Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how lipoedema is classified within NICE guidance and NHS commissioning frameworks; and whether he plans to review the categorisation of lipoedema-related interventions to ensure they reflect clinical need.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Lipoedema services in England are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), which are responsible for assessing the needs of their local populations and determining the most appropriate services to support people with long‑term conditions such as lipoedema.
There is no single national specification for lipoedema services. Instead, ICBs draw on a range of national guidance and best‑practice resources when designing care pathways. These include guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and best‑practice frameworks produced by bodies such as Wounds UK and the Royal College of General Practitioners. This helps ensure that services are safe, effective, and based on the best available evidence.
Most people with lipoedema are supported through primary and community care services, including assessment by local lymphoedema teams, compression therapy, advice on skin care and movement, and support with self‑management. These services aim to help people manage symptoms and maintain mobility and quality of life.
NICE classifies lipoedema within its interventional procedures guidance on the use of liposuction for chronic lipoedema, reference code HTG618, as a chronic, often painful, and progressive condition characterised by the abnormal, symmetrical accumulation of fat in the legs, hips, buttocks, and sometimes arms. In this guidance, NICE concluded that current evidence on both safety and effectiveness is limited and, therefore, recommends that liposuction should only be undertaken within the context of research or under rigorous governance arrangements. This guidance informs, but does not mandate, local commissioning decisions. NICE will review this guidance once the full results of the ongoing LIPLEG clinical trial are available, and will update its recommendations if new evidence supports doing so.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 epilepsy research.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Knowsley on 6 January to Question 101055.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to request that NICE conduct an exceptional (expedited) partial review of the NICE Depression guideline (NG222) to consider the inclusion of intravenous racemic ketamine as an option for patients for whom electroconvulsive therapy is being considered.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans to ask the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to conduct a review of the NICE guideline on the treatment and management of depression, reference code NG222.
NICE is an independent body and is responsible for taking decisions on whether its guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence and changes in clinical practice. NICE operates an active surveillance programme and when new evidence emerges, it proactively considers whether existing guidance should be reviewed and, if appropriate, updated. Decisions as to whether NICE will create new, or update existing, guidance are overseen by an integrated, cross-organisational prioritisation board. NICE has no current plans to review intravenous racemic ketamine in the context of the depression guideline.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider establishing a national clinical audit for people living with mesothelioma to understand a) the need for preventative measures and b) the scale of treatment needed.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Loughborough on 12 May 2025 to Question 46503.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider specific funding for mesothelioma nursing posts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.
Funding provided to NHS trusts is not ringfenced for specific items such as staffing levels. Hospitals receive funding allocations which they can use at their discretion, based on local priorities.
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure that the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 on the potential merits of statutory regulation of therapy titles.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Titles can only be protected for statutorily regulated professions. Some regulated professions include the term ‘therapist’ and as such have protected title status, for example Art therapist, Dental therapist, and Occupational therapist. Therapists in general are not a statutorily regulated profession in the United Kingdom. The Government has not made an assessment on the merits of protecting all therapy titles.
The Government is clear that the professions protected in law must be the right ones and that the level of regulatory oversight must be proportionate to the risks to the public.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 help raise awareness among young people of the risks of sudden cardiac death in (a) grassroots sports clubs and (b) higher education settings.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To reduce the risks of sudden cardiac death, NHS England has a published a national service specification for Inherited Cardiac Conditions that covers patients who often present as young adults with previously undiagnosed cardiac disease or as families requiring follow up due to a death from this cause. This describes the service model and guidance that should be followed to support the diagnosis and treatment of patients or family members. It also includes the requirement for specialised Inherited Cardiac Conditions services to investigate suspected cases.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 introduce screening for asymptomatic heart conditions in young people in sports settings.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 October 2025 to Question 78454.