Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) prevalence and (b) potential impact of the use of hospital corridors and other non-designated spaces for patient care in NHS hospitals.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the challenges facing the health service and are serious about tackling them. The Government is committed to restoring urgent and emergency care waiting times to the standards set out in the National Health Service constitution by the end of this Parliament.
Corridor care refers to care delivered in non-designated clinical areas and is not an acceptable standard of care. We are committed to eliminating this practice in the National Health Service and ensure all patients receive high quality safe care, and we are taking serious, sustained action to achieve this. It is one of the most visible and distressing symptoms of a broken NHS, fixing it will require fixing several of the systems and processes that sit across the whole of the pathway, all of which we are working on.
NHS England has been working with trusts since 2024 to monitor corridor care, implementing new reporting arrangements and providing targeted support to the most challenged hospitals. In March, we published a clear definition of corridor care. As committed to in the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, we will publish data on the prevalence of corridor care for the first time. This new definition will enable us to start publishing clear validated data on its prevalence to drive improvement and transparency.
Where corridor care cannot be avoided, we have published updated guidance to support trusts to deliver it safely, ensuring dignity and privacy is maintained to reduce impacts on patients and staff. This means that corridor care areas must uphold the same high standards of care for patients as those in planned clinical settings. Patients are seen based on how urgent their needs are, not where they are. All patients being considered for corridor care should be appropriately risk assessed by senior clinical teams during triage with their condition monitored by named nurses.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
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 the dissolution of NHS Protect on levels of violence against NHS workers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s Violence Prevention and Reduction (VPR) Standard was initiated in 2019 following the cessation of NHS Protect in 2017.
The VPR standard provides employers with guidance and resources to support them in their development of local strategies to prevent and reduce violence. The standard was refreshed in partnership with the Social Partnership Forum in December 2024. Additionally, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, accepted all recommendations related to additional action on violence prevention and reduction on 9 April 2025, as part of the Agenda for Change Pay Deal. These measures will be further strengthened by the introduction of a new set of staff standards at the national level, as detailed in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 private parking enforcement practices at hospital sites on patients attending medical treatment; and whether additional protections are being considered for those who overstay due to clinical circumstances.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the potential impact of private parking enforcement practices at hospital sites on patients attending medical treatment and protections are being considered for those who overstay due to clinical circumstances.
National Health Service organisation make decisions locally on how they provide their car parking for patients, visitors, and staff. This will include whether parking services are provided in-house or outsourced. Where outsourced, the NHS car parking guidance 2022 for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts states that:
- NHS organisations are responsible for the actions of private contractors who run car parks on their behalf; and
- NHS organisations should act against rogue contractors in line with the relevant codes of practice where applicable
Further information is available at the following link:
It is recognised that the attendance at hospitals cannot be predicted in advance and therefore, the NHS parking guidance states that trusts should consider installing ‘pay on exit’ or similar schemes so that drivers pay only for the time that they have used. Additional charges should only be imposed where reasonable and should be waived when overstaying is beyond the driver’s control, such as when treatment takes longer than planned, or when staff are required to work beyond their scheduled shift.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 the Heraeus bone cement supply delays will have on the elective waiting time targets.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of National Health Service systems to manage the bone cement supply delays in their local context. NHS England has been working closely with systems to manage the temporary supply disruption affecting certain Heraeus bone cement products. A letter was issued to systems in February 2026 and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/heraeus-medical-bone-cement-products/
NHS trusts have reviewed and clinically prioritised their orthopaedic waiting lists to ensure available stock is safely and appropriately used, taking into account patient need, staff familiarity with alternative products, and local supply constraints. Where delays to planned joint procedures are unavoidable, trusts are expected to maintain transparent and timely communication with affected patients, so they remain fully informed about changes to their care treatment pathway.
NHS England has advised trusts to make best use of any freed-up clinical capacity, including focussing on new outpatient activity, and strengthening clinical triage for patients waiting more than 18 weeks. These steps are intended to reduce the risk of knock-on effects for elective waiting time performance. Every effort is being made to sustain progress on Referral to Treatment performance while this temporary supply issue is resolved.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to help keep patients informed of the delays to their joint surgeries due to Heraeus bone cement supply delays.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of National Health Service systems to manage the bone cement supply delays in their local context. NHS England has been working closely with systems to manage the temporary supply disruption affecting certain Heraeus bone cement products. A letter was issued to systems in February 2026 and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/heraeus-medical-bone-cement-products/
NHS trusts have reviewed and clinically prioritised their orthopaedic waiting lists to ensure available stock is safely and appropriately used, taking into account patient need, staff familiarity with alternative products, and local supply constraints. Where delays to planned joint procedures are unavoidable, trusts are expected to maintain transparent and timely communication with affected patients, so they remain fully informed about changes to their care treatment pathway.
NHS England has advised trusts to make best use of any freed-up clinical capacity, including focussing on new outpatient activity, and strengthening clinical triage for patients waiting more than 18 weeks. These steps are intended to reduce the risk of knock-on effects for elective waiting time performance. Every effort is being made to sustain progress on Referral to Treatment performance while this temporary supply issue is resolved.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
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 expert commissioning knowledge is maintained within the Offices for Pan-ICB Commissioning; and what steps he has taken to prevent a loss of specialist expertise during the staff transfer process.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is responsible for the design and operation of offices for pan-integrated care board commissioning and for managing associated workforce changes. In implementing these arrangements, NHS England has sought to retain experienced commissioning staff and specialist knowledge to support consistent, high‑quality commissioning across systems. Staff transfers have been managed in line with established employment and transfer arrangements, with a focus on continuity and skills retention. The Department continues to engage with NHS England on the implementation of commissioning reforms.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
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 postal delays on patients who rely on written communication from the NHS, including (a) older people, (b) disabled people and (c) patients without access to digital services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the potential impact of postal delays on patients who rely on written communication from the National Health Service, including older people, disabled people, and patients without access to digital services.
The NHS is shifting patient communications to a digital‑first model, with the NHS App becoming the primary channel for patient messaging. This modernised approach aims to reach patients quickly and conveniently, putting messages in a single place, and helping to reduce reliance on traditional posted letters.
However, the digital‑first model does not mean digital‑only, as accessible formats like braille, easy read, and traditional letters will continue where appropriate to meet individual patient needs. Where patients are to continue receiving written communication, it remains important that these are received in a timely manner.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 innovation in early detection and treatment technologies for heart valve disease is translated into timely and equitable patient access.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, wearables are one of the “big bets” for the future of the National Health Service. They are a powerful tool to support prevention, early intervention, and self-management of long-term conditions.
By 2028, we aim to make remote monitoring for cardiovascular disease using wearables and connected devices a standard part of care.
Our vision is for wearables to become routine in NHS care by 2035, from managing post-acute and chronic illness at home, to spotting early warning signs of disease.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter from Baroness Merron to Lord Kamall on 19 February (DEP2026-0132), which regions are at capacity for delivering properly supervised medical speciality training posts.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Training capacity varies by specialty, geography and programme size. It is dynamic and is assessed on a case-by-case basis by NHS England when allocating places. It is therefore not possible to provide a stable assessment of capacity within any regions.
When creating new places, NHS England will work with providers and local health systems to ensure that they continue to be of an appropriately high quality, so that doctors have the education and training they need to provide high quality patient care.
Regions will only be allocated new places if they have sufficient training capacity and can meet training quality standards.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether there is sufficient clinical evidence to justify the use of public money to diagnose someone as neurodiverse.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Wes Streeting MP) announced on 4 December 2025 the launch of an Independent Review into Prevalence and Support for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism. This independent review will inform our new approach to mental health, so people receive the right support, at the right time and in the right place. Likewise, the review will inform our approach so that people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autistic people have the right support in place to enable them to live well in their communities.