Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to announce the next phase of the National Service Frameworks.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early priorities for Modern Service Frameworks will include cardiovascular disease, sepsis, severe mental illness and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. As advised by the National Quality Board, the Government will consider other conditions for future phases of MSFs and has recently announced an MSF on palliative and end-of-life care.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to announce the next phase of the Modern Service Frameworks.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early priorities for Modern Service Frameworks will include cardiovascular disease, sepsis, severe mental illness and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. As advised by the National Quality Board, the Government will consider other conditions for future phases of MSFs and has recently announced an MSF on palliative and end-of-life care.
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, when he plans to announce the next phase of modern service frameworks.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early priorities for Modern Service Frameworks will include cardiovascular disease, sepsis, severe mental illness and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. As advised by the National Quality Board, the Government will consider other conditions for future phases of MSFs and has recently announced an MSF on palliative and end-of-life care.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when will he announce the next phase of Modern Service Frameworks, and what consideration has been given to including musculoskeletal conditions in the next phase of the Modern Service Frameworks.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board will oversee the development of a new series of service frameworks. These modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and will then identify the best evidenced interventions and the support for delivery.
Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, sepsis, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. As advised by the National Quality Board, the Government will consider other conditions for future phases of modern service frameworks, and has recently announced a Modern Service Framework on Palliative and End of Life Care.
We are advancing modern service frameworks for those conditions where we can swiftly and significantly raise the quality of care and productivity. Future phases will address conditions that carry substantial health and economic consequences.
To support people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, we are working to deliver the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, which are the highest of all community waits, and improve data and metrics and referral pathways to wider support services.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to include experiments inducing sepsis in animals in her strategy on phasing out animal testing.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 1 December 2025 to Question UIN 94115.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 4 December (HL12450), what specific dataset was used to support the analysis that "highly digitised trusts" have a 17.5 per cent reduction in sepsis mortality; and how many NHS trusts were included in the calculation of that figure.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The modelling of sepsis mortality used the Hospital Episode Statistics Admitted Patient Care dataset, using the episode level version of this dataset to ensure maximum accuracy in identifying inpatient activity related to sepsis.
The research includes nine National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in England which implemented an enterprise level electronic patient record (EPR) system, where the EPR system was rolled out throughout the whole provider at the point of implementation. A further eight providers are included in the same model as controls, as these are providers without an EPR system at the time of the analysis.
A digitally mature trust was defined as an acute provider in the top decile of digitisation index based on the Digital Maturity Assessment 2016/17.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 4 December (HL12450), how they have defined a "highly digitised trust".
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The modelling of sepsis mortality used the Hospital Episode Statistics Admitted Patient Care dataset, using the episode level version of this dataset to ensure maximum accuracy in identifying inpatient activity related to sepsis.
The research includes nine National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in England which implemented an enterprise level electronic patient record (EPR) system, where the EPR system was rolled out throughout the whole provider at the point of implementation. A further eight providers are included in the same model as controls, as these are providers without an EPR system at the time of the analysis.
A digitally mature trust was defined as an acute provider in the top decile of digitisation index based on the Digital Maturity Assessment 2016/17.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking following the report by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body regarding electronic patient records (EPRs), which found that EPR systems have contributed to incidents of missed, delayed, or incorrect patient care, and that these risks have been "persistent despite national recommendations and guidance."
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is actively considering the issues raised by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body regarding electronic patient records (EPRs).
EPRs are already improving safety and care to patients, helping to detect conditions such as sepsis more quickly and preventing medication errors. Analysis shows that highly digitised trusts have a 17.5% reduction in sepsis mortality.
The National Health Service has well-established systems in place for reporting, investigating, and learning from any patient safety incidents. We are working closely with NHS trusts to ensure EPRs are used to the highest quality and safety standards.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if his department will a) include sepsis research in its publication of areas of research interest for alternative methods to animal testing and b) end the use of sepsis research involving animal testing.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s strategy to support replacing animals in science commits to publish biennially from 2026 a list of alternative-methods research and development priorities.
Sepsis is a complex and multifaceted condition, and its study presents significant scientific challenges. We will consider sepsis during the development of our areas of research interest list to determine the best path forward for new model development that drives scientific innovation, supports improved therapy development, and reduces reliance on animals.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 help reduce sepsis mortality in patients with leukaemia and other cancers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Sepsis has no specific diagnostic test, and the signs and symptoms can vary hugely across all patients, making sepsis challenging to diagnose early. It is therefore critical that all acutely unwell patients are treated promptly and appropriately regardless of cause.
Screening, diagnosis, and treatment of suspected sepsis is supported by the use of the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2). NEWS2 supports clinicians to determine the need for immediate care and is used in 99% of acute National Health Service trusts and 100% of ambulance trusts in England.
To further aid clinical staff in diagnosing sepsis early, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published national guidelines on the recognition, diagnosis, and early management of suspected sepsis in people aged 16 years old and over. People with a weakened immune system, such as those having chemotherapy treatment, are more likely to get an infection that could lead to sepsis. Therefore, NICE has additional guidelines on the prevention and management of neutropenic sepsis in people with cancer. NICE guidelines provide authoritative, evidence-based guidance on best practice and should be taken fully into account by healthcare professionals in the care and treatment of NHS patients. The guidelines can be accessed alongside NHS England’s online sepsis training programmes.
Additionally, the Department continues to fund research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, to improve our understanding of sepsis diagnosis and immediate management.
The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experience and outcomes for people with cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next 10 years.