Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which patients and their families have been engaged in NICE's project to appraise the effectiveness of vorasidenib.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that makes evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS on the basis of an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. NICE develops its guidance through extensive engagement with interested parties, including patient groups.

NICE is currently evaluating vorasidenib for treating astrocytoma or oligodendroglioma with IDH1 or IDH2 mutations after surgery in people 12 years old and over. As part of the appraisal process, NICE’s independent committee was provided with evidence submissions from three patient groups. The committee also heard expert personal perspectives from two patient experts.

The draft guidance was shared with all stakeholders as well as being published on the NICE website for public comment as part of the consultation which took place between 15 October and 4 November 2025. The committee reviewed the consultation comments at the committee meeting on 20 November 2025. NICE currently expects to publish final guidance in January 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 7 November (HL11405), what monitoring processes are in place to ensure that the national sample handling guidance for the whole genome sequencing of solid tumours is being implemented fully.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The performance of the NHS Genomic Medicine Service is monitored quarterly through an assurance framework, which ensures all seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs are operating to national quality standards. This identifies and minimises any potential variation and ensures consistent delivery of the criteria outlined in the National Genomic Test Directory.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, when implementing the recommendations of the Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape, to ensure that integrated care boards are properly scrutinised by an independent patient body when they propose a major change to their services.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has accepted the Dash review recommendations and will abolish Healthwatch England and Local Healthwatch (LHW) in their current form.

We are proposing to place responsibility for the health function of LHW with integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs will ensure the functions are incorporated in provider organisations alongside existing patient engagement work such as Patient Participation Groups. Local authorities will be responsible for the social care LHW functions.

However, the abolition of Healthwatch England and LHW arrangements will require primary legislation and is subject to the will of Parliament. Details of how any proposed changes will impact ICBs will be developed in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, when implementing the recommendations of the Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape, published on 7 July, to ensure that each integrated care board (ICB) appoints an executive director who is responsible for patient experience and is directly accountable to the chair of an ICB.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has accepted the Dash review recommendations and will abolish Healthwatch England and Local Healthwatch (LHW) in their current form.

We are proposing to place responsibility for the health function of LHW with integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs will ensure the functions are incorporated in provider organisations alongside existing patient engagement work such as Patient Participation Groups. Local authorities will be responsible for the social care LHW functions.

However, the abolition of Healthwatch England and LHW arrangements will require primary legislation and is subject to the will of Parliament. Details of how any proposed changes will impact ICBs will be developed in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that a nationally-determined and ring-fenced budget is maintained for each integrated care board, to fund community and user input, when they implement the recommendations of the Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape in relation to local Healthwatch.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has accepted the Dash review recommendations and will abolish Healthwatch England and Local Healthwatch (LHW) in their current form.

We are proposing to place responsibility for the health function of LHW with integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs will ensure the functions are incorporated in provider organisations alongside existing patient engagement work such as Patient Participation Groups. Local authorities will be responsible for the social care LHW functions.

However, the abolition of Healthwatch England and LHW arrangements will require primary legislation and is subject to the will of Parliament. Details of how any proposed changes will impact ICBs will be developed in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, when they implement the recommendations of the Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape in relation to local Healthwatch, to ensure that concerns about the quality of care can be raised with the Care Quality Commission.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) currently gathers views through the Give Feedback on Care section on the CQC website, which allows people who use services or staff to submit experiences or concerns about a service.

The feedback gathered helps to shape the CQC’s regulatory activity and allows them to identify issues and themes in the quality of care. During their inspections, the CQC will consider information from a variety of sources, which includes feedback received from members of the public regarding their experience of a service, or the experience of someone they represent.

We are not proposing to change this as part of the implementation of the recommendations in the report on the review of patient safety across the health and care landscape.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, when they implement the recommendations of the Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape in relation to Healthwatch England, to ensure that there is an independent voice for patients at a national level.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As set out in the Dash Report and the 10-Year Health Plan for England, the strategic functions of Healthwatch England will transfer to a new directorate for patient experience within the Department.

We are committed to ensuring that the patient voice is not only heard but embedded at the highest levels of our leadership and decision-making structures. By creating clear routes for patient insight, feedback, and lived experience to directly influence senior leaders at the national level, we will ensure that policies, strategic priorities, and service design will be shaped by what matters most to the people who use health services.