Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 support NHS staff working in Newton Abbot constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff is a top priority. Local employers across the NHS have in place arrangements for supporting staff including occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and a focus on healthy working environments. At a national level, NHS staff have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health and wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will roll out Staff Treatment hubs to ensure all staff have access to high quality occupational health support, including for mental health. To further support this ambition, we will work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to ensure retired NHS staff do not suffer financial hardship due to late pension payments.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department regularly meets with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), which is responsible for administering the NHS Pension Scheme, to discuss performance levels. These discussions include the current increase in processing times for initial pension payments to retired National Health Service staff.
The NHSBSA is working in partnership with the Department to ensure robust measures are in place to improve performance as a matter of urgency. The NHSBSA has reallocated internal resources, is actively recruiting and training new staff, and has enhanced communications with members and employers to help them plan accordingly. The Department is committed to supporting the NHSBSA in taking all necessary steps to ensure pension benefits return to being paid on-time.
To minimise the risk of financial hardship, the NHSBSA is proactively contacting and prioritising cases involving vulnerable members and those experiencing ill health. A member whose first pension payment is delayed beyond 30 days will automatically receive interest on the overdue amount. Up-to-date information on processing times is made available to members via the NHSBSA website which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/current-processing-times-nhs-pensions.
The NHSBSA remains dedicated to providing the highest possible standard of service to retiring and retired NHS staff and will continue to keep members updated on progress.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 15 July to Question 65984 on NHS Databases, what assessment he has made of the challenges of hosting the NHS Federated Data Platform on cloud services.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) Programme Team in NHS England have conducted a comprehensive assessment of the technical, operational, regulatory, and public trust considerations associated with hosting the platform on cloud services.
It is a contractual requirement that all processing and storage of patient information take place within the United Kingdom. Data within the FDP and NHS Privacy Enhancing Technology cannot be accessed by provider personnel or contractors based outside the UK. This is stipulated in the overarching FDP Data Protection Impact Assessment and enforced through technical controls. All data is protected through strong encryption, access controls, and audit trails, in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. These measures ensure that National Health Service data remains fully under UK jurisdiction.
Robust security measures are in place, including firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, regular penetration testing, and vulnerability scanning. Live service teams continuously monitor the platform to identify and address any issues promptly.
The FDP has been designed to be modular and standards-based, enabling integration with multiple systems and avoiding over-reliance on any single cloud provider.
Following national guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre, the NHS has adopted the 14 cloud security principles as its core means of aligning of cloud and internet security throughout the NHS and healthcare providers. All NHS data stored on cloud services in the UK is encrypted, at rest and in transit, using the highest encryption standards.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 the potential impact of the administration of Jhoots pharmacies on the ability of residents in Newton Abbot constituency to access prescribed medicine.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 November, I wrote to all Members of this House with an update on actions taken to date.
Where a pharmacy goes into administration, administrators will work to rescue the pharmacy business or sell it.
Where pharmacies close, integrated care boards will work with other local pharmacies and general practices to ensure patients can continue to access their medicines. If the closure of a pharmacy causes a gap in pharmacy provisions, new pharmacies can apply to provide NHS pharmaceutical services. Patients may also use distance-selling pharmacies, which are required to deliver prescription medicines directly to patients’ homes.
Pharmacy staff are not employed by the NHS but by pharmacy businesses. Therefore, any dispute between staff and a pharmacy business should be raised with the Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service which has powers to provide arbitration and binding decisions in such matters.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 support staff affected by Jhoots’ administration with (a) ensuring continuity of employment within the local pharmacy network and (b) other issues.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 November, I wrote to all Members of this House with an update on actions taken to date.
Where a pharmacy goes into administration, administrators will work to rescue the pharmacy business or sell it.
Where pharmacies close, integrated care boards will work with other local pharmacies and general practices to ensure patients can continue to access their medicines. If the closure of a pharmacy causes a gap in pharmacy provisions, new pharmacies can apply to provide NHS pharmaceutical services. Patients may also use distance-selling pharmacies, which are required to deliver prescription medicines directly to patients’ homes.
Pharmacy staff are not employed by the NHS but by pharmacy businesses. Therefore, any dispute between staff and a pharmacy business should be raised with the Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service which has powers to provide arbitration and binding decisions in such matters.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will review its oversight mechanisms for large multi-branch contractors to ensure stronger safeguards against sudden collapses; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing the NHS’s pharmacy contracting processes to prevent financially unstable operators taking on critical community pharmacy roles, following the collapse of Jhoots Pharmacy,
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 November, I wrote to all Members of this House with an update on actions taken to date.
Where pharmacies close, integrated care boards (ICBs) will work with other local pharmacies and general practices to ensure patients can continue to access their medicines. Patients may also use distance-selling pharmacies, which are required to deliver prescription medicines directly to patients’ homes.
Pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide NHS services. Before new pharmacy premises can be registered, applicants must demonstrate to the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) that the premises will meet all the standards for registered pharmacies from the first day it opens. Pharmacy premises and pharmacy professionals are regulated by the GPhC, and ICBs monitor and enforce adherence to the NHS Terms of Service for pharmacies.
I have convened a roundtable meeting with representatives from the GPhC, NHS England and ICBs to discuss enforcement action against Jhoots and steps to review and strengthen the regulation of pharmacy businesses where standards are not met. My officials are conducting an analysis of gaps in how pharmacies are regulated to ensure those with contract management and registration responsibilities can swiftly take action proportionate to the scale of the failures.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, steps he is taking to protect patients (a) receiving home deliveries, (b) dosette boxes, (c) end of life medicines and (d) other vulnerable patients who may lose access to their local Jhoots branch.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 November, I wrote to all Members of this House with an update on actions taken to date.
Where pharmacies close, integrated care boards (ICBs) will work with other local pharmacies and general practices to ensure patients can continue to access their medicines. Patients may also use distance-selling pharmacies, which are required to deliver prescription medicines directly to patients’ homes.
Pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide NHS services. Before new pharmacy premises can be registered, applicants must demonstrate to the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) that the premises will meet all the standards for registered pharmacies from the first day it opens. Pharmacy premises and pharmacy professionals are regulated by the GPhC, and ICBs monitor and enforce adherence to the NHS Terms of Service for pharmacies.
I have convened a roundtable meeting with representatives from the GPhC, NHS England and ICBs to discuss enforcement action against Jhoots and steps to review and strengthen the regulation of pharmacy businesses where standards are not met. My officials are conducting an analysis of gaps in how pharmacies are regulated to ensure those with contract management and registration responsibilities can swiftly take action proportionate to the scale of the failures.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 ensure continuity of pharmacy services for patients affected by Jhoots Pharmacy entering administration.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 November, I wrote to all Members of this House with an update on actions taken to date.
Where pharmacies close, integrated care boards (ICBs) will work with other local pharmacies and general practices to ensure patients can continue to access their medicines. Patients may also use distance-selling pharmacies, which are required to deliver prescription medicines directly to patients’ homes.
Pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide NHS services. Before new pharmacy premises can be registered, applicants must demonstrate to the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) that the premises will meet all the standards for registered pharmacies from the first day it opens. Pharmacy premises and pharmacy professionals are regulated by the GPhC, and ICBs monitor and enforce adherence to the NHS Terms of Service for pharmacies.
I have convened a roundtable meeting with representatives from the GPhC, NHS England and ICBs to discuss enforcement action against Jhoots and steps to review and strengthen the regulation of pharmacy businesses where standards are not met. My officials are conducting an analysis of gaps in how pharmacies are regulated to ensure those with contract management and registration responsibilities can swiftly take action proportionate to the scale of the failures.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 number of (a) patients and (b) GP practices directly affected by Jhoots branch closures.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 November, I wrote to all Members of this House with an update on actions taken to date.
Where pharmacies close, integrated care boards (ICBs) will work with other local pharmacies and general practices to ensure patients can continue to access their medicines. Patients may also use distance-selling pharmacies, which are required to deliver prescription medicines directly to patients’ homes.
Pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide NHS services. Before new pharmacy premises can be registered, applicants must demonstrate to the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) that the premises will meet all the standards for registered pharmacies from the first day it opens. Pharmacy premises and pharmacy professionals are regulated by the GPhC, and ICBs monitor and enforce adherence to the NHS Terms of Service for pharmacies.
I have convened a roundtable meeting with representatives from the GPhC, NHS England and ICBs to discuss enforcement action against Jhoots and steps to review and strengthen the regulation of pharmacy businesses where standards are not met. My officials are conducting an analysis of gaps in how pharmacies are regulated to ensure those with contract management and registration responsibilities can swiftly take action proportionate to the scale of the failures.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 the potential impact of the white paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, on the adequacy of (a) the supply of trainee GPs and (b) levels of access to primary care services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of the white paper and officials are considering the implications for the general practice workforce and for access to primary care services.
Whilst we hugely value our international workforce and the skills and experience they bring, we are also committed to growing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join our National Health Service. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will outline strategies for improving retention, productivity, training, and reducing attrition, thereby enhancing conditions for all staff while gradually reducing reliance on international recruitment, without diminishing the value of their contributions.