Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the anticipated timetable is for the completion and publication of the review into the mental health of parents of children with serious illness.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will commission a report on the mental health impacts of a child’s terminal diagnosis on their families. This will include a review of the available evidence and cost effectiveness. It will be carried out with reference to the recently announced independent review into mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism, and the wider Government action to support vulnerable children suffering from trauma.
Ministers from the Department will meet with stakeholders to discuss the scope of the report. A timetable for the report will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the planned start date is for the review into the mental health of parents of children with serious illness.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will commission a report on the mental health impacts of a child’s terminal diagnosis on their families. This will include a review of the available evidence and cost effectiveness. It will be carried out with reference to the recently announced independent review into mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism, and the wider Government action to support vulnerable children suffering from trauma.
Ministers from the Department will meet with stakeholders to discuss the scope of the report. A timetable for the report will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) preparing and (b) publishing a national strategy for (i) palliative and (ii) end-of-life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. I refer the hon. member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087 I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and enable integrated care boards to address challenges in access, quality and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
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 reduce waiting times for urgent pelvic ultrasounds.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We inherited a broken National Health Service, and reducing elective waiting lists is a key part of getting it back on its feet and building an NHS that is fit for the future. To that end we have committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029. Cutting waiting times for diagnostic tests including those for urgent pelvic issues is a crucial step in reducing the elective waiting list.
In the Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced £600 million of capital funding to support the reduction of diagnostic waiting lists, including continued investment in new and expanded Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), new acute hospital diagnostic equipment, and investment in digital diagnostic capabilities.
Abdomen or pelvic ultrasounds are one of five imaging tests for which general practitioners (GPs) can now make direct referrals, meaning patients can get the scan they need sooner at their local hospital or other NHS facility, whichever offers this service. The General Practice Direct Access Guidance advises how GPs can make the most of GP direct access especially where specific diagnostic tests are under the threshold for referral under the urgent suspected cancer referral pathway.
Patients can also be referred for pelvic ultrasounds for a number of reasons, including suspected urological malignancies, and other gynaecological cancers. Improved performance on the Faster Diagnosis Standard means that 135,000 more people have had cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days between September 2024 and August 2025, compared the same months in the previous year.
We have also already made excellent progress turning the commitments in the Women's Health Strategy into tangible action, including tackling gynaecology waiting lists using the private sector.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children aged between 28 days and 17 years old were admitted to NHS care for more than seven days in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England collects the data on patient discharge episodes, including for children, through the Hospital Episode Statistics. Discharge data does not represent the number of individual children with a hospital stay, as a child may have more than one discharge from hospital within the reporting period.
Between April 2023 and March 2024, there were 35,282 discharge episodes recorded where the patient was in hospital for more than seven days and was aged over 28 days old and under 18 years old when admitted into National Health Service care.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with providers of community equipment services on their role in supporting (a) timely hospital discharge and (b) effective community-based care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local National Health Service procuring authorities are responsible for assessing the timeliness and the quality of medical equipment delivered for their patients, procured under contracts they hold with suppliers.
Timely provision of community equipment supports people to remain as independent as possible, for as long as possible, and contributes significantly to the priorities of the Department, the NHS, and local authorities in terms of hospital avoidance and discharge.
Many NHS trusts and local authorities offer an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) within the integrated health and social care system, as they support both the home first agenda and hospital flows. These services can be provided in-house or by external suppliers following a tender exercise. An ICES enables people to remain in or return to their homes as the primary setting for care, avoiding unnecessary stays in hospital or care homes. Also, an ICES facilitates timely hospital admissions, treatment, and discharge processes, minimising delays and improving capacity across the sector.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department’s long-term plan is for the community equipment services sector in the health and social care system.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local National Health Service procuring authorities are responsible for assessing the timeliness and the quality of medical equipment delivered for their patients, procured under contracts they hold with suppliers.
Timely provision of community equipment supports people to remain as independent as possible, for as long as possible, and contributes significantly to the priorities of the Department, the NHS, and local authorities in terms of hospital avoidance and discharge.
Many NHS trusts and local authorities offer an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) within the integrated health and social care system, as they support both the home first agenda and hospital flows. These services can be provided in-house or by external suppliers following a tender exercise. An ICES enables people to remain in or return to their homes as the primary setting for care, avoiding unnecessary stays in hospital or care homes. Also, an ICES facilitates timely hospital admissions, treatment, and discharge processes, minimising delays and improving capacity across the sector.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
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 adequacy of mental health support for (a) fathers and (b) partners impacted by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby provided by (i) maternal mental health services, (ii) improving access to psychological support services and (iii) community mental health services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that experiencing baby loss can be devastating and we are committed to ensuring that all families receive safe, personalised, equitable and compassionate care.
Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services offer mental health assessments and signposting to support as required for partners of women accessing services. This contributes to helping to care for the 5-10% of fathers who experience mental health difficulties during the perinatal period.
To date, we have not undertaken an assessment of the adequacy of mental health support for fathers and partners impacted by baby loss provided by Maternal Mental Health Services.
Mental health services within the National Health Service can support adults who are experiencing mental health problems because of baby loss. The Government has chosen to prioritise funding to deliver expansions of NHS Talking Therapies. These offer well-governed, evidence-based, and effective psychological therapy services for common mental health problems, including depression, anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress reactions. These services are available in every integrated care system through self-referral.