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 impact of a limited access to suitable (a) prosthetics and (b) wigs on ethnic minority patients; and what steps he is taking to improve access.

The current NHS Supply Chain Wigs Framework Agreement was awarded to 42 suppliers and provides a range of wigs, both real and synthetic, and headwear products to provide alternative choices to patients, as well as maintenance, styling, alteration, and repair services.

Whilst there is availability of Afro Caribbean wigs through the currently awarded suppliers, NHS Supply Chain is aware that due to the regionality of suppliers and the nature of them being predominantly micro and small to medium enterprises in many instances, patient choice and access across the United Kingdom can be subject to regional variation.

NHS Supply Chain acknowledges that there is a need to develop the framework offering to support an increase in accessibility to patients for Afro Caribbean products and services, and NHS Supply Chain is preparing to introduce enhanced specifications and a specific category for Afro Caribbean for the successor framework agreement due to launch on 1 February 2027.

NHS Supply Chain’s new Prosthetics, Components and Associated products Framework Agreement is due to launch on 24 November 2025, to replace the current Artificial Limbs framework. The new framework will offer over 95,000 products delivered by 12 suppliers to provide clinical choice to meet patient need. Ensuring that a patient has a prosthetic limb which blends with their actual skin tone is part of the routine standard of care. NHS Supply Chain works closely with the leading national charities and has not had any issues raised concerning accessing appropriate skin tone.