Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to include Chronic UTIs in the (a) 10-year Health Strategy and (b) next iteration of the Women’s Health Strategy.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether UK Health Security Agency microbiology laboratories have the capability to carry out group B Streptococcus-specific enriched culture medium testing in accordance with the Public Health England guidance on Standards for Microbial Investigations B 58.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of group B streptococcal microbiological laboratory testing is under review with clinical stakeholders. At present, this service, with respect to enriched culture medium testing, in accordance with Public Health England’s guidance on Standards for Microbial Investigations B 58, is not offered within regional UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) microbiology laboratories. The Bacteria Reference Department in UKHSA Colindale had specific accreditation under the United Kingdom Accreditation Service for group B Streptococci testing, which provides confirmation of group B Streptococci status and typing, based on the identification of 10 polysaccharide antigens.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that patients receiving (a) stem cell transplants and (b) other cell therapies have access to specialist psychological support (i) before, (ii) during and (iii) after treatment.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As stipulated by NHS England in the blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) service specification, BMT services, which include stem cell transplants, should ensure that a full range of support staff is available, including social workers, and psychological, physiotherapy, pharmacy, and radiology support, for stem cell transplant recipients. BMT service providers are also expected to be accredited by the Joint Accreditation Committee of the International Society for Cellular Therapy and the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (JACIE), and the requirement for psychology support staff is also reflected in the eighth edition of the JACIE standards. For wider cell therapies, psychological support has been a requirement as part of any CAR-T core multidisciplinary team since 2018. It is also an important component for any commissioned advanced therapy medicinal product.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on regional variations in access to group B Streptococcus testing; and what steps are being taken to reduce those variations.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National External Quality Assessment Service’s (NEQAS) microbiology service, hosted by The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), has introduced a group B Streptococcus Screening External Quality Assessment scheme as of April 2025.
The UKHSA does not currently collect regional variations in the provision of group B testing services.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
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 help tackle disparities in the incidence of group B Streptococcal infections among different (a) ethnic and (b) socioeconomic groups.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has co-ordinated periods of enhanced surveillance of invasive group B Streptococcal (GBS) in infants younger than 90 days, allowing for a greater understanding of the risk factors and outcomes of infection, which is vital in identifying opportunities for prevention. For example, a population-wide data analysis on race and ethnicity in neonatal GBS in England between 2016 and 2020 revealed marked differences in invasive GBS rates among black and minority ethnic infants. Further details of this study are available at the following link:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35979728/
The UKHSA is working to identify target groups for future GBS vaccination through epidemiological analysis of invasive and non-invasive disease phenotypes in adults and children, and to identify ethnic disparities in rates of infant and maternal GBS. The UKHSA has also been progressing the development of maternal carriage studies to investigate differential rates of carriage according to ethnicity and other characteristics, including socioeconomic factors.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Workforce Plan will include measures to encourage the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of clinical psychologists with a specialism in stem cell transplant and cell therapies.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment, including recruitment of clinical psychologists, at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place and with the right skills mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
The Government is committed to publishing a refreshed NHS Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.
NHS England is leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many qualified ophthalmic (a) consultants and (b) doctors there are who are able to treat glaucoma; how many people have glaucoma; and what estimate he has made of trends in these numbers over the next 10 years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee does not recommend screening for glaucoma because it is not clear if the tests which are available are accurate enough to be used in a screening programme. Regular sight tests are important in detecting glaucoma, which is why we recommend everyone having a sight test at least every two years. Free National Health Service sight tests are available for many, including children, those aged 60 years old and over, individuals on income-related benefits, and those diagnosed with, or considered at risk of, glaucoma.
The Department does not hold information on the absolute numbers of people living with glaucoma at any one time in England, and therefore no estimate has been made on the numbers of people who will have glaucoma in the next 10 years. Data is also not held centrally on the number of qualified ophthalmic consultants and doctors who are able to treat glaucoma in the NHS.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who will have glaucoma in England in each of the next 10 years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee does not recommend screening for glaucoma because it is not clear if the tests which are available are accurate enough to be used in a screening programme. Regular sight tests are important in detecting glaucoma, which is why we recommend everyone having a sight test at least every two years. Free National Health Service sight tests are available for many, including children, those aged 60 years old and over, individuals on income-related benefits, and those diagnosed with, or considered at risk of, glaucoma.
The Department does not hold information on the absolute numbers of people living with glaucoma at any one time in England, and therefore no estimate has been made on the numbers of people who will have glaucoma in the next 10 years. Data is also not held centrally on the number of qualified ophthalmic consultants and doctors who are able to treat glaucoma in the NHS.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered introducing a national screening programme for glaucoma.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee does not recommend screening for glaucoma because it is not clear if the tests which are available are accurate enough to be used in a screening programme. Regular sight tests are important in detecting glaucoma, which is why we recommend everyone having a sight test at least every two years. Free National Health Service sight tests are available for many, including children, those aged 60 years old and over, individuals on income-related benefits, and those diagnosed with, or considered at risk of, glaucoma.
The Department does not hold information on the absolute numbers of people living with glaucoma at any one time in England, and therefore no estimate has been made on the numbers of people who will have glaucoma in the next 10 years. Data is also not held centrally on the number of qualified ophthalmic consultants and doctors who are able to treat glaucoma in the NHS.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
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 Chancellor of the Exchequer on the release of Adult Social Care Funding Data, following the Information Tribunal order to disclose it in October 2024.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt. Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has regular conversations with the Chancellor of the Exchequer about a variety of topics.
To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government has made available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. The Government has provided an increase to core local government spending power in 2025/26 of up to 6.8% in cash terms.