Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing funding for new (a) services and (b) research to support people with (i) myalgic encephalomyelitis and (ii) chronic fatigue syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is responsible for allocating funding to integrated care boards, which in turn are responsible for commissioning specialist myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) services that meet the needs of their population, subject to local prioritisation and funding.
On 22 July 2025, we published the final ME/CFS delivery plan, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mecfs-the-final-delivery-plan
Within the plan there is an action for the Department and NHS England to explore whether a specialised service should be prescribed for very severe ME/CFS.
The Government funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC). We have assessed the ME/CFS research portfolio funded through NIHR and MRC and acknowledge that this is an under-funded area. The level of funding awarded is directly related to the number and quality of applications received and we have historically received a small number of applications for funding in this area. Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, the NIHR committed approximately £3.7 million to research projects and programmes on ME/CFS. In the same period, the MRC committed approximately £2.9 million to research into ME/CFS.
Together with the MRC, we are actively exploring next steps for research in ME/CFS. In the final delivery plan for ME/CFS, we have outlined the research actions and additional support that we will offer to the research community to increase the volume and quality of applications. This includes a new funding opportunity for a development award focussed on evaluating repurposed pharmaceutical inventions for post-acute infection syndromes and associated conditions, including ME/CFS.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to ensure the effectiveness of the (a) monitoring of and (b) improvements to dementia care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Year Health Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services. We will deliver the first ever Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.
To strengthen both local and national insight into dementia care, enable clearer benchmarking, and support the delivery of more timely, targeted, and person-centred support, NHS England continues to monitor the monthly dementia diagnosis rate and analyse trends at national, regional and integrated care board level. The commitment to recover diagnosis rates to the national ambition of 66.7% remains in place, ensuring identification and appropriate support for people living with dementia.
In addition, NHS England is actively looking to improve the clinical utility and relevance of dementia data reporting. This includes, firstly, enhancing primary care reporting through ongoing refinement of indicators and coding approaches.
Notably, a new measure was introduced in April 2025 capturing the number of people with dementia who have experienced delirium in the past 12 months. This will support systems and providers to better understand variation in care provision, improve risk stratification, and strengthen care planning.
NHS England is also exploring improvements in the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) to ensure activity within Memory Assessment Services is more fully reflected in available data. Work is underway with the NHS England analyst team to scope options for developing more meaningful coverage and consistency in memory service reporting.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
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 ensure that NHS dementia and care homes are adequately (a) staffed and (b) resourced.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Year Health Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services. We will deliver the first ever Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and social care in England and assesses local authorities' delivery of their adult social care duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014. The specific Care Act functions assessed by the CQC are set out in regulations under the Health and Care Act 2022.
The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: Regulation 18 states that providers must deploy “sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff to enable them to meet the needs of the people using the service at all times”. Where the CQC finds a breach in this regulation, it can take regulatory action to ensure the safety of people drawing on care and support.
The Government recognises the scale of reforms needed to make the adult social care sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth and improve the retention of the domestic workforce. We want the people who work in care to be respected as professionals, and work is already underway to provide a career structure, give care professionals greater skills and legislate for the first ever Fair Pay Agreements.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of dementia care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Year Health Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.
We will deliver the first ever Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
The Government is committed to improving dementia care and empowering local leaders with the autonomy they need to provide the best services to their local community, including those with dementia.
That is why we published the D100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme earlier this year, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia. The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool is available at the following link:
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the consistency of the quality of care in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for ensuring the quality of care in England. It assesses all health and social care service providers registered with the CQC for compliance against the statutory standards set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. It also assesses how well local authorities deliver adult social care by looking at their performance against their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014. The CQC takes enforcement action against a provider for non-compliance.
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out new statutory and non-statutory measures and clearer accountability to ensure transparency on quality of care. The CQC’s statutory powers will be extended to access all publicly held data relating directly or indirectly to care quality. Non-statutory measures include revitalising the National Quality Board and having it develop a new quality strategy by March 2026.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
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 improve safeguards for people with neurological conditions in care homes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government makes clear, in statutory guidance of the Care Act 2014, that local authorities must ensure services they commission are safe, effective and of high quality. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) assesses how well local authorities are meeting their Care Act duties in relation to safeguarding and have a duty to inform my Rt. Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if it considers an authority is failing to discharge its functions.
Regulated providers also have a key role in safeguarding adults. Care homes must ensure that they have appropriate systems and processes in place to prevent, and protect people from, abuse and improper treatment. They must also have, and effectively operate, systems and processes to investigate and promptly act upon any allegation or evidence of abuse.
Where anyone alleges poor care, neglect or abuse, we expect those providing the service, local authorities and the CQC to take swift action.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle shortages of care home workers in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs, and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care (ASC).
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and social care in England. Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 states that providers must deploy “sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff to enable them to meet the needs of the people using the service at all times”. Where the CQC finds a breach in this regulation, it can take regulatory action to ensure the safety of the people drawing on care and support.
The Government recognises the scale of reforms needed to make the ASC sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth, and to improve the recruitment and retention of the domestic workforce. This is why we are introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the ASC sector so that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work that they do.
We are also supporting the professionalisation of the ASC workforce by implementing the Care Workforce pathway as the first universal ASC career structure and providing £12 million through the Learning and Development Support Scheme this year for staff to complete training and qualifications.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
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 (a) encourage and (b) promote careers in the social care system.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is supporting the professionalisation of the adult social care (ASC) sector by expanding the Care Workforce Pathway (CWP), funding the Learning Development and Support Scheme, and introducing the first ever fair pay agreement for the sector.
In April 2025, we published four additional role categories within the CWP, which is the first universal career structure for the sector providing guidance on career development by outlining the knowledge, skills, values, and behaviours to both encourage and promote care as a long-term career.
The Learning Development and Support Scheme, launched in September 2024, is providing up to £12 million this financial year to support eligible care staff to complete training courses and qualifications. Additionally, a Fair Pay Agreement for the ASC sector will ensure that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work that they do.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
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 help recognise (a) the skills of phlebotomists and (b) their contribution to the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government greatly values the expertise and contribution of all health professionals, including phlebotomists.
A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the National Health Service needs to care for patients across our communities.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to support unpaid carers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support they need. On the 7 April 2025 the Government increased the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage. This represents the largest increase in the earnings limit since the Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976.
Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service highlighted the need for a fresh approach to supporting and involving unpaid carers, to improve outcomes across the board for carers, for those they care for, and for the NHS itself. These findings will be carefully considered as part of our 10-year plan to reform and modernise the NHS, and as we continue to shape our plans to reform adult social care, including through the National Care Service.
We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.