Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding for the Lavender Square project in Devon; and if he will hold discussions with representatives of that project.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people to access quality care.
The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system and we are taking immediate action to improve it by ensuring that funding goes to the places that need it most in 2025-26. The Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. We are also taking forward a range of initiatives in 2025/26, including funding more home adaptations, promoting better use of care technologies, and professionalising the adult social care workforce.
We will continue to engage with the sector to ensure that we are considering the merits of different models of care.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide additional funding to ensure the sustainability of social prescribing in (a) the UK and (b) Torbay.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of our Mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, the Government has underlined its commitment to taking a preventive approach to addressing health inequalities.
We are determined to improve people’s physical and mental health, to support them to live longer and healthier lives, and we recognise the role that social prescribing can play in this.
In March 2025, the Department agreed a further year of grant funding for the National Academy for Social Prescribing, securing £1.5 million to advance and expand social prescribing across England.
The Department funds the workforce through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, including for social prescribing link workers in primary care.
In Torbay, two primary care networks employ a combined 8.6 whole time equivalent social prescribing link workers at a value of £364,958 per annum.
The Torbay Better Care Fund invests a further £221,000 within the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector to fund three whole time equivalent social prescribers, known as well-being co-ordinators, and a full-time manager.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
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 the Food Standards Agency on its plans to publish its response to the consultation entitled Best Practice Guidance - Allergen Information for Non-Prepacked Foods; and what steps he is taking with the Food Standards Agency to improve the allergen information available to consumers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has policy responsibility for food safety, including food allergen labelling, in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and is working to improve the availability and accuracy of allergen information for non-prepacked foods.
A summary of the responses to the consultation entitled Best Practice Guidance - Allergen Information for Non-Prepacked Foods, along with corresponding guidance with supporting tools, was published on 5 March 2025. This is available at the following link:
The guidance is a positive step in improving the provision of allergen information for non-prepacked foods.
Officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Health and Social Care are in close contact with the FSA, receiving regular updates on the implementation of this guidance.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape will be published.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The review of patient safety across the health and care landscape, by Dr Penny Dash, is planned to be published shortly.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of offering (a) guidance or (b) funding support for charities who are assisting refugees with medical qualifications into the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no assessment of the potential merits of offering guidance or funding support for charities who are assisting refugees with medical qualifications into the National Health Service.
Many regulators, royal colleges, and other organisations provide support or prioritise services for refugees, including some flexibility in the information that candidates need to provide for employment checks.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that the private sector is used to help reduce NHS waiting lists for the (a) most urgent procedures and (b) patients with the greatest clinical need.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have committed to tackling waiting lists and getting back to the National Health Service constitutional standard, that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, by March 2029. We will use every lever to do this, and independent sector providers have a key role to play.
A new partnership agreement between the NHS and the independent sector was published in January 2025, the first of its kind for 25 years. The aim of this agreement is to ensure that private providers and the NHS work closely together to tackle waiting lists and improve elective services, providing NHS patients with the ability to choose to be treated privately where there is capacity, at no cost to them. The independent sector committed to reviewing their clinical exclusion criteria to ensure that they allow the choice of an independent provider to as broad a cohort of patients as possible. The agreement also set a shared goal to improve access to treatment in the independent sector for the most challenged specialties.
Local systems are best placed to commission activity, considering the patients and providers in their area, and ensuring assets are utilised effectively, and that patients requiring urgent procedures are treated quickly. All patients should be offered a choice of provider at the point of referral, including independent providers where clinically appropriate, and should be provided with information on waiting times to inform their decision.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of recommendation on (a) screening and (b) research on prostate cancer in Council of the EU recommendation on cancer screening (update), adopted in December 2022.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The United Kingdom is not bound by the Council of the European Union's recommendations. The UK National Screening Committee is currently looking at the evidence for prostate cancer screening in accordance with its published processes. This work will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the implementation of organised prostate cancer screening programmes. It therefore aligns with the Council of the European Union's recommendations.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department has on the (a) number of unfilled vacancies, (b) cost for using (i) locum and (ii) bank staff to fill vacancies at Torbay Hospital in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information on the number of unfilled vacancies or the costs of using locum or bank staff to fill vacancies at Torbay Hospital. NHS England published vacancy rates by trust as of June 2024, with further information available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/supplementary-information/2024/total-vacancy-rates-by-org-since-201718
The Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, of which the hospital is a part, has reported to NHS England a position of a zero full time equivalent vacancy rate across the trust.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to provide financial support for unpaid carers through the social care system.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. Under the Care Act 2014, they are required to undertake Carer’s Assessments to support people caring for their family and friends who appear to have a need for support, and to meet their eligible needs upon request from them. For example, if eligible, this might include financial support, such as direct payments.
We have already taken action to support unpaid carers. From April 2025, we will increase the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage. This means carers can earn up to £10,000 a year whilst still retaining Carer's Allowance, which is approximately an additional £2,000 a year.
The Government also recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.
The commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
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 support NHS long Covid clinics.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Commissioning of post-COVID services transitioned from the long COVID national programme to local integrated care boards (ICBs) at the end of March 2024. Funding for post-COVID services in 2024/25 was expected to be allocated based on the 2023/24 distribution, to minimise disruption to funding flows and to maintain services.
NHS England has recently completed a long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) stocktake, aimed to provide a nationwide overview of service delivery in commissioning and contracting, assessing access, activity and outcomes. It was agreed that long COVID and ME/CFS services are rightly commissioned by ICBs, which have responsibility for ensuring coverage for their population.
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.
NHS England has published commissioning guidance for post-COVID services which sets out the commissioning, service requirements and oversight of post-COVID services by ICBs in England for adults, and children and young people. It outlines the elements that post-COVID services should comprise of and the principles of care for long COVID. The guidance is available at the following link:
There is specific advice for general practitioners to manage long COVID. Patients should be managed according to current clinical guidance such as that published and updated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; this is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG188