Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 integration between NHS services and social care provision in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 December 2025 to Question 95574.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he Department is taking to improve integration between NHS services and social care provision in West Dorset.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving integration between health and social care services nationally and locally. Our vision for Neighbourhood Health will see local government and the National Health Service working more closely together, with a revitalised role for Health and Wellbeing Boards and reform of the Better Care Fund (BCF).
Through the BCF, approximately £9 billion is being invested in 2025/26 to enable NHS bodies and local authorities to pool budgets and deliver joined-up care. This includes setting shared goals to reduce delayed discharges, avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, and support people to live independently at home. Dorset has also received additional support from expert advisors working on behalf of NHS England and the Department.
Whilst no specific assessment has been made of the impact of closer NHS-social care integration on reducing hospital discharge delays in West Dorset, local Health and Wellbeing Boards are required to agree plans under the BCF framework to provide timely and coordinated support for people with complex needs. These plans prioritise effective discharge from hospital and recovery in the community.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 integration between social care and NHS services nationally.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving integration between health and social care services nationally and locally. Our vision for Neighbourhood Health will see local government and the National Health Service working more closely together, with a revitalised role for Health and Wellbeing Boards and reform of the Better Care Fund (BCF).
Through the BCF, approximately £9 billion is being invested in 2025/26 to enable NHS bodies and local authorities to pool budgets and deliver joined-up care. This includes setting shared goals to reduce delayed discharges, avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, and support people to live independently at home. Dorset has also received additional support from expert advisors working on behalf of NHS England and the Department.
Whilst no specific assessment has been made of the impact of closer NHS-social care integration on reducing hospital discharge delays in West Dorset, local Health and Wellbeing Boards are required to agree plans under the BCF framework to provide timely and coordinated support for people with complex needs. These plans prioritise effective discharge from hospital and recovery in the community.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 impact of closer NHS–social care integration on reducing hospital discharge delays in West Dorset.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving integration between health and social care services nationally and locally. Our vision for Neighbourhood Health will see local government and the National Health Service working more closely together, with a revitalised role for Health and Wellbeing Boards and reform of the Better Care Fund (BCF).
Through the BCF, approximately £9 billion is being invested in 2025/26 to enable NHS bodies and local authorities to pool budgets and deliver joined-up care. This includes setting shared goals to reduce delayed discharges, avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, and support people to live independently at home. Dorset has also received additional support from expert advisors working on behalf of NHS England and the Department.
Whilst no specific assessment has been made of the impact of closer NHS-social care integration on reducing hospital discharge delays in West Dorset, local Health and Wellbeing Boards are required to agree plans under the BCF framework to provide timely and coordinated support for people with complex needs. These plans prioritise effective discharge from hospital and recovery in the community.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 logistical challenges affecting rapid vaccine deployment in rural areas.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, NHS England, and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) work together to ensure a new vaccine is rolled out in a timely manner after a policy decision has been made, ensuring that all the components are in place to provide an accessible and safe programme. Supplies of centrally procured vaccines for the routine immunisation programme are available to order from UKHSA by all registered general practices, hospitals, maternity services, and other sites commissioned to deliver the programme. Sites have deliveries at least once a week, regardless of where in England they are located, and the coverage is across the country, including rural areas.
To improve public access to vaccinations, including in rural areas, we are expanding the use of community pharmacies giving vaccinations, including through delivering flu vaccines for two and three-year-olds this autumn. An evaluation will assess whether the use of community pharmacies improves coverage and helps tackle regional health inequalities, in line with the National Health Service vaccination strategy.
To ensure pharmacy access in rural areas, local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served by local pharmacies and must keep these assessments under review.
We are also exploring ways of delivering our commitment to administer vaccinations as part of health visits. Local pathfinders for health visitor delivery will begin from January 2026, across a mix of urban and rural geographies.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 expand early intervention and targeted mental health support for men at risk of suicide in West Dorset.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including in rural constituencies such as West Dorset. This includes transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, improving assertive outreach, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to 24/7 support directly through the NHS App.
We are expanding NHS Talking Therapies so that 915,000 people, including men, complete a course of treatment by March 2029, with improved effectiveness and quality of services. We will also expand individual placement and support for severe mental illness so that 73,500 people receive access by March 2028.
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in 2023, identifies middle aged men as a priority group for targeted and tailored support at a national level. The strategy also identifies key risk factors for suicide, providing an opportunity for effective early intervention. One of the key visions of the strategy is to reduce the stigma surrounding suicide and mental health, so that people feel able to seek help through the routes that work best for them. This includes raising awareness that no suicide is inevitable.
On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks, and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.
Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience.
We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk of taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 expand early intervention and targeted mental health support for men at risk of suicide in rural constituencies.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including in rural constituencies such as West Dorset. This includes transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, improving assertive outreach, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to 24/7 support directly through the NHS App.
We are expanding NHS Talking Therapies so that 915,000 people, including men, complete a course of treatment by March 2029, with improved effectiveness and quality of services. We will also expand individual placement and support for severe mental illness so that 73,500 people receive access by March 2028.
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in 2023, identifies middle aged men as a priority group for targeted and tailored support at a national level. The strategy also identifies key risk factors for suicide, providing an opportunity for effective early intervention. One of the key visions of the strategy is to reduce the stigma surrounding suicide and mental health, so that people feel able to seek help through the routes that work best for them. This includes raising awareness that no suicide is inevitable.
On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks, and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.
Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience.
We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk of taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider requiring supervised trainee dentists, while on placement at dental training schools, to work on exclusively on NHS waiting lists rather than private appointments, to help reduce the backlog.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Every undergraduate dental student gains clinical experience in the course of their studies under the supervision of a qualified supervisor.
Clinical placements provide dental students with the opportunity to develop a range of skills, including clinical abilities and effective communication with both patients and colleagues. The patients receiving treatment should never be charged for the care they receive.
These placements are designed to provide students with exposure to a range of clinical environments, rather than to enhance overall National Health Service delivery.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 for dental students in training to carry out supervised NHS dental appointments to help reduce the backlog in routine and urgent care in West Dorset.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Every undergraduate dental student gains clinical experience in the course of their studies under the supervision of a qualified supervisor.
Clinical placements provide dental students with the opportunity to develop a range of skills, including clinical abilities and effective communication with both patients and colleagues. The patients receiving treatment should never be charged for the care they receive.
These placements are designed to provide students with exposure to a range of clinical environments, rather than to enhance overall National Health Service delivery.