Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
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 promoting the document entitled BS 30480 Suicide and the workplace: Intervention, prevention and support for people affected by suicide, published on 4 November 2025, to employers as part of workplace wellbeing initiatives.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I am grateful to the hon. Member for her tireless work on suicide prevention. Every suicide is a tragedy that leaves a profound and enduring impact on families, friends, and communities. Tackling suicide is one of the Government’s top priorities and we are committed to delivering the Suicide Prevention Strategy for England with a range of partners.
Everyone has a part to play in preventing suicide and employers are essential to ensuring supportive workplace communities and to highlighting the importance of intervention, prevention, and support for people affected by suicide.
We have referenced BS 30480 in the Men’s Health Strategy, published on 19 November 2025, alongside our plans to invest up to £3.6 million over the next three years to deliver neighbourhood-based suicide prevention support pathfinders for middle-aged men, co-designed with experts and men with lived experience.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what has been the cost to the public purse of the Gaza medical evacuation scheme for children.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 November 2025 to Question 81587.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 the retention of surgical staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government is committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals.
To support this ambition, the Government plans to introduce a new set of standards for modern employment in April 2026. The new standards will reaffirm our commitment to improving retention by tackling the issues that matter to staff, including promoting flexible working, improving staff health and wellbeing, and dealing with violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the NHS workplace. They will provide a framework for leaders across the NHS to build a supportive culture that embeds retention.
NHS England is already leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.
In August, NHS England published the 10-point plan for improving resident doctors working lives which addresses issues such as annual leave and payroll errors. The Department continues to work to improve working conditions for all resident, specialty, associate specialists and specialist (SAS) doctors and consultant doctors.
This year, we accepted the Pay Review Body recommendations for headline pay for 2025/26 such that consultant and SAS doctors received an above inflation pay uplift of 4% and resident doctors received 4% + £750.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 effectiveness of community diagnostic centres in reducing pressure on hospitals.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Elective Reform Plan and the 10-Year Health Plan, community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are key to delivering on the Government’s ambition to move more planned care from hospitals to the community, reducing pressure on hospitals and delivering more convenient care close to home.
CDCs deliver additional, digitally connected, diagnostic capacity, providing patients with a co-ordinated set of diagnostic checks in the community in as few visits as possible, enabling an accurate and fast diagnosis on a range of clinical pathways.
Under the Government, CDCs have delivered over 9.4 million tests and scans since July 2024, supporting patients to access vital tests, scans, and checks around their busy working lives.
In August 2025, the Government confirmed that 100 CDCs across the country are now offering out of hours services by opening for 12 hours a day, seven days a week, meaning patients can access vital tests, scans, and checks around their busy working lives. We are committed to increasing this number further.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 the introduction of telemedicine for first-trimester abortions on the number of criminal prosecutions in the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has not made an assessment on the connection between the number of prosecutions for unlawful abortions and the availability of telemedicine for early medical abortion. As with other matters of conscience, abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance. Parliament decides the circumstances under which abortion can legally be undertaken.
In 2022, Parliament voted to amend the Abortion Act 1967 to allow eligible women in England and Wales to take one or both pills for early medical abortion up to 10 weeks at home, following a consultation with a clinician either in person, by telephone or by electronic means. The Department works closely with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, and abortion providers to ensure that abortions are provided safely, in accordance with the legal framework set by the Abortion Act 1967.
Abortion continues to be a very safe procedure for which major complications are rare at all gestations. The evidence-base for home use of early medical abortion pills has been assessed by leading statutory and professional organisations and it is recognised to be a safe procedure in evidence-based guidance, including the World Health Organisation’s abortion care guideline, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 2022 report on best practice in abortion care and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guidelines on abortion care.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) additional funding and (b) operational support his Department will provide to Integrated Care Systems in (i) rural areas and (ii) West Dorset in winter 2025-2026.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is responsible for determining funding allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs), including those covering rural areas and West Dorset. This process is independent of the Government and is informed by advice from the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA).
Funding allocations for 2025/26, published on 30 January 2025, include an ACRA-recommended adjustment specifically focused on rurality that reflects the additional cost of providing home-delivered community services in sparsely populated areas, and recognises the longer travel times required to deliver said services. Allocations cover the whole financial year, so there is not winter specific additional funding provided. Further information on funding allocations for 2025/26 is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/allocation-of-resources-2025-26/
All ICBs and trusts have developed their own winter plans, which were stress tested at regional events throughout September to expose any weaknesses and to be strengthen where necessary. We continue to work closely with the most challenged trusts, providing targeted improvement support to help them improve their four-hour and 12-hour performance, and reduce ambulance handover delays.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with regulatory bodies on the standards required of individuals providing ultrasound scans in non-NHS settings.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the prevalence and use of private ultrasound clinics. No recent discussions have taken place with regulatory bodies on the standards required of individuals providing ultrasound scans in non-National Health Service settings.
While there are no legal requirements for those carrying out ultrasound in the Untied Kingdom to hold specific professional qualifications or registration, all providers in England who provide ultrasound scans must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and meet certain legal duties, which includes ensuring that anyone carrying out such activity has the appropriate skills, knowledge, and experience.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the (a) prevalence and (b) use of private ultrasound clinics.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the prevalence and use of private ultrasound clinics. No recent discussions have taken place with regulatory bodies on the standards required of individuals providing ultrasound scans in non-National Health Service settings.
While there are no legal requirements for those carrying out ultrasound in the Untied Kingdom to hold specific professional qualifications or registration, all providers in England who provide ultrasound scans must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and meet certain legal duties, which includes ensuring that anyone carrying out such activity has the appropriate skills, knowledge, and experience.
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 assessment he has made of access to ear wax removal services for patients in Newbury constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no specific assessment of services in Newbury because it is for integrated care boards to commission cost-effective healthcare to meet the needs of their local populations. Guidance for patients on ear wax build-up, including when to seek advice from a pharmacist or general practitioner, is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/earwax-build-up/
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 12 November 2025 to Question 87401 on Prosthetics and Wigs: Ethnic Groups, whether he will ensure that there is guidance or a requirement for NHS Trusts to procure breast prosthesis and wigs which meet the diverse needs of their patients, beyond the availability of such products through the NHS Supply Chain frameworks.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Supply Chain manages a framework agreement for the provision of external breast prosthesis and chest support garments, only which was renewed in November 2024. The framework provides the breadth of products available to meet National Health Service trusts and/or foundation trusts assessment and patient choice requirements.
The product ranges on the framework include a variety of materials, types, shapes, sizes, and colours to meet diverse needs, and all suppliers have some product ranges available in more than one colour. Some products are better suited to exercise and swimming, but the provision of a prosthesis is limited to a softie, which is textile based, immediately after surgery and a silicone based prosthesis once wounds have healed.
NHS trusts and foundation trusts are responsible for their own procurement activity to meet the requirements of their patients and clinicians. NHS England has a list of approved regional and national frameworks that NHS provider organisations can use, and they are encouraged to buy from a framework if it catalogues the particular product or service.
The accreditation standards required to be on the list cover a range of areas, from minimum contractual terms and conditions, robust supplier appointment and value for money assessment processes, through to the sharing of commercial and commission data with NHS England. Details and the list of accredited host organisations can be found at the following link:
NHS Supply Chain is on this list and is the main supplier of goods and services into the NHS.