Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current health of Palestine Action hunger strikers Heba Muraisi, Lewie Chiaramello and Kamran Ahmed.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is unable to comment or provide details on the personal health information of named individuals.
NHS England commissions health services in prisons, and healthcare providers monitor the health of all individuals in custody to ensure they receive appropriate care.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 1 December 2025 (HL12313), where the results of the NHS Learning Disability Improvement Standard exercise are published; how people with learning disabilities and their families are involved in the exercise; and how the results are made accessible to people with learning disabilities and their families so they are able to compare performance amongst NHS Trusts.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Learning Disability Improvement Standards support National Health Service trusts to assess the quality of care provided for people with a learning disability and were designed with lived experience at the centre of the process. The standards and easy read information are available on the NHS England website.
To understand how well organisations are meeting the standards, the NHS Benchmarking Network undertakes an annual data collection exercise, with further information avaiable at the NHS Benchmarking Network website. All annual summary reports are published on the Learning Disability Improvement Standards Hub website. Each trust that participates in the exercise also receives their own bespoke report and are encouraged to share learning at the local level in suitable formats for the populations they serve.
Ahead of each annual benchmarking exercise, people with a learning disability and user-led organisations are engaged to design and revise the metrics which are asked of NHS organisations. This process recognises that people with lived experience are best placed to ask questions concerning the quality of services they expect and has recently been facilitated by Learning Disability England. Input is also sought from clinicians, managers, and senior leadership, ensuring greater transparency and accountability.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 23 December (HL11565), of the executive senior managers at NHS England who have left since 1 March 2025 and received payments in lieu of notice or annual leave, (1) how many have since been re-employed in any capacity—including as consultants or interim staff—by the NHS or an NHS body, arm’s-length body, or government department, (2) how many of these individuals have been required to repay all or part of their exit payments under current clawback provisions, and (3) what is the total value of the funds successfully recovered to date.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Of the 17 executive senior managers at NHS England who have left since 1 March 2025 and received a payment either in lieu of notice or in lieu of annual leave, six have since been re-employed in the National Health Service, an NHS body, an arm’s length body (ALB), or a Government department. We do not hold information related to consultancy.
One of these six individuals received a redundancy payment which is in the scope of the clawback provisions. Recovery has commenced for a partial recovery proportionate to their gap in NHS employment.
For the other five people securing re-employment in the NHS, an NHS body, an ALB, or a Government department, their payments in lieu related to annual leave or notice, and therefore were not within the scope of clawback arrangements.
Whilst recovery action has actively commenced for the individual in the scope of the claw back provisions, no funds have been recovered to date.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce incentives to encourage the adoption of recommendations in the Modern Service Framework for Cardiovascular Disease.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To accelerate progress towards the Government’s ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) in 2026. The CVD MSF will support consistent, high quality, and equitable care whilst fostering innovation across the cardiovascular disease pathway.
The Department and NHS England are engaging widely throughout the development of the CVD MSF to ensure that we prioritise ambitious, evidence-led, and clinically informed approaches to prevention, treatment, and care, and as part of this we are considering the role of levers and incentives.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
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 with the Secretary of State for Defence to ensure that NHS practitioners are informed of the vulnerability to suicidal ideation of veterans impacted by Lariam; and what steps veterans can take with his Department to help improve awareness within the NHS of the nature and effects of mefloquine toxicity.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has updated its safety advice on mefloquine to reflect the risk of neuropsychiatric side effects, advising that it should not be used for chemoprophylaxis in individuals with a history of psychiatric disturbance.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance states that mefloquine should not be prescribed to people with current or past psychiatric disorders, suicidal ideation or behaviour, or with epilepsy or any form of convulsion.
The clinical management of suspected mefloquine intoxication has recently been reviewed with the NHS England Armed Forces Clinical Reference Group. This review advised that clinicians should assess patients individually and are expected to take a full drug and alcohol history, including any previous mefloquine use.
NHS England is considering adding screening for prior mefloquine use and any associated adverse events to initial Op COURAGE and Op RESTORE assessments. Additional clinical guidance on mefloquine and its potential adverse effects is being developed and through the Five Eyes partnership discussions are being arranged with the United States to support continuous learning and best practice in the management of suspected mefloquine intoxication.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 is taking to improve research into (a) Ocular Melanoma and (b) other rare cancers.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and in 2024/25 spent £141.6 million on cancer research, signalling its high priority.
One example of a recent investment into rare cancers is the NIHR’s investment of £13.7 million in December 2025 to support ground-breaking research to develop novel brain tumour treatments in the United Kingdom, with significant further funding announcements expected shortly. Research specifically on Ocular Melanoma includes a study completed in 2022 to develop AI Techniques to Predict Eye Cancer Using Big Longitudinal Data. The NIHR is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with rare cancers, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments, by 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 for rare cancers
The Government also supports the Rare Cancers Private Members Bill. The bill will make it easier for clinical trials on rare cancers to take place in England, by ensuring the patient population can be more easily contacted by researchers
The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into less common cancers, including ocular cancer. 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.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to request that NICE conduct an exceptional (expedited) partial review of the NICE Depression guideline (NG222) to consider the inclusion of intravenous racemic ketamine as an option for patients for whom electroconvulsive therapy is being considered.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans to ask the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to conduct a review of the NICE guideline on the treatment and management of depression, reference code NG222.
NICE is an independent body and is responsible for taking decisions on whether its guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence and changes in clinical practice. NICE operates an active surveillance programme and when new evidence emerges, it proactively considers whether existing guidance should be reviewed and, if appropriate, updated. Decisions as to whether NICE will create new, or update existing, guidance are overseen by an integrated, cross-organisational prioritisation board. NICE has no current plans to review intravenous racemic ketamine in the context of the depression guideline.
Asked by: Baroness Sanderson of Welton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many external stakeholder meetings the independent commission on adult social care has had since April.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No commissioners have been appointed. Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock chairs the Independent Commission into adult social care, alongside a dedicated secretariat team.
Baroness Casey and the Commission’s secretariat are based in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat has a total of ten officials, eight are employed by the Department of Health and Social Care, and two by the Cabinet Office. One external individual has been hired as contingent labour to support the work of the Commission’s secretariat. There are a further four officials working in the Commission’s sponsorship function based in the Department of Health and Social Care.
As the Commission is independent, the secretariat may expand as it carries out its work and as Baroness Casey considers what further skills and expertise she needs.
For 2025/26, the Department of Health and Social Care indicatively made available £2.9 million to support the Commission’s work and continue to keep the budget under review. As the Commission is independent, they will be responsible for reporting on their financial expenditure.
The independence of the Commission means the Department of Health and Social Care does not track the number of meetings the Commission has held. Engagement decisions are for Baroness Casey and her team to decide. The Commission has set out that it has met with over 350 people including those drawing on care and supporting, national organisations and delivery or provider organisations.
Details about how to engage with the Commission, including via the portal, are available on its website in an online-only format.
Asked by: Baroness Sanderson of Welton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many staff work for the independent commission on adult social care, and where that commission is based.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No commissioners have been appointed. Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock chairs the Independent Commission into adult social care, alongside a dedicated secretariat team.
Baroness Casey and the Commission’s secretariat are based in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat has a total of ten officials, eight are employed by the Department of Health and Social Care, and two by the Cabinet Office. One external individual has been hired as contingent labour to support the work of the Commission’s secretariat. There are a further four officials working in the Commission’s sponsorship function based in the Department of Health and Social Care.
As the Commission is independent, the secretariat may expand as it carries out its work and as Baroness Casey considers what further skills and expertise she needs.
For 2025/26, the Department of Health and Social Care indicatively made available £2.9 million to support the Commission’s work and continue to keep the budget under review. As the Commission is independent, they will be responsible for reporting on their financial expenditure.
The independence of the Commission means the Department of Health and Social Care does not track the number of meetings the Commission has held. Engagement decisions are for Baroness Casey and her team to decide. The Commission has set out that it has met with over 350 people including those drawing on care and supporting, national organisations and delivery or provider organisations.
Details about how to engage with the Commission, including via the portal, are available on its website in an online-only format.
Asked by: Baroness Sanderson of Welton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the budget for the first phase of the independent commission into adult social care.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No commissioners have been appointed. Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock chairs the Independent Commission into adult social care, alongside a dedicated secretariat team.
Baroness Casey and the Commission’s secretariat are based in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat has a total of ten officials, eight are employed by the Department of Health and Social Care, and two by the Cabinet Office. One external individual has been hired as contingent labour to support the work of the Commission’s secretariat. There are a further four officials working in the Commission’s sponsorship function based in the Department of Health and Social Care.
As the Commission is independent, the secretariat may expand as it carries out its work and as Baroness Casey considers what further skills and expertise she needs.
For 2025/26, the Department of Health and Social Care indicatively made available £2.9 million to support the Commission’s work and continue to keep the budget under review. As the Commission is independent, they will be responsible for reporting on their financial expenditure.
The independence of the Commission means the Department of Health and Social Care does not track the number of meetings the Commission has held. Engagement decisions are for Baroness Casey and her team to decide. The Commission has set out that it has met with over 350 people including those drawing on care and supporting, national organisations and delivery or provider organisations.
Details about how to engage with the Commission, including via the portal, are available on its website in an online-only format.