Helen calls for Healthwatch to stay as Shropshire NHS issues raised in Parliament

North Shropshire MP, Helen Morgan, has criticised Government plans to abolish Healthwatch and called for a Maternity Commissioner to be introduced as part of Labour’s NHS restructure.

The MP and Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson highlighted the issues facing health and social care in North Shropshire as she called for a rethink of some of the plans during a speech in Parliament.

Speaking during a debate on the Health Bill this week, Helen said:

“The reality in rural North Shropshire is that people struggle to get GP appointments, 12-hour waits in A&E have become normal and finding an NHS dentist is becoming impossible. The social care crisis has left Shropshire council’s finances in a dire situation.

“A real NHS reform Bill would have changes to social care, general practice and prevention at its heart. Instead, this Bill passes responsibilities around Whitehall, centralising more power with the Secretary of State, while chaos reigns following 50% cuts to Integrated Care Board budgets.”

She also highlighted the much-needed expansion of surgeries like Shawbury Medical Centre and Prescott Surgery in Baschurch as examples of NHS bureaucracy failing local communities where services have not kept pace with development in the area.

Helen has tabled amendments to the bill that would reverse the abolition of Healthwatch, the independent patient champion that holds NHS organisations to account across the country, as well as a motion that highlights the positive work carried out by Healthwatch across the country.

Helen highlighted maternity failings in Shropshire as an example of why Healthwatch is needed, warning that the decision will “strip patients of their voice” and leave the Government and NHS to “mark its own homework”.

Helen has also proposed changes to the bill that would introduce a new National Maternity Commissioner to oversee improvements to maternity care following repeated scandals across the country.

Helen welcomed elements of the bill such as the move to create a single patient record and its references to carers, but warned that Labour’s failure to fix social care and cut NHS waste was a missed opportunity.

Helen told the Commons what the Liberal Democrats would do differently, explaining:

“Liberal Democrat plans will give people control, rooting services in communities, listening to patients and making it much easier to see a GP. We will give patients a right to see a GP within seven days, reverse surgery closures and ensure proper personalised management of chronic conditions and frailty, with guaranteed access to a named GP for those patients.

“We will also protect the mental health investment standard so that we can rebuild community mental health services - something that this Government has failed to do - empowering individuals with poor mental health by intervening early and allowing them to access care in their community. Our maternity rescue plan will ensure that Britain is the safest country in the world in which to have a baby, offering one-to-one midwifery care and empowering women at this most important moment.”