Helen Maguire MP: speeches

Speeches

• 29 Jun 2026 · NHS Breast Screening · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I thank the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for leading this important petition debate on NHS breast screening. It is hard to follow the passionate speech by the hon. Member for Mid Cheshire (Andrew Cooper), but this is important, because there are about 60,000 new cases of breast cancer in the UK each year. Breast cancer represents 15% of all new cancer cases and 30% of all new female cancer cases. It is the most common type of cancer among women: a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every nine minutes and there are approximately 11,200 deaths due to breast cancer each year in the UK. The human costs behind those statistics cannot be overstated. In the short span of today’s debate, 10 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and two will tragically lose their lives to the disease. Over recent decades, we have made huge strides in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. It is remarkable that approximately 76% of women now survive for 10 years or more following their diagnosis. But as with any cancer, diagnosing breast cancer early remains vital and saves lives. Breast screening remains the most effective way to detect cancer at an early stage, which is also when treatment is most likely to succeed. More than 95% of people diagnosed at stage 1 will survive for at least five years, compared with about 25% diagnosed at stage 4. The Marmot review estimated that the current screening programme prevents about 1,300 deaths a year. In 2024-25, about 2.75 million women aged 50 to 71 were invited to be screened—a 10% increase on the previous year—and 2.15 million of them took the offer up. Nearly 20,000 women had breast cancer detected through that screening, but as those figures highlight, around 600,000 women did not take up the essential offer of breast cancer screening. Recent screening data reveals an alarming trend of women not attending their first screening appointment. The impact of not taking up the screening offer only compounds the issue. Women who do not attend their first breast cancer screening appointment are much less likely to take up subsequent screening invitations. In 2024-25, only 20.9% of women in England who had never previously taken up screening invitations attended, compared with the 89.1% uptake among women who had been screened in the last five years. Since the creation of the modern NHS breast screening programme, uptake for first-time screening invitations has never reached 70%. Had the screening uptake level reached the NHS achievable standard target of 80% in 2024-25, over a quarter of a million more women would have undergone routine screening, and that would have resulted in an estimated additional 2,228 cases of breast cancer being found. The scale of the missed opportunity to catch more cancer early is unacceptable, and women and their loved ones are paying the tragic price. I urge anyone who is eligible to take up the offer of breast cancer screening. The Liberal Democrats are clear that so much more must be done to ensure that every eligible woman attends screening when invited, particularly in England, where uptake is lagging behind the devolved nations and pre-pandemic levels. There are many reasons why women do not attend their breast cancer screening appointments, including misconceptions about the screening process and breast cancer, the fear of receiving a diagnosis, and cultural beliefs and attitudes. Others may not be able to attend due to everyday challenges such as limited transport, clashing work schedules or the burden of caring responsibilities. Health inequalities also affect screening uptake. Women from ethnic minority communities, those living in disadvantaged areas and women with disabilities often face additional barriers that reduce their access to breast screening services. What actions are the Labour Government taking to improve screening uptake nationally, particularly among disenfranchised women? What steps are the Government actively taking to support pop-up screening initiatives in community settings, and what is being done to ensure that those vital health services are meeting people where they are and at times that work for them? What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that women are able to receive the best screening test for their individual health needs? That might include, for example, providing women with an increased risk of breast cancer with an ultrasound if they are unable to have an MRI or they have dense breasts. That is particularly relevant to younger women with an increased risk, for whom an ultrasound will provide greater accuracy in screening their dense breast tissue. Mammograms can struggle to identify cancer in dense breasts, as cancers and dense tissue present in exactly the same way on imaging. The Liberal Democrats are also very concerned that so much NHS equipment, including diagnostic and scanning equipment, is out of date and decrepit. A quarter of England’s 280 radiotherapy machines are now operating beyond their 10-year lifespan, with a further 26 due to exceed the recommended lifespan by 2027. England has fewer radiotherapy machines than comparable European countries. Radiotherapy UK’s research reveals that England has just 4.8 linear accelerator machines per million population, well behind France at 8.5 and Italy at 6.9. Radiotherapy lacks clear accountability. While responsibility for commissioning it sits with integrated care boards, freedom of information requests found that around 70% of ICBs do not have a named person responsible for radiotherapy. Access to radiotherapy is well below international expectations. Around 52% to 53% of cancer patients are estimated to need radiotherapy, but only around 35% receive it in England. In some areas, the figure is as low as 22%. Radiotherapy also has the longest waiting times. Only around four in 10 patients—and, in some areas of the country, as few as two in 10— receive radiotherapy on time. Whether it is radiotherapy deserts or the mammogram machine glitch that left 7,000 women in parts of Essex without a screening service for almost two months, breast cancer patients are routinely being let down by faulty and inaccessible equipment. That is unacceptable and we must take action now. To address that, the Liberal Democrats are campaigning for a 10-year capital investment programme, under which all patients, including women with breast cancer, would benefit from easier access to newer, quicker and more accurate machines. Alongside screening, speed and quality of treatment are central to increasing breast cancer survival rates. The Liberal Democrats would introduce a guarantee that 100% of patients would be able to start treatment within 62 days of urgent referral. We would also replace the ageing radiotherapy machines and increase their numbers to guarantee that no one must travel ridiculous distances to receive the treatment that they desperately need. Currently, 3.4 million people in England live further away from a radiotherapy centre than the NHS target of 45 minutes. Taking those steps now is vital. We need to prepare our local cancer services for the future, as demand is increasing. Cancer cases are expected to rise by about 30% by 2040, and the new national screening programme is likely to identify more patients who need curative radiotherapy treatment. Without urgent action, the existing pressures on radiotherapy services will only worsen. We would also recruit more cancer nurses so that every patient had a dedicated specialist supporting them throughout their treatment, and halve the time for new treatments to reach patients by expanding the capacity of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The future looks bright, with early pilots and trials using AI to analyse mammograms showing promising signs of potential improvement in both the speed and the accuracy of screening, but we must support our life sciences sector much more to champion vital research and innovation. The Liberal Democrats would pass a cancer survival research Act requiring the Government to co-ordinate and ensure funding for research into the cancers with the lowest survival rates. I want to reflect on the 10 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer and the two who will have tragically lost their lives to the disease in the short span of today’s debate. For them and the thousands of people—mostly women, but also men—living with breast cancer and their loved ones, I urge the Minister to carefully consider the important points and perspectives raised in the debate.

• 16 Jun 2026 · Community Hospitals · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) for securing this important debate on community hospitals. Community hospitals have been a core part of our healthcare system for more than 150 years. They are rooted in a strong tradition of providing care and a range of clinical services to support their local populations. There are over 500 community hospitals throughout the UK, and they vary considerably in the services they deliver as their fundamental focus is to adapt to ensure that they serve the needs of their local area. Community hospitals serve as multidisciplinary sites for immediate care across both health and social care, bridging the gap between primary and secondary care services. This adaptation and integration of services in particular makes community hospitals so valuable in bringing vital health services into the community and truly serving the specific needs of the community they represent, whether they have a significant older population or are situated in an area of high deprivation. The value of community hospitals cannot be overstated, as we have heard today. They are ideally placed to support effective prevention and the management of long-term conditions. They have the ability to be flexible, change and adapt with their population. By reimagining what we can do with community hospitals, based around the needs of an ageing population and rising complexity, we can make a significant difference to patients. I have seen the benefits of community hospitals at first hand in my constituency of Epsom and Ewell. Leatherhead community hospital, which is highly valued by the local community, demonstrates the importance of maintaining strong accessibility, continuity of care and patient flows across community health infrastructure. Leatherhead community hospital provides more than 33 specific consultation and out-patient services, including a stoma clinic, physiotherapy rehab, and speech and language therapy, for the diverse population it serves. We must support community hospitals to ensure they can continue to provide such services. Community hospitals also play a core role in reducing the pressures on larger acute hospitals. Their role will only continue to grow in importance as demand on NHS services continues to rise. Community hospitals support earlier discharge and step-down care to patients who are medically fit to leave acute hospitals, but still need further support to regain their independence prior to being fully discharged. The Health Foundation estimates that, in England, about 125,000 people enter intermediate care services each month. The cost of providing this care continues to rise, increasing the pressure on these underfunded services. The average local authority spend on a single episode of care in 2022-23 was 27% higher in real terms than in 2019-20. Community hospitals provide intermediate care beds, so they free up hospital beds, reducing the high demand on A&E departments. That intermediate support is particularly important in rural and coastal areas where, as we have heard today, access to acute hospitals is often limited. In 2021, the chief medical officer’s annual report on health in coastal communities provided official recognition of the range of healthcare needs across different rural communities. Those living furthest from healthcare services in rural and coastal areas are most at risk of experiencing inequalities, particularly when there are poor and unaffordable transport connections—not to mention the patients who, due to old age or disability, are unable to drive long distances to access essential healthcare. It takes twice as long for people in rural areas to reach their nearest GP by public transport as it takes people in urban areas; it also takes about a third longer for those who drive, according to the Rural Services Network. Those findings were affirmed by Lord Darzi’s report on the NHS, which found that across much of rural England—including nearly the whole south-west as well as much of the east of the country—there are fewer than 46 dentists per 100,000 people. A Liberal Democrat freedom of information request found that waiting times for life-threatening calls are 45% longer in rural areas than in urban areas. Community hospitals, like rural GPs, pharmacies and other healthcare services, have frequently been an afterthought. That situation is unacceptable: we must take action to change it, particularly given that the Government say they want to move services into the community. Access to vital community healthcare cannot be dictated by an unjust postcode lottery. Community hospitals receive less funding and less attention than larger acute hospitals, resulting in workforce shortages and rundown estates. There has also been an escalating process of service reductions at many community hospitals. Often, these changes are introduced under the guise of being trials, but they almost always become permanent. Pragmatic changes to services because of shifting demand are sometimes necessary, but too often changes are made without proper consultation or a proper explanation to the communities affected. The Liberal Democrats are clear that we wholeheartedly support the ambition to shift more care into the community, but we must get community hospitals to a place where they can complement and play a vital role alongside neighbourhood health centres. Rural communities know all too well the pressure that the healthcare system in their areas is under, and the important role that community hospitals play. Consequently, we have been calling for a rescue plan for rural health services, in which rural community hospitals would be an essential pillar. As part of the plan, we have called for a strategic small surgeries fund to sustain services in rural and remote areas, as well as a strategy to close the gap in access to primary healthcare between urban and rural areas. We are also calling for an emergency fund to reverse closures of community ambulance stations and to cancel planned closures of services where they are needed, which would particularly benefit rural communities. We would put an end to the postcode lottery of care provision, which disproportionately impacts rural communities, through a national care agency. We need a new national drive for first responders in rural communities. We need to protect air ambulances, integrating them into the emergency care system, and to ensure that they receive adequate NHS funding in addition to charitable donations. Will the Minister heed these calls and take the necessary steps to ensure that community hospitals that serve rural communities receive the support they deserve? The bottom line is that community hospitals are a service to us all. They are vital in the provision of care closer to home; they bring multidisciplinary services closer to the community; they bridge the gap between hospitals and GPs; they relieve strain on hospital beds and A&E departments; they support faster discharge and rehabilitation, and so help patients to regain their independence; and they improve healthcare access for elderly and vulnerable patients by reducing travel burdens for both themselves and their families. I urge the Minister to reflect on the important calls that I, my hon. Friends and others across the House have made in this debate, to ensure that we are all doing all we can to better support community hospitals.

• 10 Jun 2026 · Defence Investment Plan · Hansard source

  More

  People are suffering due to the cost of living crisis, and taxes are at an all-time high. The delayed investment decisions are paralysing planning for defence businesses, which are stuck in limbo. Could the Minister explain what he is doing to use innovative mechanisms such as defence bonds and the rearmament bank to support the defence sector without placing additional burdens on the taxpayer?

• 18 May 2026 · Backing Business to Create Economic Growth · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Gentleman is talking about the small business protections Bill. Small and independent businesses are the backbone of the economy in my constituency. Many of them are really struggling at the moment, and they are not seeing much else in the King’s Speech. They are struggling with the increase in national insurance costs and the cost of living. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that more needs to be done to support small businesses?

• 10 Feb 2026 · Independent Water Commission: Final Report · Hansard source

  More

  The Rye brook in Ashtead, which runs past local schools, has suffered loads of raw sewage leaks. It feeds into the River Mole, which has seen 3,000 hours of storm overflows in January 2026. The run-off pollutes local chalk streams as well. The hon. Lady might be interested to know that, while the report also ignored reforming water companies, it mentioned chalk streams only twice. Does she agree that privatisation is not working and that we need to bring water companies into mutually owned public benefit companies and end the sewage scandal for good?

• 8 Dec 2025 · Child Poverty Strategy · Hansard source

  More

  I welcome the Government’s roll-out of free school breakfasts in every primary school. However, I recently visited a local school that is part of the early adopter scheme. Staff there shared their concerns that the funding is not enough to provide a full breakfast for each child. In some cases, children go without anything. I want to ensure that every child receives a free, fresh and nutritious breakfast, so will the Secretary of State confirm that schools are receiving enough money to ensure that children are getting a proper breakfast, and not just a snack or nothing at all?

• 3 Dec 2025 · Pension Schemes Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I have a similar constituency case with a similar example of discretionary increases. Those were 80% of RPI, but in 2023 that was reduced to half. That has left my constituent, among others, unable to afford their bills and their home. Although I am pleased to see the pre-1997 pension indexation in the Budget for PPF and FAS members, I remain concerned for constituents such as mine. Does my hon. Friend agree that there needs to be a plan for those impacted by a sudden decrease in inflation payments?

• 13 Nov 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People, a charity based in my constituency with nationwide partners, has been active for over 90 years. It has gone into administration and is now on day three of a 28-day wind down, causing severe disruption to the 20,000 disabled people a year it supports. One family member told me that she has not slept properly since hearing that the charity will close. The organisation has treated 132 NHS patients in the past year, and there will be an overall loss of 48 NHS beds. [ Official Report , 18 November 2025; Vol. 775, c. 652.] (Correction) The NHS has agreed to buy the building, but it will not be using it immediately. Another offer from a separate charity would allow it to keep operating, but its hands are tied by the Pension Protection Fund. Does the Leader of the House agree that the Government must urgently set out plans to save this essential service for disabled people, rescue 250 jobs and meet urgently in the next week to discuss the situation?