Health Bill: Bishop of Newcastle speaks at second reading

The Bishop of Newcastle spoke at the second reading of the Health Bill on 13th October 2026, stressing the need to reduce health inequalities and empower patients and communities:

The Lord Bishop of Newcastle: My Lords, it is an honour to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell of Surbiton. I note the historic nature of her excellent speech. I congratulate noble Lords who are making their maiden speeches and welcome the wisdom and experience that they will bring to your Lordships’ House.

I welcome this Bill’s ambition to improve care and make better use of resources. I want to highlight three interlinked issues: trust, health inequalities and the relationships on which good care depends.

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Bishop of Leicester raises need for openness to new medical practices in debate on international partnerships

The Bishop of Leicester spoke in a debate on international medical partnerships on 17th September 2026, stressing the need for openness to new ways of practice and a sense of cultural humility:

I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Crisp, for securing this debate, and it is an honour to follow him. I thank him sincerely for his sustained work over a number of decades to show how medical partnerships with low-income and middle-income countries bring benefits both to those countries and to our own NHS.

This is something very dear to my own heart. My wife is a paediatrician and, together, we worked for a number of years in west Africa. My son has just graduated and started his first job as a doctor in Derby. Earlier this year, he did his medical elective in east Africa and, because he studied at the University of Newcastle, he was able to do the whole of his second year at Newcastle’s campus in Malaysia, an advantage he did not know about when he applied to that university. In a number of ways, cross-cultural medical work has been a big part of my family’s experience.

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Archbishop of Canterbury asks about effects of AI generation on public confidence in vaccines

The Archbishop of Canterbury asked a question on the effects of AI generation on public confidence in vaccines on 9th July 2026:

The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, we know that public confidence in vaccines is essential if there is to be good uptake and if they are to be effective. What are the Government planning to do to ensure that there is public confidence in AI-generated vaccines, and have they considered involving community and faith groups in this? Those are key to ensuring public confidence in this area.

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Bishop of Manchester calls for scientific trials to take precedence over culture wars over puberty blockers

The Bishop of Manchester asked a question on the importance of scientific trials to produce evidence-based results on the use of puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria on 25th June 2026:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: Would the Minister agree that the scientific trials are the best way to try to remove this from the culture wars that are so damning this particular topic?

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Bishop of Norwich asks about safety measures during heatwaves

The Bishop of Norwich received the following written answer on 10th June 2026:

The Bishop of Norwich asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce heat-related deaths during heat waves in the UK.

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Bishop of Chelmsford asks about potential debate on implications of whole-genome sequencing of infants

The Bishop of Chelmsford asked a question on the opportunity for the House to debate the implications of whole genome-sequencing on 18th September 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: When will the House have the opportunity to debate this policy for whole-genome sequencing with all its details, given that it has such weighty and far-reaching implications for healthcare, prevention and a number of ethical issues, as we have already heard?

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Bishop of Sheffield asks about integration of adult social care with the NHS

The Bishop of Sheffield asked a question on building awareness of adult social care in the NHS workforce on 26th June 2025, during a discussion on integration between the two services:

The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: In the light of the 2023 Hewitt review into integrated care systems, how are the Government building greater awareness of adult social care in the NHS workforce in order to enable greater collaboration?

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Bishop of London asks about ensuring equal access to adult social care

The Bishop of London asked a question on government efforts to tackle inequality of access to adult social care on 16th June 2025, during a discussion on remedying workforce gaps and skills shortages in the sector:

The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, given the well-documented regional and social economic disparities in access to adult social care, in what way are the Government, in focusing on the shortages in the workforce, focusing their efforts on tackling this inequality in access?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about possibility of a tax on ultra-processed foods

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 6th June 2025:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to introducing a tax on ultra-processed foods.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about incidences of stress related workplace absence

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 2nd June 2025:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asks His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of lost work-days due to stress, depression, or anxiety in women.

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