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 29 October 2025 to Question 69859 on AJM Healthcare: Wheelchairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that Integrated Care Boards adequately deal with complaints made about commissioned providers.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services, based on the needs of their local populations. There are a range of providers of National Health Service wheelchair services across England, and ICBs are responsible for monitoring service provision and effectively managing contracts with their commissioned providers. Complaints management is included as part of overall assurance for ICBs.

NHS England is aware there have been a number of separate complaints about the quality of services provided by AJM Healthcare, which are being dealt with on an individual basis by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. NHS England are working through the appropriate regional teams to gain intelligence from ICBs on quality concerns and contracting arrangements to fully understand the issues being raised. In addition, the 10 Year Health Plan makes a commitment to reviewing the complaints regulations, and NHS England and the Department are developing plans to achieve this.

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 17 February 2026 to Question 111545 on AJM Healthcare, what discussions his Department has had with ICBs on complaints about the quality of services provided by AJM Healthcare.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services, based on the needs of their local populations. There are a range of providers of National Health Service wheelchair services across England, and ICBs are responsible for monitoring service provision and effectively managing contracts with their commissioned providers. Complaints management is included as part of overall assurance for ICBs.

NHS England is aware there have been a number of separate complaints about the quality of services provided by AJM Healthcare, which are being dealt with on an individual basis by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. NHS England are working through the appropriate regional teams to gain intelligence from ICBs on quality concerns and contracting arrangements to fully understand the issues being raised. In addition, the 10 Year Health Plan makes a commitment to reviewing the complaints regulations, and NHS England and the Department are developing plans to achieve this.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Florence Eshalomi (Chair); Lewis Cocking; Andrew Cooper; Chris Curtis

Found: Lewis Cocking: I am Lewis Cocking, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Broxbourne, and I am a leaseholder

Found: Eshalomi (Labour, Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Chair) (added 11 Sep 2024) 48 of 49 (98.0%) Lewis Cocking

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Florence Eshalomi (Chair); Lewis Cocking; Andrew Cooper; Chris Curtis