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 held discussions with social media companies on content promoting anabolic steroid use and extreme body image ideals to young men.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
The Department has not held discussions with social media companies on content promoting anabolic steroid use and extreme body image ideals to young men.
However, in November 2025, the Department launched England’s first ever Men’s Health Strategy which sets out a bold vision to improve the health and wellbeing of all men and boys. The strategy recognises the role that the media plays in shaping how men interpret health information and commits to identify ways to build media literacy skills in men to help them critically assess health information and protect against misinformation that harms health.
More broadly, under the Online Safety Act, providers must take proportionate steps to reduce the risk of their services being used to facilitate illegal activity, including the unlawful supply of controlled drugs such as anabolic steroids.
The Government also supports clean competition in sport. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport supports UK Anti-Doping and UK Sport in their efforts to protect clean sport and educate athletes on the risks of performance-enhancing drugs.
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 mechanisms are used by his Department to monitor the prevalence of anabolic steroid and other image and performance enhancing drug use in England.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Department collects data, through the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS), on the number of people in structured substance misuse treatment, including those reporting a problem with anabolic steroids and other image and performance enhancing drug (IPED) use. However, people seeking help solely for steroid misuse, and not for alcohol or other drug misuse, may not be in structured treatment, depending on local commissioning arrangements, and would therefore not be captured in NDTMS. Where steroid misuse is linked to broader substance misuse, it would be recorded in NDTMS. As a result, NDTMS does not provide data on the prevalence of steroid or IPED use.
Data on anabolic steroid use is collected through the Crime Survey for England and Wales, published by the Office for National Statistics. The latest release provides an overview of the extent of, and trends in, illicit drug use in the year ending March 2025, and is available at the following link:
Anabolic steroid use is not recognised as a distinct diagnostic category in current classification systems, which limits health services’ ability to identify, record, and monitor cases in hospital data. Although some diagnostic codes relating to steroid misuse do exist, they are broad and do not reliably capture anabolic steroid use or its associated complications. As a result, data on hospital admissions linked to anabolic steroid use and related complications is not held.
Enforcement against the illegal online sale of anabolic steroids is a matter for the Home Office under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Officials in the Department of Health and Social Care work closely with the Home Office to tackle the harms that all illicit drugs cause.
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 maintains data on the number of hospital admissions linked to anabolic steroid use and related complications.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Department collects data, through the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS), on the number of people in structured substance misuse treatment, including those reporting a problem with anabolic steroids and other image and performance enhancing drug (IPED) use. However, people seeking help solely for steroid misuse, and not for alcohol or other drug misuse, may not be in structured treatment, depending on local commissioning arrangements, and would therefore not be captured in NDTMS. Where steroid misuse is linked to broader substance misuse, it would be recorded in NDTMS. As a result, NDTMS does not provide data on the prevalence of steroid or IPED use.
Data on anabolic steroid use is collected through the Crime Survey for England and Wales, published by the Office for National Statistics. The latest release provides an overview of the extent of, and trends in, illicit drug use in the year ending March 2025, and is available at the following link:
Anabolic steroid use is not recognised as a distinct diagnostic category in current classification systems, which limits health services’ ability to identify, record, and monitor cases in hospital data. Although some diagnostic codes relating to steroid misuse do exist, they are broad and do not reliably capture anabolic steroid use or its associated complications. As a result, data on hospital admissions linked to anabolic steroid use and related complications is not held.
Enforcement against the illegal online sale of anabolic steroids is a matter for the Home Office under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Officials in the Department of Health and Social Care work closely with the Home Office to tackle the harms that all illicit drugs cause.
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 his Department has had with the Home Office on enforcement against the illegal online sale of anabolic steroids.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Department collects data, through the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS), on the number of people in structured substance misuse treatment, including those reporting a problem with anabolic steroids and other image and performance enhancing drug (IPED) use. However, people seeking help solely for steroid misuse, and not for alcohol or other drug misuse, may not be in structured treatment, depending on local commissioning arrangements, and would therefore not be captured in NDTMS. Where steroid misuse is linked to broader substance misuse, it would be recorded in NDTMS. As a result, NDTMS does not provide data on the prevalence of steroid or IPED use.
Data on anabolic steroid use is collected through the Crime Survey for England and Wales, published by the Office for National Statistics. The latest release provides an overview of the extent of, and trends in, illicit drug use in the year ending March 2025, and is available at the following link:
Anabolic steroid use is not recognised as a distinct diagnostic category in current classification systems, which limits health services’ ability to identify, record, and monitor cases in hospital data. Although some diagnostic codes relating to steroid misuse do exist, they are broad and do not reliably capture anabolic steroid use or its associated complications. As a result, data on hospital admissions linked to anabolic steroid use and related complications is not held.
Enforcement against the illegal online sale of anabolic steroids is a matter for the Home Office under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Officials in the Department of Health and Social Care work closely with the Home Office to tackle the harms that all illicit drugs cause.
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 NHS England is taking to fulfil its oversight responsibilities for NHS Continuing Healthcare as set out in paragraph 23 of the National Framework.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
NHS England operates an assurance regime to promote accurate assessment, equal access, standardisation, and consistency within NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). This involves regional assurance meetings every two months, with a focus on reducing unwarranted variation in CHC. It will continue working with local systems to ensure appropriate application of the National Framework for CHC.
The NHS Performance and Assessment Framework for 2026/27 includes a standard for integrated care boards to monitor the percentage of Standard CHC referrals completed within 28 days.
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 data his Department holds on the average time taken by Integrated Care Boards to complete NHS Continuing Healthcare eligibility assessments, including for patients receiving end-of-life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
NHS England publishes data on NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) and NHS-funded Nursing Care (FNC) on a quarterly basis. This includes the number and proportion of CHC referrals and eligibility decisions made for both the Standard and Fast Track CHC referral pathway. Fast Track CHC is provided for those individuals with a rapidly deteriorating condition, which may be entering a terminal phase. The data includes the number and proportion of referrals and eligibility decisions for Standard CHC made within 28 days of referral. It does not include average time taken for integrated care boards to complete CHC assessments. The latest published CHC and FNC data is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/nhs-chc-fnc/
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, which Minister is attending meetings to discuss NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Reports.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In May 2025, I initiated meetings to reflect on lessons learnt from last winter and to discuss priorities and preparations for this winter. These meetings ran until September 2025. In addition to this my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the Chief Executive Officer of NHS England brought leaders from across the system together in September 2025.
Since October 2025, my Rt. Hon. Friend and I have been chairing regular winter meetings to ensure the whole system was prepared for, and is responding well to, pressures this winter. The latest urgent and emergency care data is a standing agenda item within these meetings. Since the publication of NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Reports on 4 December 2025, information from these reports has been considered as part of this standing item.
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 often meetings are held to discuss NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Reports.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In May 2025, I initiated meetings to reflect on lessons learnt from last winter and to discuss priorities and preparations for this winter. These meetings ran until September 2025. In addition to this my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the Chief Executive Officer of NHS England brought leaders from across the system together in September 2025.
Since October 2025, my Rt. Hon. Friend and I have been chairing regular winter meetings to ensure the whole system was prepared for, and is responding well to, pressures this winter. The latest urgent and emergency care data is a standing agenda item within these meetings. Since the publication of NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Reports on 4 December 2025, information from these reports has been considered as part of this standing item.
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 data his Department holds on complications arising out of non-therapeutic circumcision between 2020 and 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on complications arising out of non-therapeutic circumcision between 2020 and 2025 is not held in the format requested.
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 he is taking to help prevent deaths related to non-therapeutic male circumcision.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently considering its response to a prevention of future deaths report regarding non-therapeutic male circumcision. The response will set out any steps being taken to help prevent deaths related to non-therapeutic male circumcision. It will be published in due course.