Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of integrated care board reconfigurations on patient access to healthcare services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health and care services and to reduce the duplication of responsibilities within their structure, with the expectation of achieving a reduction in their running cost allowance. NHS England provided additional guidance to ICBs, National Health Service trusts, and NHS foundation trusts in a letter on 1 April 2025. This letter is available at the following:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/
These changes will form part of a package of measures, including the forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan, that positively impact on patient care and safety by driving quality of care, productivity, and innovation in the NHS. ICBs will continue to deliver their statutory responsibilities and NHS England’s transformation team will continue to work with ICBs to develop their plans and to ensure implementation of the changes, whilst maintaining a focus on patient safety.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on promoting the (a) mental, (b) physical and (c) wellbeing aspects of (i) walking and (ii) cycling.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers in the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department for Transport have discussed promoting the mental, physical, and wellbeing benefits of walking and cycling. The departments work together to align active travel with health objectives, such as reducing physical inactivity and health inequalities, and improving air quality. We are considering together how to incorporate health into the upcoming Integrated National Transport Strategy and Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department provide guidance on the handover of patient care between GPs and (a) dentists and (b) eye clinics.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department supports effective patient care handovers between general practitioners (GPs), dentists, and eye clinics through existing frameworks. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) 2018 guideline Emergency and acute medical care in over 16s: service delivery and organisation, code NG94, recommends structured handovers using tools like SBAR, or Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation, for clear communication during care transitions that are applicable to these settings. The NICE’s 2015 guideline Medicines optimisation: the safe and effective use of medicines to enable the best possible outcomes, code NG5, advises sharing accurate medicine information when patients move between different providers.
For dentists, the NICE’s 2015 guideline Suspected cancer: recognition and referral, code NG12, supports GP referrals for suspected oral cancer requiring clear communication. NHS England’s dental policies promote collaboration between GPs and dentists that are reinforced by the General Dental Council’s standards on documentation.
For eye clinics, NHS England’s Eye Care Digital Playbook encourages secure communication for handovers between GPs, optometrists, and eye services. Referral guidance ensures GPs provide comprehensive patient details.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to facilitate engagement with trade unions representing health and social care workers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As we take steps to reform the National Health Service in England, the Government is committed to resetting relations with all NHS staff. As part of this, the Department engages regularly with trade unions representing staff working in the NHS and the social care sector, on a wide range of issues, including workforce policy and, more recently, the 10-Year Health Plan.
This engagement includes regular, scheduled meetings with the healthcare trade unions in the national Social Partnership Forum, which I chair. We also continue to engage through national partnership structures such as the NHS Staff Council to understand unions’ views on pay and contractual arrangements.
Furthermore, we are introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the adult social care sector so that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work that they do. As we work towards a Fair Pay Agreement, we are already consulting unions, and others from across the sector.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reviewing the polices on issuing Penalty Charge Notices for patient transport service vehicles.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made by this Department of the potential merits of reviewing the policies on issuing Penalty Charge notices for patient transport service vehicles.
NHS Trusts are expected to comply with the NHS Car Parking Guidance, from 2022, which covers both NHS Trusts and NHS Foundation Trusts. This applies to all NHS Trusts, including those that use private parking companies to operate their hospital car parks.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the speed of the delivery of the school vaccination programme.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The National Health Service is supporting catch-up efforts to return the coverage of school aged vaccination programmes back to their pre-pandemic levels. School aged immunisation service providers are commissioned to deliver a 100% offer for adolescent vaccine programmes, including for children not in mainstream education.
Catch-up initiatives are also in place via schools and community clinic settings, and those who miss out on the adolescent immunisation sessions remain eligible in older years. General practices are also commissioned by NHS England to deliver catch ups for school aged children and young people on an opportunistic basis, to maximise vaccine uptake.
NHS England continues to work with all key stakeholders at a regional level to strengthen local initiatives and encourage innovative models to approach the robust delivery of school aged vaccinations.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dentists have been recruited via the dental recruitment incentive scheme in (a) Bedfordshire and (b) the East of England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Within the NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board (ICB), five dentists have been recruited under the dental recruitment incentive scheme. In the East of England in total, 11 dentists have been recruited under the dental recruitment incentive scheme. ICBs continue to work with practices in their area to support recruitment to these posts.
This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most, for three years.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support patients adversely impacted by pelvic mesh implants.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are nine specialist mesh centres across England, ensuring that women in every region with complications due to mesh inserted for urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse gets the right support. Each mesh centre is led by a multi-disciplinary team to ensure patients get access to the specialist care and treatment that they need, including pain management and psychological support.
The Medical Devices Outcomes Registry was established by NHS England in April 2024 to fulfil Recommendation 7 of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, also known as the Cumberlege Review. The Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Stress Urinary Incontinence registry will be launched in early 2025. This will ensure that appropriate clinical vigilance data is collected, surgical outliers can be identified, and that comparative performance and outcomes across the centres are routinely available. NHS England is extending the registry to be United Kingdom-wide, to improve the recording of patient outcomes and experience.
Furthermore, the Department has commissioned, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, a £1.56 million study to develop a patient reported outcome measure (PROM) for prolapse, incontinence, and mesh complication surgery. Longer term, the PROM will be integrated into the pelvic floor registry.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many penalty charge notices have been issued against patient transport service vehicles in each of the last five years for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of influenza cases in hospitals in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) surveillance of influenza hospitalisations operates during winter season only, where most influenza activity is typically observed. Trends vary across the season and are published weekly at the following link:
UKHSA surveillance confirmed influenza cases admitted to hospital, shows the overall influenza hospitalisation rate in the most recent published data, namely week 52 commencing 23 December 2024, was 14.09 per 100,000. For comparison, in the 2023 to 2024 season, influenza hospitalisation rates peaked in week 52, namely the week commencing 25 December 2023, with a rate of 6.65 per 100,000 and again in week 4, namely the week commencing 22 January 2024, with a rate of 7.55 per 100,000.