Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the digital NHS health check programme will include the use of point-of-care diagnostic testing technologies.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Health Check Online is currently in a private Beta testing phase and is being piloted in multiple local authorities. The service utilises point-of-care testing through the NHS Find a Pharmacy service, which directs patients to their nearest participating pharmacy for a free blood pressure check, which can be completed quickly without the need to see a general practitioner.
The private Beta testing phase is being independently evaluated, and the findings will inform decisions on whether further development is needed, including whether the NHS Health Check online may need to consider the use of further point-of-care diagnostic testing.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the expected timetable is for the rollout of the digital NHS health check programme.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To improve access and engagement with the NHS Health Check, a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme, we are developing the NHS Health Check Online service that people can use at home, at a time convenient to them, to understand and act on their CVD risk.
The NHS Health Check Online is currently in a private Beta testing phase and is being piloted in multiple local authorities. The testing phase is being independently evaluated and once completed, the findings will inform decisions on next steps such as whether further development is needed. We expect to have the evaluation results later this year.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to update the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines for generalised anxiety and panic disorder; and what representations they have made, if any, to NICE regarding review of those guidelines.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no assessment of the potential merits of updating the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on generalised anxiety and panic disorders, and has not made any representations to NICE regarding a review of the guideline.
NICE is an independent body and is responsible for keeping its guidelines up to date in light of new evidence. NICE keeps its guidance under active surveillance and decisions on whether published guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence are taken by the NICE prioritisation board, chaired by the NICE Chief Medical Officer, in line with its published prioritisation framework. There are currently no plans to update the guideline on generalised anxiety and panic disorder.
NICE is currently updating or reviewing several guidelines related to mental health conditions, including its guidelines on bipolar disorder, psychosis and schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure regular review of National Institute for Health and Care Excellent mental health guidelines.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no assessment of the potential merits of updating the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on generalised anxiety and panic disorders, and has not made any representations to NICE regarding a review of the guideline.
NICE is an independent body and is responsible for keeping its guidelines up to date in light of new evidence. NICE keeps its guidance under active surveillance and decisions on whether published guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence are taken by the NICE prioritisation board, chaired by the NICE Chief Medical Officer, in line with its published prioritisation framework. There are currently no plans to update the guideline on generalised anxiety and panic disorder.
NICE is currently updating or reviewing several guidelines related to mental health conditions, including its guidelines on bipolar disorder, psychosis and schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they will secure independent evidence on the needs and experiences of health and social care users following the abolition of Healthwatch.
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 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.
To achieve this, we are proposing to abolish Healthwatch and bring patient voice ‘in-house’ by creating a new Patient Experience Directorate in the Department, which will take on the strategic functions of Healthwatch England. The health function of Local Healthwatch (LHW) will become the responsibility of 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 functions of LHW.
The abolition of both Healthwatch England and Local Healthwatch will require primary legislation and will be subject to the will of Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of proposals to shift from analogue to digital announced in the 10-year Health Plan for England, what provisions will be established to ensure digital exclusion does not exacerbate any existing inequalities...
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations must ensure that all patients have equitable access to care, and that decisions or policies do not unfairly disadvantage people or lead to an increase in inequalities. All NHS organisations are legally obliged to not discriminate against patients or staff.
This means that a non-digital solution should be available for those patients who cannot or do not wish to engage digitally, and these non-digital routes must be available for all services provided by NHS organisations.
Aligned to the Equality Act 2010 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012, each 10-Year Health Plan policy, proposition, programme, proposal, or initiative in scope of public sector equality duties will undergo an Equality Impact Assessments and Equality and Healthcare Inequalities Impact Assessments.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the government actions requested by the Royal College of Midwives as part of the "Safe Staffing = Safe Care" campaign.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, NHS England, and the Nursing Midwifery Council are urgently working to ensure that midwifery training consistently delivers modern maternity care that respects a woman’s choice and individual circumstances.
We will introduce a new set of standards for modern employment in April 2026 to deliver our ambition to make the National Health Service the best place to work. We are committed to tackling the retention and recruitment challenges that face the NHS. As of November 2025, there were 25,530 full time equivalent midwives working in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. This is an increase of 824, or 3.3%, compared to November 2024. We are also investing over £149 million through the 2025/26 Estates Safety Fund to address critical safety risks on the maternity estate, enabling better care for mothers and their newborns.
In addition, Baroness Amos is leading an independent investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal care. This includes understanding the experience of staff and healthcare professionals delivering care at all stages of the maternity and neonatal care pathway and how they can best be supported in providing high-quality, safe, and compassionate care. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will chair a maternity and neonatal taskforce that will address the recommendations of the investigation by developing a national action plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the final membership of the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce; and what is the date of the first meeting of that taskforce; whether that taskforce will publish further findings after spring 2026.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The membership of the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce is currently being finalised. The first meeting of the taskforce will be held in early spring.
The taskforce will publish a national action plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care in due course, following publication of Baroness Amos’ independent investigation’s final report and recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps the national maternity and neonatal investigation team is taking to ensure full representation of staff views in its work, including through a call for evidence at NHS trust level.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following a meeting with West Mercia Police about the detail and schedule of their ongoing investigation, Baroness Amos concluded that the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust should be removed from the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was removed from the list of trusts under review as part of the national investigation following my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s decision to commission a separate independent maternity inquiry on 20 October.
The Call for Evidence for the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation was launched in January 2026, and the investigation has encouraged families in Shrewsbury and Telford, and Leeds to participate.
On 26 January 2026, the Independent Maternity and Neonatal Investigation launched a Workforce Call for Evidence. This is open specifically to all those who work in the maternity and neonatal care pathway and is a separate to the public call for evidence. It takes the form of a short online survey and focuses on the experiences of staff delivering care across the maternity and neonatal pathway and how best to support teams to provide high-quality, safe, and compassionate care. Findings will inform the investigation’s national recommendations, due for publication in spring 2026.
Information about how to access the workforce survey has been distributed to all NHS trusts and the investigation is asking them to cascade the link to all maternity and neonatal staff groups. It is currently live and will be open for six weeks, closing on 9 March 2026.
Baroness Amos is also meeting the senior team in each of the 12 trusts and staff panels are also being held on site.
A list of leaders for national organisations, including statutory, Arm’s Length Bodies, and the voluntary and charitable sector, is being developed by the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation. Leaders of these organisations will be invited to a formal interview with the Chair, Director of investigation, and a member of the Expert Panel.
The National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation is also gathering evidence from organisations. Organisations and other individuals, for instance researchers, wishing to submit evidence to the investigation can submit this directly by email to the investigation mailbox. The deadline for all evidence submissions is 17 March 2026.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government who was responsible for the decision to remove (1) Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, and (2) Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, from the scope of the national maternity and neonatal investigation.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following a meeting with West Mercia Police about the detail and schedule of their ongoing investigation, Baroness Amos concluded that the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust should be removed from the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was removed from the list of trusts under review as part of the national investigation following my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s decision to commission a separate independent maternity inquiry on 20 October.
The Call for Evidence for the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation was launched in January 2026, and the investigation has encouraged families in Shrewsbury and Telford, and Leeds to participate.
On 26 January 2026, the Independent Maternity and Neonatal Investigation launched a Workforce Call for Evidence. This is open specifically to all those who work in the maternity and neonatal care pathway and is a separate to the public call for evidence. It takes the form of a short online survey and focuses on the experiences of staff delivering care across the maternity and neonatal pathway and how best to support teams to provide high-quality, safe, and compassionate care. Findings will inform the investigation’s national recommendations, due for publication in spring 2026.
Information about how to access the workforce survey has been distributed to all NHS trusts and the investigation is asking them to cascade the link to all maternity and neonatal staff groups. It is currently live and will be open for six weeks, closing on 9 March 2026.
Baroness Amos is also meeting the senior team in each of the 12 trusts and staff panels are also being held on site.
A list of leaders for national organisations, including statutory, Arm’s Length Bodies, and the voluntary and charitable sector, is being developed by the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation. Leaders of these organisations will be invited to a formal interview with the Chair, Director of investigation, and a member of the Expert Panel.
The National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation is also gathering evidence from organisations. Organisations and other individuals, for instance researchers, wishing to submit evidence to the investigation can submit this directly by email to the investigation mailbox. The deadline for all evidence submissions is 17 March 2026.