Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Chief Medical Officer’s publication entitled Annual report 2025: infections, published on 4 December 2025, if he will set out how the proposed regional infection groups will deliver consistent antimicrobial stewardship standards and infection management across local systems to support optimal patient care and to minimise the future risk of drug-resistant infections.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The United Kingdom’s 2024 to 2029 National Action Plan (NAP) to confront antimicrobial resistance (AMR) sets out a range of commitments and targets to mitigate the AMR risk, including to reduce antibiotic use in humans. Aligned to the NAP, NHS England is taking a range of steps to embed antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) within professional responsibilities across the National Health Service workforce.

This includes establishing professional accountability and leadership through regional AMS networks, embedding AMS into continuous professional development training programmes, and providing digital decision-support tools and national reporting on antibiotic prescribing targets.

As set out in the Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2025, the formation of regional infection groups (RIGs) was recently proposed by the NHS England Infectious Disease Clinical Reference Group to embed AMS at a local level. NHS England is committed to introducing RIGs, which would collaborate with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to deliver local, data-driven AMS interventions that span community and secondary care settings.

It is envisaged that RIGs would be comprised of senior leaders across NHS Regional Teams, UKHSA, Regional Pathology Networks, Infection, Prevention and Control teams, and NHS Emergency Preparedness, Resilience & Response, organised according to regions or integrated care board (ICB) clusters. RIG initiatives would be shaped and informed by local, regional or ICB cluster priorities.

Through these measures, AMS is embedded in education, clinical practice, and regional governance, ensuring responsible prescribing, and safeguarding the effectiveness of antimicrobials for the future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Chief Medical Officer’s publication entitled Annual report 2025: infections, published on 4 December 2025, what steps he is taking to embed antimicrobial stewardship as a professional responsibility across the NHS workforce to prevent the over-prescription of antibiotics and other antimicrobials.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The United Kingdom’s 2024 to 2029 National Action Plan (NAP) to confront antimicrobial resistance (AMR) sets out a range of commitments and targets to mitigate the AMR risk, including to reduce antibiotic use in humans. Aligned to the NAP, NHS England is taking a range of steps to embed antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) within professional responsibilities across the National Health Service workforce.

This includes establishing professional accountability and leadership through regional AMS networks, embedding AMS into continuous professional development training programmes, and providing digital decision-support tools and national reporting on antibiotic prescribing targets.

As set out in the Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2025, the formation of regional infection groups (RIGs) was recently proposed by the NHS England Infectious Disease Clinical Reference Group to embed AMS at a local level. NHS England is committed to introducing RIGs, which would collaborate with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to deliver local, data-driven AMS interventions that span community and secondary care settings.

It is envisaged that RIGs would be comprised of senior leaders across NHS Regional Teams, UKHSA, Regional Pathology Networks, Infection, Prevention and Control teams, and NHS Emergency Preparedness, Resilience & Response, organised according to regions or integrated care board (ICB) clusters. RIG initiatives would be shaped and informed by local, regional or ICB cluster priorities.

Through these measures, AMS is embedded in education, clinical practice, and regional governance, ensuring responsible prescribing, and safeguarding the effectiveness of antimicrobials for the future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make a comparative assessment of the outcomes for children in the critical 1,001 days in (a) areas with Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies and (b) areas without Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health, and life chances. Prioritising quality support during the critical 1,001 days offers a real opportunity to improve outcomes, reduce health disparities, and deliver on our ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children.

From April 2026, Best Start Family Hubs will expand to every single local authority, backed by over £500 million to reach up to half a million more children. This funding will enable integration of health services in Best Start Family Hubs across all local authorities and is fundamental to improving outcomes for babies, children, and their families and for delivering on neighbourhood health.

The Department has commissioned an independent evaluation to help us understand the effectiveness and impact of Start for Life, now Healthy Babies, services. The final report, expected in 2026, will identify comparison groups where appropriate and will be integral to making evidence-based decisions for improving outcomes for babies and children.