Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans are in the GP IT roadmap to allow for the safe handover of care at the end of each working day to out-of-hours providers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the Government’s National Health Service 10‑Year Health Plan commitment to deliver a single patient record, we are supporting healthcare professionals to access important medical information about patients by investing £20 million in the Connecting Care Records programme. This programme ensures authorised health and care professionals in England have safe and secure access to the person-related information that they need to provide care when they need it, where they need it, and how they need it.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what dedicated funding he is providing to (a) primary care networks and (b) integrated care boards for the development of integrated neighbourhood teams.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Both integrated care boards (ICBs) and local health systems will design Neighbourhood Health Services that reflect the needs of their local populations as part of their wider responsibilities within their funding allocations. Nationally, we are developing guidance to provide greater clarity and consistency for systems in developing and scaling Neighbourhood Health.
Funding for primary care networks and integrated neighbourhood teams is included within ICBs overall allocations. Additional funding has also been provided to support the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme, which was launched in 2025 in 43 places. Work is underway to consider the future direction of the programme, informed by the learning and feedback from wave 1.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme will be continuing beyond March 2026.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Both integrated care boards (ICBs) and local health systems will design Neighbourhood Health Services that reflect the needs of their local populations as part of their wider responsibilities within their funding allocations. Nationally, we are developing guidance to provide greater clarity and consistency for systems in developing and scaling Neighbourhood Health.
Funding for primary care networks and integrated neighbourhood teams is included within ICBs overall allocations. Additional funding has also been provided to support the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme, which was launched in 2025 in 43 places. Work is underway to consider the future direction of the programme, informed by the learning and feedback from wave 1.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what clinical criteria are under consideration for determining eligibility for any nationally prescribed specialised service for severe or very severe ME.
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: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 improve access to, and the effectiveness of, palliative and end of life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and will enable integrated care boards (ICBs) to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in last year’s 10-Year Health Plan.
Through our MSF, we will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end-of-life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality.
The MSF will put in place a clear and effective mechanism to deliver a fundamental improvement to the care provided. This will enable the adoption of evidence-based interventions that are proven to make a difference to patients and their families. Examples include earlier identification of need, care delivered closer to home by integrated generalist and specialist teams, and strengthened out-of-hours community health support, including dedicated telephone advice.
Last year’s Strategic Commissioning Framework and Medium-Term Planning Guidance for the National Health Service also make clear the expectations that ICBs should understand current and projected total service utilisation and costs for those at the end of life, creating an overall plan to more effectively meet these needs through neighbourhood health.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce an implementation and accountability plan to monitor progress towards the delivery of 500,000 operations supported by robotics each year by 2035.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our 10-Year Health Plan commits to expanding robotic assisted surgery (RAS) adoption over the next decade. We will establish national registries for robotic surgery data from 2029 and telesurgery networks to support geographical equity of access of RAS. The national robotic surgery registry will support evidence generation, and will enable future reporting and decision making. Last year, NHS England published the first national guidance for the implementation of RAS in the National Health Service, offering guidance on procurement, commissioning, implementation, training, and evaluation.
A national steering committee, with representation from across the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, the Office for Life Sciences, NHS Supply Chain, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is already in place to support the RAS programme to deliver Government commitments. This will help to set the pace and scale in relation to targets of RAS numbers. Decisions to offer RAS are agreed at an integrated care board and trust level, in line with local population need.
The Department and NHS England are working closely with NHS trusts and regions to understand the key barriers and facilitators to adoption. The RAS steering committee is working together to identify provider trusts and regional alliances that are planning further expansion of RAS.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
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 5 January 2026 to Question 89382 on Social Services: Investment, whether his Department plans to (a) increase public sector funding and (b) incentivise private sector investment in social care in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are progressing towards a National Care Service based on greater choice and control, joined up services, and higher quality of care, with over £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care by 2028/29 compared to 2025/26. We have no direct plans designed to incentivise private investment.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people and are responsible for deciding how they spend the funding made available to them for adult social care, unless it is ringfenced for a particular purpose.
While private adult social care providers are individual businesses and the Government does not intervene in their operations, we have been clear that the expectation is for adult social care providers to behave responsibly, including through sustainable financial arrangements that support the sector and meet need as required.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 help ensure those who self-fund their social care have access to appropriate complaints procedures available to them.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
By law, all health and social care services must have a procedure for dealing efficiently with complaints, and anyone who has seen or experienced poor-quality care has the right to complain to the organisation that provided or paid for the care.
If an individual has raised a complaint and is not satisfied with the way a provider has dealt with their complaint, they may escalate it to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) who can investigate individual concerns. The LGSCO is the independent complaints lead for adult social care and investigates complaints from those receiving social care.
The Government has continued discussions with the LGSCO and the Care Quality Commission about how the regulator can most effectively support the signposting of self-funders to the LGSCO by private providers.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 complaints signposting available to those who self-fund their social care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
By law, all health and social care services must have a procedure for dealing efficiently with complaints, and anyone who has seen or experienced poor-quality care has the right to complain to the organisation that provided or paid for the care.
If an individual has raised a complaint and is not satisfied with the way a provider has dealt with their complaint, they may escalate it to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) who can investigate individual concerns. The LGSCO is the independent complaints lead for adult social care and investigates complaints from those receiving social care.
The Government has continued discussions with the LGSCO and the Care Quality Commission about how the regulator can most effectively support the signposting of self-funders to the LGSCO by private providers.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 improve out-of-hours access to medicines for people at the end of life.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that people at the end of life can access the medicines they need, including outside of normal pharmacy opening hours.
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end-of-life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
NHS England’s statutory guidance states that ICBs work with community pharmacies, out-of-hours providers and palliative care teams to ensure timely access to medicines, including through locally commissioned services that make end of life medicines available on a 24/7 basis.
Additionally, those nearing the end of life who are likely to need symptom control can be prescribed anticipatory medicines with written instructions for how to use or administer treatment. These medicines are often called 'just in case' medicines and may be provided in a specially marked container called a 'just in case' box. The medicines are prescribed in advance so that they can be obtained during local pharmacy opening hours and kept safely at home, or at a care home, so that the person or their carer has access to them if they develop symptoms. Providing medicines in advance means that there is no delay in getting medicines that might be needed quickly to help with symptoms. The use of anticipatory prescribing is recommended in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline, Care of dying adults in the last days of life.
Furthermore, the Government will publish a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England later this year. The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and enable ICBs to address challenges in access, quality and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care.