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, whether his Department plans to review funding available to medical students under the NHS Bursary.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
For the 2025 to 2026 academic year, the Government will increase the NHS Bursary tuition fee contributions, maintenance grants, and all allowances by 3.1%. This is the second consecutive year the Government has increased support for medical students through the NHS Bursary. Prior to this, the maintenance grants had not been uplifted since 2015.
The Government has also announced that maximum loans for living costs from Student Finance England, including reduced rate non-means tested loans for students in NHS Bursary years, will increase by 3.1%.
The NHS Bursary scheme is reviewed annually at the start of each academic year. At all times the Government must balance the level of support students receive with the need to deliver as much value as possible from taxpayers’ money.
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 has taken to support medical students with the cost of living.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
For the 2025 to 2026 academic year, the Government will increase the NHS Bursary tuition fee contributions, maintenance grants, and all allowances by 3.1%. This is the second consecutive year the Government has increased support for medical students through the NHS Bursary. Prior to this, the maintenance grants had not been uplifted since 2015.
The Government has also announced that maximum loans for living costs from Student Finance England, including reduced rate non-means tested loans for students in NHS Bursary years, will increase by 3.1%.
The NHS Bursary scheme is reviewed annually at the start of each academic year. At all times the Government must balance the level of support students receive with the need to deliver as much value as possible from taxpayers’ money.
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, if he will provide a response to Early Day Motion 1076 on Stepping Hill Hospital, tabled on 8 April 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government inherited a crumbling National Health Service estate after years of historic underinvestment and neglect. We recognise that hospitals across the country, including Stepping Hill, have challenging and poor-quality infrastructure, and that is why repairing and rebuilding our hospitals is a key part of our ambition to create a health service that is fit for the future.
It will take time, but we are beginning to rebuild the health service. The £750 million Estates Safety Fund for 2025/26 is an essential first step towards addressing the poorest quality estates across the NHS and ensuring a safe, sustainable environment for healthcare delivery. The Stockport NHS Foundation Trust will be issued £2.8 million from this fund to deliver vital safety improvements, enhance patient and staff environments, and support NHS productivity at Stepping Hill Hospital.
This investment is in addition to the operational capital the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board will receive in 2025/26, to allocate to local priorities, including investment at Stepping Hill Hospital, and capital investment to support constitutional standards recovery.
The current Spending Review, concluding in June 2025, will determine capital funding levels for future years and will consider the needs of the NHS estate.
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 encourage (a) Greater Manchester ICB and (b) other ICBs to offer dyspraxia assessments to adults (i) under the right to choose framework and (ii) through other NHS services and pathways.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population. The National Health Service website advises that individuals should see a general practitioner (GP) if they think they have undiagnosed dyspraxia or problems with co-ordination. The GP may refer them to a physiotherapist or an occupational therapist for tests. Further information on dyspraxia assessments and treatment is available on the NHS.UK website, at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/developmental-coordination-disorder-dyspraxia-in-adults/
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, whether NHS England conducted an impact assessment on (a) diver safety and (b) emergency response times before reducing the number of hyperbaric chambers available under the national contract for recompression services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Last year, NHS England held a public consultation on a revised service specification and changes to commissioning arrangements for hyperbaric oxygen services. This included consideration of the impacts on geographical access to services and traveling times.
As a formal public consultation, responses were invited from all those with an interest in these services, and responses were received from a range of experts.
Further information regarding the feedback received was published in November 2024, and is available at the following link:
Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-engagement-report-November-2024.pdf
The updated service specification was published in January 2025, and is available at the following link:
Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-services-all-ages-Service-specification-January-2025.pdf
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, whether NHS England plans to include (a) diver safety organisations and (b) medical experts in future consultations on the national contract for recompression services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Last year, NHS England held a public consultation on a revised service specification and changes to commissioning arrangements for hyperbaric oxygen services. This included consideration of the impacts on geographical access to services and traveling times.
As a formal public consultation, responses were invited from all those with an interest in these services, and responses were received from a range of experts.
Further information regarding the feedback received was published in November 2024, and is available at the following link:
Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-engagement-report-November-2024.pdf
The updated service specification was published in January 2025, and is available at the following link:
Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-services-all-ages-Service-specification-January-2025.pdf
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 NHS England has made of average emergency travel times to hyperbaric chambers for cases of suspected decompression illness.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Last year, NHS England held a public consultation on a revised service specification and changes to commissioning arrangements for hyperbaric oxygen services. This included consideration of the impacts on geographical access to services and traveling times.
As a formal public consultation, responses were invited from all those with an interest in these services, and responses were received from a range of experts.
Further information regarding the feedback received was published in November 2024, and is available at the following link:
Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-engagement-report-November-2024.pdf
The updated service specification was published in January 2025, and is available at the following link:
Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-services-all-ages-Service-specification-January-2025.pdf
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 NHS England is taking to ensure equitable regional access to hyperbaric treatment services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Last year, NHS England held a public consultation on a revised service specification and changes to commissioning arrangements for hyperbaric oxygen services. This included consideration of the impacts on geographical access to services and traveling times.
As a formal public consultation, responses were invited from all those with an interest in these services, and responses were received from a range of experts.
Further information regarding the feedback received was published in November 2024, and is available at the following link:
Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-engagement-report-November-2024.pdf
The updated service specification was published in January 2025, and is available at the following link:
Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-services-all-ages-Service-specification-January-2025.pdf
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, if he will list the dates on which patients who were invited to a first appointment for NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services in April 2025 were first referred, broken down by each service.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data is not collected in this format. The most recent figures show that the number of children and young people on the waiting list for gender services is 6,225.
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 26 March 2025 to Question 38407 on Diethylstilbestrol, whether he plans to issue an apology to women who (a) experienced long-term health impacts, (b) were compelled to place their children up adoption and (c) experienced poor maternity care due to being prescribed Diethylstilbestrol between 1950 and 1980.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The government took action regarding Diethylstilbestrol (DES) in the early 1970s. In 1971, it was recognised that DES could cause a distinct type of cancer in the daughters of women who took DES in early pregnancy. Shortly afterwards, its use was contraindicated in pregnancy, pre-menopausal women, children and young adults and the Committee on Safety of Medicines wrote to all doctors in May 1973 to advise against the use of DES in pregnancy and pre-menopausal women.
Since 1992, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the US National Institutes of Health has been conducting the DES Follow-up Study of more than 21,000 mothers, daughters, and sons, exposed in the womb during the mother’s pregnancy, to better understand the long-term health effects of exposure to DES. The findings of this study have been published in the scientific literature.
As such, work has been undertaken to contact historic users of DES. Our sympathies are with anyone harmed by its historic use.
The UK Health Security Agency advises that routine cervical screening is appropriate for those who believe they were exposed to DES in utero. Further information is available at the following link:
Participation in the National Breast Screening Programme is also recommended. Pregnant women who know that they were exposed in utero to DES should inform their obstetrician and be aware of the increased risks of ectopic pregnancy and preterm labour.
The MHRA continuously assesses the benefit risk balance of all medicines at the time of initial licensing and throughout their use in clinical practice, carefully evaluating any emerging evidence on their benefits and risks.