Dr Zubir Ahmed
MP for Glasgow South West · Labour · United Kingdom
“I commend my right hon. Friend for how she has gone about reducing the use of asylum hotels in this country, after the shocking legacy left behind by 14 years of the last Government.”
“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making such a powerful speech; she always holds up a moral compass to us all in this place. Does she agree that those who deny access to medical treatment to children as young as four—who, while waiting for medical treatment, get to the point of near-fatal dehydration—and those who deny cancer patients…”
“The Secretary of State will know very well that Glasgow South West is home to a storied, nationally significant collection of advanced manufacturing, from Type 26 frigate construction at BAE Systems, to small satellites at Craft Prospect, to the maritime supply chain at the Malin Group.”
“I start by commending my right hon. Friend on his thoughtful and considerate approach to this investigation and other matters during his time in office. He rightly spoke about culture, and others have spoken about ideology.”
“Friend share the findings of this report formally with the Scottish Government, because many of the findings on training, culture and clinical pathways will resonate there? Unfortunately, the Scottish Government have been less than forthcoming with their own investigations into this matter.”
“I did not know Jo, but I acutely remember the day when Jo was murdered. I was working as a doctor across the river in Guy’s hospital. I remember being unable to sleep that night, and seeing my right hon. Friend the Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) and my hon.”
The complete record
Every one of 520 lines we hold for Dr Zubir Ahmed, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 1 of 11.
“I commend my right hon. Friend for how she has gone about reducing the use of asylum hotels in this country, after the shocking legacy left behind by 14 years of the last Government. She will know that these hotels have unfortunately become a source of right-wing intimidation and violence, affecting community cohesion and creating tension. Can she reassure me that as families are moved out of these hotels, particularly in Scotland, they are put in accommodation that is appropriate not only for them, but for the communities in which they are housed?”
“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making such a powerful speech; she always holds up a moral compass to us all in this place. Does she agree that those who deny access to medical treatment to children as young as four—who, while waiting for medical treatment, get to the point of near-fatal dehydration—and those who deny cancer patients in their thousands access to medical care in these settlements, are and should be defined as terrorists? If these settlers should be defined as terrorists, is it not incumbent on us and this Government to strain every diplomatic and every technological sinew to ensure that not one single pound of our money is spent enabling this behaviour?”
“The Secretary of State will know very well that Glasgow South West is home to a storied, nationally significant collection of advanced manufacturing, from Type 26 frigate construction at BAE Systems, to small satellites at Craft Prospect, to the maritime supply chain at the Malin Group. What conversations is the Secretary of State having with businesses in Glasgow and Glasgow South West specifically about how we can grow this advanced manufacturing base, so that Glasgow can play its full part in Britain’s reindustrialisation?”
“Friend share the findings of this report formally with the Scottish Government, because many of the findings on training, culture and clinical pathways will resonate there? Unfortunately, the Scottish Government have been less than forthcoming with their own investigations into this matter.”
“I start by commending my right hon. Friend on his thoughtful and considerate approach to this investigation and other matters during his time in office. He rightly spoke about culture, and others have spoken about ideology. Does he agree that the only ideology that matters as we try to change this culture should be rooted in science and evidence? Will my right hon. Friend therefore consider ensuring that women in maternity are the first in line to be the beneficiaries of that science and evidence, whether through the single patient record or having access to their maternity care records? That data can make sure that poor care has nowhere to hide. We need to finally get AI-enabled scanners and replace the 19th-century equipment that is currently being used to listen to babies’ heartbeats. Finally, will my right hon.”
“We have a responsibility not to leave the next generation alone as they navigate that space, and we must be compelled, as a Government, to regulate that space and protect young children’s impressionable minds there. Lastly, as a teetotal doctor, I encourage everyone who is not bound by religious obligation—perhaps even the hon. Member for Gorton and Denton (Hannah Spencer), who is absent today—to go and partake in Jo’s beer.”
“I did not know Jo, but I acutely remember the day when Jo was murdered. I was working as a doctor across the river in Guy’s hospital. I remember being unable to sleep that night, and seeing my right hon. Friend the Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) and my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips) on television mourning their friend. I have subsequently had the pleasure of getting to know my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater). She is a credit to her sister and to this place, and in the way she has taken forward the assisted dying debate, on which we have differing views. Does she agree that the space and the toxicity she talks about is a social media landscape now, much more than it was even 10 years ago?”
“Finally, the King’s baton, with which the games will be opened, was handcrafted by GalGael, a social enterprise based in Govan in Glasgow South West, using reclaimed wood from Pollok Country Park. I do not think there is a better symbol of Glasgow than Glasgow timber being handcrafted by Glaswegians and travelling to every part of our Commonwealth ahead of these games. Glasgow has earned this moment, and I am confident that it will make the most of it.”
“It is therefore timely to remind ourselves that, as a Commonwealth family, those shared values must come to the fore, and we as Members of this place all have a responsibility to articulate those values in these times of stress and turbulence. When telling the story of the 2026 Commonwealth games and how they came to Glasgow, it is important to re-emphasise that when Victoria withdrew, the games were in danger of fizzling out. In fact, there was even a danger that Commonwealth games as a concept could come to an end. However, Glasgow, the UK Government and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport stepped forward to ensure that the games can once again be celebrated, and that our Commonwealth family can celebrate, too.”
“I am confident that when the athletes from the 74 nations touch down in Glasgow later this year, they will feel at home, with smells and languages quite familiar to them, thanks to the diverse communities that occupy Glasgow. I hope that, in some sense, they will feel at home during their time here, as one Commonwealth family bound by the shared values, histories and stories that we all carry. It is particularly important to emphasise those shared values today, because last night we saw some violence on Buchanan Street in Glasgow, under the watchful eye of the statue of Donald Dewar, the father of our nation. That underlines that Glasgow is not immune to the challenges of social cohesion—or, indeed, prejudice.”
“In that sense, Glasgow 2026 does not start from scratch; it stands on the shoulders of giants like my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West—that is a very special thing indeed. These games are also personal to me and my own Commonwealth story. In 1963, my father came to this country by road from Pakistan, a proud Commonwealth nation. I grew up in the city and was trained as a surgeon by many Commonwealth citizens. I now have the singular honour of being the Member of Parliament for Glasgow South West, perhaps the most diverse constituency in Scotland, and one that has been shaped by its many Commonwealth connections from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and the Caribbean.”
“As the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport in the Scottish Labour Government, she helped to lay the important foundations of what we celebrate today—the ambition, the infrastructure and the belief that Glasgow could stand on the world stage and deliver, all of which was seeded during her tenure as a Minister. The 2014 Commonwealth games showed what Glasgow was capable of. Under a Labour council that understood what sport could do, and what it could unleash for communities, the city welcomed athletes and visitors from across the globe, and by wide consensus, it did not disappoint. The legacy of those games was lasting, not only in the venues and infrastructure but in the civic pride felt by the volunteers and citizens, and by the young people who watched those games and dared to dream to become athletes themselves.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. It is also an honour to have the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley South (Stephanie Peacock), respond to this debate. She knows Glasgow well and was generous with her time when she was last in the city, visiting Crookston castle, the Nethercraigs sports complex—which is not a Commonwealth games venue, unfortunately, but perhaps next time—and the Pakistani Street Food café. I believe that she is due in Glasgow South West tomorrow, so it is wonderful that she is responding to the debate. As well as congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) on securing the debate, it is important to thank her, as other Members have done, for her long record championing Glasgow and sport.”
“To develop the point made by my dear hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow East (John Grady), I have been worshipping at Glasgow central mosque since it opened in 1984, and it is timely to remind hon. Members that the mosque was at the epicentre of the last Commonwealth games in Glasgow. As hon. Members will appreciate, a number of athletes were coming from Muslim-majority Commonwealth countries, and it was Ramadan at the time. The mosque became an epicentre for many athletes; it was where they first and foremost found the community of Glasgow. I am also shocked to hear that last night the mosque had to be closed, but I am deeply confident that, in the course of the games, the people of Glasgow will show themselves to be the welcoming, diverse community that they have always been and always will be.”
“We can no longer afford to look the other way. We have to lean in to the arguments and the headwinds that say, “No, not yet” or, “Not this much all at once.” We have to say to our citizens, and to our NHS staff who demand we get the basics right, that we are ready to face down those headwinds, those noisy tweets and those vested interest positions and say loudly, “Yes, right now” and, “Yes, as big as we can,” because our NHS can, because its patients expect us to, and because its users demand us to go further. This movement and this party were born of difficult times to deliver in difficulty, and this Bill will definitely and ultimately deliver on that promise.”
“There is nothing safe about going from one hospital to another where a consultant cannot see your scans, or your child urgently attending an A&E department where their medical history cannot be seen or, as recently happened in my own practice in the middle of the night, having to turn down an organ donation because we could not access GP records at the weekend. What about data security? The NHS is dependent on thousands of IT systems born out of necessity rather than design. If we were designing it, we would never have done it this way, but we must now be absolutely committed to making sure that data is safe and that military-grade security prevails. During my time as health innovation Minister, I was clear—as those on our Front Bench today are clear—that NHS data is sovereign and must be used for the benefit of patients.”
“It is a simple concept, demanded by patients and the vast majority of people who look after them, that there should be a single and comprehensive source of truth about a patient’s history when it is most needed. Most of the public believe it already exists, yet it has proven harder than ever to deliver because of conservatism, paralysed by the thought of the worst outcomes and unable to plan for the best outcomes, and by a belief that patient safety and data safety are somehow tangled up in the status quo.”
“It is in this mood of cynicism and despondency that this Labour Government are charged with the responsibility of modernising our NHS and showing that we dare to go big again: going big on giving more power and control to patients and the staff who look after them; going big on taking the bold decisions, even if controversial, on becoming the healthiest generation that has ever lived; and going big on grasping the opportunity that technology presents us with. That is the path we start on today. It answers the cries of patients and answers the call of those who want to look after them. Take the single patient record, which has been lauded in the news today as an exemplar of this Bill. It is a programme that, as health innovation Minister, I was proud to start off and bring my NHS experience to.”
“In an era of AI, technology and digital transformation, they left highly skilled staff with 21st-century clinical skills and 20th-century equipment, and left the public feeling more adrift than ever from their most prized national asset. Let us also not spare their handmaidens in Scotland, the Scottish National Government, who fared no better: NHS spending going up and productivity coming down; no NHS app to book appointments or get test results; lung cancer screening lagging behind; and 24/7 21st-century stroke care that is more like Russian roulette.”
“There are 1.5 million people working in the NHS—including once-idealistic surgeons like me, who unapologetically gave our youth to the NHS because we enjoyed our craft so much that sometimes it did not even feel like work—but those staff have been battered by austerity and covid. They are hoping for better days but, despite the improvements that have been made in the last two years, I know that they harbour a quiet hopelessness that perhaps their workplace can never be joyful again. They are good people who are resigned to running faster just to stay still and keep their patients safe. All that is because of a 14-year-long Tory Government and the choices they made. They made political choices to rob Peter to pay Paul, and to fail to invest in our NHS.”
“The success of that legislation is perhaps best exemplified in the fact that we now have a whole generation who feel it is their inalienable right to go indoors and never have to inhale passive smoke or suffer all the deleterious effects that come with it. Now, as then, the NHS is holding a mirror up to our society. For those who rely on it, there is anxiety and frustration about why, so often, we do not get the basics right, from grappling with the uncertainty of simply seeing a doctor or specialist to the anxiety that comes with waiting for a scan or its results.”
“Twenty-one years ago, when I started my NHS career as a junior doctor, there were Labour Governments in every part of Britain, and I was proud to have practised in every single nation of our country. The NHS then exemplified the mood of our nation: hopeful, comfortable in its own skin and confident about embracing, even shaping, its future. And we did shape that future. The Labour Government delivered world-class heart attack care, stroke care and cancer care, regardless of where someone lived and their ability to pay for it. We also drove through controversy to secure a smoke-free generation, starting in Scotland and then delivering it all across these isles.”
“I speak as a recently departed member of the ministerial team that delivered the women’s health strategy and a former Minister responsible for digital health. Of course we must protect people from harmful content, but does my hon. Friend agree with me that at a time when medical misogyny is alive and thriving and women’s health outcomes are worse than men’s, we should think about how we can more responsibly leverage the algorithms to generate discussion, not silence it, about reproductive rights, cancer awareness, menstruation, menopause and everything else that she has mentioned?”
“My hon. Friend is making a thought-provoking contribution, and I thank her for her leadership on international aid, both before she came to this place and now. With Gaza in mind, does she agree that although the cameras have turned away, we cannot? As a British and UK Labour Government, we have a moral responsibility to continue to provide whatever medical assistance and expertise is required in that area.”
“Although there are no plans at the moment to establish a national review body to oversee wheelchair provision, the medium-term planning framework, published in October, requires that from this year all ICBs and community health services should actively manage and reduce waits over 18 weeks and develop a plan to eliminate all 52-week waits. The framework also states that in 2026-27, ICBs are required to “increase community health service capacity”— including wheelchair services— “to meet growth in demand, expected to be approximately 3% nationally per year”.”
“I understand that there have been complaints about the quality of services commissioned by some ICBs. Some of these are being dealt with on an individual basis by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, following escalation by individual patients. As part of its oversight of ICBs, NHS England is also gathering intelligence through regional teams to understand fully the issues being raised. It is important that local commissioners have the discretion to decide how best to meet the needs of their local population, and we are giving systems control and flexibility over how that is done. None the less, the Government are taking action to support local systems in delivering effective wheelchair services.”
“Member an urgent letter to update him, as I know that he is genuinely concerned about the topic. ICBs are expected to monitor service provision and effectively manage contracts with their commissioned providers. Although the latest data from NHS England shows a reduction in wheelchair waiting times for adults, I recognise that far too many people of all ages, as we have heard today, experience unacceptable delays for appropriate equipment. The covid pandemic had a significant impact on wheelchair services, from which we are still suffering in terms of supply chain disruption. That has meant that waiting times for both adults and children have fluctuated unnecessarily—well, unacceptably—as services have worked to recover. Those with more complex needs can also experience delays due to the lead-in time for supply of more bespoke equipment.”
“Through our reforms to health and social care, we are dedicated to delivering meaningful change that will make that vision a reality. Integrated care boards, as has been highlighted, are responsible for commissioning local wheelchair services. Responsibility for providing disability equipment lies with local authorities or the NHS, depending on the person’s needs. For adults and children with long-term complex needs, services are typically provided by NHS wheelchair services. There is a range of NHS wheelchair providers across England, as we have heard. I acknowledge the concerns that the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) raises about NRS. My hon. Friend the Minister for Care and I will be having discussions about that, and it would be appropriate to write the hon.”
“Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan). I have been struck by the compelling testimonies shared during those discussions and the ones today, highlighting the profound impact that timely access to appropriate disability equipment can have on people’s lives. This is a matter clearly deserving of much more attention. Since the previous debate on this topic, I have written to the national quality board to request that disabled people and the equipment they use are considered as part of the board’s ongoing work to improve quality and reduce inequality across health and care services. I am pleased to update that the board has confirmed it will take this forward. This Government remain steadfast in their commitment to ensuring that disabled people can access the services and support they need.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Daniel Francis) on securing this important debate and also on challenging us, born of his lived experience, to make the lives of disabled people better and better lived across our country. We are grateful for his presence in this House and this place, every single day. I am also grateful to my hon. Friend for the work he has done to champion this interest more generally in his capacity as co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for wheelchair users. In recent months wheelchair services have received considerable attention, both within Parliament and more widely. As has been highlighted, last month I participated in a debate on the provision of disability equipment, brought forward by the hon.”
“Other measures taken by NHS England include the establishment of a national dataset on wheelchair waiting times to increase transparency and to enable targeted action if improvement is required, and the introduction of the legal right to a personal wheelchair budget in 2019. Personal wheelchair budgets provide a clear framework for ICBs to commission personalised wheelchair services that are outcomes-focused and integrated with other aspects of care.”
“In April 2025 NHS England published the wheelchair quality framework, in collaboration with the wheelchair advisory group, which I understand includes the Wheelchair Alliance and Whizz Kidz, both of which were recognised by hon. Members in the debate today. That framework is designed to assist ICBs and NHS wheelchair service providers in delivering high-quality provision that offers improved access, outcomes and experiences. The framework sets out quality standards relevant to all suppliers and aligns with the Care Quality Commission assessment framework that applies to providers, local authorities and integrated care systems. Those quality standards should be used to develop local service specifications and to benchmark current commissioning and provision.”
“I am very happy to share with him some of my thoughts about that over a cup of tea later, if he is interested. The community health services situation report will be used to monitor ICB performance against waiting time targets in 2026-27. Those targets will guide systems to reduce the longest waits. In addition, the 10-year plan makes a commitment to reviewing the complaints regulations, and NHSE and the Department of Health and Social Care are developing plans to achieve that. NHS England has developed policy, guidance and legislation to support ICBs to reduce delays and unacceptable regional variation in the quality and provision of wheelchair services.”
“Ultimately, ICBs are responsible for delivering the framework. The Government are held accountable in the manner being seen today, and I have no doubt that in the new structures that we propose there will be further accountability, because in many ways the middleman will be removed and we will have more direct oversight as to what is going on with wheelchair services and other services up and down the country. I take the hon. Member’s point on data as well. I am the Minister responsible for data, health innovation and innovation in general, and I think this moment of restructuring, whether in relation to wheelchair services or other parts of the system, is a moment for us to really get into the 21st century with our capabilities for monitoring data for operational and capacity planning.”
“I am cognisant of the work he has done and the personal attention he gives to these matters, and I offer him a meeting with Department officials in my office to go through them in greater detail. My officials will be in touch to arrange that. I hope that the work, reforms and modernisation I have set out address the questions he has raised. I assure hon. Members that we take this issue extremely seriously, and remain committed to improving the lives of disabled people up and down our country.”
“The disabled facilities grant budget across 2025-26 and 2026-27 is £150 million more than the total budget across the previous two years, representing an 11% increase that exceeds inflation. The independent commission into adult social care, chaired by Baroness Louise Casey, is building consensus on the medium and long-term reforms required to create a social care system that is fit for the future, with the phase 1 report due this year. I recognise the profound impact that delays in wheelchair provision are having on the quality of life of hon. Members’ constituents, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford for highlighting that today. He had a number of asks of me, to which I hope I have responded.”
“In July 2025, the Government announced that we will develop a new plan for disability, setting out a clear vision to break down barriers to opportunity for disabled people. We are making more than £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care in 2028-29 compared with 2025-26, to support the sector and make the improvements that we all crave. We have also established the better care fund, a framework for ICBs and local authorities to make joint plans and pool budgets to deliver better, joined-up holistic care. This financial year, ICBs and local authorities plan to spend £440 million on assistive technology and equipment such as wheelchairs. We also continue to invest in support for home adaptations to enable independent living, with £723 million confirmed for the disabled facilities grant this year.”
“I totally agree with my hon. Friend. That is partly a reflection of the underfunding of aspects of the NHS over the past decade and a half. As she well knows, our party supports the NHS, and we have funded it with £26 billion of additional funding. That will clearly take time to filter through to the services that require the most. The Government are also driving forward improvements for disabled people through our wider reforms to health and social care. The recently published neighbourhood health framework aims to improve health and care outcomes, and reduce inequalities through more convenient, personalised and joined-up care. It includes a focus on improving the diagnosis and treatment of people with long-term conditions, so that they feel more in control of their care.”
“784, c. 2WC.] (Correction) It is an important tool for us being able to make the NHS fit for the future on clinical efficiency, transparency of data and outcomes for patients up and down the country. Before I go into more detail about what the FDP does, it is important that I say what it does not do. For instance, it is not synonymous with the single patient record, the NHS app or—necessarily—with linking primary care data with secondary care data.”
“Making the best use of data generated by the NHS and social care is essential to transforming services, improving outcomes for patients and making sure that we use resources in the best manner possible. Lord Darzi’s independent investigation into the NHS found that, despite huge volumes of data, fundamentally: “The last decade was a missed opportunity to prepare the NHS” to use the latest technologies. The FDP is part of an infrastructure—it is not the infrastructure or the only infrastructure—to resolve that gap. It is improving efficiency and generating savings across the health service worth up to £2.4 billion, according to independent estimates. Those independent estimates are being further bolstered by a commissioned study by Imperial College that will look at the economic impact of the FDP. [ Official Report, 22 April 2026; Vol.”
“1WC.] (Correction) Each of those have different responsibilities to make sure that there is training, health expertise and security in the FDP. Ultimately, the FDP is a federation of local trusts and ICBs within NHS England, each with their own version of the FDP and their own abilities to decide which information they put there on the basis of their own service needs and governance arrangements. Although there should be scrutiny of Palantir and of any contract, we should also provide clarity about what the FDP is delivering for the NHS. It is my duty to make sure that the FDP is improving patient and clinical experience and improving patient outcomes.”
“It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Siobhain. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Martin Wrigley) for securing this important debate and for his and other hon. Members’ contributions to it. Of course, we should also welcome the hon. Member for Solihull West and Shirley (Dr Shastri-Hurst) to his place in his first debate on the Front Bench. We have heard a lot about concerns and insights and interpretations about the NHS’s technological architecture. Some would have us think that the FDP is synonymous with just one company. It is not. The FDP is fundamentally an NHS construct. It consists of multiple contracts awarded to a number of consortia, including Palantir, Accenture, PwC, Carnall Farrar and the North of England Care System Support. [ Official Report, 22 April 2026; Vol. 784, c.”
“Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East spoke about the MyCare app in Scotland. That remains a far-fetched dream rather than a reality. The limit of the ambition of that app seems to be, as I understand it, a dermatology service in one part of Scotland called Lanarkshire, for those who are not familiar with Scotland. It is a million miles away from what has been developed down here in England.”
“I am going to carry on for a bit longer. The hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) tempts me with his speech, and he knows that I cannot resist his temptation. He spoke about Scotland and he will know that I am an NHS surgeon in Scotland. I hope he thinks that I can speak with some authority about the NHS in Scotland, so let me tell him a few things about the digital architecture in the NHS there. The NHS app has been running successfully in England for over eight years. Three out of four people in the NHS in England have that app. To clarify, the app is not Palantir; it has been devised organically on the ground by NHS England—by clinicians and by technologists. It now serves millions of patients to book test results, screenings and appointments—including GP appointments —to end the 8 am rush. The hon.”
“OPTICA lets the trust see all that information in one place in real time. It has reduced the number of long stays by a third, and despite a 7% increase in admissions over that time, we are improving services overall.”
“The NHS federated data platform in England connects health information held in different systems, helping to manage activity to improve productivity and outcomes. By connecting critical data streams, it can accelerate diagnosis pathways, streamline discharge processes and ensure faster, more co-ordinated care that reduces waiting times for all patients. I will briefly describe a couple of examples. North Tees and Hartlepool NHS foundation trust uses an FDP product called OPTICA to map the patient’s journey from being admitted to going home. It used to be done with spreadsheets, which were not always updated. Because of that, discharges were delayed, medicines were not sorted on time—in some cases time-critical medicines, causing real patient harm—and patients were therefore impacted.”
“I will not; I am going to carry on—and I will tell the hon. Gentleman something further. The NHS in England was quite happy to use the expertise of technologists up and down the country, including in Scotland—including, in my own constituency of Glasgow South West, a company called Cohesion Medical. His Government in Scotland, who have been in government for over 20 years, refused that offer. That is why my patients and constituents in Scotland are unable to access simple digital services. It is why my patients and my constituents under NHS Scotland are 30 times more likely to wait over two years for treatment. It is why my patients and my constituents in Scotland are unable to access optimal stroke therapy and lung cancer screening.”
“At the Mersey and West Lancashire teaching hospitals NHS trust, they are using the FDP to better manage the lists for planned surgery. That allows surgeons like me to operate on more people each day, and it is cutting waiting lists. This has been achieved through better use of data. It is a timely reminder that in England we are improving productivity in the national health service, getting more operations done per list and getting closer to pre-covid levels of activity. The same cannot be said for Scotland under the SNP Government.”
“There has also been a 14% decrease in delays to discharging patients staying in hospital for more than seven days, freeing up hospital beds for those who need them most. The last Government awarded the Palantir contract on the basis of a successful bid that was deemed to be significantly better, and by a significant order of magnitude, than those of its competitors. It was judged the most economically advantageous and likely to deliver the best-quality outcome for patients. The contract was awarded with an overall value of up to £330 million over a maximum of the seven-year term. So far, £210 million has been invested, as we scale up. The benefits of the FDP are exceeding those we forecast, as I have already outlined, but—”
“The FDP has exceeded every single target since its go-live date in March 2024, and 137 NHS trusts are actively utilising the platform and have reported benefits. The programme is significantly exceeding its benefits forecast, with external independent experts validating these results. NHS England publishes data on how the FDP has benefited patients and the NHS. The data collected up to the end of March will be published in May. I can share the figures with Members now. Since the go-live date in March 2024, more than 100,000 additional patients have been supported to undergo procedures in theatres, partly due to increasing theatre utilisation. Nearly 94,000 people have been supported on their cancer journey, with 7% seeing a reduction in the time taken to diagnose their cancer.”