Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many whistleblowing reports relating to conflicts of interest have been submitted within the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in each of the last five years; and whether the Department will publish anonymised summaries of the issues raised.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the last five years, three internal whistleblowing reports relating to conflicts of interest have been made to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) nominated officers.
Nominated officers are trained individuals designated to give confidential advice, support, and guidance on whistleblowing concerns to staff, and to help staff escalate those concerns appropriately. The following table shows the number of whistleblowing reports related to conflicts of interest, from 2021/22 to 2025/26, up to 20 March 2026:
Year | Number of whistleblowing reports related to conflicts of interest |
2021/22 | 0 |
2022/23 | 0 |
2023/24 | 0 |
2024/25 | 0 |
2025/26 | 3 |
There are no requirements or plans to publish summaries of these whistleblowing reports. The MHRA submits data annually to the Cabinet Office on all whistleblowing investigations that have taken place and publishes a short summary of its internal whistleblowing actions, including the number of whistleblowing investigations, in its Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment was made of the potential merits of including an examination of the evidence base relating to the spike protein and lipid nanoparticles used in Covid‑19 mRNA vaccines within the scope for oral evidence of the UK Covid‑19 Inquiry; and whether the Government has received any correspondence from the Inquiry on whether such issues fall within its remit.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK COVID-19 Inquiry is an independent statutory inquiry. As an independent body, it is responsible for determining its own scope, lines of investigation, and the evidence it seeks. Decisions about whether to include examination of specific scientific or technical matters, such as the evidence base relating to spike proteins or lipid nanoparticles, fall within the inquiry’s discretion.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has not received any specific correspondence or instruction from the inquiry relating to spike proteins or lipid nanoparticles.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 (a) smoking and (b) passive smoking on the risk of invasive meningococcal disease.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Department has modelled alternative funding structures for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency that would reduce reliance on industry fees; and if it will publish any assessments made of the impact of such models on regulatory independence.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such modelling has been undertaken.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is taking to improve clinician reporting of myocarditis and pericarditis in the Yellow Card system; and whether the Department has assessed under‑reporting rates for these conditions.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is committed to continually strengthening the Yellow Card scheme to support patient safety. The MHRA regularly promotes awareness through public health campaigns, conferences, established networks, and new educational resources available on the Yellow Card website. Further information is available on the MHRA website at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/medicines-and-healthcare-products-regulatory-agency
Reporting rates through spontaneous reporting systems, such as the Yellow Card Scheme, are highly variable, and dependent not just on the condition, but other factors such as the product, public interest, and media attention. As such, the MHRA does not hold estimates of under reporting rates for these conditions.
The MHRA is expanding and improving digital reporting routes. Every National Health Service webpage relating to a medicine or vaccine now links to the Yellow Card scheme, and the MHRA is working with NHS colleagues to enhance integration with the NHS App to increase visibility and reporting by the public. Yellow Card reporting is now embedded in almost all general practice clinical IT systems, enabling healthcare professionals to submit reports directly on behalf of patients.
Over recent years, the MHRA has delivered a major upgrade programme to modernise the Yellow Card scheme’s technology and infrastructure. This includes improving the quality and timeliness of submitted information, making it easier to report, adding conditional questions to reduce follow up, and support real time signal detection of safety issues.
The Yellow Card app has also been modernised to mirror the website, broaden reporting options, including defective and counterfeit medicines, and improve access to safety data. Multifactor authentication has been introduced to enhance account security and enable future integration with the NHS login. The app has also been upgraded to a progressive web application, providing a seamless and engaging user experience across devices.
Together, these improvements increase public awareness, make reporting, including of myocarditis and pericarditis, easier, and enhance the MHRA’s ability to identify and assess emerging safety concerns across healthcare products.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have, in each of the last five years, (a) moved to roles with pharmaceutical companies or industry-funded bodies and (b) joined the Agency from such organisations; and what safeguards are in place to manage potential conflicts of interest arising from such movement.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) requires all staff to undertake a conflict-of-interest declaration upon joining the agency and then on a yearly basis. All declarations are assessed according to MHRA policy to ensure due consideration and agreement of required mitigations. The MHRA does not routinely record where staff move to when leaving the agency, however all staff are bound by the business appointment rules for crown servants and are required to seek prior agreement if they fall within the specified criteria. Further information on the business appointment rules for crown servants is available at the following link:
In relation to staff joining the agency, the MHRA does not record the information in the manner requested, but a manual review of the records from new joiners between the financial years 2021 to 2026 indicates that 47 staff have declared previous employment in a pharmaceutical or industry funded body. The following table shows a breakdown of the 47 staff who have declared previous employment in a pharmaceutical or industry funded body from 2021/22 to 2025/26, and in total:
Financial year | Number of staff |
2021/22 | 0 |
2022/23 | 5 |
2023/24 | 17 |
2024/25 | 14 |
2025/26 | 11 |
Total | 47 |
It should be noted that this assessment is a best estimate to match within the criteria requested and the number may be subject to change.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, from what date the National Institute of Clinical Excellence will be authorised to apply an increased cost-effectiveness threshold of £25,000 - £35,000 per quality-adjusted life year.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government intends to direct the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to apply the new cost-effectiveness threshold increase from April.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 of (a) vaping and (b) passive vaping on the risk of invasive meningococcal disease.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
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 infant formula shortages on families in Leicester, particularly those on lower incomes or with limited access to alternative formula supplies.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department’s National Supply Disruption Response, (NSDR), acts as the single point of contact for the medical supply industry. The NSDR has been engaged along with the Food Standards Agency to support the incident with infant formula products and specialised prescribable infant formula products, since early January this year, when we were first made aware.
Although no separate assessment was made of the localised impacts in Leicester, or any other single region, a national approach was taken to safeguard the clinical needs of the most vulnerable patients across the country. This involved securing unaffected stock for redistribution to those in the greatest needs in both hospital and home settings, whilst working closely with industry to identify suitable alternatives.
The original supply issue was resolved in mid-February 2026, and subsequently a letter was issued to all prescribing authorities to notify them that impacted prescribable items had returned to normal stock and were therefore available to prescribe again.
The Department continues to work closely with NHS England and other national agencies on the supply positions, operational impacts, and alternative products for all such incidents, using well-established coordination arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the NHS new-born blood spot programme; and what steps they have taken to bring the UK in line with other European countries on the number of conditions screened for.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Newborn Blood Spot Programme consistently achieves very high coverage with the most recent figure at 98% in Quarter 2 of 2025/26. This not only indicates that eligible babies are being screened, but also that conclusive results are recorded on the Child Health Information Service system before or at 17 days of age, indicating that the programme is effective at reaching almost the entire eligible population and delivering results early enough to influence outcomes.
Coverage of babies who move into the area after birth is lower at 83%, so the programme is less effective for this subgroup, but numbers are much smaller.
A total of 570,865 babies were screened in 2024/25, demonstrating the programme is operating effectively at scale, and the system is robust enough to deliver screening across a large cohort.
Over one million babies have been screened for severe combined immunodeficiency since the launch of the in-service evaluation (ISE) in 2017. NHS England’s report on the 30-month ISE evaluation period found that screening detected 10 babies with the condition who would otherwise have gone undetected until infections developed, thus preventing serious illness.
It is important to note that comparisons of screening programmes with other health systems can be misleading. Some countries or regions reportedly screen for a condition when it is only at the pilot or research stage. Some ‘screening programmes’ just test for a condition rather than being end-to-end quality-assured programmes that include diagnosis, treatment, and care. And screening in some countries is delivered regionally, or even just by individual hospitals, rather than nationally. They are therefore not directly comparable to the national screening programmes offered in the United Kingdom.
For very rare conditions it is difficult to generate robust evidence to demonstrate the value of screening, because so few babies are affected. The UK National Screening Committee, which advises the Government on all screening matters, is working with experts and partner organisations to look at how to make it easier to develop the evidence needed to make robust recommendations on the addition of more rare diseases to the NHS Newborn Blood Spot Programme.