Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the impact of having to visit (a) children and (b) babies in hospital out of area on low income families.

There are a number of financial support schemes available to support low-income families, so that they can in turn support their children or babies while they are in hospital. These include: the NHS Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme, which offers financial support to eligible parents and carers to enable them to make the journey to hospital while their baby or child is being cared for; the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023, which is due to provide qualifying new parents with a right to 12 weeks’ leave and pay when their baby requires neonatal care, in addition to existing parental leave entitlements, to help address the financial barriers faced by families; and the Sure Start Maternity Grant, which aims to help low-income families meet the wider costs of having a new baby.