Sally Jameson MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 30 Jan 2025 · Doncaster Royal Infirmary · Hansard source

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  Across the hospital, there remains infrastructure that dates back to the 1930s. Imagine all the advancements we have made in science, innovation, technology and medicine since then, yet Doncaster patients are treated in a building that has not been updated in line with any of that. Most worryingly, a recent report concluded that there would be an “increased risk to life” were a fire to occur in Doncaster and Bassetlaw teaching hospitals. That is due to the age and infrastructure of the buildings, and the electrical works, which do not meet the needs of a modern-day hospital. In spite of the catalogue of urgently needed repairs, Doncaster was not successful in its bid to secure a new hospital under the previous Government. Despite promises made by a string of Health Ministers, our application for crucial funding from the new hospital programme was denied by the Conservatives. That was a bitter blow to the community. We now know that the funding promised for the programme never existed—it was a work of fiction. That does not just affect the hospitals included in the programme; the implications ripple across all hospitals that desperately need investment. In Doncaster, we are doing all we can to improve health provision for residents. That includes the work that Mayor Ros Jones and the trust are doing to set up health on the high street, providing appropriate health provision in the city centre. That will not only improve and quicken the service, but increase footfall on the high street. The trust announced in December that as part of a wider £19.8 million investment project, some refurbishment works will be completed at Doncaster Royal Infirmary. That is welcome, but it is not the overall solution. As a result of not being included in the new hospital programme, the Doncaster and Bassetlaw hospital trust has come up with a thorough and extensive on-site rebuild and refurbishment plan. The estimated cost in 2023 for the full refurbishment and a new building in front of the east ward tower block was up to £356 million, the cost for work on the theatres £35 million, and a refurbishment of the women’s and children’s hospital, mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher), would cost up to £87 million. That would also help to generate some extra capacity, which is much needed in the current climate. This week, I visited Doncaster Royal Infirmary with my hon. Friend and the Minister to show her the extent of the repair backlog, and to demonstrate the urgency with which we need action. I am grateful to the Secretary of State for Health for meeting me and my right hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster North (Ed Miliband) this week to talk through the DRI refurbishment plan, and the support we need to get the rebuild work done. That work is also supported by my right hon. Friend the Member for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough (John Healey). The plan lays out the detail of proposed refurbishment works, not just to clear the repair backlog, but to ensure that core services are protected and a safe site can be ensured for a minimum of 20 years. I now ask the Government for action. I ask them for capital investment to clear the repair backlog, and to support the refurbishment and building programme, so that the people of Doncaster can access good-quality secondary care in a safe hospital. I ask the Government to support the staff at Doncaster Royal Infirmary in doing their jobs safely and effectively. I ask the Government to make sure that our hospital is fit for the future.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Airport Expansion · Hansard source

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  Following on from the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (Jo White), does the Minister agree that it is important to also support regional airports in the north, including Doncaster airport? The reopening of the airport is supported by all my neighbouring parliamentary colleagues. Together with my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher), I am working with Doncaster council and the South Yorkshire combined authority to get this critical piece of transport infrastructure back. The growth agenda will be a success only if places like Doncaster feel it too. It is important that the people of Doncaster and South Yorkshire can take off once again.

• 23 Jan 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  This weekend, I will be taking part in a run with people from Active Fusion— [Interruption.] Don’t sound so surprised. Active Fusion is a charity in my constituency that works with education, charity and community providers to help deliver physical education activities for young people across Doncaster. Will the Leader of the House join me in celebrating the fantastic work done by Active Fusion, and will she make time for a debate on how the Government can better support charities and organisations to deliver mental and physical health activities for young people who so desperately need it?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Foot and Mouth Disease · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister outline what measures are being taken to ensure that no animals infected in the outbreak in Germany end up in this country?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Health and Social Care: Winter Update · Hansard source

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  As part of making the NHS fit for the future, moving some patient care from hospital to the community will be pivotal. In Doncaster, mayor Ros Jones and the council are already well on the way with this and they are setting up “Health on the High Street”, which is good not just for patients but for footfall in the city centre. Will my right hon. Friend set out what his Department is doing to support areas such as Doncaster in delivering on this strategy?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  A recent report stated that there was an increased risk to life at Doncaster’s hospitals if a fire were to occur. There is also a risk of electrical failure due to the age and condition of the infrastructure. Despite much fanfare and promise, the previous Government did nothing to improve the condition of Doncaster royal infirmary. Added to that, we have one of the biggest repair backlogs in the country. Can the Leader of the House ensure that a Health Minister meets me and other Doncaster MPs urgently to ensure that our constituents have access to safe secondary care?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Public Finances: Borrowing Costs · Hansard source

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  It is a relief for me and my constituents in Doncaster Central that we finally have a Labour Government providing economic stability and investing in the industry of the future. [ Interruption. ] It is all right for Conservative Members to chunter, but after the mess they made, a period of silence on their part is warranted. Will my right hon. Friend lay out the action that he will take to ensure that all regions of the country, including places like Doncaster and South Yorkshire, benefit from growth?

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  All children deserve the very best start in life, and I will vote in favour of this Bill today on behalf of all the children in Doncaster Central who deserve just that. Along with many other measures, I am pleased that the Bill acknowledges the immense challenges faced by care leavers and care-experienced children, and that it will set a higher bar for councils to support young people who have left care. In Doncaster there were 542 looked-after children in 2023. The Bill’s success will be measured by their outcomes, which have long been ignored. As a former prison officer, I have worked with many care leavers in the prisons system and heard their experiences, some of which were harrowing. The statistics speak for themselves: it is estimated that around 50% of young offenders in custody and around 29% of the entire prison population are care-experienced. That fact is most sobering when highlighting the significant failures in the current system, and it serves as a reminder to us all that change must come. It signifies a consistent and enduring failure to support young people in the care system, and tells our young people that if they need to be cared for by the state, they are less likely to lead a positive and stable adult life. It is the taxpayer, frankly, who is picking up the bill. According to research from Become, the number of young care leavers aged between 18 and 20 approaching local authorities as homeless has increased by 54% over the past five years, and they are nine times more likely to face homelessness than other young people. I wholeheartedly welcome the measures in the Bill that strengthen arrangements to support and assist care leavers in their transition to adulthood, and I hope that legislating for local authorities to publish a full local care offer for care leavers will offer much-needed clarity and direction, which can often be uncertain. I hope the Government will consider the recommendations from Barnardo’s, which suggest that the Bill should extend corporate parenting principles to a greater range of public bodies, including the Home Office, the police and healthcare providers. Finally, I want to refer to something that has been raised by a number of colleagues today: the disgusting and excessive profiteering that exists in children’s social care. People and private providers who have no business in this area have been charging extortionate rates to councils and taxpayers while delivering the appalling outcomes that I discussed earlier. Change is much needed, and I am pleased that the Bill is finally here. It has been a long time coming for many vulnerable children across the country, and I look forward to seeing it progress.