Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 respond to the consultation entitled Updating labelling guidance for no and low-alcohol alternatives, published on 28 September 2023.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In our 10-Year Health Plan, the Government committed to exploring whether to raise the upper alcohol limit for drinks labelled as alcohol-free to 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) from 0.05% ABV, as set out in the current labelling guidance for no and low (NoLo) alcohol drink alternatives.
Our 10-Year Health Plan also included a commitment to strengthen and expand on existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.
My officials are progressing work to take forward these commitments and we will update stakeholders in due course. The timelines for delivery are yet to be determined.
Alongside the plan, a large, multi-year National Institute for Health and Care Research study is underway to examine the public health impacts of NoLo products, and we look forward to the findings of the study being available in the coming year.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 reduce the number of patients having to be treated in (a) corridors, (b) converted office spaces, (c) gyms and (d) other spaces this winter.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are doing everything we can as fast as we can to tackle and eliminate corridor care. The Government is determined to get the National Health Service back on its feet, so patients can be treated with dignity.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, published in June 2025, set out the steps we are taking to ensure that patients will receive better, faster, and more appropriate emergency care this winter, backed by a total of nearly £450 million of funding. This includes a commitment to publish data on the prevalence of corridor care.
We have been taking key steps to ensure that the health service is prepared for the colder months. This includes taking actions to try to reduce the demand pressure on accident and emergency departments, increase vaccination rates, and offer health checks to the most vulnerable, as well as stress-testing integrated care board and trust winter plans to confirm they are able to meet demand and support patient flow.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to help improve access to NHS dentistry in South Cambridgeshire constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For South Cambridgeshire constituency, this is Cambridgeshire & Peterborough ICB.
We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from 1 April 2025. Cambridgeshire & Peterborough ICB is expected to deliver 14,195 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.
ICBs are recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years. As of 22 September 2025, in England there were 97 dentists in post with a further eight dentists who have been recruited but are yet to start in post under this scheme. A further 224 posts are currently being advertised.
We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability. The Government is committed to achieving fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament.
We recently held a full public consultation on a package of changes to improve access to, and the quality of NHS dentistry, which will deliver better care for the diverse oral health needs of people across England. The consultation closed on 19 August 2025. The Government is considering the outcomes of the consultation and will publish a response in due course.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to increase awareness of aerobic vaginitis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we build a National Health Service fit for the future.
Professional bodies, including the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, are considering how to raise awareness and make more information available about aerobic vaginitis.
Additionally, we have supported the system to improve access to more specialised and multidisciplinary teams in the community through the introduction of women’s health hubs. Women’s health hubs provide better integrated care for women with a range of different conditions.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to help increase awareness of irritable bowel syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the significant impact that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can have on a person’s quality of life. We want a society where every person, including those with one or more long-term conditions, receives high-quality, compassionate continuity of care.
To support early diagnosis and effective management of IBS, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced guidance, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg61
To raise awareness of IBS among general practitioners and other primary care staff, the Royal College of General Practitioners has produced an e-learning module on the IBS pathway. The course covers the investigation of patients who present with lower gastrointestinal symptoms that are likely to be IBS, the red flags to look out for, how to make a confident diagnosis in primary care, and how to manage patients in line with NICE guidance.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 private sector health providers on the implementation of the NHS 10 Year Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10 Year Health Plan for England sets out a transformed vision for planned care by 2035, where the majority of interactions no longer take place in a hospital building, instead happening virtually, online or via neighbourhood services. Planned care will be more efficient, timely and effective and will put control in the hands of patients.
The plan builds on the Elective Reform Plan and Independent Sector Partnership Agreement, published in January, setting a clear commitment to using spare capacity in independent sector providers to treat National Health Service patients, driving choice and empowerment for more patients, and entering discussions to expand NHS provision in the most disadvantaged areas to tackle health inequalities. The Government is steadfast in its commitment to the guiding principle that the NHS will always be free at the point of use, however it would be a dereliction of duty not to use every available resource to get patients the care they need.
We have already started working with the Independent Healthcare Providers Network, the representative body for independent sector healthcare providers with over 100 members, to ensure independent healthcare providers can fully support the Government’s objectives to both bring down the electives waiting list, and to return the NHS to the constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 the availability of space in (a) surgeries and (b) community buildings on the implementation of the NHS 10 Year Plan.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Over the course of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government has committed to deliver a Neighbourhood Health Centre (NHC) in every community. The Department of Health and Social Care is currently determining how best to trial NHCs, including identifying potential site locations.
Wherever possible, we will maximise value for money by repurposing poorly used, existing NHS and public sector estate. To support this, we have requested initial information from systems on local assets they already have.
As strategic commissioners, integrated care boards will be key in identifying where NHCs are required, where more efficient and effective use could be made of existing assets, and defining their requirements for an NHC in the context of other supporting infrastructure in the local area.
The £102 million Primary Care Utilisation & Modernisation Fund will upgrade more than a thousand GP surgeries across England. Improving use of existing buildings and spaces will enable improved productivity and projects will focus on works that unlock additional clinical space and make better use of existing buildings. They will include much-needed conversion, refurbishment and reconfiguration schemes.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's planned timetable is for publishing guidance on the financial implications for GP partnerships of the NHS 10 Year Plan.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We remain committed to the GP partnership model and have committed to working with the GP Committee of the British Medical Association (GPC England) to secure a new substantive GP contract within this Parliament.
The 10-Year Health Plan represents a significant opportunity for general practice. It signals our intention to build a neighbourhood health service, shifting resources from hospital to community, with general practice playing a central role. The excellent GP leaders we currently have across the system, and those we will nurture and develop for future generations, will be integral in shaping and delivering neighbourhood health.
We will engage with GPC England and other key stakeholders on changes to the GP contract, longer-term General Medical Services contract reform and neighbourhood health arrangements over the coming weeks and months.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 2 April 2025 to Question 39995 on Long Covid: Clinics, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the delivery of long covid care by integrated care boards.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services for people with long COVID. ICBs are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local need and priorities, and to improve outcomes.
To support clinical leadership in this area, NHS England has worked in partnership with the British Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine to establish the Clinical Post-COVID Society to facilitate the ongoing sharing of best practice, to support people affected by long COVID. Further information about the society can be found at the following link:
https://www.clinicalpcs.org.uk/
Earlier this year, NHS England completed a long COVID stocktake, aiming to provide a nationwide overview of service delivery in commissioning and contracting, assessing access, activity, and outcomes. The findings confirmed the widely recognised challenges of significant variation in care delivery across England and a lack of comprehensive activity data.
Executive NHS England board members were updated on the current provision of long COVID services, noting those challenges. Discussions considered service prioritisation and potential COVID Inquiry recommendations.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many overheating incidents have been logged in NHS hospitals in the East of England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 665 overheating incidents logged in National Health Service hospitals in the East of England over the past five years. The following table shows the number of overheating incidents logged in NHS hospitals in the East of England in each of the last five years:
Year | Overheating incidents in East of England |
2023/24 | 77 |
2022/23 | 105 |
2021/22 | 218 |
2020/21 | 265 |
2019/20 | Not collected |
Source: Estates Returns Information Collection data, available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection