Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Patient Safety Commissioner on a timetable for compensation for people harmed by sodium valporate.

The Government has asked the Patient Safety Commissioner, Dr Henrietta Hughes, to undertake work looking at redress for people harmed by sodium valproate. The work is intended to focus on the views of those affected, improving the understanding of how many people have been affected and how, the case for redress and what form it could take.

The Patient Safety Commissioner is expected to publish a report of her current work examining options for redress for those harmed by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh in early 2024. Ministers will consider the report’s findings before deciding how to proceed on this matter.