Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of de-transitioners reporting harm from puberty blockers; and whether his Department considered this data as part of its approval of the trial.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is currently no registry in place in the United Kingdom that routinely collects data that is specific to individuals who choose to detransition at any point following a previous medical intervention for gender reassignment.
Last month, NHS England published a Call for Evidence aimed at healthcare professionals and medical bodies to gather evidence on the care needs of individuals who choose to detransition, in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review. NHS England will publish plans for the establishment of a clinical detransition pathway in 2026, informed by the outcome of the Call for Evidence and a review of the published evidence.
The PATHWAYS trial has been subject to extensive scientific, clinical, ethical, and regulatory approvals. It was approved by an independent National Institute for Health and Care Research funding committee, with the final protocols all subject to rigorous approval processes from both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Health Research Authority, including review by an independent Research Ethics Committee.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications were made to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme in each of the last three years; and how many and what proportion of those applications were unsuccessful.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) regularly publishes data on the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme to improve transparency. Information related to COVID-19 vaccine claim volumes and outcomes up to June 2025 is available at the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-covid-19
Claims that have not been assessed may have been rejected before a medical assessment took place as they did not meet the eligibility criteria for the scheme. Other claims are still live, but the NHS BSA may be awaiting medical records. Medical assessments cannot take place until sufficient medical records have been received to allow for a robust assessment.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 17 November 2025 to question 81592 on Medical Treatments: Gaza, what the estimated total cost of the programme will be to the public purse.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 November 2025 to Question 81587.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of ambulance callouts recorded for (a) violent assaults related injuries, (b) injuries sustained during a burglary or break in in each year since 2015 involved (i) response times exceeding 15 minutes or (ii) hospital transfer times exceeding 60 minutes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are clearly defined national standards for patient access to urgent and emergency care with a clinically led model that prioritises those in the greatest need. While NHS England routinely monitors and evaluates Category 1 and 2 ambulance response times by clinical condition, e.g. cardiac arrest or stroke, NHS England does not record the cause of the incident, e.g. assault or injury sustained during a burglary. The requested data on the number of ambulance callouts for violent or assault-related injuries and injuries sustained during a burglary or break in is not centrally collected. Similarly, response and handover times for such incidents are not available. No specific assessment has been made of ambulance delays on the survival and recovery rates for these victim groups.
For data on crime-related incidents, including assaults and burglaries, please refer to police-recorded crime data, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of ambulance delays on (a) survival and (b) recovery rates for victims of (i) violent crime and (ii) home intrusion.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are clearly defined national standards for patient access to urgent and emergency care with a clinically led model that prioritises those in the greatest need. While NHS England routinely monitors and evaluates Category 1 and 2 ambulance response times by clinical condition, e.g. cardiac arrest or stroke, NHS England does not record the cause of the incident, e.g. assault or injury sustained during a burglary. The requested data on the number of ambulance callouts for violent or assault-related injuries and injuries sustained during a burglary or break in is not centrally collected. Similarly, response and handover times for such incidents are not available. No specific assessment has been made of ambulance delays on the survival and recovery rates for these victim groups.
For data on crime-related incidents, including assaults and burglaries, please refer to police-recorded crime data, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England routinely monitors Category 1–2 ambulance response times by incident type.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are clearly defined national standards for patient access to urgent and emergency care with a clinically led model that prioritises those in the greatest need. While NHS England routinely monitors and evaluates Category 1 and 2 ambulance response times by clinical condition, e.g. cardiac arrest or stroke, NHS England does not record the cause of the incident, e.g. assault or injury sustained during a burglary. The requested data on the number of ambulance callouts for violent or assault-related injuries and injuries sustained during a burglary or break in is not centrally collected. Similarly, response and handover times for such incidents are not available. No specific assessment has been made of ambulance delays on the survival and recovery rates for these victim groups.
For data on crime-related incidents, including assaults and burglaries, please refer to police-recorded crime data, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many ambulance call-outs have been recorded for (a) violent or assault-related injuries and (b) injuries sustained during a burglary or break-in in each year since 2015.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are clearly defined national standards for patient access to urgent and emergency care with a clinically led model that prioritises those in the greatest need. While NHS England routinely monitors and evaluates Category 1 and 2 ambulance response times by clinical condition, e.g. cardiac arrest or stroke, NHS England does not record the cause of the incident, e.g. assault or injury sustained during a burglary. The requested data on the number of ambulance callouts for violent or assault-related injuries and injuries sustained during a burglary or break in is not centrally collected. Similarly, response and handover times for such incidents are not available. No specific assessment has been made of ambulance delays on the survival and recovery rates for these victim groups.
For data on crime-related incidents, including assaults and burglaries, please refer to police-recorded crime data, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to improve the quality of stay for fathers in the maternity ward.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
When a mother chooses to have support from the father or partner during labour, birth, and in the postnatal period, the father or partner should feel welcome to stay with her. Where possible, fathers or partners are offered a chair or fold up bed to enable them to stay with the birth mother. These temporary items are to ensure the flexibility of the space in the room. Many maternity units also have 24-hour access for fathers and partners.
Not all maternity units are currently able to offer accommodation for birth partners. This is due to the size of the inherited estate and historic undercapitalisation across the National Health Service, as highlighted by the Darzi Report. 11 out of the 16 new hospitals to be built as part of the New Hospitals Programme will have maternity and neonatal units, which include parental accommodation.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The specific information breakdown requested is commercially confidential.
However, significant payments to companies, £25,000 and over, are published by month as part of the Department’s transparency data. This information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/spending-over-25-000--2
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 NHS (a) maternity wards and (b) perinatal services treat fathers as active participants in the birth process.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has committed to putting the voices of families, including fathers, at the heart of the approach to improving quality, safety and accountability in maternity services.
Baroness Amos’ independent national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services will ensure that the lived experiences of families, including fathers and non-birthing partners, are fully heard and used to inform the development of the national recommendations. A National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will take forward the recommendations of the investigation to develop a new national action plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care.
National bodies such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Royal College of Midwives have issued guidelines emphasising the importance of involving fathers and partners in maternity and perinatal care. These guidelines set expectations for trusts to adopt family-centred care and to treat fathers as active participants, not just visitors or observers. These resources are available at the following link:
Fathers and partners can now receive evidence-based assessments and support through specialist perinatal mental health services where needed, with some NHS trusts now also working with Home Start UK’s Dad Matters project to support paternal mental health. The project engages with fathers to help them understand their baby, their role as a father, and how transition to fatherhood may affect them and their family.