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 has considered a national workforce strategy to retain ADHD and autism clinicians within NHS services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.
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 he is taking to ensure that patients receiving (a) ADHD and (b) autism treatment through the Right to Choose pathway receive safe and uninterrupted care when GPs are unable to accept shared care arrangements.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Shared care within the National Health Service refers to an arrangement whereby a specialist doctor formally transfers responsibility for all or some aspects of their patient’s care, such as prescription of medication, over to the patient’s general practitioner (GP). The General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates and sets standards for doctors in the United Kingdom, has made it clear that GPs are not contractually obliged to enter into shared care agreements, and GPs may decline such requests on clinical or capacity grounds. The GMC has also issued guidance to help GPs decide whether to accept shared care responsibilities.
In deciding whether to enter into a shared care agreement, a GP will need to consider a number of factors to determine whether it is within their sphere of competence, and therefore safe and suitable for their patient’s needs. This includes being satisfied that any prescriptions or referrals for treatment are clinically appropriate.
On initiating a treatment, the specialist clinician must follow GMC guidance that if continuation of the treatment is dependent on shared care, then an agreement with the GP must be in place before the treatment is started. If a shared care agreement is not in place, the responsibility for ongoing prescribing remains with the specialist clinician, and this applies to both NHS and private medical care.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards in England to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including providing access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism services and support, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
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 guidance his Department has provided to NHS dentists on monitoring patients on orthodontic waiting lists to ensure that their (a) oral health and (b) treatment priority status are kept under review.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on the average waiting times for National Health Service orthodontic treatment is not held centrally.
Integrated care board (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry and orthodontic services, to meet the needs of the local population.
To support ICBs in their duties, NHS England has published several documents, including clinical policy to support the commissioning of orthodontic activity, to ensure that resources invested by the NHS in specialist care are used in the most effective way and provide the best possible quality and quantity of care for patients. The clinical policy to support the commissioning of orthodontic activity is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/clinical-standards-for-dental-specialties-orthodontics/
The Government invests approximately £3 billion in primary care dentistry every year. Dental budgets are ringfenced and NHS England reserves the right to direct that any unused resources are used to improve dental access. Exceptionally, the unspent allocation may be returned to NHS England.
The Government wants to ensure that every penny we allocate for dentistry is spent on dentistry, and that the ringfenced dental budget is spent on the patients who need it most.
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 recent estimate she has made of average waiting times for NHS orthodontic treatment for children and young people; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on the average waiting times for National Health Service orthodontic treatment is not held centrally.
Integrated care board (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry and orthodontic services, to meet the needs of the local population.
To support ICBs in their duties, NHS England has published several documents, including clinical policy to support the commissioning of orthodontic activity, to ensure that resources invested by the NHS in specialist care are used in the most effective way and provide the best possible quality and quantity of care for patients. The clinical policy to support the commissioning of orthodontic activity is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/clinical-standards-for-dental-specialties-orthodontics/
The Government invests approximately £3 billion in primary care dentistry every year. Dental budgets are ringfenced and NHS England reserves the right to direct that any unused resources are used to improve dental access. Exceptionally, the unspent allocation may be returned to NHS England.
The Government wants to ensure that every penny we allocate for dentistry is spent on dentistry, and that the ringfenced dental budget is spent on the patients who need it most.
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 her Department plans to support integrated care boards to meet demand for NHS orthodontic services within existing budgets before April 2026.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on the average waiting times for National Health Service orthodontic treatment is not held centrally.
Integrated care board (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry and orthodontic services, to meet the needs of the local population.
To support ICBs in their duties, NHS England has published several documents, including clinical policy to support the commissioning of orthodontic activity, to ensure that resources invested by the NHS in specialist care are used in the most effective way and provide the best possible quality and quantity of care for patients. The clinical policy to support the commissioning of orthodontic activity is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/clinical-standards-for-dental-specialties-orthodontics/
The Government invests approximately £3 billion in primary care dentistry every year. Dental budgets are ringfenced and NHS England reserves the right to direct that any unused resources are used to improve dental access. Exceptionally, the unspent allocation may be returned to NHS England.
The Government wants to ensure that every penny we allocate for dentistry is spent on dentistry, and that the ringfenced dental budget is spent on the patients who need it most.
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 her Department has made of the number of (a) children and (b) adults who are accessing mental health support through artificial intelligence platforms after being unable to access statutory mental health services.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made. We recognise that people are facing unacceptably long waiting times to access mental health support. This is why we are transforming the current mental health system so that people can access the right support at the right time in the right place.
Building on the 10-Year Health Plan, the NHS Medium Term Planning Framework, published on 24 October 2025, sets targets for integrated care boards in 2026/27 to improve the quality of and access to mental health services. This includes expanding NHS Talking Therapies and expanding the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges.
This builds on the significant progress we’ve made since July 2024 to hire almost 7,000 extra mental health workers. And by spring next year, over 900,000 children and young people will have access to a Mental Health Support team in schools and colleagues.
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 discussions his Department has had with NHS England on reducing the number of (a) delays and (b) cancellations to NHS mental health appointments in Hazel Grove constituency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such specific discussions have taken place regarding delays and cancellations to National Health Service mental health appointments in the Hazel Grove constituency.
On a national scale we are meeting the waiting time standards we have in place for NHS Talking Therapies and Early Intervention in Psychosis pathways. However, we recognise that many of the working-age adult population with mental health needs can face long waits to access mental health support.
This is why we are working to reform our mental health system to make sure patients get the care they need, when they need.
At the Spending Review 2025, we confirmed that we will deliver on our commitments to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament and roll out mental health support teams to cover all schools in England by 2029/30.
Six pilot sites are trialling 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, providing open access to mental health care for patients, reducing long waits. Our improvements to the NHS App will mean people are able to access rapid online support when they need.
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 prepare for possible future pandemics.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ensuring the United Kingdom is prepared for a future pandemic is a top priority for the Government, and we are embedding lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic in our approach to pandemic preparedness. We aim to have flexible, adaptable and scalable capabilities that can respond to any infectious disease or other threat, rather than rely on plans for specific threats.
In the Autumn 2024 budget, the Chancellor announced £460 million of investment to strengthen the UK’s pandemic preparedness, including replenishing personal protective equipment (PPE), vaccine and medicines stockpiles.
Our stockpiles for a potential future health emergency cover a range of clinical countermeasures, including antivirals, antibiotics, medical consumables, PPE and hygiene consumables.
In autumn 2025, the Department and UK Health Security Agency are conducting Exercise PEGASUS, a national exercise on the UK’s preparedness for a pandemic. It aims to assess the UK’s preparedness, capabilities, and response arrangements in the context of a pandemic arising from a novel infectious disease and involves all regions and nations of the UK and thousands of participants.
The outcomes of the exercise will inform how we approach our pandemic strategy going forward.
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 impact of requiring patients with existing ADHD diagnoses from private providers to undergo repeat diagnostic assessments via the NHS in order to access shared care arrangements on NHS (a) waiting lists and (b) resources.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards in England to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including providing access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
Shared care with the National Health Service refers to an arrangement whereby a specialist doctor formally transfers responsibility for all or some aspects of their patient’s care, such as prescription of medication, over to the patient’s general practitioner (GP).
The General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates and sets standards for doctors in the United Kingdom, has made it clear that GPs cannot be compelled to enter into a shared care agreement. Practices may decline such requests on clinical or capacity grounds.
The GMC has issued guidance on prescribing and managing medicines, which helps GPs decide whether to accept shared care responsibilities. In deciding whether to enter into a shared care agreement, a GP will need to consider a number of factors such as whether the proposed activity is within their sphere of competence, and therefore safe and suitable for their patient’s needs. This includes the GP being satisfied that any prescriptions or referrals for treatment are clinically appropriate.
If a shared care arrangement cannot be put in place after the treatment has been initiated, the responsibility for continued prescribing falls upon the specialist clinician, and this applies to both NHS and private medical care.