Biography
Lord Polak has engaged on health and social care topics primarily through debate speeches, with particular focus on end-of-life care and cardiovascular health. He drew on personal experience, including his mother's death from brain cancer in 2023 and his own brain tumour diagnosis in 1988, when discussing the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and rare cancers respectively. He also secured engagement on sudden cardiac arrest in young people, co-hosting a symposium with Italian cardiologists to advocate for screening programmes, and raised concerns about NHS staff costs and their impact on junior doctors.
Generated from their own Hansard record, below
“My Lords, I am pleased to support the amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, to which I have added my name. As I understand it, the purpose of the amendment is pretty straightforward: it seeks to remove the current requirement in Section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2006 that, for a statement glorifying terrorism to…”
Record by topic
- Learning disability & autism592nd of 8994.0
- Cancer332nd of 6224.0
- Heart disease & stroke150th of 3984.0
- Assisted dying277th of 3712.0
- Palliative & end of life care452nd of 5682.0
- NHS waiting lists467th of 5342.0
- NHS & care workforce/staffing236th of 3022.0
What they’ve said
“…Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, an estimated 55,000 adults and children in England and Wales are currently on waiting lists for child sexual abuse support services. There are just 363 services remaining across the whole of England and Wales providing the necessary specialist support.”
Victims and Courts Bill · 2026-03-10 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…I am not a Luddite. My mother passed away in July 2023 from brain cancer, and this debate has reminded me of the Zoom call we had to look at the next stage of her treatment. I was here in London; my sister was with my mother in Liverpool, where she was lying in bed unable to speak.”
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · 2026-01-30 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…This is acute in brain cancers and other rare cancers where diagnosis is devastating, treatment is urgent and patients and their families face complex decisions at moments of extreme distress.”
Rare Cancers Bill · 2026-01-16 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…Take, for example, this real-life contact at the NSPCC helpline for those with concerns about a child. A special educational needs professional told the NSPCC: “I’ve seen what happens when people report any concerns, even minor ones.”
Crime and Policing Bill · 2025-11-27 · Read on Hansard ↗
“My Lords, on 6 May 2006, just prior to the Bill to legitimise assisted dying coming before Parliament, the late Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, published an op-ed entitled, The Jewish Tradition is Firmly Opposed to Assisted Dying.”
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · 2025-09-12 · Read on Hansard ↗
Contributions reproduced under the Open Parliament Licence.