Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect boys from non-therapeutic male circumcisions performed by doctors who have been struck off the medical register.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is in the process of providing a response to the Mohamed Abdisamad: Prevention of Future Deaths report. The Department will respond by the extended deadline and meet with external groups if necessary.
No assessment has been made regarding doctors who have been struck off the medical register for dangerous circumcisions, nor the case of Zuber Bux. No safeguarding assessment has been made regarding the rite of metzitzah b’peh.
The Children’s Rights Alliance and National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children report, You feel like you’re nothing, was published in 2006 under a previous administration and there are no current plans to implement the recommendation highlighted regarding working with religious communities to defer ritual male circumcision so that the informed consent of the child can be sought.
The Government would encourage anyone seeking non-therapeutic male circumcision (NMTC) services for themselves, or for someone else, to use the services of a regulated healthcare professional. If an NMTC procedure is carried out by a regulated healthcare professional, they are subject to regulatory oversight by the relevant regulators such as the General Medical Council or the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Even if a healthcare professional is acting in a religious or spiritual role, they cannot ‘opt out’ of their core duties and responsibilities and therefore any registered healthcare professional wishing to carry out NTMC must be registered with the Care Quality Commission to carry out the regulated activity of surgical procedures.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case of Zuber Bux, a doctor who has been struck off the register and continues to circumcise boys as a layperson.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is in the process of providing a response to the Mohamed Abdisamad: Prevention of Future Deaths report. The Department will respond by the extended deadline and meet with external groups if necessary.
No assessment has been made regarding doctors who have been struck off the medical register for dangerous circumcisions, nor the case of Zuber Bux. No safeguarding assessment has been made regarding the rite of metzitzah b’peh.
The Children’s Rights Alliance and National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children report, You feel like you’re nothing, was published in 2006 under a previous administration and there are no current plans to implement the recommendation highlighted regarding working with religious communities to defer ritual male circumcision so that the informed consent of the child can be sought.
The Government would encourage anyone seeking non-therapeutic male circumcision (NMTC) services for themselves, or for someone else, to use the services of a regulated healthcare professional. If an NMTC procedure is carried out by a regulated healthcare professional, they are subject to regulatory oversight by the relevant regulators such as the General Medical Council or the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Even if a healthcare professional is acting in a religious or spiritual role, they cannot ‘opt out’ of their core duties and responsibilities and therefore any registered healthcare professional wishing to carry out NTMC must be registered with the Care Quality Commission to carry out the regulated activity of surgical procedures.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisoners were moved into a hospice in each of the past five years.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As the majority of hospices are independent charitable organisations, neither the Government nor NHS England collect or hold their data, including information on how many prisoners have been moved into a hospice.
Whilst the majority of palliative care and end-of-life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones.
Hospices operate as autonomous bodies, managing their own funding structures and the provision of their services. This autonomy allows them to maintain their independence and offer services beyond the statutory NHS offer.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the powers of NHS Trusts and the General Medical Council to conduct disciplinary procedures in the case of a resident doctor who has been found to have dishonestly claimed to be neurodivergent or have learning disabilities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations, as independent employers, have their own internal grievance and disciplinary procedures which should comply with employment law and relevant Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service codes and guidance. Any allegations of dishonesty would be considered to be a conduct issue and investigated in accordance with the employer’s disciplinary policy and procedures.
Maintaining High Professional Standards provides a national framework for the handling of concerns about doctors and dentists in the NHS. NHS trusts may also report any concerns about doctors to the General Medical Council (GMC).
The GMC is independent of Government, is directly accountable to Parliament, and is responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) is a statutory committee of the GMC. The United Kingdom’s model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.
In cases relating to dishonesty, the GMC’s Guidance for MPTS tribunals notes that, whilst a range of behaviour can be seen, the nature of the departure from the standards expected may mean that a concern or allegation relating to dishonesty falls at the high end of the spectrum of seriousness. Sanctions for dishonesty range from suspension to erasure, depending on the seriousness of the case.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether NHS Trusts and the General Medical Council have sufficient powers to conduct disciplinary procedures in the case of a resident doctor who has been found to have dishonestly claimed to be neurodivergent or have learning disabilities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations, as independent employers, have their own internal grievance and disciplinary procedures which should comply with employment law and relevant Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service codes and guidance. Any allegations of dishonesty would be considered to be a conduct issue and investigated in accordance with the employer’s disciplinary policy and procedures.
Maintaining High Professional Standards provides a national framework for the handling of concerns about doctors and dentists in the NHS. NHS trusts may also report any concerns about doctors to the General Medical Council (GMC).
The GMC is independent of Government, is directly accountable to Parliament, and is responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) is a statutory committee of the GMC. The United Kingdom’s model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.
In cases relating to dishonesty, the GMC’s Guidance for MPTS tribunals notes that, whilst a range of behaviour can be seen, the nature of the departure from the standards expected may mean that a concern or allegation relating to dishonesty falls at the high end of the spectrum of seriousness. Sanctions for dishonesty range from suspension to erasure, depending on the seriousness of the case.
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 role the independent sector can play in supporting the development of NHS Online.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Online, launching in 2027, will be a publicly owned National Health Service organisation, giving patients on certain pathways the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. It will offer the latest innovations in digital healthcare, nationally scaled for the benefit of patients in every part of the country, helping to reduce patient waiting times through delivering the equivalent of up to 8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years.
The Government recognises the role independent sector providers have in supporting the NHS as trusted partners to recover elective services by using additional capacity to tackle the backlog whilst delivering value for money.
The NHS Online programme is actively engaging with both NHS organisations and the independent sector, including through representative bodies such as the Independent Healthcare Providers Network, to support the development of NHS Online.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of delays in access to elective treatment for heart valve disease.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment of delays in access to elective treatment for heart valve disease has been made.
The Government is committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients are treated within 18 weeks of referral to consultant-led care, including cardiology services and cardiothoracic surgery, by March 2029. As of January 2026, there were 388,626 incomplete cardiology pathways, and 63.9% of patients on cardiology service waiting lists were seen within 18 weeks, up from 60.2% in January 2025. For cardiothoracic surgery services, 72.1% of patients were seen within 18 weeks as of January 2026, up from 68.5% in January 2025.
The Government has made commitments to improve outcomes of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our commitment to achieve a 25% reduction in premature mortality due to CVD and stroke across England. To accelerate progress and tackle variation across the country, a new CVD Modern Service Framework is currently in development and will be published in 2026. In 2025 The Getting It Right First Time programme published new and revised cardiology pathways to support evidence-based, efficient, and consistent care across primary and secondary settings, including for aortic stenosis. This supports early recognition of high-risk features, fast-track referral for those with severe symptomatic disease, and coordinated multidisciplinary evaluation.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend that the 2026/27 NHS Payment Scheme consultation outcome in respect of guide prices for ADHD and autism assessments will be agreed to by Ministers before implementation.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The full responsibility for developing and setting the National Tariff, which is a set of rules, prices, and guidance that determine how providers of National Health Service funded healthcare are paid for the services they provide, was given to NHS England through the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The Health and Care Act 2022 confirmed this responsibility and renamed the ‘National Tariff’ to the ‘NHS Payment Scheme’. The legislation relating to the NHS Payment Scheme is set out in schedule 10 of the 2022 Act.
Under NHS England’s ‘Scheme of Delegation’, responsibility for approving the NHS Payment Scheme rests with the Chief Executive Officer of NHS England, delated to the Chief Financial Officer of NHS England. Ministerial agreement of the consultation is not currently a requirement of the regulations set out in the act.
NHS England will continue to work with policy teams at the Department and wider stakeholders to further develop currencies and consider appropriate payment options for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism, in line with the overall direction set by ministers.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the recommendation in the Children’s Rights Alliance for England and National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children report You feel like you’re nothing, published in 2006, that the Government work with religious communities to defer ritual circumcision until informed consent can be obtained from the individual.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is in the process of providing a response to the Mohamed Abdisamad: Prevention of Future Deaths report. The Department will respond by the extended deadline and meet with external groups if necessary.
No assessment has been made regarding doctors who have been struck off the medical register for dangerous circumcisions, nor the case of Zuber Bux. No safeguarding assessment has been made regarding the rite of metzitzah b’peh.
The Children’s Rights Alliance and National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children report, You feel like you’re nothing, was published in 2006 under a previous administration and there are no current plans to implement the recommendation highlighted regarding working with religious communities to defer ritual male circumcision so that the informed consent of the child can be sought.
The Government would encourage anyone seeking non-therapeutic male circumcision (NMTC) services for themselves, or for someone else, to use the services of a regulated healthcare professional. If an NMTC procedure is carried out by a regulated healthcare professional, they are subject to regulatory oversight by the relevant regulators such as the General Medical Council or the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Even if a healthcare professional is acting in a religious or spiritual role, they cannot ‘opt out’ of their core duties and responsibilities and therefore any registered healthcare professional wishing to carry out NTMC must be registered with the Care Quality Commission to carry out the regulated activity of surgical procedures.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what external groups, if any, they have consulted with regarding the Mohamed Abdisamad: Prevention of future deaths report, published on 28 December 2025.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is in the process of providing a response to the Mohamed Abdisamad: Prevention of Future Deaths report. The Department will respond by the extended deadline and meet with external groups if necessary.
No assessment has been made regarding doctors who have been struck off the medical register for dangerous circumcisions, nor the case of Zuber Bux. No safeguarding assessment has been made regarding the rite of metzitzah b’peh.
The Children’s Rights Alliance and National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children report, You feel like you’re nothing, was published in 2006 under a previous administration and there are no current plans to implement the recommendation highlighted regarding working with religious communities to defer ritual male circumcision so that the informed consent of the child can be sought.
The Government would encourage anyone seeking non-therapeutic male circumcision (NMTC) services for themselves, or for someone else, to use the services of a regulated healthcare professional. If an NMTC procedure is carried out by a regulated healthcare professional, they are subject to regulatory oversight by the relevant regulators such as the General Medical Council or the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Even if a healthcare professional is acting in a religious or spiritual role, they cannot ‘opt out’ of their core duties and responsibilities and therefore any registered healthcare professional wishing to carry out NTMC must be registered with the Care Quality Commission to carry out the regulated activity of surgical procedures.