Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether speech and language therapy is consistently available from NHS hospitals to pupils attending independent schools, and what steps they are taking to ensure that it is.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service is free at the point of use and provides care to anyone who needs it based on clinical need. A parent or carer can speak to their general practitioner who can refer a child to local NHS children’s occupational therapy services if there is a clinical need, for instance if there are difficulties with motor skills, sensory issues, handwriting, etc. The fact that a child attends private school does not disqualify them from NHS healthcare services, as NHS services are based on clinical need, not type of school. In some cases, there have been errors in a local service offer that have led to this being corrected before.
In circumstances where the difficulty would be considered a disability, then equality duties would apply, and reasonable adjustments would be expected.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the employment prospects for doctors completing foundation training in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service trusts manage their recruitment at a local level ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan published on 3 July, we will work across the Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the NHS for a significant period for specialty training. The plan also sets out that over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need.
We will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expand training, support and retention initiatives for healthcare professionals delivering palliative and end-of-life care.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it, including in palliative care and end of life care.
NHS staff told us through the 10-Year Health Plan engagement that they are crying out for change. This 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out how we will deliver that change by making sure that staff are better treated, have better training, more fulfilling roles, and hope for the future.
To ensure the health and social care workforce is equipped and well supported to deliver personalised care to people at the end of life, Health Education England, now part of NHS England, host the End of Life Care for All e-learning training programme, which includes nine modules on improving care for people at the end of life.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 trends in the level of hospital parking charges for (a) patients and (b) staff by hospital trust in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the trends in the level of hospital parking charges.
All National Health Service trusts that charge for hospital car parking provide free parking for those ‘in-most need’. This includes frequent outpatient attenders, parents of sick children staying overnight, blue badge disabled holders, and NHS staff working overnight.
NHS trusts are expected to follow the principles set out in the NHS Car Parking Guidance. The guidance makes clear that charges, where they exist, should be reasonable for the area. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many injuries were caused due to reindeers in the UK over the past year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not collected centrally. NHS England does not record hospital admissions specifically caused by reindeer. The closest available data is for admissions with the external cause ‘Bitten or struck by other mammals’. In 2024/25, there were 4,620 such admissions in England. However, this category covers a wide range of animals and is not limited to reindeer. It also does not capture all animal-related injuries such as those coded under ‘Car occupant injured in collision with pedestrian or animal’.
Data on hospital admissions by external cause is published by NHS England and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
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 expedite the recruitment of newly qualified midwives (a) nationally and (b) within Cornwall.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The guarantee will ensure that there are enough positions for every newly qualified midwife in England. Vacant maternity support worker posts will be temporarily converted to Band 5 midwifery roles, backed by £8 million to create new opportunities specifically for newly qualified midwives and to further ease the recruitment strain.
Decisions about local recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been injured by fireworks in each of the past five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of hospital admissions due to “discharge of firework” in each of the past five financial years:
External causes admissions data: | |
Financial year | Discharge of firework |
2020/21 | 116 |
2021/22 | 132 |
2022/23 | 109 |
2023/24 | 113 |
2024/25 | 123 |
Source: Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity, available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-admitted-patient-care-activity
These figures do not represent the total number of people injured by fireworks as data is not collected for those who do not attend accident and emergency or are not admitted.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 2024 National NHS Staff Survey Results, what data his Department holds on staff wellbeing indicators for (a) consultants, (b) trainees and (c) specialty, associate specialists and specialist doctors in (i) clinical radiology and (ii) clinical oncology, including (A) additional paid hours worked, (B) additional unpaid hours worked, (C) trends in the level of stress and (D) trends in the level of burnout.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As reported in the 2024 NHS Staff Survey, 30.24% of respondents reported having felt burnout because of their work. Data taken from the NHS Staff Survey cannot however be used to identity trends in specialities.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 61217 on Government Departments: Reviews, how many lines of activity in his department were considered as part of the zero based review.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 2025 Spending Review included a zero-based review of spending. The Department scrutinised every line of spending to ensure that it is delivering value for money. The review covered resource budgets across the full Department Group, defined as the Department and all its arm’s length bodies.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate has been made of the average waiting time for patients requiring MRI scans following initial consultation at NHS hospitals in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to putting patients first and is aware of the impact that waiting for diagnostic tests and treatment has for patients. This means making sure that patients are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care. Earlier access to diagnostic tests is key to supporting earlier diagnosis and earlier treatment if needed.
Acute diagnostic services across the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust serve patients in the Surrey Heath constituency. Patients can also access diagnostic tests, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, at the Milford Community Hospital Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) and at the Godalming and Woking Community Hospital CDC at Woking. Both of these CDCs are open 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and offer a minimum of one diagnostic test in their extended hours.
The Diagnostic Waiting Times and Activity monthly collection (DM01) measures the current waiting times of patients still waiting for 15 key diagnostic tests or procedures at the end of the month. The DM01 publication includes data on the median amount of time a patient is waiting for a diagnostic test at the end of the month. Details on this collection are available at the following link:
The following table sets out an estimate of the number and percentage of patients waiting for key diagnostic tests, as per DM01, and the median waiting time following initial consultation for an MRI test specifically as of September 2025, for the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, and for England as a whole:
Name of NHS trust | Number waiting for key diagnostic tests as of September 2025 | Number and percentage waiting over six weeks for key diagnostic tests as of September 2025 | Median waiting time of those waiting for MRI as of September 2025 |
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust | 19,214 | 1,493 (7.8%) | 1.3 weeks |
Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust | 7,972 | 2,591 (32.5%) | 1.6 weeks |
England | 1,717,121 | 386,849 (22.5%) | 2.7 weeks |
Note: DM01 median waiting times do not match waiting times for diagnostic tests 'following initial consultation at NHS hospitals' exactly. The full definition of what is included in DM01 can be found in DM01 guidance on NHS England website.