Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to publish a timeline for strengthening voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England, the Government committed to strengthening and expanding existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages. The plan can be accessed on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future
Department officials are progressing this work at pace and, at the appropriate time, we will consult with stakeholders on the best ways to communicate the necessary information on the health risks to consumers through alcohol labels. The timeline for implementing mandatory alcohol labelling is yet to be determined, and will take into account the full range of stakeholder views and consultation responses.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 increase the availability of donors for stem cell transplants.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The United Kingdom aligned stem cell registry (a national register managed collaboratively by Anthony Nolan, DKMS UK, NHS Blood and Transplant and the Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry) has over 2.3 million potential stem cell donors registered.
The Department is taking action to increase the number of people on the UK aligned stem cell registry through funding the DHSC Stem Cell Programme (£2.4 million for the period 2022-25). The programme is being delivered by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and Anthony Nolan. It aims to enhance the resilience of the UK's stem cell supply by strategically recruiting donors to the UK aligned stem cell registry. It focuses on recruiting those most likely to donate, and on addressing health disparities through targeted campaigns, with a focus on ethnic minority communities.
By increasing the pool of potential donors, the programme seeks to improve the availability of matches in the UK, ultimately reducing waiting times for patients in need of stem cell treatment. Funding to both organisations has been extended by 1 year (2025/26).
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on re-establishing a central capacity for co-ordinating preventative mental health work.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to transform mental health services to improve access and treatment, and to promote good mental health and wellbeing for the nation. This includes improving assertive outreach, investment into mental health emergency departments, increasing access to evidence-based digital interventions, and providing mental health support teams in schools and colleges.
The Department recognises that there have been changes to the public health capacity and capability at a national, regional, and local level in recent years. However, the Government is committed to working beyond the health system to create an environment that promotes good mental health, prevents people from developing mental health problems, and improves the lives of people living with a mental health problem. Further work is required across the Government to create the conditions for good mental wellbeing, alongside early intervention and recovery to support people to live well in their communities and thrive.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what medicines procured by NHS England are imported from Israel.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst NHS England does put in place procurement frameworks for trusts to procure medicines, NHS England itself does not procure any medicines.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children injured in Gaza as a result of the conflict have been brought to the UK for medical treatment; and what steps he is taking to support other Palestinian children who may benefit from receiving treatment in the UK.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Members to My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s Written Statement to the House on 1 September 2025, available at the following link:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-09-01/hcws899
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 help reduce alcohol related cancers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan will build on the shift from sickness to prevention set out by the 10-Year Health Plan, and will seek to reduce risk factors. The plan will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention. This will include alcohol consumption, alongside other risk factors, given alcohol is linked to an increased risk of seven types of cancer: mouth; pharynx; larynx; oesophagus; breast; liver; and bowel, which includes the colon and rectum.
In relation to ensuring public awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer, the Government has a responsibility to provide the most up to date health information to enable people to make informed choices about their drinking. Both the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk drinking guidelines and the National Health Service’s webpage on alcohol clearly state that alcohol consumption can increase the risk of developing seven types of cancer.
On 3 July 2025, the Department published ‘Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England’, which outlines plans to introduce mandatory alcohol labelling, to increase awareness of harms and enable people to make healthier choices. Details of the next steps will be shared in due course.
The 10-Year Health Plan also recognises that No and Low (NoLo) drinks may have the potential to help adults reduce their alcohol intake if consumed in place of a standard-strength alcohol drink. In the document, we outline plans to explore if there is a need to change the threshold at which products can describe themselves as alcohol free, to support growth of this sector. We will also explore options to restrict access to NoLo products, so they are treated in the same ways as all alcohol products, including banning sales to children under 18 years old. 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 that being available in the coming year.
The 10-Year Health Plan also commits to supporting community level innovation, and continued expansion of Individual Placement and Support schemes for people with alcohol addiction to find good work.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 (a) encourage breastfeeding and (b) support mothers who choose to breastfeed.
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. 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.
The child health workforce is central to how we provide infant feeding support. We have committed to strengthening health visiting services so that all families can access joined-up, high quality services. We have also committed to training thousands more midwives to better support women throughout their pregnancy and beyond. By April 2025, the number of full-time equivalents had increased by 1,330 compared to April 2024.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 ensure that an adequate number of speciality training posts are available to ensure that NHS needs are met.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.
We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.
To reform the NHS and make it fit for the future, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan as part of the Government’s five long-term missions. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. We will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 support people with long covid; and what steps he is taking to increase awareness of the impacts of long covid.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Across England, services within the National Health Service are available to support people with post-COVID syndrome, often described as long COVID. These services offer physical, cognitive and psychological assessment, and, where appropriate, refer patients onto existing services for treatment and rehabilitation.
NHS England has recently completed a long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) stocktake, aimed to provide a national overview of service delivery in commissioning these services. It included assessing access, activity and outcomes. The findings confirmed significant variation in care delivery across England and a lack of comprehensive activity data.
To support clinical leadership in this area, NHS England has worked in partnership with the British Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine to develop a new Clinical Post-COVID Society to facilitate the ongoing sharing of best practice to support people affected by long COVID. More information about the society is available at the following link:
https://www.clinicalpcs.org.uk.
Information on long COVID is widely available from the NHS and the Government in a variety of formats. Detailed information for people of all ages and background on symptoms and the healthcare support that is available for long COVID remains available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/post-covid-syndrome-long-covid/
Over the last five years, the Government, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council, has invested over £57 million in long COVID research, with almost £40 million of this through two specific research calls on long COVID. The NIHR specifically has invested £42.7 million towards research for long COVID. The projects funded aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease, and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate clinical care. Further information on the research into long COVID commissioned through the NIHR is available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/what-we-do/covid-19/long-COVID
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 benefits developing a national strategy to place defibrillators in socio-economically deprived communities.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED fund, launched in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the fund.
The Department selected a joint bid from Smarter Society as its independent partners to manage grant applications. Smarter Society has reviewed funding applications, against requirements specified by the Department. These requirements were to ensure that resources are allocated where there is the greatest need, for instance remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest, including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas.
As part of the Department’s requirements, the defibrillators are suitable for use by untrained persons. The Mindray C1A Defibrillator, a fully automated device suitable for use by untrained persons, are the AEDs provided by Smarter Society in partnership with London Hearts charity.
The Department has continued its partnership with Smarter Society, who managed the grant applications on our behalf, with London Hearts supplying the AEDs. London Hearts is the leading heart defibrillator charity in the United Kingdom, supporting communities with the provision of life saving heart defibrillators and teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillator skills.
NHS England has partnered with St John Ambulance to co-ordinate skills development to significantly increase the use of AEDs by individuals in community settings. This includes a national network of Community Advocates to champion the importance of first aid, training 60,000 people that will help save up to 4,000 lives each year by 2028.