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 with clinically recognised ADHD diagnoses made by qualified private providers who have commenced treatment under GP-supported shared care agreements do not have to repeat diagnostic assessments through the NHS before being able to access ongoing care.
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.
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 experiencing mental health problems are provided with comprehensive information on (a) potential side effects, (b) interactions with other medications and (c) the long-term implications of any medication they are advised to take.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Any decision to prescribe a medicine should be made following a conversation between the prescriber and patient. This is known as shared decision making and should involve discussing with the patient the risks, benefits and possible consequences of different options, along with the prescriber’s clinical judgement.
NHS England has recently published decision support tools on depression and bipolar to help individuals to compare possible treatment options, and a leaflet on the safer use of valproate. Unless the information is on the pack, all dispensed medicines must include a patient information leaflet, which provides information on using the medicine safely. Specialist mental health pharmacists are available at the majority of mental health trusts to discuss medication options with patients, and the Medicines A-Z website and NHS App provide information about medicines and mental health.
The Mental Health Bill extends access to advocacy support, currently only available to patients detained under the Mental Health Act, to all patients in mental health inpatient settings. Advocates support patients to understand and exercise their rights. The bill also introduces measures to encourage people to create an Advance Choice Document while they are well. This is a written record of their wishes, including their preferences on medication, so that these can later inform decisions during a mental health crisis. The bill also raises the threshold on when compulsory medication can be administered to a patient, by requiring that there must be a compelling reason to override the patient’s refusal, whether made at the time or in advance. Urgent and compulsory medication and electroconvulsive therapy can also only be given under a more limited set of circumstances. These measures aim to better balance patient autonomy and the ability to administer treatment at a time of mental health crisis.
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 take steps to help support patients with mental health problems in exercising their right to refuse medication in NHS settings.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Any decision to prescribe a medicine should be made following a conversation between the prescriber and patient. This is known as shared decision making and should involve discussing with the patient the risks, benefits and possible consequences of different options, along with the prescriber’s clinical judgement.
NHS England has recently published decision support tools on depression and bipolar to help individuals to compare possible treatment options, and a leaflet on the safer use of valproate. Unless the information is on the pack, all dispensed medicines must include a patient information leaflet, which provides information on using the medicine safely. Specialist mental health pharmacists are available at the majority of mental health trusts to discuss medication options with patients, and the Medicines A-Z website and NHS App provide information about medicines and mental health.
The Mental Health Bill extends access to advocacy support, currently only available to patients detained under the Mental Health Act, to all patients in mental health inpatient settings. Advocates support patients to understand and exercise their rights. The bill also introduces measures to encourage people to create an Advance Choice Document while they are well. This is a written record of their wishes, including their preferences on medication, so that these can later inform decisions during a mental health crisis. The bill also raises the threshold on when compulsory medication can be administered to a patient, by requiring that there must be a compelling reason to override the patient’s refusal, whether made at the time or in advance. Urgent and compulsory medication and electroconvulsive therapy can also only be given under a more limited set of circumstances. These measures aim to better balance patient autonomy and the ability to administer treatment at a time of mental health crisis.
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 5 September 2025 to Question 72309 on NHS dental professionals, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including areas with no NHS dentists in the Golden Hello scheme.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Golden Hello scheme aims to support dental practices in areas that are experiencing significant dental pressures, including areas with no National Health Service dentists.
The scheme is designed to encourage relocation to areas with workforce challenges, to attract new workers to the NHS, and to retain those who might have otherwise moved into private practice.
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 the national cancer plan for England will include targets to improve the diagnosis of myeloma.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancers such as myeloma, as well as other unstageable cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, in order to improve outcomes.
To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.
We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancer earlier and treating it faster, and we will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment, including for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including speeding up diagnosis and treatment and ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, ultimately driving up this country’s cancer survival rates.
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 prevent children from illegally purchasing vapes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Selling nicotine vapes to under 18-year-olds is illegal, yet one in four 11 to 15-year-olds tried vaping in 2023. It is unacceptable that vapes are deliberately branded and advertised to appeal to children.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children by banning vapes and nicotine products from being deliberately branded, promoted, and advertised to children, and by providing powers to limit flavours and packaging, and how vapes are displayed in shops.
The bill also takes bold action to strengthen enforcement. It will introduce £200 fixed penalty notices in England and Wales to empower Trading Standards to take swifter action to fine those who choose to break the law and sell to anyone underage, putting the public’s health at risk. The bill will also enable ministers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes, and nicotine products. This will strengthen enforcement, support legitimate businesses, and crack down on rogue retailers who breach tobacco and vape regulations.
Alongside the bill, the Government is also investing £10 million of new funding in 2025/26 in Trading Standards, to support the enforcement of illicit and underage tobacco and vape sales and the implementation of the measures in the bill.
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 with local authorities to ensure that social services act quickly following reports of potential grooming of vulnerable adults.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Any form of abuse or neglect is unacceptable. The Government makes it clear, in the statutory guidance of the Care Act, that local authorities must ensure that the services they commission are safe, effective, and of high quality.
Where a local authority has reasonable cause to suspect that an adult in the local authority’s area has care and support needs and appears to be at risk of, or experiencing, abuse or neglect, and is unable to protect themselves as a result of those needs, the local authority must carry out a safeguarding enquiry.
Workers across organisations should be vigilant about adult safeguarding and share information and concerns, whether they be in health and social care, welfare, policing, banking, fire and rescue services, trading standards, leisure services, faith groups, or housing.
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 7 May 2025 to Question 47877 on NHS dental professionals, what criteria his Department uses to identify which areas are in greatest need of increased numbers of NHS dental professionals.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of local populations is delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England.
ICBs have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years. Dental practices in specific areas, determined locally as experiencing significant dental pressures due to workforce challenges impacting patient access, were invited by their ICBs to express interest in participating in the scheme and notified of the outcome of their application via their ICB. Further information on the dental recruitment process can be found in guidance issued by NHS England, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/dental-recruitment-incentive-scheme-2024-25/
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 help ensure continuity of weight-loss medication for people who have already demonstrated clinically significant (a) weight reduction and (b) health improvements from private prescriptions of such drugs.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As we shift the focus from treatment to prevention through our 10 Year Health Plan, we are determined to bring revolutionary modern treatments to everyone who needs them, not just those who can afford to pay.
NHS England has worked with Eli Lilly to ensure that the list price increase will not affect National Health Service commissioning of tirzepatide in England as a treatment for eligible patients, and we remain committed to the rollout of this medicine as a weight loss treatment based on clinical priority. This will enable 220,000 eligible people to access the medication over the first three years. Not everyone who wants tirzepatide will be able to access it at first, and the initial eligibility criteria will be for people with a body mass index of 40 or more in addition to four or more qualifying comorbidities.
Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have also entered equivalent agreements to maintain their current commissioning approaches.
Pricing in the private market is a matter for Eli Lilly and for private providers. Private patients who are impacted by price increases should discuss any concerns with their private provider. This includes their options regarding payment plans, alternative treatments, and/or stopping or tapering off their current medication. Eli Lilly is working with private providers to support continued patient access.
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 2 June 2025 to Question 54442 on Oxygen: Medical Treatments, whether the recompression chambers in (a) Wirral, (b) Hull, (c) the Midlands and (d) Whipps Cross will close.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The hyperbaric oxygen therapy services in Wirral, Hull and the Midlands will continue to be commissioned by NHS England.
From 1 October, the service currently commissioned for the London and South East regions will be delivered by a provider in Chichester. As such, from 30 September, the current centre based at Whipps Cross will cease to be funded for National Health Service activity.
NHS England remains committed to ensuring high-quality, accessible and cost-effective hyperbaric oxygen therapy services which meet optimal time to treatment from symptom onset standards based on clinical evidence.