Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
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 9 July 2025 to Question HL9069 on Epilepsy and Pregnancy: Sodium Valproate, how many women prescribed Valproate (a) received the pregnancy prevention programme and (b) signed the acknowledgement of risk form.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no central record of the number of women who have ‘received’ the Pregnancy Prevention Programme, nor whether they have signed the Annual Risk Acknowledgement Form.
Responsibility for the implementation of the new regulatory measures relating to valproate was assigned to integrated care boards (ICBs) in November 2023, via a National Patient Safety alert, which is available at the following link:
ICBs across the country have taken action in response to this alert. The Cheshire and Mersey ICB is a particular exemplar. NHS England monitors primary care prescribing and the exposure to valproate during pregnancy using the Medicines in Pregnancy Registry, with further information available at the following link:
This shows a significant reduction in the number of pregnancies during which valproate may have been taken. In the last six-month reporting period, the data indicates that there were up to 11 pregnancies during which valproate may have been prescribed. This is across a population of approximately 15,000 women between the ages of 13 to 54 years old who are prescribed valproate each month.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder also have a diagnosis of foetal valproate syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Everyone who has been harmed from sodium valproate has our deepest sympathies. Information on the number of children diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder and a diagnosis of foetal valproate syndrome is not collected centrally.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children with a diagnosis of foetal valproate syndrome also have a diagnosis of (a) spina bifida, (b) neural tube defects, (c) cardiac malformations, (d) kidney malformations and (e) cleft (i) lip and (ii) palate.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Everyone who has been harmed from sodium valproate has our deepest sympathies. The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
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 the Treasury on (a) the Hughes Report and the recommendations for valproate, (b) redress for those harmed by sodium valproate.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue involving input from different Government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report in due course.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of funding changes for level 7 apprenticeships on skills shortages in the NHS; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on funding for those apprenticeships.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Skills England and the Department for Education are reviewing the growth and skills offer, including whether employers will fund level seven apprenticeships outside of the levy. Ministers, officials, NHS England, and a range of stakeholders across the sector have been feeding into this review and will continue to work closely with Skills England to ensure that the National Health Service has access to the skilled workforce that patients need, as we rebuild the NHS and make sure that it is there for all of us when we need it.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
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 ADHD medication shortages.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has worked intensively with industry and some supply issues with ADHD medicines have been resolved. We continue to engage with suppliers and also the NHS to resolve the remaining issues as quickly as possible, and improve the planning of future demand. I understand concerns in this area and would be happy to give my time to MPs, to sit down with the experts, to explain this further.Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
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 22 October 2024 to Question 8130 on Public Sector: Pay, what the gross cost was of the doctors pay deal.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The resident doctors accepted the Government’s pay offer to provide an additional pay uplift worth an average of 4.05% on top of their existing pay award for 2023/24, which has an estimated gross cost to the Department of approximately £350 million per year.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to end the use of pagers in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are taking steps to improve our NHS through the development of a 10-year plan. One of the big shifts for this plan is transforming the NHS from analogue to digital.
NHS staff should have access to the right technology to enable them to do their job to the best of their ability. Technology moves on and older equipment such as fax machines and pagers must be replaced with tech that is fit for purpose. However, some pagers will remain as NHS trusts are allowed to keep some pagers for emergency situations, such as when Wi-Fi fails or when other forms of communication are unavailable.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many faxes his Department has (a) sent and (b) received since the general election.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not have the corporate capability to send or receive faxes.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) direct ministerial and (b) other public appointments to his Department and associated bodies have (i) been (A) removed from their posts and (B) asked to resign and (ii) made since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Two direct ministerial appointments have been made since 4 July 2024, to work on the 10 Year Health Plan, and to lead on the independent investigation of the National Health Service. Further information on these two announcements is available respectively at the following two links:
No direct ministerial or public appointees have been removed from their posts since 4 July 2024. As of 8 October 2024, 12 public appointees have had their terms extended or been re-appointed as non-executive board members. Further details on the public appointments are available at the following two links: