April 2026

I really thank the hon. Gentleman for raising the sometimes taboo subject of stoma and stoma care and for highlighting the complexity of that for women. I send my best wishes to his wife. I did not get the name of her clinician, but I thank the hon. Gentleman for getting their name on the record; that matters when people are dealing with such an intimate sort of care. Again, bringing voices forward is a key part of this work. The thing to bear in mind in the development of this strategy is that

Yes, of course. The retirement age is a constant issue that we need to look at across a number of professions, and I am happy to come back to my hon. Friend on that. As part of our workforce plan, we are looking in particular at retaining the expertise that we have, as well as at recruiting people into new roles.

I thank the hon. Gentleman and my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner), who I know cannot be here today. She has used her expertise to drive forward recognition of UTIs and incontinence—another taboo subject. We have previously had a very good debate in this Chamber on that issue, and that has all informed what we are saying. The hon. Gentleman tempts me to move into some clinical definitions and clinical pathways. I am not going to do that, but I am very keen to hear abo

I thank my hon. Friend for the work she has done, both on maternity and on sight loss, and for people generally. She is a great advocate for making sure that those voices are heard, both from her own experience and through her advocacy. We are bringing together a voices group—apologies, I cannot remember exactly what we called it in the end—so that there is direct representation in Whitehall at a national level. That is one of the things we wanted to make sure was included in the strategy, and m

The hon. Member is referring to a meeting as part of my ministerial surgery, which is for Members. I will be happy to see him next week.

Again, my hon. Friend raises a shocking case on behalf of her constituents, and I agree with her and her constituent. Access to diagnostics is a key part of our 10-year health plan, which is why, as we were able to announce this week, we are rolling out more community diagnostic centres to improve diagnostic capacity more generally. I am also working with the Minister for patient safety, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed), to look at how clinical pathways can be streamli

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. The document contains a long list of actions, with clear dates alongside them, so that she and others—including her constituents—can see what we are saying, and can measure progress.

As we know, and as is documented in the strategy, there is sadly a long list of issues that particularly affect women that have been ignored, and it has taken far too long for women to draw attention to those issues. I understand that my hon. Friend the Minister for patient safety has met DES campaigners, and we will continue to listen to and learn from their experiences as we develop the strategy.

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He should not apologise for not knowing before; my generation of women, and many before us, were told not to talk about this. We were told not to tell anybody, and to put up with it. We were told that every month, whatever happened to us was normal, and we should crack on. A generation of men, and all of us mothers, need to talk about this, too. We welcome all allies and spokespeople. Learning is a key part of being in this place, and my hon. Friend and o

Youth centres such as High Oak in Dudley, run by Angela Edwards, are finding it harder each year to stay open because of insecure funding, despite Dudley having some of the highest levels of young people not in education, employment or training. More youth centres and more secure long-term funding are desperately needed. What support can my right hon. Friend provide to these youth centres to ensure that the youth of today and of the future are supported?

8. What steps she is taking to support youth centres in Dudley.

I warmly welcome the women’s health strategy. I recently visited the Navigating Our Womanhood Together bus in Dudley, which supports women’s health from menstruation to menopause, and I look forward to more such initiatives being delivered as part of the strategy in my constituency. Will the Minister set out how the strategy will harness allied health professionals, including specialist physiotherapists, to support pelvic health, such as incontinence, prolapse and post-natal care?

2. What steps her Department is taking to support the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth games.

Having recently visited the Scottish Event Campus in my constituency, which will host the opening ceremony along with a number of sports during the games, I have seen at first hand the opportunity these games represent for tourism, hospitality and local businesses. Given the importance of these events for Scotland and Glasgow’s economy, what conversations is the Minister having with the Scottish Government and the Scotland Office to ensure that the games are a success for Glasgow and that Glasgo

8. What discussions the Client Board has had with representatives of the events sector on the potential impact of the possible acquisition of the QEII centre on that sector.

I declare my interest as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for events. Given the importance of the QEII centre for hosting many major international events, and its direct economic value—we are talking about hundreds of jobs, thousands of hotel rooms, and significant spend and investment across the wider supply chain—does my hon. Friend have concerns that significantly reducing capacity could negatively affect the ability to attract major business events to the UK and give our intern

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. New clause 3 would place a statutory duty on the Secretary of State to ensure that all service personnel leaving the military receive a complete copy of their medical records within one month of their discharge date. The one-month timeframe would create a hard deadline, and it would align the provision of records with their completing their registration with a GP. The new clause wo

The new clause would create a deadline and shorten the timeframe. The Minister has just said that some complicated cases can take up to three months, but it is probably those cases that need the urgency of a 28-day timeframe. I know that in future it may all go digital, but at the moment we cannot confirm that, and I get some really serious and difficult cases in my constituency casework. Does the Minister therefore agree that we really need to improve the timeframe to 28 days?

I wish to press new clause 3 to a vote. Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

I put it on record that I am a holder of a veterans railcard. Many of my constituents have veterans railcards and, with the cost of living crisis, they find it a great way to move about. Does the hon. Member agree that we really need to continue with the veterans railcard?