Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the planned timeline is for publishing a national implementation plan for the rollout of Fracture Liaison Services; and what milestones have been set for achieving nationwide coverage by 2030.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Fracture Liaison Services are commissioned by integrated care boards, which are well-placed to make decisions according to local need.
Our 10-Year Health Plan committed to rolling out Fracture Liaison Services across every part of the country by 2030.
Officials continue to work closely with NHS England to explore a range of options to provide better quality and access to these important preventative services.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Golden Hello scheme places were filled at the end of 2024-25; whether he has extended the recruitment period for dentists under that scheme; and when recruitment for dentists under that scheme will end.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are continuing to recruit dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. The scheme offers a £20,000 recruitment incentive payment to dentists to work in those areas that need them most for three years. The recruitment of dentists in underserved areas remains a priority.
Golden Hello data will be published this year and will consist of data showing the regional distribution of the original allocation of posts and the number of posts recruited to at both a national and regional level.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 2025 to Question 29847 on Death Certificates, if he will publish the findings of his Department's monitoring of the impact of the death certification reforms on the time taken to register deaths.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We believe the answer of 17 February 2025 refers to the answer given to Question 29570. The Department’s monitoring of the impact of death certification reforms, including the time to register a death, includes consideration of:
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 the accessibility and clarity of NHS information for patients navigating care pathways across primary and secondary care.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A revised Accessible Information Standard (AIS) was published on 1 July 2025 and can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/accessible-information-standard/
The revised standard requires those staff in relevant communication and information roles to be adequately trained. The AIS conformance criteria, published in 2016 and updated in June 2025, set out how organisations should comply with the AIS.
NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS to ensure that staff and organisations in the National Health Service are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using services.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is his Department taking to help ensure that patients who cannot access digital services are still able to obtain timely updates on referrals and care pathways.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations must ensure all patients have equitable access to care, and that decisions or policies do not unfairly disadvantage people or lead to an increase in inequalities. All NHS organisations are legally obliged to not discriminate against patients or staff.
This means that although we promote digital first services to those who choose to use them, a non-digital solution should be available for patients who cannot or do not wish to engage digitally to ensure continued, equitable access to care.
These non-digital routes must be available for all services provided by NHS organisations.
NHS England’s guidance makes clear that services must continue to provide updates through non‑digital routes, including phone, letters, and face‑to‑face contact. The Accessible Information Standard also requires NHS bodies to give information in formats that meet individual needs. These arrangements ensure patients who cannot use digital tools still receive timely updates about their referrals and care.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to address the postcode lottery in NHS mental health support for bereaved parents following pregnancy or baby loss; and whether she will commit to issuing national standards for Integrated Care Boards to ensure all bereaved parents, including fathers and partners, can access specialist psychological support.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that the experience of losing a baby or pregnancy loss can be very difficult for parents and families.
Maternal Mental Health Services are available in all integrated care board areas in England and provide care for women with moderate, severe, or complex mental health difficulties arising from baby loss.
Additionally, all NHS England trusts have signed up to the National Bereavement Care Pathway, which acts as a set of standards and guidance aimed at ensuring all families, including fathers and partners, receive consistent, individualised, and sensitive care.
Fathers and partners can receive evidence-based assessment and support through Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services. Where partners may have a need for mental health support but is not a moderate or severe mental health condition, it is important they can be signposted to other forms of support through their general practice and NHS Talking Therapies.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to address regional disparities in NHS mental health support for bereaved parents following pregnancy or baby loss; and if she will issue national standards for Integrated Care Boards to ensure all bereaved parents, including fathers and partners, can access specialist psychological support.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that the experience of losing a baby or pregnancy loss can be very difficult for parents and families.
Mental health services are available in all areas of England for women who experience mental health difficulties during, or due to, their pregnancy, labour, or birth, including Maternal Mental Health Services that specialise in supporting women who have experienced loss.
Additionally, all NHS England trusts have signed up to the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP), which acts as a set of standard and guidance aimed at ensuring all families, including fathers and partners, receive consistent, individualised, and sensitive care. NHS England is working closely with the baby loss charity Sands to agree what steps are necessary to support a faster and more consistent implementation so that all women and families, no matter where they are, receive the support they need at such a difficult time.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 implications for his policies of the pathways used by other Common Travel Area countries to enable qualified medical professionals from outside the EEA to practise medicine; and what steps he is taking to reduce barriers to registration for qualified international medical graduates.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made by the Department of the potential policy implications of the pathways used by other Common Travel Area countries to enable qualified medical professionals from outside the European Economic Area to practise medicine in the United Kingdom.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of medical practitioners, or doctors, in the UK. It is responsible for setting standards that must be met by both domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to their registers to ensure registrants are safe to practise.
As the independent regulator, it is for the GMC to determine routes to registration and the qualifications that it will accept for registration.
In 2023, the Department amended the GMC’s legislation to provide greater flexibility to streamline the process for registering overseas-qualified medical professionals. Following these changes, the GMC introduced new specialist registration routes, including the Recognised Specialist Qualification pathway, which was launched on 15 May 2024. This enables the GMC to formally recognise suitable specialist qualifications from overseas for the purposes of UK Specialist and General Practitioner registration.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of additional fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs required in England to restore the GP-to-patient ratio to 2015 levels.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of patients per full time equivalent (FTE) fully qualified general practitioner (GP) was 1,938 in September 2015 compared to 2,133 in January 2026, including GPs employed by primary care networks. To reach the same number of patients per fully qualified GP today, we would need an additional 3,012 FTE GPs. However, the GP workforce has changed significantly since 2015 with a wider range of professionals working in GPs. There’s currently an additional 38,265 FTE direct patient care staff working in primary care, including nurses, physiotherapists, and pharmacists.
Thanks to actions taken by the Government, we currently have the highest number of fully qualified GPs since 2015, and steps are being taken to grow the GP workforce further.
As part of the 2026/27 GP Contract, we are increasing the flexibility of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) by removing the restriction that ARRS funding can only be used for recently qualified GPs, increasing the maximum reimbursement amount for GP roles to reflect experience, and enabling primary care networks to recruit a broader range of ARRS roles, where agreed with the commissioner.
Following feedback from the 2026/27 GP Contract consultation, we are introducing a practice-level GP reimbursement scheme which ring-fences and repurposes £292 million of funding from the current Capacity and Access Payment. This funding will be available to practices to hire additional GPs or fund additional sessions with existing GPs to improve access in GPs. This aims to strengthen capacity, access, and improve patient satisfaction, whilst also addressing GP unemployment and underemployment.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 adequacy of progress towards ensuring that all areas have a commissioned 24/7 community mental health crisis service; and what steps he is taking to support areas that have not yet been able to implement such provision.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While no such specific assessment has been made, integrated care boards, supported by regions, should maintain full 24/7 community mental health crisis coverage.
To strengthen access to urgent mental health support, anyone in England experiencing a mental health crisis can now to speak to a trained National Health Service professional at any time of the day through a mental health option on NHS 111. This integrated service can give patients of all ages, including children, the chance to be listened to by a trained member of staff who can help direct them to the right place.
There are currently six funded sites piloting the 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centre model, as well as 16 'associate sites' that are already proactively testing the model. These centres bring together a range of community mental health services under one roof, including crisis services and short-stay beds. The Government will make available capital funding of £473 million over four years to invest in new models, including 24/7 Neighbourhood Mental Health Centres, building on findings from the six pilots, and other capital projects such as Mental Health Emergency Departments and eliminating out-of-area placements.