Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government against which criteria they assess progress in delivering the NHS England Cervical cancer elimination by 2040 – plan for England; which organisations are accountable for delivery; and how progress will be reported to Parliament.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is leading delivery of the plan to eliminate cervical cancer in England by 2040, working alongside the Department, providers and wider health system partners. The plan aligns with the World Health Organisation’s global initiative to reduce cervical cancer incidence to fewer than four cases per 100,000, and we will report on our progress to Parliament in the normal way.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether regulations establishing the single patient record will enable regulated independent digital healthcare providers to have access to relevant patient information and to contribute clinically relevant information arising from the care they provide, subject to appropriate patient consent, information governance, security, and clinical safety requirements.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is fully intended that independent providers will be part of the Single Patient Record in respect of both NHS and privately funded services with the aim of providing effective, joined-up care. Detailed access arrangements will be set through regulations and the Single Patient Record information-governance framework. Access will require an appropriate legal basis and will be limited according to the professional's role and care relationship.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether appropriately regulated independent healthcare providers will be able to access relevant patient information through the single patient record when providing direct care to a patient; and if so, what criteria such providers will be required to meet to obtain access.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is fully intended that independent providers will be part of the Single Patient Record in respect of both NHS and privately funded services with the aim of providing effective, joined-up care. Detailed access arrangements will be set through regulations and the Single Patient Record information-governance framework. Access will require an appropriate legal basis and will be limited according to the professional's role and care relationship.
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 number of eye-related attendances at emergency departments in England that could be safely managed in community optometry settings.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 11 September in response to Question 26418 which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below:
“Integrated care boards are responsible for deciding whether to commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices to meet the needs of their local populations. This is in line with the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitment to local decision making.
“As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is investing £20 million to equip high street optometrists with the digital tools they need to refer patients faster and more accurately, helping more people get convenient eye care closer to home.
“Accident and emergency departments should still be used for genuine emergencies, and we expect patients to be assessed and directed to the service that best meets their needs.”
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 increase public awareness of community optometry services as an alternative to emergency departments for urgent eye conditions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 11 September in response to Question 26418 which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below:
“Integrated care boards are responsible for deciding whether to commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices to meet the needs of their local populations. This is in line with the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitment to local decision making.
“As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is investing £20 million to equip high street optometrists with the digital tools they need to refer patients faster and more accurately, helping more people get convenient eye care closer to home.
“Accident and emergency departments should still be used for genuine emergencies, and we expect patients to be assessed and directed to the service that best meets their needs.”
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Merron on 24 June (HL Deb col 657), what steps they are taking to ensure resistant hypertension is addressed as part of the cardiovascular disease modern service framework implementation, given that the framework published on 7 July does not reference resistant hypertension as a distinct, high-risk subgroup.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework sets 12 immediate priorities for the next three years, each with measures and three- and ten-year ambitions. These include treating people with hypertension, including resistant hypertension, to evidence-based targets, with progress tracked through the accompanying measure.
The delivery model set out in the published framework directs systems to use population health data to identify and manage underserved and high-risk populations.
Clinicians are advised to follow the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines for the management of resistance hypertension.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in light of the UK expert clinical consensus statement on renal denervation published in Heart journal in November 2025 that found 93 per cent of surveyed UK clinicians support the NHS and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to update their respective commissioning policy and guidance, what plans they have to update current guidance to enable the routine commissioning of renal denervation.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is reviewing the clinical evidence for the commissioning of renal denervation treatment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is an independent body with its own processes for reviewing and updating its guidance, taking account of the best available evidence of both clinical and cost effectiveness.
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 case for establishing a reimbursement pathway for renal denervation as a treatment for resistant hypertension, given that it is approved and commercially available in a number of comparable healthcare systems internationally but is not routinely commissioned by the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is reviewing the clinical evidence for the commissioning of renal denervation treatment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is an independent body with its own processes for reviewing and updating its guidance, taking account of the best available evidence of both clinical and cost effectiveness.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they consider the factual summary of consultation responses published on 7 December 2023 to constitute the report required by section 4 of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc.) Act 2019; on what basis they consider the statutory duty to have been fulfilled; and on what date the five-year period provided for by section 4 began.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Justice jointly consulted on proposals to provide coroners with new powers to investigate term stillbirths in 2019. The factual summary of responses to the consultation, published in 2023, set out the feedback received from respondents but did not give a Government view on whether, and if so how, the law ought to be changed to enable or require coroners to investigate stillbirths.
Following the publication of Baroness Amos’ independent investigation into National Health Service maternity and neonatal services, the Government has committed to publishing a response to the 2019 consultation in due course. The five-year period provided for by section 4 of the 2019 act begins on the date when the Government publishes its report into whether and how to change the law on coronial investigations of stillbirths.
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 virtual triage model used at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust; and whether they plan for this to inform the development of NHS Online.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Online is being developed using evidence and learning from existing virtual outpatient services and wider digital healthcare models across the National Health Service and internationally. It is being designed with input from patients and clinical experts to ensure services are safe, effective, and appropriate for virtual delivery. The impact of NHS Online will be monitored as the programme develops and is implemented.