Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has assessed the importance of including accessible behaviour-change and drinking moderation tools, including links to digital health support, as part of the new mandatory alcohol labelling standards.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England, the Government committed to strengthening and expanding existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.
Department officials are currently working at pace to develop the policy. We are reviewing all available evidence and engaging with stakeholders to assess the potential content of the mandatory labels.
The Government currently provides drinking moderation tools like the new NHS Healthy Choices Quiz which is designed to help people to improve their health and wellbeing. It asks a range of lifestyle questions, including those about alcohol consumption, provides an overall score out of ten, and directs people to relevant National Health Service support services such as the Drink Free Days app.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has assessed how alcohol labelling reforms could support local public-health and community-based initiatives aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm, particularly in areas with significant health inequalities.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England, the Government committed to strengthening and expanding existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.
Clear and consistent labelling is expected to increase awareness of the health risks and to empower consumers to make more informed choices, complementing local public health strategies and community-level interventions.
The Government also committed to supporting community level innovations where they have shown promise in reducing alcohol harm. Officials are working at pace to take forward these commitments.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will review the current eligibility criteria for NHS-funded COVID-19 vaccinations, in light of the emergence of a new variant and rising hospitalisations.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation carefully considered the latest evidence on the risk of hospitalisation and mortality in specific groups, as well as cost-effectiveness analysis, in order to provide the Government with advice on the autumn 2025 programme. The evidence indicates that whilst the risk from COVID-19 is now much lower for most people, adults aged 75 years old and over, residents in care homes for older adults, and those who are immunosuppressed are those at highest risk of serious COVID-19 disease.
Therefore, a more targeted vaccination programme aimed at individuals with a higher risk of developing serious disease, and where vaccination was considered potentially cost-effective, was advised for autumn 2025.
The latest UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) data in the national flu and COVID-19 surveillance report supports the current eligibility, showing that there is a strong association between age and COVID-19 hospitalisation rates. The highest hospital admission rate for COVID-19 in the report published on 27 November 2025 was in those aged 85 years old and over.
Currently XFG and its sub lineages, sometimes called the ‘Stratus’ variant, are the most prevalent SARS-CoV-2 lineages in England. This lineage is closely related to previous variants that circulated in the United Kingdom. At this time there is no indication that XFG causes more serious disease, or that the vaccines being used in the autumn 2025 campaign will not be effective against it. The UKHSA will continue to monitor both COVID-19 outcomes and variant prevalence as we enter the winter season.
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 assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) staff training on support for and (b) support available to deaf residents in care homes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is taking steps to improve the quality of adult social care, which will include deaf people in care homes.
The Department is committed to enhancing the skills of staff working in adult social care. To this end, the Department launched the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme in September 2024, providing funding for eligible care staff to complete training courses and qualifications. In April 2025, the Department also published the expanded and revised Care Workforce Pathway. The pathway guides workers in building their careers in adult social care by signposting training and development opportunities, highlighting routes for progression, and giving proper recognition to the highly skilled, complex care and support they provide.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are performing against their duties under the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to the access and provision of care and support for deaf people. The CQC also monitors, inspects, and regulates adult social care services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. For deaf individuals, this includes providing care that is responsive to their communication needs.
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 he has made of potential merits of introducing routine finger-prick blood glucose testing or urine testing for children who display one or more recognised symptoms of Type 1 diabetes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A national task and finish group has been established by NHS England which brings together key experts from across the health system, including academia/research and leading national clinicians, to jointly assess the opportunities and challenges that are associated with a national screening programme for diabetes and to inform future national policy.
Through our National Institute for Health and Care Research, we have supported the establishment of the Early Surveillance for Autoimmune diabetes, or “ELSA” study. This study is exploring the feasibility and benefits of screening for type 1 diabetes.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
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 merits of developing a Modern Service Framework for respiratory health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and then identify the best evidenced interventions and the support for delivery. Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia.
The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks, including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future modern service frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timeline is for the establishment of the naloxone supply network coordinators.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Naloxone is a lifesaving medicine that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, including highly potent synthetic opioids which are growing in prevalence in the United Kingdom. It is more important than ever to increase access to naloxone products, which will save lives.
Last year, the Department amended the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to further expand access to naloxone. The legislation enabled more services and professionals to supply this medication, making it easier to access for people at risk, and for their loved ones.
Route 1 of the legislation increased the number of services and professionals specified in regulations who can provide take home naloxone. However, not all services and professions had an agreed statutory definition across the four nations of the UK. As such, route 2 of the legislation set up the legal framework, which includes supply network coordinators, for the creation of a registration service for services and professions who fall outside the definitions listed in route 1 to apply and to be able to provide take home naloxone. These legislative changes were the first step in expanding access to naloxone, which has resulted in naloxone being more readily available to supply in the community. Since these changes came into effect, the Government has worked with the devolved administrations and front-line services to explore the set-up and delivery of this registration service. We have encountered operational difficulties in establishing supply network co-ordinators in England which has delayed implementation. However, we have identified further legislative amendments to increase access to take-home and emergency use naloxone and, as such, we intend to launch a public consultation by the end of this year.
The Department has also published guidance, Supplying take home naloxone without a prescription, that sets out essential practical information such as who can supply naloxone, the products available, how to use naloxone and other basic lifesaving tools, and the training required. This guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/supplying-take-home-naloxone-without-a-prescription
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 improve time to diagnosis for children and young people with suspected Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Services for children with suspected juvenile idiopathic arthritis are commissioned in line with the national service specification for paediatric rheumatology services.
The national service specification helps to reduce waiting times for diagnosis by mandating clear referral pathways and rapid access to specialist paediatric rheumatology teams. It sets national standards requiring timely triage of suspected cases, prioritisation of urgent referrals, and availability of multidisciplinary expertise for early assessment. The specification ensures consistency across regions, minimises delays caused by local variation, and supports faster initiation of diagnostic tests and treatment planning.
Additionally, the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitments to expand community diagnostic centres for quicker access to tests, introduce digital tools to support early symptom monitoring and triage, and improve the integration between primary care and specialist services will further streamline referral pathways and ensure children receive timely assessment and treatment.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will commit extra funding for social prescribing, including to support individuals to engage in nature-based interventions and activities.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has underlined its commitment to taking a preventive approach to address health inequalities. We are determined to improve people’s physical and mental health to support them to live longer and healthier lives and we recognise the role that social prescribing can play in this.
The Department funds social prescribing link workers in primary care through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. In March 2025, the Department agreed a further year of grant funding for the National Academy for Social Prescribing, securing £1.5 million to advance and expand social prescribing. Future funding allocations have yet to be confirmed.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs leads on green social prescribing and, together with Natural England, has recently invested £300,000 to track the uptake and impact of green social prescribing using primary care data. The evidence will inform future policy for the spread and scale of nature-based health interventions.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients have received checks under the NHS Targeted Lung Health Check and NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme per month in each of the last three years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service is currently rolling out the National Lung Cancer Screening Programme to people with a history of smoking. The following table shows the number of participants who attended an appointment through the NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme each month, between April 2022 and September 2025:
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
January | NA | 24431 | 38190 | 49260 |
February | NA | 27193 | 38381 | 43158 |
March | NA | 27862 | 35690 | 41974 |
April | 11565 | 20839 | 36195 | 38596 |
May | 14773 | 21163 | 40231 | 42980 |
June | 15630 | 27469 | 40214 | 47289 |
July | 17391 | 29646 | 47658 | 48012 |
August | 17499 | 28690 | 40884 | 42756 |
September | 17921 | 29738 | 46855 | 51898 |
October | 19477 | 26367 | 47881 | Data not available |
November | 22292 | 25482 | 47888 | Data not available |
December | 18193 | 28187 | 40828 | Data not available |
Annual Total/Annual Total to Date | 154741 | 317067 | 500895 | 405923 |
Source: the NHS England Lung Cancer Screening Programme.