Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on achieving the Access and Waiting Time Standard for children and young people with an Eating Disorder.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of children and young people starting treatment for eating disorders has increased since the pandemic, rising from 8,034 in 2019/20 to 11,174 in 2024/25, an increase of almost 40%. This increase in demand has affected performance against the Access and Waiting Time standard, which states that 95% of routine referrals should begin treatment within four weeks and 95% of urgent referrals should begin treatment within one week.
In the rolling quarter from September to November 2025, the Mental Health Services Data Set shows improved performance against the standard. During this period, 78.4% of, or 384 out of 490, urgent referrals and 81.7% of, or 2,145 out of 2,625, routine referrals started treatment within one and four weeks respectively.
To support systems to meet the Access and Waiting Time Standard, NHS England has published updated guidance on children and young people's eating disorders. The new guidance focuses on whole pathway approaches to early intervention, whilst ensuring swift access to specialist support as soon as an eating disorder is suspected.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the proposed Modern Service Frameworks for palliative and end of life care will mandate Integrated Care Boards to commission hospice services in an equitable way.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and enable integrated care boards (ICBs) to address challenges in access, quality and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan.
We will consider contracting and commissioning arrangements as part of our MSF. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. Equity is at the heart of this government’s approach to strategic commissioning and, by supporting ICBs to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.
It would not be right to pre-empt exactly what will be in the final MSF at this time, as we develop it with our palliative care and end of life stakeholders.
I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087 I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of updating NICE’s guideline on anxiety disorders; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the guideline in reflecting patient choice of therapies.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no assessment of the potential merits of updating the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on anxiety disorders or the adequacy of the guideline in reflecting patients’ choice of therapies.
NICE is an independent body and its guidelines are developed by experts on the basis of a thorough assessment of the evidence and through extensive engagement with interested parties. NICE is also responsible for making decisions on whether its published guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence or emerging issues not in the scope of the original guideline.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of variation between Integrated Care Boards in the availability of Xonvea; and whether he plans to issue further advice or guidance to Integrated Care Boards to help improve access.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of access to medication to treat nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, and hyperemesis gravidarum. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on antenatal care includes guidance on the advantages and disadvantages of the range of pharmacological treatments for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy to support shared decision making.
Whilst no specific assessment has been made, the Department recognises that there is currently regional variation in the availability of certain medicines like Xonvea between integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs are responsible for developing local formularies setting out the use of medicines for their local populations, informed by national guidance on clinical effectiveness. This can lead to variation with different local areas taking different decisions to reflect the needs of their local population.
This is why we are progressing the Single National Formulary (SNF), as announced in our 10-Year Health Plan which set out a commitment to move towards a SNF for medicines within the next two years. Over time, an SNF is expected to replace local formulary processes and will be designed to help address inequity and variation in the use of approved medicines; helping to ensure every patient has equitable access to medicines, and that the same medicines are available to patients in an equitable way, in all parts of the country. Work is already underway to deliver the SNF through a phased approach. NHS England will work collaboratively with key stakeholders including NICE and industry throughout the implementation.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 consistent implementation of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance by Integrated Care Boards across England.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service commissioners have a statutory responsibility to make funding available for a medicine or treatment recommended in a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal (TA) or highly specialised technology evaluation within the timeframe recommended in that guidance, usually within three months of the publication of NICE’s final guidance. The Innovation Scorecard reports on the use of medicines and medical technologies which have received a positive recommendation within the last five years by NICE; it can be used by local NHS organisations to monitor progress in implementing NICE TA recommendations. The Estimates Report provides a comparison of expected uptake to the actual volume of medicines used in the NHS in England.
Additionally, as part of commitments made in the 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth, NHS England agreed to the development of a local formulary national minimum dataset to increase visibility of local variation in the implementation of NICE guidance, identify where variation in local formularies may be creating barriers to access and to provide assurance to NHS England when a NICE recommended treatment has been listed on a local formulary.
Furthermore, the 10-Year Health Plan for England set out a commitment to move towards a Single National Formulary (SNF) for medicines within the next two years. Over time, an SNF is expected to replace local formulary processes and will be designed to help address inequity and variation in the use of approved medicines; helping to ensure every patient has equitable access to medicines, and that the same medicines are available to patients in an equitable way, in all parts of the country. Work is already underway to deliver the SNF through a phased approach. NHS England will work collaboratively with key stakeholders including NICE and industry throughout the implementation.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 delays experienced by families in receiving local authority financial assessments for care home placements; and what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the timeliness of assessment and communications with families while assessments are outstanding.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory (CASS) guidance. Responsibility for interpreting and applying the regulations and guidance rests with local authorities.
While the CASS guidance does not set specific timelines for completing financial assessments, it does place clear communication duties on local authorities, including providing information relevant to a person’s circumstances and on ways to pay for care, in order to fulfil its duty under section 4 of the Care Act 2014.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 support Primary Care Networks to deliver improved access to community-based and preventative care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Primary care networks (PCNs) build on existing primary care services and enable greater provision of proactive, personalised, coordinated, and more integrated health and social care for our communities. The introduction of PCNs helps to deliver economies of scale, boost capacity, and improve access. The PCN contract, the Network Contract DES, which determines the funding PCNs receive and the services they provide, is discussed with the General Practitioners Committee (GPC) of the British Medical Association as part of annual general practice contract consultation between the Department, NHS England, and the GPC.
Community health services are an essential building block in developing a neighbourhood health service, working closely with primary care, social care, and other services. To support the shift to neighbourhood health, we have set a clear target for systems to work to reduce long waits for community health services. By 2028/29 at least 80% of community health services activity should take place within 18 weeks. In addition, systems have been asked to increase the capacity of community health service to meet growth in demand and to work to standardise provision of core services.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 transport accessibility on attendance at antenatal appointments and the take-up of routine vaccinations for babies; and what steps he is taking to reduce access barriers for families in underserved areas.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that there are transport accessibility issues for families in underserved areas. That is why we are delivering on the vision for neighbourhood health set out in the 10-Year Health Plan to bring care closer to babies, children, and young people.
NHS England is already taking steps to improve access barriers for families in underserved areas. This includes:
- hyperlocal projects in areas of high deprivation and low uptake to improve access to routine childhood vaccinations for underserved communities, offering walk-in appointments and extended evening and weekend hours;
- Equity and Equality Guidance which asks local services to establish community hubs in the areas with the greatest maternal and perinatal health needs, including areas where transport infrastructure impacts uptake of services; and
- rolling out the enhanced Midwifery Continuity of Carer model to provide targeted support for women most likely to experience poor outcomes.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of GP-to-patient ratios in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 30 November 2025, the median number of full time equivalent (FTE) doctors in general practice per 10,000 registered patients was 5.9 in the Eastleigh constituency. The England median was 5.6 FTE.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 improve the recruitment and retention of staff in women’s health services in Hampshire.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals.
To support this ambition, the Government plans to introduce a new set of standards for modern employment in April 2026. The new standards will reaffirm our commitment to improving retention by tackling the issues that matter to staff including promoting flexible working, improving staff health and wellbeing, and dealing with violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the NHS workplace. They will provide a framework for leaders across the NHS to build a supportive culture that embeds retention.