Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2025 to Question 42316 on NHS: Buildings, if he will take steps to publish further data on the (a) occupancy and (b) utilisation rates of all clinical rooms in the NHS estate in addition to the Estates Returns Information Collection data showing which organisation space is allocated to.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No decision has been made to publish further data on the occupancy and utilisation rates of all clinical rooms in the National Health Service estate in addition to the Estates Returns Information Collection data showing which organisation space is allocated to.
There are no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting intelligent booking systems to maximise the utilisation of the NHS property estate. NHS trusts and integrated care boards decide locally how best to manage their estate; we expect them to do this using technology in the efficient management of the estate.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April to Question 42318 on NHS: Buildings, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting intelligent booking systems to maximise the utilisation of the NHS property estate.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No decision has been made to publish further data on the occupancy and utilisation rates of all clinical rooms in the National Health Service estate in addition to the Estates Returns Information Collection data showing which organisation space is allocated to.
There are no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting intelligent booking systems to maximise the utilisation of the NHS property estate. NHS trusts and integrated care boards decide locally how best to manage their estate; we expect them to do this using technology in the efficient management of the estate.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) professional bodies and (b) the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors on the existing and future skills and capacity requirements of the neuroscience workforce in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has regular discussions with stakeholders, including professional bodies and the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sectors, on ensuring that the necessary skills and capacity are held across the health and care workforce.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on plans for the UK Neuro Forum.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The new United Kingdom-wide Neuro Forum will facilitate formal, biannual meetings across the Department, NHS England, and the devolved administrations, health services, and Neurological Alliances of all four nations of the UK.
The forum met for the first time on 10 March, bringing together key stakeholders to share learning across the system, discuss important neurology service transformation and workforce challenges, as well as best practice examples and potential solutions that will add both to the existing programmes of work and to wider health plans. The forum will be an advisory rather than a decision-making body.
The next meeting due to take place in early autumn 2025.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on implementing the NHS England Neuroscience Transformation Programme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning most services for people with long term conditions, including neurological services. NHS England’s Neuroscience Transformation Programme is continuing to support ICBs to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including providing care closer to home.
A toolkit is being developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model. In addition to setting out an integrated model of care, the toolkit will include components on the following areas: delivering acute neurology services; improving health equity in neurology; improving community neurology services; improving access to specialist therapies for multiple sclerosis; streamlining headache services; and living well with a neurological condition.
The programme has developed an online, interactive adult neurology dashboard to support integrated care systems to understand their local neurology landscape and benchmark against other ICBs in England. It sets out key metrics and visualisations for neurology services locally.
The programme is working with several pathfinder systems across the country to implement this guidance on the ground, which will provide examples of good practice and a model for how to develop neurology transformation projects that can be shared nationally.
The programme has supported the development of a national community of practice for neurology transformation, which includes a monthly webinar programme and resources on the Future NHS platform. The Programme also supported a national Neurology Transformation Meeting, co-produced by NHS England, the Neurology Academy and the Neurological Alliance, which took place in January 2025.
The National Programme of Care for Trauma has revised the Neurosciences Specialised Neurology (Adults) Service Specification, which will set out clear deliverables for specialised centres; provide a clearer model of care incorporating up-to-date guidance and best practice; and set out new quality outcomes focusing on improving patient outcomes and experience.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of air pollution on children’s health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Children can be susceptible to the health effects from long and short-term exposure to air pollution. The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants published advice on susceptibility to air pollution in March 2025. They concluded that, based on the latest evidence, advice for children with asthma should continue to be included in the Daily Air Quality Index. The full review is available at the following link:
In addition, the UK Health Security Agency has a Cleaner Air Programme which aims to reduce people’s exposure to air pollution, particularly in the most vulnerable groups, including children. The programme is organised around three core outcomes, namely increasing the evidence base, influencing and supporting stakeholders, and improving awareness and understanding. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department provides to support services for the children of alcoholics.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our mission-based approach will ensure that every child has the best start in life and that we create the healthiest generation of children ever. This includes supporting the children of parents with alcohol problems and other adverse childhood experiences.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services as part of their public health responsibilities. In addition to the Public Health Grant, in 2025/26 the Department is providing a total of £310 million in additional targeted grants to improve services and wider recovery support, which includes housing and employment. Further details are available at the following link:
All local authorities can invest some of their allocation on interventions that strengthen the support available to children and families affected by alcohol and/or drugs, according to local need.
The Government also has an alcohol and drug information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce alcohol and drug use and its harms by providing awareness to young people, parents, and concerned others. Further information on Talk to FRANK is available at the following link:
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of adopting intelligent booking systems to maximise the utilisation of the NHS property estate.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of adopting intelligent booking systems to maximise the utilisation of the National Health Service’s property estate. NHS trusts decide locally how best to manage their estate.
Data for the occupancy and utilisation rates of clinical rooms in the NHS estate for the latest period, from 2023 to 2024, published in December 2024, is available at the following link:
No estimate has been made of the cost to the NHS of unused and underused clinical buildings and rooms.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) occupancy and (b) utilisation rates of clinical rooms in the NHS estate was in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of adopting intelligent booking systems to maximise the utilisation of the National Health Service’s property estate. NHS trusts decide locally how best to manage their estate.
Data for the occupancy and utilisation rates of clinical rooms in the NHS estate for the latest period, from 2023 to 2024, published in December 2024, is available at the following link:
No estimate has been made of the cost to the NHS of unused and underused clinical buildings and rooms.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an estimate of the cost to the NHS of (a) unused and (b) underused clinical (i) buildings and (ii) rooms.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of adopting intelligent booking systems to maximise the utilisation of the National Health Service’s property estate. NHS trusts decide locally how best to manage their estate.
Data for the occupancy and utilisation rates of clinical rooms in the NHS estate for the latest period, from 2023 to 2024, published in December 2024, is available at the following link:
No estimate has been made of the cost to the NHS of unused and underused clinical buildings and rooms.