Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
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 food manufacturers on the labelling of (a) phosphorus, (b) potassium and (c) other minerals that are potentially harmful for people on dialysis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Labelling of packaged foods and drinks plays an important role in helping individuals access information they need to make informed choices about the food they buy and eat.
Where minerals are added to foods, these must be included by law in the list of ingredients. Having this information on-pack means that consumers will always know if a product contains an added micronutrient, such as potassium. It is also mandatory for food and drinks packaging to include a nutrition declaration which shows the quantities of energy and key nutrients contained within them. Information on energy plus amounts of fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt in required by law. When minerals are added to a packaged foods and drinks at a significant amount, as set out in legislation, it is mandatory to include them in the nutrition declaration.
Unpackaged foods, such as loose fruit and vegetables, are not required by law to carry a label, which we understand makes it difficult for consumers to know their mineral content. However, manufacturers may, supplement the nutrition label with the amounts of naturally occurring minerals in a product, such as phosphorus and potassium, provided they are present in at least a significant amount as defined in legislation, should they choose to do so.
The key nutrients that must be included in the nutrition declaration on a mandatory basis are the most relevant to current population level public health concerns in Great Britain. A standardised set of nutrients ensures consumers can easily compare products and requiring too many nutrients to be included on a mandatory basis may complicate labels and make comparisons harder.
The Department has not had discussions with manufacturers specifically on this topic, but we maintain forums to regularly engage industry and enforcement authorities on general labelling matters where these issues can be discussed.
For individuals with specific dietary needs, such as those on dialysis, personalised advice from a registered dietitian or healthcare professional is recommended to help manage mineral intake, including minerals from naturally occurring sources, while maintaining a healthy balanced diet.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward plans for hybrid backup power systems combining (a) diesel generators, (b) battery storage and (c) hydrogen fuel cells in NHS hospitals.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service trusts are responsible for ensuring adequate back-up power systems in line with national guidelines. This includes conducting risk assessments to determine which systems meet their specific needs. Health Technical Memorandum 06-01 provides technical guidance on the supply and distribution of electrical services.
We continue to support the NHS to increase its energy resilience, including by diversifying its power sources. Some trusts have already implemented Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), and we are funding a number of the solar projects via our £100 million collaboration with Great British Energy, which also includes BESS.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has participated in cross-Government exercises simulating the potential impact of national blackouts on (a) health services, (b) emergency responders and (c) energy regulators used by healthcare services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has participated in a cross-Government exercise simulating the potential impacts of national power outages on health services and emergency responders. The Department has been working on the lessons identified from this exercise to improve the resilience of the health and social care sector against the risk of a national power outage. This includes developing response plans and participating in cross-sector exercises.
The Government, through the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, works closely with industry to continually improve and maintain the resilience of energy infrastructure, networks, and assets, including those offshore.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
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 improve breastfeeding support in (a) the east of England and (b) England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and giving every child the best start in life. We know breastfeeding has significant health benefits for babies and for their mothers.
Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, we are investing £18.5 million in 2025/26 to improve infant feeding support across 75 local authorities in England, including Bedford, Luton, Norfolk, Peterborough, and Thurrock in the East of England. We have also extended and expanded the National Breastfeeding Helpline so that more families across the United Kingdom can access breastfeeding support 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Most families will be receiving their breastfeeding support from midwives and health visitors. We are committed to strengthening these services and are already making progress.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS has made an assessment of the level of the resilience of digital health records systems to prolonged power outages during electricity system stress events.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the event of a disruption, the National Health Service maintains business continuity and emergency preparedness arrangements, including fallback systems, and protocols to mitigate the impact on health and patient care.
The NHS has long standing measures in place to manage disruption which would be caused by a power outage. Electronic patient record systems usually have a back-up power source, and paper patient records and handwritten notes may also be used as a contingency.
All NHS-funded organisations must meet the requirements of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, the NHS Act 2006, and the Health and Care Act 2022. These requirements are also supported by the NHS Standard Contract, the NHS Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPPR) Framework, NHS Core Standards for EPRR, and the NHS England Business Continuity Management Toolkit.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what contingency plans he has to maintain pharmaceutical cold chain logistics in instances of loss of load events that exceed 12 hours.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department works across the health and care landscape to monitor, manage, and where possible, mitigate risks to medical supply chains.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has engaged with industry on disaster recovery plans in the event of disruption to energy supplies, including the impact on cold chain, and is confident that full line wholesalers have the necessary resilience to weather short to medium term failures of energy infrastructure and to ensure the continued integrity of medicines across all temperature limits.
Under the MHRA’s Rules and Guidance for Pharmaceutical Wholesalers, wholesalers are expected to have a full, demonstrable understanding of their equipment, its limitations, and its ability to operate in extreme conditions.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
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 power outages on mental health (a) service delivery, (b) remote digital therapy and (c) crisis response platforms.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made. Planning for power outages is a core function of business continuity arrangements for all National Health Service organisations, including mental health providers.
NHS England monitors such incidents to identify root causes, solutions, and learning to share across the system.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the scope is of Palantir’s involvement in NHS data systems.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2023, NHS England awarded the contract for the NHS Federated Data Platform and Associated Services to a consortium led by Palantir Technologies.
Access to National Health Service health and social care data within the NHS Federated Data Platform is carefully controlled. Only authorised users are granted access to data for approved purposes. The contract has strict stipulations about confidentiality, and there is governance in place to monitor delivery and usage of the NHS Federated Data Platform. Palantir only operates under the instruction of the NHS when processing data on the platform. Palantir does not control the data in the platform, nor are they permitted to access, use, or share it for their own purposes.
Palantir previously provided the COVID-19 Data Platform.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
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 30 June 2025 to Question 61313 on NHS: Fees and Charges, how much revenue was raised by National Health Service penalty charges by type of (a) prescription and (b) dental treatment in each year between 2020 and 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member on 30 June 2025 to Question 61313.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to reduce waiting times for access to (a) Walking With The Wounded’s Head Start psychotherapy service and (b) OpCourage in the East of England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Part of the allocation from the Department to NHS England includes funding for National Health Service bespoke commissioned services for veterans such as Op COURAGE. Whilst there has been no assessment of the funding provided for Op COURAGE services across England, the funding received by Op COURAGE in the East of England is based on historic demand for veterans’ mental health services in that region.
The Head Start Psychotherapy service is not funded by the Department, as it is part of a formal sub-contractual arrangement between Op COURAGE in the East of England and Walking with the Wounded. As such, any referral cap would be agreed between Op COURAGE and Walking with the Wounded.
NHS England meets with the regional providers of Op COURAGE on a regular basis to review the service, including reviewing the time waited for treatment. NHS England discusses the overall performance of Op COURAGE with providers to ensure that the service, including those elements delivered by partners such as Walking with the Wounded, is meeting the needs of veterans.