Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of reports that the provision of weight management support in the NHS is limited, (1) what assessment they have made of the adequacy of existing GP training in obesity management, and (2) what steps they are taking to embed evidence-based obesity education, including behavioural and psychological approaches, into GP specialty training curricula.

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

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that the National Health Service workforce is provided with high-quality training to support them to deliver quality care to patients living with obesity.

The curricula for postgraduate specialty training are developed by royal colleges and faculties and approved by the General Medical Council. Standards of education and proficiency are the responsibility of the statutorily independent professional regulators.

Individual employers are responsible for appropriate ongoing training and continuing professional development to ensure they continue to provide safe and effective care. NHS England and other organisations support employers and the NHS workforce by providing and signposting to evidence‑based training resources on weight management. These include programmes that incorporate behavioural approaches, and in some cases psychological elements, available through platforms such as e‑Learning for Healthcare, the Royal College of General Practitioners Obesity Hub, and the Strategic Centre for Obesity Professional Education programme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all members of the NHS workforce, including psychologists, dietitians, nurses, and pharmacists, receive mandatory training on weight management support, recognising obesity as a life-long relapsing condition.

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

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that the National Health Service workforce is provided with high-quality training to support them to deliver quality care to patients living with obesity.

The curricula for postgraduate specialty training are developed by royal colleges and faculties and approved by the General Medical Council. Standards of education and proficiency are the responsibility of the statutorily independent professional regulators.

Individual employers are responsible for appropriate ongoing training and continuing professional development to ensure they continue to provide safe and effective care. NHS England and other organisations support employers and the NHS workforce by providing and signposting to evidence‑based training resources on weight management. These include programmes that incorporate behavioural approaches, and in some cases psychological elements, available through platforms such as e‑Learning for Healthcare, the Royal College of General Practitioners Obesity Hub, and the Strategic Centre for Obesity Professional Education programme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to discuss future plans for services for autistic people with (1) Ambitious about Autism, (2) Autistica, (3) Autism Action, (4) the National Autistic Society, and (5) Autism Alliance UK.

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

We remain committed to working together across Government and with national autism charities to improve services and outcomes for autistic people.

On 23 January, we published our response to the House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Inquiry Committee’s report Time to deliver: The Autism Act 2009 and the new autism strategy. We are carefully considering the report’s recommendations as well as our approach to the national autism strategy and will set out a position, including our plans to engage with stakeholders, in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to develop a new national autism strategy.

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

The Autism Act 2009 places a duty on my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to consult on, publish, and keep under review a national strategy for meeting the needs of autistic adults in England. My Rt Hon. Friend may choose to revise the strategy, and if so, must publish it as revised.

On 23 January 2026, we published our response to the House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Inquiry Committee’s report Time to deliver: The Autism Act 2009 and the new autism strategy. We are carefully considering the report’s recommendations, as well as our approach to developing a new national autism strategy and will set out a position in due course. The current strategy will remain in effect until a revised strategy is published.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proposals they intend to take forward in the 10 Year Health Plan for England in relation to services for autistic people.

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

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out to make the National Health Service fit for the future, by delivering three big shifts, from hospital to care in community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. The plan will help to address health inequalities for disabled and autistic people by improving access to care, delivering care closer to home, and supporting the development of holistic care plans for those whose needs may require support from multiple health and care providers. We want autistic people’s access to, and experience of, healthcare services to be equitable, effective, and responsive to their needs.

The plan sets out the core principle of early intervention and support, including without the need for diagnosis, including specifically for children and young people, such as those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It is clear about the importance of health services working in partnership with education settings and providing children and young people with early intervention and support to avoid needs escalating, where possible, building on learning from programmes such as Early Language Support for Every Child. We will set out our proposals for SEND reform in the upcoming Schools White Paper.

NHS England continues to support local systems to use a national framework and operational guidance to deliver improved outcomes in all-age autism assessment pathways. It has published national guidance on meeting the needs of autistic adults in mental health services and, to address physical health inequalities, is currently testing a combined health check in primary care for autistic people, those with a severe mental health condition and/or those people with a learning disability.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance, if any, they have issued to integrated care boards to ensure that community health services receive more additional funding than other services.

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

Our Medium-Term Planning Framework, published in October 2025, made it clear to integrated care boards (ICBs) that timely and effective community health services will be critical to shifting care out of hospital and into the community to deliver our ambitions for neighbourhood health.

ICB core programme allocations for 2026/27 to 2028/29, published in November 2025, gave an average recurrent allocation growth across all ICBs in England of 2.72% in 2026/27 and 2.92% in 2027/28.

And, for the first time, we have set a target for systems to reduce long waits for community health services in the Medium-Term Planning Framework. By 2028/29 at least 80% of community health services activity should take place within 18 weeks, bringing community health services in line with targets for elective care. Systems have also been asked to increase the capacity of community health services and to work to standardise the provision of core community services.

To help bring about integration, the Department and NHS England will create effective mechanisms which enable service level funding to flow from acute care to community health services and create financial incentives to invest in services that improve patient outcomes and deliver better value by creating funding flows and payment mechanisms that connect the savings from improved quality of care with the investment in new services in the community.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government which national body has formal responsibility for monitoring outcomes for placenta accreta spectrum, including missed antenatal diagnoses and maternal morbidity.

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

There are currently no plans to introduce mandatory national reporting of placenta accreta spectrum cases and outcomes. Neither Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK) nor the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit record placenta accreta routinely in regular surveillance. However, MBRRACE-UK captures this data as part of their confidential enquiries relating to haemorrhage.

In 2020, NHS England commissioned placenta accreta networks in the United Kingdom which support local and regional screening, shared protocols, and co-ordinated referral pathways to specialist pregnancy accreta centres. Placenta accreta centres consist of highly experienced multidisciplinary teams with the expertise to manage this condition and improve the safety outcomes for women and babies.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce mandatory national reporting of placenta accreta spectrum cases and outcomes; and if so, over what timetable.

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

There are currently no plans to introduce mandatory national reporting of placenta accreta spectrum cases and outcomes. Neither Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK) nor the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit record placenta accreta routinely in regular surveillance. However, MBRRACE-UK captures this data as part of their confidential enquiries relating to haemorrhage.

In 2020, NHS England commissioned placenta accreta networks in the United Kingdom which support local and regional screening, shared protocols, and co-ordinated referral pathways to specialist pregnancy accreta centres. Placenta accreta centres consist of highly experienced multidisciplinary teams with the expertise to manage this condition and improve the safety outcomes for women and babies.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to discuss the publication of data on maternal deaths and severe maternal morbidity specifically attributable to placenta accreta spectrum with Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK.

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

In 2020, NHS England commissioned placenta accreta networks in the United Kingdom which support local and regional screening, shared protocols, and co-ordinated referral pathways to specialist pregnancy accreta centres. These centres consist of highly experienced multidisciplinary teams with the expertise to manage this condition and improve the safety outcomes for women and babies.

At present, placenta accreta spectrum is not included as an indicator in NHS England maternity safety improvement programmes and dashboards. There are no plans to add this as an indicator in the future.

There are no plans to introduce mandatory national reporting of placenta accreta spectrum cases and outcomes. Neither Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK) nor the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit record placenta accreta spectrum routinely in regular surveillance. However, MBRRACE-UK captures this data as part of the haemorrhage confidential enquiries. There are currently no plans to discuss the publication of this data.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is a national audit mechanism to review cases of placenta accreta spectrum that were not diagnosed antenatally and resulted in emergency hysterectomy, major haemorrhage or fatality.

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

In 2020, NHS England commissioned placenta accreta networks in the United Kingdom which support local and regional screening, shared protocols, and co-ordinated referral pathways to specialist pregnancy accreta centres. These centres consist of highly experienced multidisciplinary teams with the expertise to manage this condition and improve the safety outcomes for women and babies.

At present, placenta accreta spectrum is not included as an indicator in NHS England maternity safety improvement programmes and dashboards. There are no plans to add this as an indicator in the future.

There are no plans to introduce mandatory national reporting of placenta accreta spectrum cases and outcomes. Neither Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK) nor the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit record placenta accreta spectrum routinely in regular surveillance. However, MBRRACE-UK captures this data as part of the haemorrhage confidential enquiries. There are currently no plans to discuss the publication of this data.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether placenta accreta spectrum is included as an indicator in NHS England maternity safety improvement programmes and dashboards; and if not, whether placenta accreta spectrum will be added as an indicator.

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

In 2020, NHS England commissioned placenta accreta networks in the United Kingdom which support local and regional screening, shared protocols, and co-ordinated referral pathways to specialist pregnancy accreta centres. These centres consist of highly experienced multidisciplinary teams with the expertise to manage this condition and improve the safety outcomes for women and babies.

At present, placenta accreta spectrum is not included as an indicator in NHS England maternity safety improvement programmes and dashboards. There are no plans to add this as an indicator in the future.

There are no plans to introduce mandatory national reporting of placenta accreta spectrum cases and outcomes. Neither Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK) nor the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit record placenta accreta spectrum routinely in regular surveillance. However, MBRRACE-UK captures this data as part of the haemorrhage confidential enquiries. There are currently no plans to discuss the publication of this data.