My Lords, I appreciate the time, but I am passionate about Amendment 13, hence my name being on it alongside that of the noble Baronesses, Lady Burt, Lady Brinton and Lady Meacher.
The reason why I am so intrigued by how we treat children suffering from domestic abuse and the effects of having to move around in terms of getting healthcare goes back to when I lost my husband in 2007 and my three daughters were witnesses to that horrific crime. I remember trying to get my daughters some health support from my local commissioner and, failing that, to try to get my youngest daughter to see a therapist due to lack of sleep as a result of the trauma that she suffered. At that time, the response was that nobody could be fast-tracked and that everybody went through the same door. The knowledge of how difficult it is to cope with trauma has never left me—and I did not have to cope with domestic abuse. I was not living in a refuge. I was just trying to do my best to protect my three daughters, who still suffer to this day.
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I am really concerned about how we treat children who are getting no services, or services are being delayed, through moving to refuges in different areas. Children fleeing abuse desperately need fast access to healthcare. I appreciate that the Government are trying to get this right, but protected status on an NHS waiting list is necessary for these vulnerable children. As I said, I had difficulty although I did not live with domestic abuse and nor was I fleeing, but the trauma of not being able to get access to the waiting list has never left me.
How do these families which are struggling to get there feel? This is, after all, about individuals—about humanity—so I am grateful to a case study from Hestia. A family is in a refuge; the daughter needs speech therapy appointments and has been put on a list, but the list goes on and on. Azra—the names have been changed—had turned five years old and they were preparing to leave the house because they had to move. No housing options were available in their local area. The window of opportunity to treat her speech development was running out. The mother did not know what to do next for her family.
This is not just a case of receiving medical care for trauma or anything else. It is about having access to care in your local area, wherever you are moved to. I ask noble Lords to look at the amendment and realise how we so easily take our healthcare for granted. In the pandemic, we have seen what brave and heroic people we have in the NHS. I ask the Minister to look at this amendment and do the best she possibly can for a young child who is going through trauma and is being moved around, and for a mother who is trying to get the best possible treatment for their health.