Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Care Quality Commission on whether the increase in the level of NHS-funded nursing care has increased the quality of care provided in care homes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There have been no discussions between the department and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on NHS-funded nursing care (FNC).
The department is responsible for FNC policy and for setting the FNC rate each year. NHSE and integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the implementation of FNC, including paying the FNC rate direct to care homes with nursing.
The FNC rate for 2025/26 increased by 7.7% from the 2024/25 rate. From the 1 April 2025, this increases the standard weekly rate per eligible individual from £235.88 to £254.06 and from £324.50 to £349.50 for the higher rate payment. FNC contributes to the provision of nursing care by a registered nurse and does not cover the costs of wider non-nursing care or accommodation. The rate increase accounts for the increase in the cost of providing nursing care.
Providers registered with CQC are expected to comply with the fundamental standards under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. CQC monitor and assess services and publish their findings, and can take regulatory and enforcement action if services are not providing people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were recruited into National Institute for Health and Care Research supported phase 3 trials for (a) dementia, (b) cancer, (c) stroke and (d) coronary heart disease in the last five years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A table showing the number of participants recruited into phase three trials in England, supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, for dementia, cancer, stroke, and coronary heart disease in the last five years is attached. It should be noted that this includes studies on atherothrombosis and the prevention of coronary artery disease.
The numbers of participants declined between the years 2020/21 and 2021/22. While it is not possible to confirm the exact reasons for this decline, this is likely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the focus on recruiting participants to urgent COVID-19 studies over these years. Other fluctuations are likely due to large sample size studies within the dataset, which have since opened or closed recruitment.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
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 increase the availability of beds in psychiatric intensive care units in (a) Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust and (b) other NHS trusts.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of mental health inpatient beds required to support a local population is dependent on both local mental health need and the effectiveness of the whole local mental health system in providing timely access to care and supporting people to stay well in the community, therefore reducing the likelihood of an inpatient admission being necessary.
The Department expects individual trusts and local health systems to effectively assess and manage bed capacity and the ‘flow’ of patients being discharged or moving to another setting.
Over the past few years, the National Health Service has been developing the community mental health framework to improve community support for people with severe mental illness, thus avoiding the need for an inpatient admission where possible, and freeing up more beds.
The 2025/26 NHS Planning Guidance sets out the expectation that ICBs should work with providers to improve patient flow through mental health crisis and acute pathways, reducing the average length of stay in adult acute beds, and improving access to children and young people’s mental health services.
As part of our mission to build an NHS fit for the future, we will make sure more mental health care is delivered in the community, close to people’s homes, through new models of care and support, so that fewer people need to go into hospital.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
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 changes to employer National Insurance contributions on care home providers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government did consider the cost pressures facing adult social care as part of the wider consideration of local government spending within the Spending Review process in 2024.
To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government has made available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
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 improve pain management treatment for people with chronic urinary tract infections.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines are evidence-based recommendations for health and care in England and Wales. They help health and social care professionals to prevent ill health, promote good health, and improve the quality of care and services. Practitioners are expected to refer to the NICE’s guidance when assessing, signposting to, and prescribing pain relief medications, including for chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs).
When providing clinical care for conditions such as chronic UTIs, it is a prescriber’s duty to prescribe medicines, including for pain relief, when they have adequate knowledge of the patient’s health and are satisfied that the medicine is clinically suitable for the patient.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of eligible families are receiving Healthy Start in Ribble Valley constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/
The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start. The number of people on the scheme in March 2025 for Ribble Valley was 104.
The NHSBSA does not currently hold data on the number of people who are eligible for the scheme. An issue was identified with the source data that is used to calculate uptake of the NHS Healthy Start scheme. The NHSBSA has therefore removed data for the number of people eligible for the scheme and the uptake percentage from January 2023 onwards.
The issue has only affected the data on the number of people eligible for the scheme. It has not prevented anyone from joining the scheme or continuing to access the scheme if they were eligible.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
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 25 March 2025 to Question 36961, whether there is a licensed direct infant immunisation for respiratory syncytial virus; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of maternal rather than direct infant immunisation on health outcomes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s decisions on who to offer immunisations to, and which products are suitable, are based on expert advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
In June 2023 the JCVI advised, for infant protection against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), for either a programme of maternal antenatal vaccination with Pfizer’s Abrysvo PreF vaccine or for infant immunisation with Sanofi’s monoclonal antibody nirsevimab (Beyfortus). Following a competitive tender, the new RSV vaccination programmes began in September 2024 for older adults and pregnant mothers, to protect infants, both using the Pfizer vaccine.
The UK Health Security Agency undertakes evaluation of national immunisation programmes and will be evaluating the impact and effectiveness of the RSV maternal vaccination programme for infant protection, once sufficient data is available. The JCVI will continue to keep the RSV programme under close review.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
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 improve postnatal care services for mothers (a) with mental health challenges and (b) in rural areas.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to ensuring that women, including those living in rural areas, receive safe and equitable care, regardless of where they live or give birth.
NHS England’s guidance sets out that all women who have given birth should be offered a postnatal check-up with their general practitioner (GP) after six to eight weeks. This check-up provides an important opportunity for women to be listened to by their GP in a discreet, supportive environment, and for women to be assessed and supported not just in their physical recovery post-birth, but also in their mental health.
For women with, or at risk of, mental health problems, who are planning a pregnancy, are pregnant, or who have a baby up to two years old, specialist perinatal mental health services provide care in all 42 integrated care system (ICS) areas of England. For women experiencing mental health difficulties directly arising from, or related to, their maternity or neonatal experience, Maternal Mental Health Services provide care in 41 of the 42 ICS areas in England, with the last being supported by NHS England to ensure it is up and running as soon as possible.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
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 (a) trends in the level of and (b) potential impact on health outcomes of maternal rather than direct infant vaccination.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency monitors trends in the level of vaccination rates. Trends in maternal and infant immunisation are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake
Maternal and infant whooping cough vaccinations are designed to act in different ways, so a direct comparison of effects is not appropriate. However, current evidence is that both offer excellent protection against mortality from whooping cough in infants. For respiratory syncytial virus, there is no suitable vaccine for infants.