Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS staff were subject to Maintaining High Professional Standards procedures in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data centrally on how many National Health Service staff were investigated under the Maintaining High Professional Standards framework in each of the last five years. This data is also not held by NHS England.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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 that concerns raised by NHS whistleblowers on patient safety are (a) recorded, (b) escalated and (c) reviewed.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are a number of avenues through which healthcare workers can speak up and raise concerns, with established procedures in place to record, act on, and escalate issues as needed.
In England, more than 1,300 Freedom to Speak Up Guardians now support staff in speaking up. Their role involves working alongside governance, risk, and safety teams to ensure that speaking up translates into improvements in patient care, as well as identifying patterns and trends, for example, in patient safety incidents. Freedom to Speak Up Guardians collect and report anonymised data on the issues raised with them, including patient safety. This data is published by the National Guardian’s Office at the following link:
https://nationalguardian.org.uk/learning-resources/speaking-up-data/
The National Guardian’s Office and NHS England are ‘prescribed persons’, authorised to receive protected disclosures, including those in relation to safety and quality concerns. They are legally required to publish annual reports on protected disclosures and their outcomes.
Every National Health Service organisation in England should be following the national Freedom to Speak Up policy, which outlines minimum standards for handling and addressing concerns. This policy ensures that all reported concerns are considered carefully and investigated objectively when necessary.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the prevalence of the use of Class (a) A, (b) B and (c) C drugs in NHS Mental Health Facilities.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We currently have no plans to make such an assessment. NHS England does not hold information or data related to the prevalence of illegal drug use across specialised mental health facilities.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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 adequacy of current national oversight arrangements for the implementation of the framework set out in the document Maintaining High Professional Standards procedures within NHS trusts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Maintaining High Professional Standards was first published in 2005, and it remains an important framework for the initial handling of concerns about doctors and dentists in the National Health Service. All Department and NHS England guidance documents are kept under review.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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 merits of mandating specialist dementia care homes to complete the Herbert Protocol for all residents with dementia.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Herbert Protocol is a form that can provide the police and other emergency services with essential information about a person with dementia should they go missing.
While this is not currently mandated, it is freely available for use online and can be completed by a person living with dementia, or those that care for them. Further information is available on the Herbert Protocol website at the following link:
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to introduce specific waiting time targets for the assessment and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder in children.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has been publishing data on children and young people’s community mental health waiting times since April 2024. These metrics measure the time taken for a child or young person who is starting to receive help in the form of assessments, co-produced care plans, and clinical and social interventions, as well as measuring baseline outcomes. These metrics cover a broad range of referrals to community children and young people’s mental health services. But there are no targets or standards set for specific mental health conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, at this time.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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 children presenting with obsessive compulsive disorder receive timely assessment and treatment within CAMHS.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are transforming children and young people's mental health services to improve access to treatment for children with mental health needs, including obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). In the 12 months to July 2025, over 846,000 children and young people accessed National Health Service funded mental health support, a 65% increase compared to 2019. We are also expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in schools to reach full national coverage by 2029/30, and May 2025 data shows that over five million, or 52% of, pupils and learners are covered by an MHST. Systems should ensure that there are mental health services accessible to all children and young people with a mental health need in their area, including those with OCD.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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 NHS England on the provision of (a) peer-support and (b) community-based networks for parents and carers of children with obsessive compulsive disorder.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about service provision are made locally, determined by locally identified need. Whilst service configurations and offers will differ across the country, local provision may include peer support or community-based networks for parents and carers, although NHS England does not hold this information.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to participate in a joint sprint review with the Ministry of Defence to assess the national health ecosystem’s capacity to meet the demands of major military operations.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ensuring that the national health system is resilient and prepared to meet the demands of major military operations is of vital importance to deterrence and defence.
The Department of Health and Social Care will work closely with the Ministry of Defence to consider the recommendations of the Strategic Defence Review 2025 to ensure the national health system is resilient and prepared to meet the demands of any potential future conflict and to mitigate the wider impacts on staffing, care capacity, and service delivery.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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 using capacity in the private healthcare sector to help reduce pressure on the NHS while maintaining clinical support for defence personnel.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England works closely with the Defence Medical Services to support operational medicine, and this includes considering clinical research and innovation and how this can be implemented to support the Armed Forces. A partnership agreement is in place between NHS England and the Ministry of Defence that sets out how the Ministry of Defence and NHS England will work together in the planning and organising of the delivery of healthcare and supporting policies.
No formal assessment has been made as to the potential merits of increased collaboration with the Defence Medical Services in the fields of medical research and development, specialist training, and in the development of deployable medical capability. The National Health Service and Defence Medical Services work closely together, with many medical personnel working within the NHS, including staff in specialist medical training.
NHS England commissions elective secondary healthcare services for the Armed Forces in England. This includes the routine use of the independent sector as part of the NHS approach to elective care reform.