Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
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 help increase the availability of hydrocortisone for people with adrenal insufficiency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is aware of supply issues affecting hydrocortisone sodium phosphate 100 milligram /1 millilitre solution for injection and has been in contact with the supplier of the alternative, hydrocortisone sodium succinate 100 milligram powder which remains available for patients.
We have issued comprehensive management guidance to healthcare professionals on how to manage patients while supply is disrupted. The guidance highlighted the differences between the two hydrocortisone injections. It also included resources for patients and healthcare professionals on how to administer the alternative hydrocortisone injection. Any patient who is worried about their condition should speak to their clinician in the first instance.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy that weight loss injections can only be prescribed following a face-to-face meeting with a GP who can determine that the patient (a) does not have too low a BMI and (b) signs of an eating disorder.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is considering how the current prescribing system operates in relation to patient access to medicines through private, or non-National Health Service, routes. This includes online prescribing. A call for evidence was launched in August 2025 seeking feedback from individuals and organisations to ensure that the current systems remain fit for purpose.
The General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) updated guidance states that prescribers are expected to verify the information given to them by the patient to ensure that any medicines prescribed are appropriate. This could be through a video consultation, using a patient’s clinical record, or contacting the patient’s general practitioner. This helps to safeguard vulnerable patients.
If anyone has concerns about prescribing decisions or believes a medicine has been prescribed inappropriately, they can raise concerns with the prescriber’s professional regulator, for instance the General Medical Council or GPhC, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.gmc-uk.org/concerns/supporting-you-with-your-concern
In addition to the duty of the prescriber, patients themselves must be honest when providing information to an online prescriber so that they receive advice and medicines which are appropriate for them, so that risks can be managed.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to reduce prescription drug-related deaths in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has taken decisive action to reduce prescription drug-related deaths in England by tackling overprescribing and improving patient safety. In September 2021, the Department published the National Overprescribing Review, which set out measures to ensure that patients receive the most appropriate treatment. These measures include better use of technology, more effective prescription reviews, and alternatives to medicines where clinically appropriate.
In March 2023, NHS England issued a framework entitled Optimising personalised care for adults prescribed medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms. This framework sets out five actions for integrated care boards, focusing on the early identification of risk, personalised care planning, and shared decision-making to support safe tapering of medication and alternative treatments. These steps aim to improve patient outcomes by reducing harm from dependency-forming medicines such as opioids and benzodiazepines.
Integrated care boards are the National Health Service organisations responsible for arranging the provision of health services within their area in line with local population need and taking account of relevant guidance.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has undertaken research into the potential impact of anti-depressants during pregnancy on unborn babies.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), has funded research into this topic. Examples of relevant research include a study exploring antidepressant use during pregnancy to assess the benefits to mothers and long-term neurodevelopmental risks to children, and a project which aimed to create a computerised decision support tool to guide discussions between doctors and pregnant women about medication risks and benefits, ensuring a balance between maternal health and foetal protection.
In addition, the NIHR has supported research which investigated Neonatal Adaptation Syndrome, a cluster of symptoms like jitteriness and feeding difficulties, in babies exposed to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors antidepressants in utero. This research aimed to understand the experiences of mothers and monitoring practices.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 implications for his Department's policies of the link between access to independent advice and improved health and wellbeing outcomes.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out a range of proposals to help patients get the advice they need, ranging from building artificial intelligence-powered online advice into the NHS App to co-locating National Health Service, local authority, and voluntary sector services within Neighbourhood Health Centres so they can also offer services like debt advice, employment support, and smoking cessation or weight management services. Within acute hospital settings we are rolling out Martha’s Rule, which gives in-patients in acute provider sites who are concerned about physiological deterioration the right to initiate a rapid review of their case from someone outside of their immediate care team. Taken together, these measures will help to ensure that patients receive the support and advice they need to improve their health and wellbeing.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 capacity of NHS dental services in Chichester constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Chichester constituency, this is the NHS Sussex ICB.
We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from 1 April 2025. The NHS Sussex ICB is expected to deliver 26,546 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.
ICBs are recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention, and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability. The Government is committed to achieving fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament.
We recently held a full public consultation on a package of changes to improve access to, and the quality of, NHS dentistry, which will deliver better care for the diverse oral health needs of people across England. The consultation closed on 19 August. The Government is considering the outcomes of the consultation and will publish a response in due course.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to improve the early detection of liver cancer as part of the forthcoming National Cancer Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The early diagnosis of cancers, including liver cancer, is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan, in order to improve outcomes. The Department received over 11,000 responses to its call for evidence and has engaged extensively with patients, clinicians, and charities to help shape the plan’s priorities, including partners representing liver cancer charities.
In addition, the National Health Service in England and public health partners are taking immediate action to improve the early diagnosis of liver cancer.
The NHS and public health partners promote awareness of the risk factors and symptoms for liver disease and liver cancer, including through the early identification of hepatitis B and C and the management of underlying liver disease, to help reduce the risk of late diagnosis.
The NHS England cancer programme is working to detect more hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) at an early stage, when the chances of survival are higher. This includes through Community Liver Health Checks and liver primary care case finding, to identify people with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis requiring HCC surveillance. NHS England is also expanding access to diagnostic tests, including imaging and pathology, through community diagnostic centres, which have now delivered more than 8.7 million tests, checks, and scans since July 2024.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 introduce screening for asymptomatic heart conditions in young people in sports settings.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 October 2025 to Question 78454.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will review the current appeals process for NHS prescription penalty charges to ensure that reasonable discretion is applied in cases of (a) genuine mistake and (b) hardship.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to review the appeals process. The Real Time Exemption Checking Service in England (RTEC) helps pharmacy teams confirm whether a patient holds a valid exemption from National Health Service prescription charges quickly while in the pharmacy. The RTEC provides assurance to patients and pharmacy teams that exemptions are being claimed correctly.
It is also a patient’s responsibility to be aware of their entitlement and to ensure they take appropriate steps to legitimately enable them to claim exemption from charges. Further information on this is available on the NHS.UK website and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) website, which are available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions/check-if-you-can-get-free-prescriptions/
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-help-health-costs
Patients can also use the NHS BSA eligibility checker, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/dont-get-caught-out-penalty-charges/check-you-tick
Where a patient is unsure if they are entitled to exemption from NHS prescription charges, they should pay the applicable charges and request an FP57 receipt and refund form at the point at which they pay the prescription charge. They can then claim a refund from the pharmacy within three months of paying the prescription charge once they have evidence of exemption.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to support adaptive clinical trials for cannabinoid treatments tailored to children with drug-resistant epilepsy.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is funding two trials to investigate the safety and efficacy of cannabinoid treatments for drug-resistant epilepsy in both adults and children. Further detail on the trials can be found on the NIHR’s website, at the following link:
https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR131309
The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with epilepsy, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments. We are working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of the medicines and therapies of the future, including treatments for epilepsy.