Mrs Sharon Hodgson

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Sir Jeremy. I congratulate the hon. Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) on securing this important debate. I thank all hon. Members who have taken part: we have heard from 10 Back-Bench Members on the issue this morning. We have heard powerful accounts of the value of community hospitals and community health services more widely, and the difference that these services can make to patients and their families. That can be particularly true for rural communities, as we have heard. I also want to acknowledge my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray). I think she said that she had worked for 22 years in community hospitals, and she spoke powerfully about being at work in her community hospital 10 years ago today when the news broke about our good friend Jo Cox. I join my hon. Friend in offering deepest condolences to Jo’s sister, my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater), to the wider family and to Brendan and their children. We can all recall where we were on that awful day when we heard the horrifying news. This debate goes to the heart of a wider question: how we deliver more care closer to home, and the role of community hospitals in that future. That is why the Government’s ambition to shift more care out of hospitals and into communities matters so much. As we look to the future of the NHS, we want a stronger neighbourhood health service, better integration between health and social care and easier access to support, closer to where people live. To do this, we will deliver 250 neighbourhood health centres, with 120 of them opening by 2030. That will make it easier for people to access care closer to where they live, up and down the country. These centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a wide range of health and care services on people’s doorstep. We want to see a neighbourhood health centre in every community.