No parent should ever have to experience what Katie and John have experienced. No parent should have to bury their child because basic standards of care were not followed, or to campaign for changes that should already exist in order to protect the children who come after, yet that is exactly what Katie and John are doing. In the face of the most earth-shattering loss imaginable, they are campaigning tirelessly for Gigi and to make our nurseries safer for all children.
As a new father, I cannot begin to comprehend the devastation that Katie and John have endured. When I look at my daughter, Poppy, I see the same joy, wonder and infinite promise that Gigi brought to this world, and I am haunted by the knowledge that what happened to their daughter could happen to our children. Katie and John are not alone in their grief: it is an all-too-common story that nationally agreed standards of care are not being adhered to, leading to avoidable deaths, whether in maternity units, neonatal care, nurseries or crèches.
Gigi’s campaign has already achieved important progress. Ofsted inspections will be more frequent—every four years instead of every six years. In collaboration with the Lullaby Trust, the early years foundation stage statutory framework will be updated to include more detailed safe sleep guidance, but that cannot be the end. Mandatory safe sleep training for all staff is needed, CCTV should be implemented in all nurseries and far more Ofsted inspections must be unannounced. There can be no doubt that the lives of babies and their families will be saved if those measures are seriously considered and implemented by the Government.
As the Sands and Tommy’s policy unit report, “Saving Babies’ Lives 2024”, states:
“With political will, progress is possible.”
This Government must have a relentless political will in ensuring that our nurseries and maternity units are the very safest of places. No babies should ever lose their lives at the hands of inadequate standards of care, a reliance on whistleblowing culture or a lax inspection routine.
Katie and John should be watching Gigi grow up. They should be seeing her starting school, making friends and discovering who she is. Instead, they are fighting to ensure that no other parent endures their nightmare. We owe it to Gigi, we owe it to Katie and John, and we owe it to every parent who trusts us to keep their children safe. We have to do better.
Access to GPs
Tom Morrison Excerpts(11 months, 2 weeks ago)
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The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)
I thank the hon. Member for North Down (Alex Easton) for raising GP access, which is a vital matter for so many of our constituents. I congratulate him on securing his first Westminster Hall debate—well done on that. [Interruption.] His first Adjournment debate—sorry. We are not in Westminster Hall right now. It has been a long day; I thank hon. Members for their forbearance.
When we ask people what their top priority for the NHS is, the chances are that they will say it is to fix general practice, because GPs are the front door to our national health service. They are the first port of call for millions of people, and they perform a vital service by delivering care in communities right across our country. Of course, health is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland, and decisions about GP services there rightly sit with the Northern Ireland Executive and at Stormont. Nevertheless, this Government are committed to being an active partner in helping to deliver better public service outcomes across the UK while respecting the devolution settlement. I am delighted that the Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Fleur Anderson), is here with me on the Front Bench this evening, showing how important the teamwork between the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive is.
Ultimately, the underlying challenges are the same. Whether it is access, capacity or workforce pressures, we recognise those issues across the UK. Our manifesto pledged to reset our relationship with the devolved Administrations, to put country before party, and to work with them on issues from trade and tackling child poverty to a whole range of issues around the economy and growth that affect all of us. I welcome this chance to hear the perspective of the hon. Member for North Down and to exchange ideas across the Floor of the Chamber. Access to timely GP appointments is at the heart of a strong and responsive healthcare system.
Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)
On that point, I will raise the issue of a resident who lives in my constituency. She needs to give blood every three months for a long-term condition she has, but she can never get an appointment in Bramhall, where she lives; instead, she has to travel 3 miles to Shaw Heath. That happens every three months. Does the Minister agree that that should not be happening in our country and that access to GPs should be not only easier, but available to all our residents?
Income Tax (Charge)
Tom Morrison Excerpts(1 year, 7 months ago)
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Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)
The Liberal Democrats have long been pushing for the Budget to be a Budget for the NHS, so it was pleasing to see so much investment in our national health service. The boost in capital expenditure is particularly welcome, because Cheadle’s local hospital, Stepping Hill, is in dire need of support and investment. Only a few weeks ago, Stockport NHS foundation trust released figures showing that the maintenance bill required to bring the hospital up to scratch was over £130 million, up from £80 million just five years ago. The cost of the previous Government is there for all to see.
Last year, the hospital’s out-patients building was condemned and demolished. In March, the intensive care unit was temporarily closed because the ceiling was coming in. Since January, almost 10,000 people have had to wait for longer than 12 hours in A&E. Some 70% of Stepping Hill’s estate is now classed in the highest risk category. In fact, when I was there just a few months ago, the incredible nurses talked me through how on rainy days they had to place buckets down to ensure that water coming through the roof was caught. That is utterly shameful and my constituents are suffering.
One constituent contacted my office shortly after I was elected to tell me about their experience. After waiting months for a simple surgical procedure, the partial collapse of the ICU led to their surgery being delayed. It was then confirmed again as delayed. Then, after it was rearranged, there was a further delay because there were not enough beds for aftercare. Each time, the delay seemed to be imposed last minute and out of the blue, which of course drives uncertainty and worry not just for my constituent but for their friends and family.
I want to put on record that this is not the fault of the doctors and nurses. The doctors, nurses and other NHS staff do an incredible job in the worst circumstances, and they are suffering also. They are being forced to work in these conditions. They are the ones who have to break the bad news to patients when their surgeries and appointments are cancelled, although it is rarely their fault. Every day those staff show up and deliver the best service that they can for their patients. The fault lies with the Conservatives. For 14 years they sat back and watched as Stepping Hill, like many other hospitals, crumbled.
Mr Morrison
I will carry on; I am nearly done.
For 14 years, the Conservatives ignored health professionals and patients who were crying out for their hospitals to be fixed. As those cries were ignored, the problems became worse and worse. We are now facing a repair bill of £130 million, and without urgent action that will only become more expensive, so the new Government must act now. I am delighted that there is a commitment to our hospital, but they must act now and give the patients, the staff and my constituents the hospital that they need. If they delay further, costs will only rise and even more parts of the building will crumble.