Submit Evidence (by 28 Aug 2025)

The Committee is holding an inquiry into food and weight management, including treatments for obesity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of NHS dentists in North Shropshire.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the North Shropshire constituency, this is the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB.

ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The NHS Shropshire, Telford, and Wrekin ICB is expected to deliver 7,408 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.

ICBs have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years. As of 6 June 2025, in England there were 93 dentists in post or appointed to post. A further 230 posts are currently being advertised.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of mental health conditions among young people.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government is recruiting 8,500 mental health workers to help ease pressure on busy mental health services.

The Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services, including reducing the number of children with mental health problems.

The 2025 Spending Review and the NHS 10-Year Health Plan confirmed that we will fulfil our commitment to provide access to mental health support within schools in England by expanding mental health support teams to cover 100% of pupils by 2029/30. This expansion will ensure that up to 900,000 more children and young people will have access to support from trained education mental health practitioners in 2025/26.

Additionally, we are continuing to provide top-up funding of £7 million to the 24 Early Support Hubs to expand their services, and will take part in an ongoing evaluation of these services in 2025/26. This new funding will enable the supported hubs to deliver at least 10,000 additional mental health and wellbeing interventions, so that more children and young people are supported.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to introduce the role of approved mental capacity professionals, and whether they plan to extend eligibility for this role to include speech and language therapists.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is currently reviewing options for the implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards. The Liberty Protection Safeguards would include the introduction of approved mental capacity professionals. We will set out plans in due course, which will involve clarifying eligibility for this role.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the US National Toxicology Program’s Monograph on the State of the Science Concerning Fluoride Exposure and Neurodevelopment and Cognition: A Systematic Review, published in August 2024, and of its implications for the fluoridation of drinking water in England.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The US National Toxicology Program conducted a systematic review of the published scientific literature on the association between fluoride exposure and neurodevelopment and cognition. It concluded that there is “moderate confidence” that levels of fluoride intake, such as those approximated to be from drinking water concentrations greater than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) drinking water Guideline Value of 1.5 milligrams per litre, were associated with lower IQ in children. The target dose for fluoridated drinking water in England is below this value, at one milligram per litre.

There is no convincing evidence for adverse health effects from exposure to fluoride in drinking water below the WHO Guideline Value or the United Kingdom’s drinking water regulatory limit of 1.5 milligrams per litre. This value is intended to be protective of health for the whole population for a lifetime of exposure. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has a legal responsibility to monitor health impacts of fluoridated drinking water, and the next report will be published in 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of diabetes research funding capacity.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There has been no specific assessment of diabetes research funding capacity. The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including diabetes. In the 2024/25 financial year, the NIHR invested £33 million in direct research funding on diabetes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide continuing and updated services to match the development and use of the NHS app for those unable or unwilling to use a smart phone, to ensure that such patients have equivalent access to services.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are working to improve access to digital services, outcomes, and experiences for the widest range of people, based on their preferences. Digital health tools should be part of a wider offering that includes face-to-face support with appropriate help for people who struggle to access digital services.

We conduct user research on an ongoing basis with users from diverse backgrounds to ensure our service works for everyone. This includes patients with a range of access needs and diverse groups, for instance ethnic minority groups, visual impairments, neurodiversity, and physical impairments. We have recruited users who are blind or partially sighted in community-based research, research with local National Health Service teams, and in remote research, either one to one or in groups. We use the findings of user research to plan and prioritise new work to improve accessibility.

NHS England has successfully run several programmes to support patients, carers, and health service staff with their digital skills. These include:

- the Digital Health Champions programme, which is a proof of concept to support citizens who have no or low digital skills with understanding how to access health services online;

- the Widening Digital Participation programme, which is aimed at ensuring more people have the digital skills, motivation, and means to access health information and services online; and

- the NHS App ‘Spoken Word’ Pilot project, which is designed to test the efficacy of promoting NHS digital health products and services in languages other than English.

We have also recruited over 2,000 NHS App ambassadors and 1,400 libraries to help people to learn how to use the NHS App.

NHS England has published a framework for NHS action on digital inclusion and is developing further resources to support practical actions. All programmes are actively considering how they can contribute to improvements in healthcare inequalities and digital inclusion.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Integrated Care Board mergers are planned for Dorset.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health services and reduce duplication of responsibilities within their structure. NHS England provided additional guidance to ICBs, National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts on 1 April 2025 where ICBs were tasked to develop plans setting out how they will manage their resources to deliver across their priorities. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/

Dorset ICB is discussing proposals to form a wider ICB “cluster” with neighbouring colleagues at NHS Somerset and NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire. This is very much a proposal, which will need to be worked through in more detail over the coming months.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many prescriptions were given to women between the ages of 18–52 for sodium valproate in 2024, and what improvements have been made to the information provided to midwives to help them prepare expectant mothers with epilepsy.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The number of prescription items prescribed in England to women between the ages of 18 to 52 years old for sodium valproate in 2024 was 201,834.

Valproate must not be prescribed to women under the age of 55 years old who are able to have children, unless two specialists independently consider and document that there is no other effective or tolerated treatment, and the patient fulfils the conditions of a Pregnancy Prevention Programme (PPP). As part of the PPP, healthcare professionals should discuss the risks of valproate in pregnancy with the patient and the need to take effective contraception. The number of women who become pregnant while on valproate is very small and is monitored. Pregnant women with epilepsy should only be treated with valproate if there are no other treatment options.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has recently updated its guidance to assist healthcare professionals, including midwives, in supporting all women, especially those who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy. This updated guidance is readily available online.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen support for early dementia diagnosis, including through the enhancement of the NHS Health Check for those aged over 40, and the provision of risk reduction advice.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government and NHS England remain committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate. The new approach to planning guidance will improve the operating model, giving local leaders the freedom and autonomy they need to provide the best services to their local community, including those with dementia.

The NHS Health Check, a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme, aims to prevent some cases of dementia in eligible people by making them aware that many of the risk factors for CVD are the same as those for dementia, and that what is good for the heart is also good for the brain. Through the programme, people aged 65 to 74 years old are also made aware of the signs and symptoms of dementia, and are signposted to local memory services where appropriate.

We are considering the guidance supporting the dementia component of the NHS Health Check, to ensure it reflects the most recent evidence and best practice.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that integrated care boards (1) better assess the mental health needs of young people, and (2) provide more integrated community based mental health support for young people; and what plans they have to publish statutory guidance for integrated care boards in this area.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards are responsible for determining and meeting the mental health needs of the young people in their local populations, and there are no plans to publish statutory guidance in this area. The Department expects integrated care boards to continue to improve access to community-based mental health support for children and young people under our plans to shift more care out of hospitals and into the community, under the 10-Year Health Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish their response to the consultation on the proposed changes to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice, and a revised timetable for the implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is currently reviewing options for the implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards. Introduction of the Liberty Protection Safeguards would include a revised Code of Practice. We will set out our plans in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the proportion of young people in England who (1) have autism, and (2) entered adulthood during the last 12 months, who were issued with a transition plan as they moved from the care of children's social services to adult social services.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is the responsibility of local authorities to carry out an assessment when it seems that a young person is likely to need care and support into adulthood.

We are working closely with the Department for Education and other partners to understand the difficulties young disabled people and their families can face when they transition into adult social care, and to identify opportunities to better support young people at this crucial stage of their life.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing for research and development into new diagnostic technologies for dementia, including blood-based biomarker tests.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Government responsibility for delivering dementia research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.

The Government’s Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme has invested £13 million into a range of biomarker innovation projects which include a broad range of biomarker technologies, ranging from an artificial intelligence tool designed to improve the accuracy of blood tests for dementia, to using retinal scans to detect early-onset dementia decades before symptoms. Some of these innovations could support improved diagnosis in the future, if validated for clinical use.

Alongside Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, and the People’s Postcode Lottery, the NIHR is funding the Blood Biomarker Challenge which seeks to produce the clinical and economic data that could make the case for the use of a blood test in the National Health Service to support diagnosis of dementia.

The NIHR has also invested nearly £11 million of funding to develop new digital approaches for the timely detection and diagnosis of dementia. Funded projects include a range of innovative tests such as spatial awareness, image recognition, hearing tests, and monitoring sleep disturbances.

The UK Dementia Research Institute, primarily funded by the Government, aims to increase our basic scientific understanding of dementia and its causes, unlocking pathways to developing ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat the condition. The NIHR is investing £20 million in the UK Dementia Research Institute over four years to enable discoveries to be taken out of the laboratory and into the lives of people that need them.

The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including dementia. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

Welcoming applications on dementia to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for ambulances in the East Midlands Ambulance Service area.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following table shows the latest East Midlands Ambulance Service response times by ambulance incident category:

Source: NHS England Ambulance Quality Indicators 2025/26

Notes:

1. the latest data available is for May 2025; and
2. the data format is hours: minutes: seconds.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to work with relevant authorities to reduce the number of allergy related deaths in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department works with various other Government departments, agencies, and other organisations to improve allergy care and outcomes and, ultimately, to reduce the number of allergy related deaths, including for people in Romford constituency.

The Expert Advisory Group on Allergy (EAGA) is jointly chaired by the Department, and includes representation from NHS England, relevant Government departments and agencies, and professional organisations and patient groups. The EAGA's purpose is to identify priority areas for policy change and development related to allergy care, and to advise on how to achieve improved outcomes for people with allergies. This includes identifying areas for the Department, NHS England, and other Government departments and agencies to focus attention on.

Outside the EAGA, the Department collaborates with other Government departments and agencies on allergy policy to address the wide-ranging impact of allergies that can extend beyond healthcare to areas like education and food safety. This includes work with the Department for Education to ensure that schools have appropriate measures in place to support pupils with allergies, and with the Food Standards Agency to ensure that individuals with food allergies have access to safe food and are well-informed about potential allergens in the food they consume.

This cross-Departmental approach is essential for developing comprehensive strategies that address the various challenges presented by allergies, including prevention, management, and the impact on individuals' quality of life.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support research into immunotherapy treatments for (a) pancreatic, (b) brain and (c) other difficult-to-treat cancers; and whether he plans to provide additional funding to clinical trials in this area.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department invests in research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR continues to welcome high quality, high impact funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including research into immunotherapy treatments.

The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with pancreatic, brain, and other difficult-to-treat cancers, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments. The Department is committed to turbocharging clinical research and delivering better patient care, to make the United Kingdom a world-leading destination for clinical research. We are working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future, including treatments for cancer.

The Office for Life Sciences’ Cancer Healthcare Goals programme and the Medical Research Council have co-funded and awarded a £9 million grant to the MANIFEST immunotherapy platform. The MANIFEST consortium is led by the Francis Crick Institute and is composed of academia, the National Health Service, and industry partners, with the aim of expanding and advancing UK immunotherapy research and development capabilities, supporting better targeting and improved efficacy of these expensive treatments, and will look to onboard new cancer types and indications as activity progresses.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the national cancer plan for England will address alcohol consumption as a modifiable risk factor for cancer.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives. The Department will continue to work across the Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms.

The National Cancer Plan will build on the shift from sickness to prevention set out by the 10-Year Health Plan and will seek to reduce risk factors. The plan will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention. This will include alcohol consumption alongside other risk factors, given that alcohol is linked to an increased risk of seven types of cancer, namely: mouth; pharynx, or throat; larynx, or voice box; oesophagus; breast, in women; liver; and bowel, which includes colon and rectum cancer.

In relation to ensuring public awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer, the Government has a responsibility to provide the most up to date health information to enable people to make informed choices about their drinking. Both the UK Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk drinking guidelines, and National Health Service webpage on alcohol, clearly state that alcohol consumption can increase the risk of developing seven types of cancer.

Published evidence on the impact of minimum unit pricing does not break down how the policy impacts alcohol-related cancer.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce alcohol consumption as a modifiable risk factor for cancer.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives. The Department will continue to work across the Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms.

The National Cancer Plan will build on the shift from sickness to prevention set out by the 10-Year Health Plan and will seek to reduce risk factors. The plan will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention. This will include alcohol consumption alongside other risk factors, given that alcohol is linked to an increased risk of seven types of cancer, namely: mouth; pharynx, or throat; larynx, or voice box; oesophagus; breast, in women; liver; and bowel, which includes colon and rectum cancer.

In relation to ensuring public awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer, the Government has a responsibility to provide the most up to date health information to enable people to make informed choices about their drinking. Both the UK Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk drinking guidelines, and National Health Service webpage on alcohol, clearly state that alcohol consumption can increase the risk of developing seven types of cancer.

Published evidence on the impact of minimum unit pricing does not break down how the policy impacts alcohol-related cancer.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the Delivery Plan for ME/CFS.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, final delivery plan will be published shortly. The plan will focus on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to improve access to minimally-processed foods for (a) all consumers and (b) children and young people.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government’s Eatwell Guide already advises that people should eat more fruit and vegetables, and wholegrain or higher-fibre foods, as well as less processed meat, and food and drink that is high in sugar, calories, saturated fat, and salt.

The Eatwell Guide principles are communicated through a variety of channels, including the NHS.UK website and Government social marketing campaigns. For example, the Better Health Healthier Families website and the Healthy Steps email programme, which aims to help families with primary aged children in England to eat well and move more.

A range of actions that have already been taken to create a healthier environment to help children reduce their consumption of processed foods that are high in energy, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, and to improve access to affordable minimally processed foods, include:

- the Healthy Start scheme, which supported over 361,000 people in April 2025;

- the Nursery Milk Scheme, which provides a reimbursement to childcare providers in England and Wales for a daily 1/3 pint portion of milk to children and babies; and

- the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, which provides approximately 2.2 million children in Key Stage 1 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables per day at school.

In relation to foods and drinks high in calories, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, work on our commitments is progressing through:

- implementing the television and online advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink;

- consulting on plans to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years old; and

- giving local authorities stronger, clearer powers to block new fast-food outlets near schools and where young people congregate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to update regulations on the (a) composition, (b) marketing and (c) labelling of commercial (i) infant and (ii) toddler foods.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Children’s early years provide an important foundation for their future health and strongly influences many aspects of wellbeing in later life.

It is vital that we maintain the highest standards for foods consumed by babies and infants, which is why we have regulations in place that set nutritional, compositional, and labelling standards for commercial baby food. These ensure that the ingredients used in commercial baby food are suitable for the nutritional needs of infants and require businesses to ensure labelling in clear and not misleading. The regulations also set labelling standards to ensure consumers have clear and accurate information about the products they buy.

We continue to keep these regulations under review to ensure they reflect the latest scientific and dietary guidelines.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve awareness of symptoms of (a) lung and (b) pancreatic cancer.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is committed to improving symptom awareness of lung cancer and pancreatic cancer, and NHS England is also taking steps to improve awareness.

NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms as well as encouraging body awareness to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point. NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website.

The Department has also committed support to the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce, which is a group of charities focusing on cancers with poor survival rates. This partnership focuses on raising awareness of less survivable cancers, including lung cancer and pancreatic cancer, so more people understand their symptoms and go to see their general practitioner if they have concerns.

As part of developing the forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England, the Department has been working with members of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce to identify how to improve diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for less survivable cancers, including lung cancer and pancreatic cancer.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of public awareness levels of the link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives. The Department will continue to work across the Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms.

The National Cancer Plan will build on the shift from sickness to prevention set out by the 10-Year Health Plan and will seek to reduce risk factors. The plan will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention. This will include alcohol consumption alongside other risk factors, given that alcohol is linked to an increased risk of seven types of cancer, namely: mouth; pharynx, or throat; larynx, or voice box; oesophagus; breast, in women; liver; and bowel, which includes colon and rectum cancer.

In relation to ensuring public awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer, the Government has a responsibility to provide the most up to date health information to enable people to make informed choices about their drinking. Both the UK Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk drinking guidelines, and National Health Service webpage on alcohol, clearly state that alcohol consumption can increase the risk of developing seven types of cancer.

Published evidence on the impact of minimum unit pricing does not break down how the policy impacts alcohol-related cancer.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of minimum unit pricing on alcohol-related cancer incidence.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives. The Department will continue to work across the Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms.

The National Cancer Plan will build on the shift from sickness to prevention set out by the 10-Year Health Plan and will seek to reduce risk factors. The plan will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention. This will include alcohol consumption alongside other risk factors, given that alcohol is linked to an increased risk of seven types of cancer, namely: mouth; pharynx, or throat; larynx, or voice box; oesophagus; breast, in women; liver; and bowel, which includes colon and rectum cancer.

In relation to ensuring public awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer, the Government has a responsibility to provide the most up to date health information to enable people to make informed choices about their drinking. Both the UK Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk drinking guidelines, and National Health Service webpage on alcohol, clearly state that alcohol consumption can increase the risk of developing seven types of cancer.

Published evidence on the impact of minimum unit pricing does not break down how the policy impacts alcohol-related cancer.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the (a) experiences and (b) interests of (i) children with foetal valproate syndrome and (ii) their families are included in NHS reform.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As part of National Health Service reform, the Department has launched a transformation programme, led by a senior responsible officer. The Department is engaging with partners to ensure their experiences and interests are considered in shaping the future NHS.

The valuable work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and the resulting Hughes Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, is being considered by the Government. This is a complex area of work, involving several Government departments, and it is important that we get this right. We will be providing an update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report at the earliest opportunity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to respond to the Hughes Report before 23 July 2025.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is carefully considering the work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue involving input from different Government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of Tofersen across NHS trusts in England; and what steps he is taking to ensure equitable geographic access.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance.

NICE has selected tofersen for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis caused by SOD1 gene mutations as a topic for guidance development through its Highly Specialised Technology (HST) programme. The HST programme appraises medicines for the treatment of very rare, and often very severe diseases and evaluates whether they can be considered a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources. NICE is working with the company to confirm timelines for this evaluation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase access to the drug tofersen for people with SOD1 MND.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance.

NICE has selected tofersen for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis caused by SOD1 gene mutations as a topic for guidance development through its Highly Specialised Technology (HST) programme. The HST programme appraises medicines for the treatment of very rare, and often very severe diseases and evaluates whether they can be considered a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources. NICE is working with the company to confirm timelines for this evaluation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many additional GPs have been hired in North Northumberland constituency through Government funding.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As of 31 May 2025, 58 general practitioners (GPs) have been recruited through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme in the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) since 1 October 2024, the ICB in which the North Northumberland constituency is located. Data is not available at a constituency level.

Earlier in the year we announced that we are investing an additional £889 million through the GP Contract for 2025/26 to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.

Every year we consult with the British Medical Association’s General Practice Committee both about what services practices provide, and the money they are entitled to in return under their contract, taking account the costs of delivering services. Practices are required to provide services to meet the reasonable needs of the patients registered at their practice. This includes making their own workforce plans.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the ADHD taskforce in helping to reduce waiting lists for ADHD treatment in (a) Hertford and Stortford constituency, (b) Hertfordshire and (c) England.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including providing access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

The independent ADHD taskforce, commissioned by NHS England, is bringing together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report was published on 20 June. The ADHD taskforce's final report is expected to be published later this year, and we will carefully consider its recommendations.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the requirement that (a) all and (b) terminally ill patients should renew their Medical Exemption Certificates every five years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has made no assessment of the cost to the public purse of the requirement for patients to renew their medical exemption certificate every five years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of podiatrists; and if he will (a) reinstate full student bursaries and (b) introduce incentives to encourage recruitment and retention in (i) underserved areas and (ii) general.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has no plans to reinstate the bursary for podiatry students, however the Government keeps funding arrangements for all healthcare students under close review.

Supplementary financial support is available to podiatry students through the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF). The LSF offers non-repayable funding, in addition to maintenance and tuition fee loans provided by the Student Loans Company. This includes a non-repayable training grant of £5,000 per academic year plus an additional specialist subject payment of £1,000 a year for podiatry students, and where eligible, £2,000 per year for students with childcare responsibilities.

We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the (a) number of students who graduated in nursing and (b) number and proportion of those graduates who were employed within six months in the last four years, broken down by higher education institution.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) publishes information on the number of United Kingdom trained nurses joining their register for the first time, who are resident in England. The following table shows the number of UK trained nurses joining the NMC register in England for the first time by financial year:

Source: Nursing and Midwifery Council, March 2025 Annual Data Report.

The Department does not hold information on the number of graduates who are employed within six months.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the planned re-organisation of the BLMK ICB with (a) Hertfordshire and (b) Cambridgeshire & Peterborough on the provision of GP services in Wixams.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The clustering of integrated care boards (ICBs) in Bedfordshire, Luton, and Milton Keynes (BLMK), and Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is not expected to have a direct impact on primary care provision. ICBs will remain responsible for ensuring adequate primary care provision for the communities they serve. There are exploratory discussions underway between the BLMK ICB, the Central Bedfordshire Council, the developer of Wixams Town Centre, and Bedford Borough Council regarding options for delivering permanent healthcare provision in Wixams. These discussions are ongoing.

As the plans for ICB reconfiguration progress, there remains a focus on place-based working and maintaining strong relationships with local partners.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that ICBs effectively represent small and rural communities, in the context of the re-organisation of ICBs.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has asked the integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health and care services and to reduce the duplication of responsibilities within the health and care structure. ICBs are responsible for commissioning health and care services for every person within their locality, including people from small and rural communities. We expect ICBs to continue delivering on all of their statutory responsibilities for all of their residents, including those from small and rural communities.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether ICBs will be expected to fund redundancy costs from re-organisation from their day-to-day budgets.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear on the need for a smaller centre, as well as reducing integrated care board running costs and National Health Service provider corporate costs, in order to reduce waste and bureaucracy. Good progress is being made, with the Department and NHS England having announced voluntary exit or redundancy schemes.

We have recently announced the Spending Review settlement which provides an additional £29 billion of annual day to day spending in real terms by 2028/29, compared to 2023/24. Ahead of asking the NHS to commence a multi-year planning round, we are now carefully reviewing how the settlement is prioritised, including making provision for redundancy costs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of prioritising NHS jobs for British citizens who have gained medical qualifications (a) within the UK and (b) from institutions within other European countries.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan published on 3 July, we will work across Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period for specialty training.

We will publish a new 10 Year Workforce Plan later this year to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press release entitled NHS leaders face both ‘carrot and stick’ in new performance drive, published on 15 May 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the provision to not implement pay rises on equal pay in the NHS.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care accepted the headline pay recommendations for National Health Service staff from the independent pay review bodies, and staff will receive their backdated pay uplifts from August

The Department conducted an equality impact assessment of the new pay framework for very senior managers (VSMs), which includes the provision to withhold pay uplifts for VSMs working in underperforming organisations, defined as the organisations placed in segment five of the new NHS Oversight Framework.

It found that, overall, the proposal to withhold pay uplifts for VSMs in segments five is not expected to result in a statistically significant difference in relation to protected characteristics. As VSMs are not employed on national contracts, local remuneration committees will be required to assess the impact on equalities in relation to decisions on pay at an organisation level.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ask NHS England to publish an analysis of the options they have considered for re-organisation of ICBs in the East of England.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The proposals for the clustering of integrated care boards (ICBs) across England were considered in view of the ambition set out in the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan and NHS England’s Model ICB Blueprint. Specifically, the Government’s aim to strengthen the role of ICBs as strategic commissioners whilst delivering efficiency savings through creating leaner and more agile structures.

Although the Government will not publish a detailed analysis of the options considered in each region, options for the re-organisation of ICBs in the east of England were considered in view of the ambition detailed above, with careful consideration of the local circumstances and meeting the running cost allowance envelope of £18.76 per head of population.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce A&E waiting times in Eastbourne.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years and is committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the NHS Constitutional standard across England, including in Eastbourne.

Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out a fundamental shift in the approach to urgent and emergency care. It will drive collaboration across the system to deliver improvements for patients this year, and is backed by nearly £450 million of capital investment.

Furthermore, our 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will reduce waiting times in accident and emergency by shifting care into the community through new neighbourhood health services, forming a key part of our mission to reform the National Health Service.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of job opportunities for newly qualified nurses.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions on the employment of newly qualified nurses are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts, which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

We are working closely with NHS England, employers, universities, and regional nursing leads to ensure support is in place to help graduating nurses find a role as soon as possible after qualification and transition into the workplace.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to increase awareness of the importance of pelvic floor strength for women before pregnancy to prevent post pregnancy incontinence.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Supporting women’s health before, during, and after pregnancy is a priority for the Government. The women’s health area on the National Health Service’s website brings together over 100 health topics for women seeking health information, including information and advice on planning for pregnancy, keeping well in pregnancy, and pelvic health.

NHS England has rolled out perinatal pelvic health services to support the prevention and identification of pelvic floor dysfunction, including incontinence, during pregnancy and post-birth. Additionally, NHS England the Royal College of General Practitioners have published guidance on the six to eight week postnatal check-up. This check-up provides personalised postnatal care for women’s physical and mental health, including a specific section on pelvic floor health.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list each foreign language where there has been (a) translation and (b) interpretation to facilitate engagement with the proposed NHS 10-Year Health Plan.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Change NHS portal was available in English, Urdu, Romanian, Punjabi, and Polish, as these are the five most common languages in England, as reported by the 2021 Census. Participants at 10-Year Health Plan deliberative engagement events were given the option to request translation into any other language.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve (a) safety and (b) regulation in the non-surgical cosmetics sector.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to taking action to address longstanding concerns about the safety of the cosmetics sector, and is exploring options for further regulation in this area. We will set out the details of our approach in our response to the consultation on the licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England, which we will publish as soon as possible.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the expected population coverage of each ICB in England is following the proposed re-organisation.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In order to optimise the impact of strategic commissioning, and release resources to the frontline, we are working with integrated care boards to so that they cover populations of approximately two million people.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of data protection laws in ensuring that legitimate complaints processes are dealt with effectively by health bodies.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The handling of patient complaints in the National Health Service is governed by the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009. These regulations set out in law the minimum standards NHS organisations must adhere to in respect of their complaint handling arrangements.

There are strong protections in law to ensure that health and care information is used in a safe, secure, and legal way, and these must be observed in any complaints process. These include: the UK General Data Protection Regulation; the Data Protection Act 2018, which establishes a legal framework for processing personal information and keeping it secure, and for only using it for the purposes for which it was collected; the Human Rights Act 1998, which requires public bodies to respect the private life of an individual, including protecting any information held about them; and the common law duty of confidentiality.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the trends in the levels of ambulance callouts to the same patient more than once in a 24 hour period.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment has been made. The assessment and management of frequent callers is made at a local level by the relevant ambulance trust.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60037 on Dentistry: Higher Education, when he expects the Privy Council approval process to be completed.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Privy Council must be satisfied that it has all the required information before it can make a final decision to award Dental Authority Status to an organisation.

I understand that the Privy Council Office has recently requested additional information from Portsmouth Dental Academy pertinent to its application, and that it is awaiting a response.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to NHS-funded fertility treatment in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We expect integrated care boards to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to National Health Service-funded treatment are still appropriate.

In the light of broader pressures on the National Health Service and on-going changes within NHS England, we have been looking again at achievable ambitions to improve access to fertility services and fairness for all affected couples.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential benefits of amending the Human Medicines (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2014 to require (a) colleges, (b) nurseries, and (c) universities to hold emergency asthma inhalers.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are no plans to amend these regulations to require colleges and universities to hold emergency inhalers. These are not controlled environments like schools, which require parents to inform them if their children need an inhaler. Colleges and universities typically have much larger enrolment numbers than schools, with their students having greater freedom of movement than schools. Colleges and universities also have students of adult age who are responsible, as adults, for ensuring both have and properly use their inhalers.

Emergency inhalers in schools are a back-up and not a substitution for a child having their own inhaler to hand. The emergency inhaler is for use in the event a child’s inhaler is empty, broken or unavailable.

By virtue of the wording of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, the Human Medicines (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2014 also apply to maintained nursery schools, namely state-funded early years settings, controlled and funded by the local authority.

Evidence has not been presented that suggests it is necessary to extend the regulations to all non-state-run nurseries in England. Parents of children with asthma attending nursery should ensure that their child, or the nursery, has the child’s inhaler available.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that patients seeking fertility treatment are protected from unregulated concierge IVF clinics that fall outside the remit of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Digital clinics do not currently fall within the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act and therefore are out outside of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) remit at present.

The HFEA published Modernising Fertility Law in November 2023, which made a number of recommendations for legislative change, including around its regulatory powers.

Ministers have met with the HFEA Chair and discussed the emerging regulatory challenges. The Government is considering the HFEA’s priorities for changing the law and will decide how to take this forward at the earliest opportunity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the randomised control trial study report entitled Cost utility analysis of adding abiraterone acetate plus prednisone/prednisolone to long term hormone therapy in newly diagnosed advanced prostate cancer in England: Lifetime decision model based on STAMPEDE trial data, published in June 2022, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the findings of that study on the cost utility of adding abiraterone acetate plus prednisone/prednisolone to long term hormone therapy in men with newly diagnosed high risk non metastatic prostate cancer.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England considered abiraterone as an off-label treatment for hormone sensitive, non-metastatic prostate cancer through its clinical policy development process in 2024/25. Through this process, NHS England confirmed that there was sufficient supporting evidence to support the routine commissioning of abiraterone in this indication, and it was ranked in the highest priority level. However, at this point in time, it has not been possible to identify the necessary recurrent headroom in revenue budgets to support the funding of any treatments under consideration. This position is being kept under review.

NHS England examined papers from the STAMPEDE trial, including Cost utility analysis of adding abiraterone acetate plus prednisone/prednisolone to long term hormone therapy in newly diagnosed advanced prostate cancer in England: Lifetime decision model based on STAMPEDE trial data, as part of the review of evidence for the policy proposition.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of differing NHS (a) targets and (b) waiting lists in England and Wales on patients living in border communities.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The devolution of health is a long-standing policy, and no assessment has been made.

For patients living in border communities, we expect local health care services to work closely to ensure differing targets and waiting lists are managed appropriately and effectively to meet the needs of the communities they serve.

We work closely with partners across the devolved administrations to provide support and share best practice to reduce waiting lists. This includes sharing learning as the National Health Service in England makes progress toward delivering the Government’s ambition of ensuring that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the NHS constitutional standard, by March 2029.

The Government has now exceeded its pledge to deliver two million extra operations, scans, and appointments in England, having delivered 4.2 million additional appointments.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve ambulance response times in (a) Surrey and (b) Hampshire.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises that ambulance response times, including in Surrey and Hampshire, are not meeting the high standards patients should expect.

We are determined to turn things around, and our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, backed by almost £450 million of capital investment, commits to reducing ambulance response times for Category 2 incidents to 30 minutes on average this year.

Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will reform the National Health Service, including urgent and emergency care services, with a key focus on shifting urgent care into the community through new Neighbourhood Health Services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce wait times for (a) assessment and (b) diagnosis of ADHD in Greater Manchester.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has established an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) taskforce which is bringing together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report was published on 20 June 2025, with the final report expected to be published later in the year.

For the first time, NHS England published management information on ADHD waits at a national level on 29 May 2025 as part of its ADHD data improvement plan. NHS England has also released technical guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) to improve the recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data and publishing more localised data in future. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.

The Greater Manchester ICB has recently conducted reviews of both children and young people’s and adult ADHD pathways. The ICB has been working with people with lived experience and has developed new service models which aim to provide earlier, fairer, and more effective ADHD support locally. The ICB expects to begin implementing these pathway changes in the coming months.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle mental health barriers to employment in Bournemouth.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department of Health and Social Care is committed to cutting mental health waiting lists and intervening earlier with more timely mental health support, to help people stay in work or return to work to grow the economy and support people to thrive.

Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies services bring together employment advice and support within local services, including those available to people in Bournemouth. Therapists and employment advisors support people with common mental health conditions who are in work but who are struggling or facing difficulties in the workplace, off work sick, or who are looking for work.

In addition, the Department for Work and Pensions has announced a £1 billion employment support package to support more people with health conditions, including mental ill health, back into work, unlocking opportunity and growing the economy as part of the Plan for Change.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were waiting for treatment from community mental health services in the West Midlands in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting time metrics for referrals to community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication, to help services target the longest waits. Data in the Mental Health Services Dataset is known to be incomplete and these figures may be an undercount. Information on patients waiting to access NHS Talking Therapies services is not included. The latest information on wait times for NHS Talking Therapies is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-talking-therapies-monthly-statistics-including-employment-advisors

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has for the transition of (a) grant and (b) contract funding from NHS England to his Department; and whether he plans to continue existing levels of such funding for organisations led by (i) disabled people and (ii) patient-led charities.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities.

Grants and contracts still held by NHS England at the point of transition will also legally transfer, or novate, to the Department. The ongoing need for these third-party arrangements will be assessed against policy objectives and funding availability, in line with our standard processes. Whilst this transformation takes place, we will ensure that we continue to comprehensively evaluate impacts, and will work collaboratively to put plans in place to prevent disruption to live funding streams.

The Department publishes figures for NHS England’s annual expenditure on the purchase of healthcare from the voluntary and not for profit sectors in its Annual report and Accounts, and the figure for 2023/24 was £1.84 billion. Further information is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6761518bd20fc50099e18fab/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-2024-print-ready.pdf

For NHS England to identify just the registered and UK-registered charitable organisations it has grants and contracts with would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total value was of NHS England (a) grants and (b) contracts awarded to UK-registered charitable organisations in each of the last three financial years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities.

Grants and contracts still held by NHS England at the point of transition will also legally transfer, or novate, to the Department. The ongoing need for these third-party arrangements will be assessed against policy objectives and funding availability, in line with our standard processes. Whilst this transformation takes place, we will ensure that we continue to comprehensively evaluate impacts, and will work collaboratively to put plans in place to prevent disruption to live funding streams.

The Department publishes figures for NHS England’s annual expenditure on the purchase of healthcare from the voluntary and not for profit sectors in its Annual report and Accounts, and the figure for 2023/24 was £1.84 billion. Further information is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6761518bd20fc50099e18fab/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-2024-print-ready.pdf

For NHS England to identify just the registered and UK-registered charitable organisations it has grants and contracts with would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many registered charitable organisations were in receipt of NHS England (a) grants and (b) contracts in each of the last three financial years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities.

Grants and contracts still held by NHS England at the point of transition will also legally transfer, or novate, to the Department. The ongoing need for these third-party arrangements will be assessed against policy objectives and funding availability, in line with our standard processes. Whilst this transformation takes place, we will ensure that we continue to comprehensively evaluate impacts, and will work collaboratively to put plans in place to prevent disruption to live funding streams.

The Department publishes figures for NHS England’s annual expenditure on the purchase of healthcare from the voluntary and not for profit sectors in its Annual report and Accounts, and the figure for 2023/24 was £1.84 billion. Further information is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6761518bd20fc50099e18fab/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-2024-print-ready.pdf

For NHS England to identify just the registered and UK-registered charitable organisations it has grants and contracts with would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS has made an assessment of the level of the resilience of digital health records systems to prolonged power outages during electricity system stress events.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In the event of a disruption, the National Health Service maintains business continuity and emergency preparedness arrangements, including fallback systems, and protocols to mitigate the impact on health and patient care.

The NHS has long standing measures in place to manage disruption which would be caused by a power outage. Electronic patient record systems usually have a back-up power source, and paper patient records and handwritten notes may also be used as a contingency.

All NHS-funded organisations must meet the requirements of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, the NHS Act 2006, and the Health and Care Act 2022. These requirements are also supported by the NHS Standard Contract, the NHS Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPPR) Framework, NHS Core Standards for EPRR, and the NHS England Business Continuity Management Toolkit.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether physician (a) associates and (b) assistants are permitted to (i) discuss (A) Do Not Resuscitate and (B) Respect forms with patients at (1) NHS trusts and (2) GP surgeries and (ii) initiate conversations on end of life.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. With regard to palliative care and end of life care, this must include the opportunity for individuals to discuss their wishes and preferences so that these can be taken fully into account in the provision of their future care. This is also known as advance care planning (ACP). ACP is a voluntary process of person-centred discussion between an individual and their care providers about their preferences and priorities for their future care. ReSPECT is one tool that can be used to support wider ACP conversations. NHS England has published Universal Principles for ACP, which facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. Further information on the Universal Principles for ACP is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) decision policies are determined locally by organisations providing National Health Service care. The Resuscitation Council UK, British Medical Association, and the Royal College of Nursing have jointly produced guidance on decisions about CPR. It states that the overall clinical responsibility for decisions about CPR, including Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation decisions, rests with the most senior clinician responsible for the person’s care, as defined explicitly by local policy.

The Government commissioned Professor Gillian Leng CBE to lead an independent review of the physician and anaesthesia associate professions. The review considered the safety of the roles and their contribution to multidisciplinary healthcare teams.

The review has now concluded and will be published shortly. The conclusions of the review will inform the workforce plan to deliver the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as future Government policy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to periodically review NHS AI models to ensure continued alignment with (a) data protection and (b) clinical safety standards.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are strict safeguards in place throughout the National Health Service to protect data. All providers of services which handle patient data must protect that data in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, and every health organisation is required to appoint a Caldicott Guardian to advise on the protection of people’s health and care data, and to ensure that it is used properly. This includes where artificial intelligence (AI) is used in relation to patient records.

The Information Commissioners Office has developed detailed AI guidance which provides an overarching view of data protection, including the need for Data Protection Impact Assessments and to ensure compliance with UK GDPR. They have also produced an AI toolkit to support organisations auditing compliance of their AI-based technologies. NHS bodies are expected to make use of this guidance and toolkit.

The NHS has published two clinical risk management standards relating to clinical safety, with the codes DCB0129 and DCB0160, both of which are applicable to AI. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, manufacturers of health IT systems and health organisations that deploy and use these systems must have regard to these standards. In line with current Data Coordination Board practice, each standard comprises of: a specification, which defines the requirements and conformance criteria to be met by the user of the standard, and with the user responsible for how these requirements are met; and implementation guidance, which provides an interpretation of the requirements and, where appropriate, defines possible approaches to achieving them.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will implement the recommendations in Breast Cancer Now’s Setting the bar too high report in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) the country.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. NICE has processes in place to review its methods to ensure that they keep pace with best practice and are suitable for the evaluation of emerging new medicines.

NICE concluded a comprehensive review of the methods and processes it uses for health technology evaluations in January 2022, and introduced a number of changes that make its methods fairer, faster, and more consistent.

NICE’s board considered a review of the severity modifier at its public meeting on 25 September 2024, in light of its implementation to date, and concluded that it is operating as intended, so no change to the modifier is needed at the time.

NICE has no immediate plans to make further changes to its methods in response to the Breast Cancer Now report’s recommendations, but is monitoring the impact of the changes made following the methods review, and has committed to considering modular updates to its methods and processes in the future. NICE has also commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future methods reviews.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many newly qualified nurses have been recruited to each NHS Trust in the last four years; and how many have been recruited from overseas.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold information on the number of newly qualified nurses recruited by each National Health Service trust, and where they were trained.

The table attached shows the number of joiners to the nursing and health visitors staff group at a band five level, by NHS trust, for each of the past four financial years. It is not possible to accurately identify a member of staff who is newly qualified, but in the attached table we have given the number of staff joining the NHS in band five roles, which is the pay grade at which nurses begin their employment, although this will include some nurses who have left NHS employment for a period of time and returned into band five roles, including those returning from unpaid career breaks. The Electronic Staff Record System, the Human Resources system for the NHS from which this information is drawn, also includes the self-declared nationality of staff, and whilst this may not equate to where they were trained, it allows new joiners to be split by United Kingdom and non-UK nationalities.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NICE on the impact of their severity modifier on people with secondary breast cancer in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) the UK.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has regular discussions with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), including on the impact of the severity modifier on people with secondary breast cancer.

NICE carried out a review of the implementation of the severity modifier in September 2024 and found that it is operating as intended. This showed that the proportion of positive cancer recommendations is higher, at 84.8%, than with the end-of-life modifier it replaced, at 75%, and the proportion of positive recommendations for advanced cancer treatments is also higher, at 81.1% compared to 69%.

Since the introduction of the severity modifier, NICE has recommended all but one of the treatments for breast cancer that it has assessed. These treatments are now available to eligible National Health Service patients.

NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future method reviews.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of Federated Data Platform development work is carried out by UK‑based engineers; and whether data processing beyond AWS input processes is off‑shored.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

All NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) development work is carried out by United Kingdom based engineers, therefore there is no offshoring. This is documented in the contract, Information Governance Framework, and Memorandum of Understanding. It is a contractual requirement that personal data stored in the FDP and National Health Service Privacy Enhancing Technology cannot be accessed by its provider’s personnel or contractors based outside the UK. These measures collectively ensure that NHS data remains under UK jurisdiction and that all processing of patient information will be within the UK only. This is a contractual requirement, and one of the key principles of the Federated Data Platform Information Governance Framework. Data cannot be accessed or processed by non-UK Government entities.

Information on how data is protected, who can access it, and under what conditions, is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/overarching-data-protection-impact-assessment-dpia-for-the-federated-data-platform-fdp/#18-in-which-country-territory-will-personal-data-be-stored-or-processed

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what contingency plans he has to maintain pharmaceutical cold chain logistics in instances of loss of load events that exceed 12 hours.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department works across the health and care landscape to monitor, manage, and where possible, mitigate risks to medical supply chains.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has engaged with industry on disaster recovery plans in the event of disruption to energy supplies, including the impact on cold chain, and is confident that full line wholesalers have the necessary resilience to weather short to medium term failures of energy infrastructure and to ensure the continued integrity of medicines across all temperature limits.

Under the MHRA’s Rules and Guidance for Pharmaceutical Wholesalers, wholesalers are expected to have a full, demonstrable understanding of their equipment, its limitations, and its ability to operate in extreme conditions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve NHS 111 response times.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to continuing to improve NHS 111 to ensure patients can access the right care the first time, only visiting accident and emergency when necessary.

The latest published data shows that May 2025 saw the lowest average NHS 111 call answer time since records began in April 2021, 4 seconds faster than in April 2025, and 58 seconds faster than in May 2024. The average NHS 111 call answer time in the year to date is 46 seconds, compared to 157 seconds in the same period in 2024.

Whilst NHS 111 response times have improved, we recognise there is more to do. On 6 June 2025, we published our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, which includes the commitment to publish and implement the recommendations from the NHS 111 review to make the service quicker and simpler to navigate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England has stress‑tested the portability of (a) data schemas, (b) application programming interfaces and (c) dashboards for use on other vendor platforms.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Federated Data Platform products are built using open-source technologies, for instance Python and Spark. End-user products can also be built using open market frameworks, for instance React, interfacing to the platform Application Programming Interfaces. The NHS Federated Data Platform has extensive integration capabilities. The platform has active integrations using alternative visualisation tools, for instance PowerBI. The NHS Federated Data Platform Data Schemas are published to GitHub.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on the (a) operation and (b) funding of charities working in NHS hospital settings.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities.

Grants and contracts still held by NHS England at the point of transition will also legally transfer, or novate, to the Department. The ongoing need for these third-party arrangements will be assessed against policy objectives and funding availability, in line with our standard processes. Whilst this transformation takes place, we will ensure that we continue to comprehensively evaluate impacts, and will work collaboratively to put plans in place to prevent disruption to live funding streams.

The Department publishes figures for NHS England’s annual expenditure on the purchase of healthcare from the voluntary and not for profit sectors in its Annual report and Accounts, and the figure for 2023/24 was £1.84 billion. Further information is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6761518bd20fc50099e18fab/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-2024-print-ready.pdf

For NHS England to identify just the registered and UK-registered charitable organisations it has grants and contracts with would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the requirement upon Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to make savings of £99 million this year on the delivery of health services in Oxfordshire.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Like many other trusts, the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust overspent against their own plan in 2024/25, despite receiving significant additional support to deliver that plan. We can no longer accept overspends as standard. It is critical that all National Health Service organisations maximise every penny available to them and deliver the plans that they agree to. All efficiency savings will be used by organisations such as the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to reinvest in services and deliver on their plans.

All systems have agreed breakeven financial plans for 2025/26, requiring £11 billion of efficiencies and other savings, or 7.1% of total allocation. While ambitious, NHS England has provided detailed efficiency and productivity support during 2025/26 planning and will continue to do so through a new finance improvement programme to ensure efficiency and financial plans are met without adversely impacting service delivery or patient care.

As of the second month, the trust reports that it is on track to deliver the efficiencies set out in their plan for 2025/26.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to improve access to reproductive health in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Improving access to reproductive health services in Eastbourne and East Sussex is a matter for local determination.

The Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access to most sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception advice, through the Public Health Grant. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need, and to commission the blend of service access that best suits their population.

In addition, under the GP Contract, contraceptive services are an essential service that practices must provide, or arrange for the provision of, to their patients. Practices are paid for providing essential services via the global sum, which is a capitated payment based on practice patient list size, weighted to account for estimated patient workload and unavoidable costs.

Contraception is also available direct from pharmacies, both prescribed and over the counter, as well as online and through other health care services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) removing (i) dental therapist and (ii) dental technician roles and (b) other changes to the Skilled Worker visa eligibility list on internationally trained dental professionals seeking registration with the General Dental Council.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Registration with the General Dental Council in the United Kingdom is a separate process from obtaining a Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker visa, although both are required to enable overseas dental professionals to work in the UK.

On 1 July 2025, changes to immigration rules were laid before Parliament which, subject to Parliamentary approval, will come into force from 22 July. Dentists meet the new higher skill level of Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) level 6 or above, and continue to remain eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa under the immigration changes.

The expanded Immigration Salary List (ISL) and interim Temporary Shortage List (TSL) allow time-limited access, until the end of 2026, to the UK’s immigration system for selected occupations of skill level RQF 3 to 5, with restrictions on bringing dependants. The evidence considered by the independent Migration Advisory Committee for the ISL and by the Department for Business and Trade for the TSL did not support including dental technicians, dental nurses, dental hygienists, or dental therapists on either list. Therefore, these occupations will no longer be eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa or Skilled Worker visa from 22 July.

A transition period applies for those already in the UK, where skilled workers can continue to be sponsored in RQF level 3 to 5 occupations if they are already in the route, meaning they have a visa or have a Certificate of Sponsorship issued, before 22 July, even where an occupation is not on the ISL or the TSL, providing they continue to meet all other requirements of the route.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to accelerate the registration process for overseas-trained dentists to help extend the provision of NHS dental care.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I have asked the General Dental Council (GDC) to urgently develop an action plan of concrete measures to reduce the GDC’s Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) waiting list, and I will be regularly meeting with them to monitor progress.

I have welcomed the additional sittings of both parts of the ORE that the GDC has put in place, as well as their ongoing procurement of new ORE provider contracts. I will continue to discuss the new arrangements with the GDC, with a focus on understanding how they will further increase the availability of the ORE exam in the short and longer term.

The Department not be proceeding with providing the GDC with any additional legislative powers for international registration at this time. Having considered options for a provisional registration scheme, the Government’s view is that other, more cost-effective and efficient routes to registration should be the immediate priority.

Meanwhile, we expect the GDC to make full use of the flexibility afforded by the international registration reforms introduced in 2023 to ensure that those who have the right skills and experience are able to join its registers as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to ensure that (a) families and (b) carers of cell therapy patients can access (i) mental health and wellbeing and (ii) bereavement support.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to ensuring that families and carers have the support they need.

Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including mental health and wellbeing support for families and carers.

The Government also recognises how important it is for grieving families and friends who have lost loved ones to have access to the support they need, when they need it. Bereavement support is commissioned locally, to meet the needs of the local population. NHS England has developed guidance for integrated care boards which requires local commissioners to ensure there is sufficient access to bereavement support services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of provisions for involuntary mental health interventions for children and young adults.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our aim is to ensure that children and young people are only detained under the Mental Health Act for involuntary mental health interventions when it is absolutely necessary.

The Mental Health Bill, currently being considered by the House of Commons, will strengthen the rights of children and young people detained under the act so they are involved in decisions about their care and so they can challenge these decisions. This includes statutory care and treatment plans, the right to choose a ‘Nominated Person’ to look after their interests, and expanded access to independent mental health advocates.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, we are focussing treatment away from hospital and inpatient care and improving community and crisis services, so that fewer children and young people need to be detained in hospital.

We will also take action to ensure that young people in mental health inpatient settings are supported through a safe and effective transition to adult mental health services, to ensure they are treated with more dignity, given a greater say in their care, and that their health, education, and social needs are appropriately met.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Change NHS Blog entitled Ensuring the Plan represents everyone, published on 21 January 2025, which groups are classified as inclusion health groups.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Throughout the 10-Year Health Plan’s engagement activity, we have engaged with over 1,600 stakeholders, non-governmental organisations, and patient groups to hear their ideas for change. We will shortly publish a list of organisations that made a submission to the Change NHS engagement portal and the organisations that were members of the 10-Year Health Plan Partners Council.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 July 2025 to Question 63741. The published list will include organisations from inclusion health groups who took part in the consultation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which (a) stakeholders, (b) NGOs and (c) interest groups took part in the Change NHS consultation.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Throughout the 10-Year Health Plan’s engagement activity, we have engaged with over 1,600 stakeholders, non-governmental organisations, and patient groups to hear their ideas for change. We will shortly publish a list of organisations that made a submission to the Change NHS engagement portal and the organisations that were members of the 10-Year Health Plan Partners Council.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 July 2025 to Question 63741. The published list will include organisations from inclusion health groups who took part in the consultation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of power outages on mental health (a) service delivery, (b) remote digital therapy and (c) crisis response platforms.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No such assessment has been made. Planning for power outages is a core function of business continuity arrangements for all National Health Service organisations, including mental health providers.

NHS England monitors such incidents to identify root causes, solutions, and learning to share across the system.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of deaths from late diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department remains committed to diagnosing all cancer types earlier, including prostate cancer. We recognise that there is more to be done to ensure that patients have timely access to diagnosis and treatment.

To combat late diagnosis, the Government is investing £16 million towards the Prostate Cancer UK-led TRANSFORM screening trial, which is seeking to find ways to catch prostate cancer in men as early as possible.

The Department will publish a National Cancer Plan which will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients in England, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, and ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology. The overarching goal is to drive up this country’s cancer survival rates and provide a National Health Service that is there when you need it.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the support available to ambulance staff who attend traumatic callouts in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The mental health of all National Health Service staff is taken seriously, including ambulance staff as responders to emergency incidents. Ambulance trusts and the Association of Ambulance Trust Chief Executives have worked closely with NHS England to ensure there is a good range of health and wellbeing support for staff. This includes an ambulance sector specific suicide prevention pathway to provide immediate support 24 hours a day, seven days a week for staff experiencing suicidal ideation. At a national level, ambulance trust employees have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support, alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS Ambulance Trusts on the potential merits of enabling humanitarian charities to purchase end-of-life ambulances directly from them.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No such discussions have been held. Information on decommissioned National Health Service ambulances is not held. Decisions on how to appropriately decommission ambulances is taken at a local level by ambulance trusts.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with NHS Ambulance Trusts on repurposing ambulances approaching the end of their operational lifespan for humanitarian relief in Ukraine.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No such discussions have been held. Information on decommissioned National Health Service ambulances is not held. Decisions on how to appropriately decommission ambulances is taken at a local level by ambulance trusts.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of decommissioned NHS ambulances donated to humanitarian charities over the past 12 months.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No such discussions have been held. Information on decommissioned National Health Service ambulances is not held. Decisions on how to appropriately decommission ambulances is taken at a local level by ambulance trusts.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of adequacy of the (a) support available to ambulance staff who attend traumatic callouts and (b) suicide prevention training provided to ambulance staff.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The mental health of all National Health Service staff is taken seriously, including ambulance staff as responders to emergency incidents. Ambulance trusts and the Association of Ambulance Trust Chief Executives have worked closely with NHS England to ensure there is a good range of health and wellbeing support for staff. This includes an ambulance sector specific suicide prevention pathway to provide immediate support 24 hours a day, seven days a week for staff experiencing suicidal ideation. At a national level, ambulance trust employees have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support, alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the HIV action plan.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030 and is developing the new HIV Action Plan which we aim to publish this year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they considered the legal opinion by Tom Cross KC and Ruth Kennedy entitled In the Matter of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill published on 28 April when updating the ECHR Memorandum for Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, published on 26 June.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We were aware of the advice, but did not reference it in our European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) memorandum. The Government prepared the ECHR memorandum to assist the Joint Committee on Human Rights. In that memorandum, the Government has set out the articles of the ECHR which it considers are likely engaged by the bill, including Article 14 together with Article 2.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they consulted the Equality and Human Rights Commission before publishing the Equality Impact Assessment for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Equality and Human Rights Commission was not consulted before the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) was published for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. However, the briefing authored by the commission in November 2024 has informed the EQIA.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is a Private Member’s Bill, and the Government has taken a neutral stance. The EQIA for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is a neutral and independent assessment of the impact of the bill, and the Government did not undertake a consultation process on this assessment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase rates of cervical screening amongst women from (a) deprived areas, (b) ethnic minority backgrounds and those with limited access to health education.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England launched its first ever cervical cancer elimination creative campaign and communications toolkit for Cervical Screening Awareness Week, which took place between 16 and 24 June 2025. The campaign included digital resources that create a strong sense of shared responsibility and aim to increase awareness of the elimination goal, educate the public, and build confidence in cervical screening.

In March 2025, NHS England published its Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England, setting out how the National Health Service will improve equitable uptake and coverage across cervical screening to meet the goal to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. NHS England will build on what is already working well to drive vaccination and screening uptake and coverage, focussing on five cross-cutting themes: increasing access; raising awareness; reducing inequalities; improving digital capabilities; and strengthening workforce capacity. Further information on the Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cervical-cancer-elimination-by-2040-plan-for-england/

From early 2026, screening providers in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England will be able to offer human papillomavirus self-sampling kits to women if they have not attended their appointment for six months or more following routine invitation.

Barriers to cervical screening for underserved communities and people who experience health inequalities must continue to be addressed. This will include identifying groups using national and local level data who may be at higher risk of developing cervical cancer, to inform national initiatives, such as tailored screening invitations, and support local service planning.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage earlier and more accurate diagnosis of dementia.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Year Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.

We will deliver the first ever Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in the quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.

Commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership and funded by NHS England and the Welsh administration, the National Audit of Dementia Memory Service Spotlight reports include data on aspects of the diagnostic process, including waiting times and variation in service delivery in terms of diagnosis speed, neuroimaging use, and post-diagnostic support. The aim is to aid commissioners and providers in planning and targeting improvement where appropriate.

The Government is empowering local leaders with the autonomy they need to provide the best services to their local community, including for those with dementia. That is why we have published the D100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia. The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool launched in April, with further information available at the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ website, in an online only format.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many victims of contaminated blood in the UK were infected with hepatitis D in addition to hepatitis B; and how this has affected their prognosis.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The work undertaken so far to address the issues regarding contaminated blood in the United Kingdom has been related to the hepatitis C and HIV infections.

The Infected Blood Inquiry, in its Expert Report to the Infected Blood Inquiry: Statistics noted in relation to hepatitis B (HBV), that “due to the limitations in the data available, it is not possible to answer the questions set with any reasonable accuracy when compared to other infections we investigated. There was a lack of an integrated approach at the onset of donor screening in 1971/72 to identify donors who were infectious HBV carriers. Furthermore, people infected with HBV have never received financial support, and so funds are not a source of data.”

For these reasons, the Government has not made an assessment of the number of victims from contaminated blood that have been infected with HBV or hepatitis D in the United Kingdom, due to the lack of available data.

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Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which Minister is responsible for non-power generating nuclear facilities used for (a) research and (b) the production of healthcare-related materials.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As interim Minister for nuclear, I am responsible for the regulation of non-power generating nuclear facilities for civil nuclear fission research and development within DESNZ. Other Departments may hold responsibility for non-power generating nuclear facilities depending on the use case. The responsibility for the production of healthcare-related materials sits with the Department of Health and Social Care.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in considering options for future welfare reform, what steps they are taking to ensure that their policies on welfare, employment support and health services are aligned.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

At the heart of our reforms is the principle that those who can work should work. If you need help into work the government should support you and those who can’t work should be supported to live with dignity.

The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out reforms to both benefits and employment support. Underpinning the changes to benefits, such as rebalancing Universal Credit rates, is our new guarantee of Pathways to Work employment, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions. This brings our total investment for this group to £3.8 billion over this Parliament.

We understand that welfare, employment and health are connected – and that is why we are taking a cross-government approach as we deliver and develop our Plan for Change.

The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care have worked together on the 10 Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Health Plan will ensure a better health service for everyone, by setting out the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of health and care needs, including for disabled people. Furthermore, it outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.

We will continue to work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside other departments, as we develop our package of reforms in further detail and to ensure policies are aligned.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that gambling (a) advertisements and (b) products are not directed at (i) children and (ii) young people.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

To improve and expand the services available to understand, tackle and treat gambling-related harm, the Government has introduced a statutory levy on gambling operators to fund research, prevention and treatment. This includes dedicated investment for prevention to raise awareness of the risks associated with gambling and facilitating a cultural shift to break down barriers to help-seeking behaviour such as stigma. Thirty percent of funding will be allocated to prevention activity, including education and early intervention, to help raise awareness of harmful gambling.

There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that gambling advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons. Adverts cannot be targeted towards children, feature those under 25 or those who are perceived as being under 25, and top-flight footballers and celebrities popular with children are also banned from adverts to ensure they do not have inappropriate appeal. The IGRG Code includes specific requirements for operators to include ‘GambleAware’ or ‘www.gambleaware.org’ in their advertisements.

However, we recognise that more can be done to improve protections. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to raise standards and this work will be monitored closely. Additionally, there is ongoing work with DHSC and the Gambling Commission to develop a new, evidence-based model for independently developed messages to increase awareness of gambling harms, replacing industry ownership of safer gambling messaging.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that gambling (a) advertisements and (b) websites provide reference to gambling addiction support platforms.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

To improve and expand the services available to understand, tackle and treat gambling-related harm, the Government has introduced a statutory levy on gambling operators to fund research, prevention and treatment. This includes dedicated investment for prevention to raise awareness of the risks associated with gambling and facilitating a cultural shift to break down barriers to help-seeking behaviour such as stigma. Thirty percent of funding will be allocated to prevention activity, including education and early intervention, to help raise awareness of harmful gambling.

There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that gambling advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons. Adverts cannot be targeted towards children, feature those under 25 or those who are perceived as being under 25, and top-flight footballers and celebrities popular with children are also banned from adverts to ensure they do not have inappropriate appeal. The IGRG Code includes specific requirements for operators to include ‘GambleAware’ or ‘www.gambleaware.org’ in their advertisements.

However, we recognise that more can be done to improve protections. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to raise standards and this work will be monitored closely. Additionally, there is ongoing work with DHSC and the Gambling Commission to develop a new, evidence-based model for independently developed messages to increase awareness of gambling harms, replacing industry ownership of safer gambling messaging.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress she has made on reducing exposure to gambling advertisements by (a) children and (b) young people.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

To improve and expand the services available to understand, tackle and treat gambling-related harm, the Government has introduced a statutory levy on gambling operators to fund research, prevention and treatment. This includes dedicated investment for prevention to raise awareness of the risks associated with gambling and facilitating a cultural shift to break down barriers to help-seeking behaviour such as stigma. Thirty percent of funding will be allocated to prevention activity, including education and early intervention, to help raise awareness of harmful gambling.

There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that gambling advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons. Adverts cannot be targeted towards children, feature those under 25 or those who are perceived as being under 25, and top-flight footballers and celebrities popular with children are also banned from adverts to ensure they do not have inappropriate appeal. The IGRG Code includes specific requirements for operators to include ‘GambleAware’ or ‘www.gambleaware.org’ in their advertisements.

However, we recognise that more can be done to improve protections. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to raise standards and this work will be monitored closely. Additionally, there is ongoing work with DHSC and the Gambling Commission to develop a new, evidence-based model for independently developed messages to increase awareness of gambling harms, replacing industry ownership of safer gambling messaging.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help reduce the stigmatisation by gambling websites of people with gambling harms.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

To improve and expand the services available to understand, tackle and treat gambling-related harm, the Government has introduced a statutory levy on gambling operators to fund research, prevention and treatment. This includes dedicated investment for prevention to raise awareness of the risks associated with gambling and facilitating a cultural shift to break down barriers to help-seeking behaviour such as stigma. Thirty percent of funding will be allocated to prevention activity, including education and early intervention, to help raise awareness of harmful gambling.

There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that gambling advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons. Adverts cannot be targeted towards children, feature those under 25 or those who are perceived as being under 25, and top-flight footballers and celebrities popular with children are also banned from adverts to ensure they do not have inappropriate appeal. The IGRG Code includes specific requirements for operators to include ‘GambleAware’ or ‘www.gambleaware.org’ in their advertisements.

However, we recognise that more can be done to improve protections. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to raise standards and this work will be monitored closely. Additionally, there is ongoing work with DHSC and the Gambling Commission to develop a new, evidence-based model for independently developed messages to increase awareness of gambling harms, replacing industry ownership of safer gambling messaging.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) family hubs and (b) former Sure Start children centres are in operation in each council area.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

On 25 January 2024, the government published a list of family hubs which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-family-hub-sites. 75 local authorities have received joint funding from the department and the Department of Health and Social Care as part of the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme. As of March 2025, there were 551 family hubs in these local authorities. A further 13 local authorities have received support through the department’s Family Hubs Transformation Fund. As of March 2025, there were 90 family hubs in these local authorities. The department does not routinely collect data on family hubs created by local authorities outside of these two programmes.

Data on children’s centres that are in operation is supplied by local authorities via the Get Information about Schools database. A list of children’s centres that are currently open is available to download at: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Downloads.

On 2 August 2023, the government published Family Hubs and Start for Life: section 31 grant determination letters. A link to the letters can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-section-31-grant-determination-letters. These letters set out the details of £301.75 million of funding for 75 upper-tier local authorities in England to deliver Start for Life and Family Hubs over three financial years between 2022 and 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many existing Family Hubs received funding through the 2022 Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme scheme by council area.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

On 25 January 2024, the government published a list of family hubs which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-family-hub-sites. 75 local authorities have received joint funding from the department and the Department of Health and Social Care as part of the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme. As of March 2025, there were 551 family hubs in these local authorities. A further 13 local authorities have received support through the department’s Family Hubs Transformation Fund. As of March 2025, there were 90 family hubs in these local authorities. The department does not routinely collect data on family hubs created by local authorities outside of these two programmes.

Data on children’s centres that are in operation is supplied by local authorities via the Get Information about Schools database. A list of children’s centres that are currently open is available to download at: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Downloads.

On 2 August 2023, the government published Family Hubs and Start for Life: section 31 grant determination letters. A link to the letters can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-section-31-grant-determination-letters. These letters set out the details of £301.75 million of funding for 75 upper-tier local authorities in England to deliver Start for Life and Family Hubs over three financial years between 2022 and 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new Family Hubs were established by the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme scheme in 2022 by council area.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

On 25 January 2024, the government published a list of family hubs which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-family-hub-sites. 75 local authorities have received joint funding from the department and the Department of Health and Social Care as part of the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme. As of March 2025, there were 551 family hubs in these local authorities. A further 13 local authorities have received support through the department’s Family Hubs Transformation Fund. As of March 2025, there were 90 family hubs in these local authorities. The department does not routinely collect data on family hubs created by local authorities outside of these two programmes.

Data on children’s centres that are in operation is supplied by local authorities via the Get Information about Schools database. A list of children’s centres that are currently open is available to download at: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Downloads.

On 2 August 2023, the government published Family Hubs and Start for Life: section 31 grant determination letters. A link to the letters can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-section-31-grant-determination-letters. These letters set out the details of £301.75 million of funding for 75 upper-tier local authorities in England to deliver Start for Life and Family Hubs over three financial years between 2022 and 2025.

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Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W- 32914 and S6W- 32915 by Jenni Minto on 16 January 2025, and following the issuing of a Medicines Supply Alert Notice on 25 April 2024, whether it will provide an update on what progress has been made with securing adequate supplies of naloxegol.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

The supply of medicines and the associated legislation are a reserved matter for the UK Government and the Scottish Government continues to engage with them on all medicine supply issues. The UK Department of Health and Social Care have stated that while the medication is currently unavailable, the anticipated resupply date is mid-august 2025. An alternative medication named Naldemedine (Rizmoic) remains available in 200 microgram tablets and can support increased demand. Those affected by the shortage are encouraged to discuss alternative treatments with their clinical team.

Scottish Government officials continue to monitor the situation for any further developments and are maintaining a close dialogue with all Health Boards to help manage this medicine supply disruption.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for patients who have been prescribed naloxegol and are affected by the reported widespread shortages of the drug.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

The Scottish Government issued a Medicine Supply Alert Notice (MSAN) relating to supply disruption of the medicine naloxegol on 25 April 2024. The anticipated resupply date for the medicine has since been moved to 15 August 2025 and the medicine is unavailable throughout the UK. The Scottish Government appreciates the frustration and concern that this continued shortage will be having on patients prescribed this medication and while medicines supply continues to be reserved matter for the UK Government, we continue to press for a lasting solution in our engagement with the UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care.