Got a question for Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care?

[JustineMumsnet]

Hi all,

Next week we’ll be back in Westminster to put your questions to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting MP.

His brief covers some big areas that we know are really important to Mumsnetters - including maternity care, access to GPs and dentists, mental health services, social care, public health, and how we keep the NHS sustainable in the long term. If you’ve got a question you’d like me to ask, please post it below.

As ever, one question per user please and keep it civil. We’ll be tight on time, so please keep questions short and sharp, so I can get through as many as possible.

We’ll close the thread on Wednesday pm - so do get your questions in before then.

Thanks,
Justine

ONS data from March 2024 showed that the number of children afflicted with long covid DOUBLED between March 2023-March 2024.
What is he doing to address this escalating health crisis? And why aren’t the ONS collecting data anymore despite publishing these alarming statistics from last year?
Ignoring this problem will not make it disappear; there were a staggering 111,000 children suffering as of March last year in England Scotland alone. How many more children need to develop chronic health problems before he acknowledges the severity of the situation? Our children did not ask for the ‘let it rip’ approach to a pandemic, but they are paying the price for it.

A handful of mumsnet users have just completed an audit of all the NHS policies on single sex accommodation. Gender self ID has been adopted wholescale. The policies date from 2024 but there is no indication that the NHS will be changing its policy or practice following the Supreme Court Ruling on 16th April 2025.

Having audited policies for all 210 NHS Trusts in England we have found no evidence of any protected single sex accomodation for either staff or patients.

What are you going to do to reverse the complete institutional capture of the NHS by transactivism?

Why are women disbelieved and patronised by the medical profession? My dad went to his GP with some symptoms which could have indicated Parkinson’s. He was immediately referred for further testing which proved he wasn’t suffering from the disease.

My mum saw the same GP for far worse symptoms and was told she was suffering from anxiety and sent on her way. It took FOUR YEARS and a serious fall before her Parkinson’s was finally diagnosed. Had she started treatment earlier, we would have a lot more quality time with her.

She was fobbed off repeatedly and this seems to be a common theme with the NHS. If you’re a man then you must be telling the truth and therefore taken seriously, if you are a woman then you’re lying and hysterical. It needs to stop.

Why are hospital trusts making digital staff redundant when one of the main areas in the NHS 10 year plan is Analogue to Digital

Why is communication so poor? My DF was discharged after a two week hospital stay, in for a stroke. Was sent home with additional meds. A month later we need to re order the prescription, the letter with this info from the stroke unit has not been sent to the surgery, we cannot re order the prescription without it. I went to the hospital today to find out what’s happening and was told they are a month behind with letters to GPs . This is unacceptable. How is this allowed to happen? Teaching hospital that has been in special measures in East of England.

Why are so many hospital appointments sent by letter, with no attempt to ask what dates or times a patient could or could not make, sometimes when the letter arrives after the appointment date, and then patients are booted off the list for rearranging 3 appointments?

Why did my 90 year mother have to wait on a bed in a doorway for 4 days before being admitted to a stroke unit?

My daughter, aged 9, was one of a massively growing number of children who develop inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis). IBD is an incurable condition at present and she is likely to be a lifelong patient. This is a tragedy as well as expensive to the NHS; the biologic meds IBD patients use are pricey and increase the chance of a variety of cancers.

A variety of additives in modern foods, including emulsifiers, gums, carrageenan are implicated in the development of IBD in genetically susceptible individuals, by damaging guy mucosa and flora. The ADDapt trial recently showed that a diet free from emulsifiers is helpful in symptomatic improvement.

As health secretary do you have any plans to limit in children's food, ban or at the very least require labelling of foods which contain these ingredients? I think most people don't realise that low fat and/or gluten free "healthy" alternatives often have more gums and emulsifiers in to improve mouth feel or consistency. I feel there is a public health campaign needed to stop another generation of children from having serious autoimmune conditions triggered in childhood.

Why don’t you introduce fines for people who fail to show up for their appointments?

Because it would have to be applicable the opposite way too

Thanks for your viewpoint, but I posted the question for Wes Streeting.

My 12 year old son has been ill with long covid for over a year. His school attendance is 15%, hes had a horrendous time of it. He’s seen an nhs paediatrician once (said to give it time) and an online fatigue clinic who recommended pacing (basically reducing your activity levels low enough to minimise symptoms and increasing them very slowly if symptoms allow). He’s at about 20% of his normal activity levels and missing out on so much life.
long covid services have been cut and there is no medical treatment or support available for him.
What would you do if he was your son?

Currently the London inner weighting and outer London weighting are anachronistic and no longer reflect the actual costs of being in London. Will you scrap the OLW and harmonise all allowances to ILW rate. Also The ILW vs OLW impacts upon recruitment & retention

Parents who’s children on are on a waiting list generally feel forgotten about. It took 18months for my son to get a letter to confirm he is on the waiting list-we’re still waiting. What are you doing to improve waiting lists for all paediatric referrals?

Ageism is rife in the nhs.
What measures will be proposed to ensure that patients are treated equally.
ie Actually bothering to make a diagnosis of an illness would be a good start !!!!! In hospitals - no nil by mouth, the elderly not left in corridors, appropriate single sex care, appropriate care so patients fed, watered and changed if they cannot do it for themselves.

I have seen care issues at Watford General, Ashford and Medway Maritime and there are many threads on mumsnet in other hospitals around the country too

Two elderly relatives have died without referrals from GPs for any form of diagnosis of serious symptoms. One had lost nearly half their body weight and not a single test for cancer

Five months after the Supreme Court ruled that sex in the Equality Act means biological sex, and always has meant this, why does the entire NHS still operate policies that state that male adults and children will be admitted to female wards, changing areas and toilets, just because those male people claim to identify as trans? The NHS Trust I work in still has this policy and still claims it is "inclusive", even though they acknowledged the news of the Supreme Court verdict in our April hospital newsletter. Why is the NHS being allowed to break the law?

Will infection control guidelines for airborne diseases like covid be updated in line with scientific evidence so that hospitals employ testing and the correct ppe and air cleaning protocols to reduce the number of nosocomial infections and save lives?

Why aren’t you doing more to clean the air in schools and the workplace? Everywhere actually. This would have a huge impact on sickness levels and would result in a positive impact on the economy.

My child is now in year 3 and hasn’t had the follow up appointment since failing his Reception hearing screen! And now we’ve moved house he’s gone to the back of the queue again.

Why is the Government not prioritising clearing the waiting lists for children, when long pauses in healthcare have a greater impact on them?

UK pharma has been described by this government as a jewel in the crown for economic growth, but your failure to agree a reasonable pricing deal is leading to dis investment in the UK and will lead to a loss of jobs and new medicines not being made available for patients in this country. When are you going to get back in the room to negotiate a deal, to ensure that UK patients will get access to the best medicines?

The NHS is amazing. I and many people I know wouldn’t be here without it. No it’s not perfect but I feel that it’s a crucial USP of the UK and out national identity- and we desperately need it to carry on. Health is the most important job in government IMO. Everything else flows from this.

So what’s the grand plan to ensure that with the ageing, stressed and sedentary population we have, that the NHS can be fit and healthy for the future?

Also, the NHS workforce seems to have been depleted after Brexit? How is future workforce planning working? There were a lot of threads about young doctors who have been studying in the UK not being able to get jobs in the UK. How are you working to attract and keep the NHS workforce that the NHS and this country needs?

also supply chain to the NHS- we are constantly waiting and running out of commonly prescribed medicines in my family, causing unnecessary illness and stress and wasted time for patients and rpharmacists. Again this seems like a post Brexit thing. What will you do about that?

How are you working to improve joined up digital data sharing between the different parts of healthcare for improving everyday healthcare and for enabling research (which could also be a moneyspinner for the NHS if managed properly). And for digital communications with patients of course- paper letters in this day and age feel like a huge waste of resources and time.

The news says pharmaceutical companies are pulling out of the UK. This is very worrying for the NHS and for our tax take. what are you going to do to stop that happening any more?

It is reported that many of the private companies running our residential facilities, care homes and nursing homes are making profits of 20-25%. Why are we allowing taxpayers' money to line the pockets of millionaires who routinely provide substandard conditions for the people who use their services? Given that social care accounts for around 70% of the expenditure of many LAs, what is the government doing to plug this huge leak which not only increases the wealth gap by directly funnelling the public's money into wealthy private pockets, but also reduces the available funds for much needed services provided by the LA?

Why are you undertaking a massive restructure of health commissioning (the fourth in 12 years) with a rushed 10 year plan full of gaps and at a cost of £millions, when it will reduce the focus on local need and when the money and staff time could be better spent on improving front line services and reducing waiting lists?

There needs to be someone in a and e checking on the elderly and disabled actually anyone there , that they are ok
because if you are there waiting for 8 hours quite often the elderly disabled people with children have no access to water or food ( I understand food may not be a necessity and can be dangerous if needing an op)
but patients need to stay hydrated .

Already been asked - but I want to know too - what are you going to do to reverse the complete institutional capture of the NHS by transactivism? Also do you have any plan to reduce the number of sexual assaults that take place in hospital?