Biography
Richard Foord has engaged extensively on health and social care topics through 40 debate speeches across a broad range of issues including dentistry access, community hospitals, hearing loss and disability equipment, rural healthcare provision, and sudden cardiac death screening. His contributions frequently highlight challenges specific to his Devon constituency and rural areas more broadly, such as the south-west's particularly poor NHS dentistry access rates and the invisible nature of rural healthcare challenges from Westminster. Notable examples include advocating for screening programmes for sudden cardiac death in young people and raising concerns about support for unpaid carers, including the story of a constituent caring for parents with serious conditions.
Generated from their own Hansard record, below
“…This issue does not just concern the local environment: it also concerns public health and infrastructure, and it is increasingly a question of public trust in the Government’s ability to regulate companies that provide utilities properly. The facts on the ground are damning.”
Record by topic
- Mental health112th of 88032.5
- Dentistry access7th of 19430.0
- Learning disability & autism187th of 89921.0
- Public health & prevention72nd of 68818.0
- A&E & ambulance response32nd of 25811.5
- Dementia30th of 2519.0
- Elderly care & frailty14th of 2369.0
- Cancer180th of 6229.0
- Palliative & end of life care158th of 5689.0
- NHS waiting lists207th of 5346.0
- Long Covid7th of 556.0
- Maternity & neonatal238th of 4383.0
- Heart disease & stroke174th of 3983.0
- Hospital discharge / bed-blocking41st of 1393.0
- Health inequalities135th of 2883.0
- Adult social care & reform186th of 3763.0
- Unpaid carers158th of 2833.0
- GP access93rd of 2413.0
What they’ve said
“…Ageing Society”, which is well worth going back to, and said that ageing and the resulting increased frailty were key issues for the future of UK healthcare. He argued that community hospitals are in just the right places to be on the frontline and tackle this issue for generations to come in our rural and coastal comm…”
Community Hospitals · 2026-06-16 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…He knows that the south-west is the worst-affected region for NHS dentistry—according to NHS data from March 2025, fewer than one in three adults in the south-west had seen a dentist in the previous two years.”
NHS Dentistry · 2026-06-15 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) pointed out, there are mental health benefits associated with cold water swimming, but it needs to be done in an educated way, and we need to have proper conversations about what is a relatively safe use of the water.”
Water Safety · 2026-06-09 · Read on Hansard ↗
“The hon. Member has given an impressive exposition of the report. I am curious about the mental health benefits of exposure to the coast, and in particular whether she and her Committee would recommend a particular type of coastal defences.”
Coastal Erosion · 2026-03-26 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…She is aged 92. She was an NHS nurse for most of her life and to this day volunteers at Sidmouth Hospice at Home. For those acts of service, she was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the British Red Cross. Mary, like many others, was provided by Chime with rechargeable hearing aids, which worked very well.”
Disability Equipment Provision · 2026-03-11 · Read on Hansard ↗
Contributions reproduced under the Open Parliament Licence.