Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what action his Department is taking to encourage cardiac screening in young people.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is guided by the independent scientific advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). The UK NSC makes its recommendations based on internationally recognised criteria and a rigorous evidence review and consultation process. Where the committee is confident that offering screening provides more good than harm, they recommend a screening programme.

The UK NSC last reviewed screening for the conditions associated with sudden cardiac death in people aged under 39 years old in 2019. The conclusion of that review was that population screening should not be offered, as research showed that current tests are not accurate enough to use on young people with no symptoms.

The Department and NHS England currently have no specific ongoing campaigns, or plans to conduct a campaign, to encourage cardiac screening in young people as this would go against the current evidence-based advice.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has for non-specific symptom pathways for earlier diagnosis of leukaemia and other blood cancers.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Early diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes.

To tackle the late diagnoses of blood cancers including leukaemia, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers, including leukaemia, are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

The NHS will improve early diagnosis and quicker treatment of blood cancers, including leukaemia, by expanding diagnostic services with investments in magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners. Furthermore, the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitment to putting digital health at the heart of the future health service and integrating that with a single patient record and neighbourhood health services, will mean that cancer patients will get the joined-up care they deserve.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of migraine on the level of demand for NHS services, including repeat GP appointments, referrals and hospital admissions.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise the substantial economic and National Health Service burden of migraine, alongside the personal impacts. We know that there are an estimated 16,500 emergency admissions per year for migraine that could be avoided, costing the NHS £11.5 million.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with migraine such as the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology, the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit, and the Neurology Transformation Programme.

The Neurology Transformation Programme is strengthening integrated headache pathways, supporting integrated care boards to deliver consistent, timely migraine care closer to home. The RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit also gives systems a clear blueprint for earlier diagnosis, better long‑term management, and reducing unwarranted variation.

The GIRFT Programme is also working to standardise care, promote better use of preventive treatments, and reduce reliance on accident and emergency for migraine crises by empowering general practices to manage headache disorders effectively.

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 reduce regional variation in access to migraine care and treatment.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise the substantial economic and National Health Service burden of migraine, alongside the personal impacts. We know that there are an estimated 16,500 emergency admissions per year for migraine that could be avoided, costing the NHS £11.5 million.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with migraine such as the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology, the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit, and the Neurology Transformation Programme.

The Neurology Transformation Programme is strengthening integrated headache pathways, supporting integrated care boards to deliver consistent, timely migraine care closer to home. The RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit also gives systems a clear blueprint for earlier diagnosis, better long‑term management, and reducing unwarranted variation.

The GIRFT Programme is also working to standardise care, promote better use of preventive treatments, and reduce reliance on accident and emergency for migraine crises by empowering general practices to manage headache disorders effectively.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee's 54th Report's chapter on Instruments on Interest, what assessment has his Department made of the adequacy of the Care Quality Commission to register the potential 1000 providers in scope of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 between 7 September 2026 and 6 December 2027.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department, in consultation with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), has agreed that there will be a phased approach to implementing the updated regulations. This is so:

• providers have sufficient time to prepare to submit their CQC registration applications and ensure compliance with the regulations;
• to prevent undue disruption to the events sector; and
• to allow the CQC time to prepare for the receipt of additional registration applications and to enable them to process those applications in a timely manner whilst at the same time fulfilling their existing regulatory obligations.

The CQC will produce guidance that sets out the date that providers would have to apply to be registered by. This aims to prevent a backlog caused by last-minute applications.

For applications received on or by this date that are fully complete at the time of submission to allow for validation, the CQC will take all reasonable steps to undertake assessment and advise providers of the outcome of their application on or before December 2027.

Following the Penny Dash Review, the CQC accepted the high‑level recommendations, including stabilising its regulatory platform and improving the registration experience for providers. The Department meets the CQC regularly to discuss the progress of its improvements.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the forthcoming Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework will set expectations for Integrated Care Boards to commission specialist lipid services.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

To tackle unwarranted variation and support consistent, high-quality care across the cardiovascular disease pathway, and to support the Government’s ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, the Government will publish a new cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) this spring.

In developing the CVD MSF, we are reviewing evidence and engaging stakeholders on a range of pathway areas, including lipid management. The framework will support integrated care boards by identifying the best-evidenced interventions and setting clear implementation standards. This approach will help ensure greater consistency in the detection, treatment, and management of cardiovascular disease.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish an impact assessment of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 on the number of sporting and cultural events; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The de minimis assessment for the regulation amendment was published alongside the draft statutory instrument and explanatory memorandum, and is available at the following link:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2026/9780348279955/resources

House debates on the statutory instrument are expected to commence soon.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits for every stroke survivor to have a 6 month review post-stroke.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England’s national Stroke Programme has undertaken work to understand the value and impact of six‑month post‑stroke reviews, particularly through the development of the Integrated Community Stroke Service (ICSS) model and the Stroke Quality Improvement in Rehabilitation (SQuIRe) programme.

Overall, the emerging evidence demonstrates that six‑month reviews are likely to provide a positive mechanism for identifying unmet need, enabling personalised care, and supporting longer‑term recovery and self‑management. The learning from SQuIRe continues to inform the national ICSS model and future commissioning guidance.

The ICSS model includes tailored, patient-centred reablement care. As part of this, through the SQuIRe programme, NHS England has funded several projects testing models of delivery of six month reviews, working closely with third sector partners, such as the Stroke Association. Analysis of these projects is pending.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost of ensuring every stroke survivor receives a 6-month post-stroke review.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England’s national Stroke Programme has undertaken work to understand the value and impact of six‑month post‑stroke reviews, particularly through the development of the Integrated Community Stroke Service (ICSS) model and the Stroke Quality Improvement in Rehabilitation (SQuIRe) programme.

Overall, the emerging evidence demonstrates that six‑month reviews are likely to provide a positive mechanism for identifying unmet need, enabling personalised care, and supporting longer‑term recovery and self‑management. The learning from SQuIRe continues to inform the national ICSS model and future commissioning guidance.

The ICSS model includes tailored, patient-centred reablement care. As part of this, through the SQuIRe programme, NHS England has funded several projects testing models of delivery of six month reviews, working closely with third sector partners, such as the Stroke Association. Analysis of these projects is pending.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department and NHS England are taking to ensure that (a) patients with acquired brain injuries (ABI) currently resident at the Kemsley Division of St Andrews Hospital are transferred to settings with the appropriate expertise in neuropsychiatry, ABI and neurorehabilitation required to meet their needs and (b) Integrated Care Boards have access to sufficient specialist knowledge to safeguard this patient cohort during the transition.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Securing appropriate placements and clinical support for patients sits with the relevant integrated care boards (ICBs), which commission and fund the individual packages of care. NHS England’s regional specialised commissioning teams work closely with ICBs to provide clinical oversight and advice, including on the neuropsychiatric and neuro‑rehabilitation needs of patients with acquired brain injury. This includes supporting commissioners to identify suitable services, ensuring placements meet required clinical standards, and advising on safe transition planning from the independent sector.

ICBs remain accountable for arranging and maintaining placements that provide the right multidisciplinary expertise. NHS England engages with local systems, including in Northampton, to ensure that any moves are clinically appropriate, safe, and consistent with national expectations for specialised neurological care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what definition his Department uses for a sporting or cultural event as set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Sports and cultural events can cover a variety of activities, sizes, and attendee numbers, so there is no one specific definition within the Care Quality Commission’s regulation. However, where treatment of disease, disorder, or injury (TDDI) care is deemed necessary, the amendment will mean an event organiser is safe in the knowledge that the TDDI care acquired through a provider is regulated.

This activity covers a treatment that is provided by, or under the supervision of, a defined list of healthcare professionals or by a multi-disciplinary team that includes a listed healthcare professional, or is provided by, or under the supervision of, a social worker where the treatment is for a mental disorder, or by a multi-disciplinary team that includes a social worker where the treatment is for a mental disorder, for a disease, disorder, or injury. TDDI covers a wide range of treatments. It includes examples such as:

• emergency treatment;
• ongoing treatment for long-term conditions;
• treatment for a physical or mental health condition or learning disability;
• giving vaccinations or immunisations; and/or
• palliative care.

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 improve the recognition, diagnosis and management of migraine in primary care.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises that migraine is a serious and often debilitating neurological condition, with a wide range of symptoms that go far beyond a headache. Migraine attacks can be a whole-body experience that can make it difficult to function normally.

The Royal College of General Practitioners has developed two e-learning modules on migraine and cluster headaches, which aim to raise awareness amongst primary care clinicians about the different types of migraine and their associated symptoms, and how to differentiate.

The Getting It Right First Time programme for Neurology published a National Speciality Report, which makes several recommendations in relation to improving recognition and diagnosis of migraine by general practitioners. Additionally, the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit sets out key priorities for improving care for patients with migraine, which includes correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline, Headaches in over 12s: diagnosis and management, sets out best practice for healthcare professionals in the care, treatment, and support of people who suffer from headaches, including migraine. It aims to improve the recognition and management of headaches and migraine.

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 whether migraine is a serious neurological long-term condition.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises that migraine is a serious and often debilitating neurological condition, with a wide range of symptoms that go far beyond a headache. Migraine attacks can be a whole-body experience that can make it difficult to function normally.

The Royal College of General Practitioners has developed two e-learning modules on migraine and cluster headaches, which aim to raise awareness amongst primary care clinicians about the different types of migraine and their associated symptoms, and how to differentiate.

The Getting It Right First Time programme for Neurology published a National Speciality Report, which makes several recommendations in relation to improving recognition and diagnosis of migraine by general practitioners. Additionally, the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit sets out key priorities for improving care for patients with migraine, which includes correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline, Headaches in over 12s: diagnosis and management, sets out best practice for healthcare professionals in the care, treatment, and support of people who suffer from headaches, including migraine. It aims to improve the recognition and management of headaches and migraine.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding is currently available to Integrated Care Boards to deliver community‑level engagement programmes aimed at increasing awareness and early detection of prostate cancer in high‑risk groups.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

While the Department does not ring-fence integrated care board (ICB) funding exclusively for prostate cancer public awareness campaigns, community-level engagement programmes aimed at increasing awareness and early detection are supported via broader communication programmes, working in partnership with charities and local Cancer Alliances.

To increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, and to address barriers to acting on them, the National Health Service has run Help Us Help You campaigns. These campaigns focused on recognising a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers, including prostate cancer, at an earlier stage. NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including prostate cancer. This information can be found at sources including the NHS website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/

The National Cancer Plan, published in February 2026, is backed by significant funding committed by the Government at the Spending Review, including £200 million next year for local Cancer Alliances. Alliances are encouraged to allocate a proportion of this funding to the delivery of local early diagnosis plans, to drive progress on data-led priorities. This can include work to support the diagnosis of prostate cancer, but it will vary by alliance depending on local need. In 2025/26, several alliances have undertaken work to support awareness and earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of expanding the list of allergens which require highlighting on food products to include botanically classified ingredients such as pine nuts.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are many foods that people might be allergic to, but the current list of 14 allergens, defined in legislation, are those established as the most common allergenic ingredients or processing aids of public health concern across Europe. They must be clearly identified on prepacked foods and communicated effectively when eating out. Foods like pine nuts are not classified as tree nuts and as such are not named in the regulations.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is working with the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology and other stakeholders to gather more information on hidden and emerging food allergens, which will help assess the need for further research and work in this area. Any change to the current list of the 14 mandated allergens would need to be supported by robust evidence and thoroughly assessed.

The FSA continues to monitor the situation closely but at present there are no plans to amend the regulated list of 14 allergens. It advises those with an allergy or intolerance to foods outside of the mandated allergens should be able to check the ingredients list and avoid foods they need to, and in restaurants they should ask the person serving them if the food they wish to avoid is used in any of the dishes to make the right choices.

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 encourage the use of community-based rehabilitation in the treatment of alcohol and substance use and addiction.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need, and we recognise the need for evidence-based, high-quality treatment.

Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need for alcohol and drug prevention and treatment in their area and for commissioning services to meet these needs. Through the Public Health Grant, we are providing local authorities with £3.4 billion in ringfenced funding over the next three years for drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. This first multi-year settlement in over a decade gives local authorities the certainty to plan and invest for the medium term.

Additionally, the Department provides guidance and support to improve outcomes, for example last year we launched a self-assessment toolkit to help local areas to improve residential drug and alcohol treatment, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/residential-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-self-assessment-toolkit

The Department also maintains regular engagement with commissioners and providers and works closely with other Government departments to improve pathways into treatment and foster recovery.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what size by attendance of sporting or cultural events are within the scope of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

For providers of treatment of disease, disorder, or injury (TDDI), regulatory obligations do not vary by event type or the number of attendees. Restricting Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulation to larger events would risk unregulated providers operating at events where attendance is higher than anticipated and would create gaps in oversight at smaller events that may also require TDDI services.

The level of risk associated with an event cannot be determined by attendance figures alone. Event organisers are expected to draw on risk assessments, advice from Statutory Advisory Groups, and sector guidance such as the Purple and Green Guides to identify the appropriate level of event healthcare provision.

If, following this process, an organiser determines that first aid is sufficient for a small event, this position is unaffected. First aid does not fall within the definition of TDDI and will remain outside CQC regulation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of mandatory pre-referral Advice and Guidance requirements from 1 April 2026 on workload transferred to GP practices, including the workload arising from acting on specialist advice responses, requesting and reviewing diagnostic investigations recommended by specialists, and managing patients while awaiting responses; and whether additional funding has been allocated to reflect that workload transfer.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Advice and Guidance (A&G) is designed to support quicker, clearer clinical decision making, by enabling general practitioners (GPs) and specialists to discuss and agree on the most appropriate next steps for a patient. The 2026/27 GP Contract does not mandate the use of A&G in all circumstances. Instead, practices are expected to use A&G prior to or in place of a planned care referral, where clinically appropriate, and to follow locally agreed referral pathways.

In 2025/26 we introduced a £20 payment for GPs for each A&G request, allocating up to a total of £80 million of new funding, which has supported significant increases in A&G. For 2026/27, this funding is being incorporated into the GP Contract to provide a consistent, streamlined approach that recognises the vital role of GPs in delivering A&G. Embedding A&G in the GP Contract recognises it as routine clinical practice, removes annual signups, and provides more predictable funding while supporting consistent patient pathways.

We are investing £485 million in GPs in 2026/27, bringing the total spend on the GP Contract to over £13.8 billion. This builds on last year’s £1.1 billion of investment. This uplift represents a 3.6% cash increase, or 1.4% real terms increase, and includes an assumed pay increase of 2.5%. As with previous years, we have asked the independent pay review body for Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration, for a pay recommendation for 2026/27 for the Government to consider.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many reports were submitted by members of the public through the Yellow Card scheme, in each of the past five years, in relation to the sale of (a) counterfeit medicines, (b) unapproved medicines in the UK, and (c) medicines which are authorised for supply in the UK but supplied through unregulated channels.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Answering the question raised by the Hon. Member would require the Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency staff to go through a large volume of data manually. This is because the information is not held in such a way to be able to filter by the requested categories.

The sections (a) and (b) would require a data extraction to identify all reports received from members of the public over the last five years. Following this, a manual review would need to be undertaken of every report to cross reference the suspect drug against all active licenses at the time of reporting for each individual case and would thereby incur disproportionate cost. Section (c) is information which is not held in the Yellow Card database.

The Guide to Parliamentary Work sets here out that there is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written question. The Guide to Parliamentary Work is published online and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Local Authorities have the right to move adults with disabilities to residential care away from their families and against the wishes of the individual and/or their families.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Under section 9(5) of the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to involve the adult concerned and, where appropriate, their carers, family members, or others with an interest in their welfare, when carrying out a needs assessment and considering how care and support needs should be met.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are also tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people to access quality care.

Local authorities should engage with people who draw on care and support, and their families and carers, to inform commissioning decisions and to consider the outcomes which matter to them. This is reflected in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance, which supports local authorities to fulfil their Care Act duties, including expectations around involvement and co‑production with people who draw on care and support and their families.

Under the Health and Care Act 2022, the Care Quality Commission has a statutory duty to assess how well local authorities are delivering their adult social care duties.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance has been issued to clinicians on recording suspected Topical Steroid Withdrawal in patient medical records, including GP records, where a formal diagnosis has not been made.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No specific guidance has been issued on recording suspected topical steroid withdrawal in patient medical records, including to general practitioners. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has issued guidance documents on topical steroid withdrawal, which are available at the following two links:

https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/topical-corticosteroids-information-on-the-risk-of-topical-steroid-withdrawal-reactions

https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/topical-steroids-introduction-of-new-labelling-and-a-reminder-of-the-possibility-of-severe-side-effects-including-topical-steroid-withdrawal-reactions

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also published guidance, which is available at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/corticosteroids-topical-skin-nose-eyes/management/topical-skin-treatment/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the consistency of the mandatory Single Point of Access triage process with NHS England's Jess's Rule guidance; and what safeguards are in place to ensure that a mandatory Single Point of Access triage process does not return to primary care a patient whom a GP has referred in accordance with that guidance.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Single Point of Access (SPoA) triage process is consistent with Jess’s Rule.

Jess’s Rule is an NHS England patient safety initiative for primary care. It is designed for general practitioners (GPs) and supports them to reconsider a patient’s presentation and/or diagnosis where the patient has attended a GP three or more times and symptoms have escalated, or the diagnosis is uncertain.

Jess’s Rule can be used to support a GP’s decision on an appropriate referral within the SPoA model. SPoA will provide a more efficient approach to triaging patients, with all appropriate requests and referrals, excluding urgent suspect cancer, flowing through a single ‘front door’. SPoA supports clinical triage to the most appropriate service or outcome, meaning timelier, more joined-up care for patients. Patients will still have a choice about where they receive care.

Safeguards within the SPoA model include senior clinical oversight of triage decisions and the ability for primary care clinicians to re‑escalate concerns where symptoms persist, worsen, or remain unexplained. These arrangements aim to ensure patients who require specialist assessment are not inappropriately managed in the community, and that shared clinical judgement remains central to decision‑making.

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 ensure any (a) delays delays to CQC inspections and (b) changes in the level demand in the social care system does not affect the frequency of inspections of care homes.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is holding the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to account for its performance and has strengthened oversight following Dr Penny Dash’s review of the CQC’s operational effectiveness, including improvements in timeliness of assessments.

The CQC has pledged to respond rapidly to urgent and extreme risks, prioritising services registered for over a year without assessment or inspection and those with outdated ratings. From January 2026, this refreshed approach will enable the CQC to prioritise settings, including care homes.

In the 2024/25 financial year, the CQC completed 2,292 assessments of adult social care services. From 1 April 2025 to 22 March 2026, the CQC completed 3,546 assessments of adult social care services, an increase of 55%.

The CQC is piloting a number of initiatives to increase the number of assessments they can deliver in adult care per year to ensure care settings are inspected regularly, and these will be rolled out in the first half of the 2026/27 financial year.

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 ensure that care homes are inspected regularly.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is holding the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to account for its performance and has strengthened oversight following Dr Penny Dash’s review of the CQC’s operational effectiveness, including improvements in timeliness of assessments.

The CQC has pledged to respond rapidly to urgent and extreme risks, prioritising services registered for over a year without assessment or inspection and those with outdated ratings. From January 2026, this refreshed approach will enable the CQC to prioritise settings, including care homes.

In the 2024/25 financial year, the CQC completed 2,292 assessments of adult social care services. From 1 April 2025 to 22 March 2026, the CQC completed 3,546 assessments of adult social care services, an increase of 55%.

The CQC is piloting a number of initiatives to increase the number of assessments they can deliver in adult care per year to ensure care settings are inspected regularly, and these will be rolled out in the first half of the 2026/27 financial year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many reports submitted by members of the public through the Yellow Card scheme resulted in enforcement action by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, in each of the past five years, in relation to the sale of (a) counterfeit medicines, (b) unapproved medicines in the UK and (c) medicines which are authorised for supply in the UK but supplied through unregulated channels.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 31 March 2026 to Question 122732.

The Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected adverse drug reactions, medical device incidents, and concerns about the safety and quality of medicines. Where appropriate, reports raising potential counterfeit, compliance, or safety issues may be referred to relevant teams within the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for consideration of regulatory or enforcement action.

However, this information is not held in a format that readily allows the MHRA to identify how many reports submitted by members of the public resulted in enforcement action in relation to counterfeit medicines, unapproved medicines in the UK, and medicines which are authorised for supply in the United Kingdom but supplied through unregulated channels. Extracting this information from Yellow Card reports would require a manual review of individual records and would incur disproportionate cost. The MHRA is therefore unable to provide the requested figures for each of the past five years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what has been the total cost to date of the Thirlwall Inquiry.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The total cost of the Thirlwall Inquiry from its commencement in September 2023 to the end of March 2026 is £18,718,000.00. This includes March 2026 forecasted amounts.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to introduce additional accountability measures for Integrated Care Boards on delivery of NHS Health Checks and cardiovascular prevention outcomes.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS Health Check, a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme, has been commissioned by local authorities in England since 2013, and engaged over 1.4 million people last year. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning the NHS Health Check, including setting accountability measures for integrated care boards regarding delivery of the programme.

To accelerate progress on the Government’s ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next ten years, we will publish a new Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) this spring.

The CVD MSF will support consistent, high quality, and equitable activity across the CVD pathway by identifying and setting standards for the best evidenced interventions. As part of this, Department officials are working closely with NHS England and stakeholders and are assessing accountability measures.

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 help tackle health inequalities in liver disease in Blackpool.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Liver disease is a broad term for several conditions affecting the liver and pancreas and the Government is taking decisive action to tackle ill health and shift the focus on diseases such as liver disease from treatment to prevention.

The most prevalent cause of liver-related ill health and death is alcohol-related liver disease. From 2026/27, all alcohol and drug treatment and recovery funding will be channelled through the Public Health Grant, with ringfenced funding in which Blackpool Council will receive £4,554,578 in 2026/27 and indicative totals of £4,647,350 and £4,737,845 for 2027/28 and 2028/29 respectively. The Department has also published the United Kingdom’s first clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment which include guidance on early identification of liver disease and treating alcohol dependence in people with liver disease. To help people make healthier choices about alcohol we are making it a legal requirement for alcohol labels to display health warnings and consistent nutritional information.

Locally, Blackpool Teaching Hospital’s Liver Service has recently achieved micro‑elimination of hepatitis C, with all drug and alcohol services across Lancashire now declared micro‑eliminated. The region’s Liver Health Check Team supports earlier detection of liver disease by referring at‑risk individuals, including those with high body mass index, diabetes, or high alcohol consumption for community fibroscans available in general practices (GPs), community venues, and via mobile units.

NHS England’s liver transformation programme focusses on awareness, prevention, diagnosis, detection, and treatment of all forms of liver disease and has developed a data pack for regional commissioners using the Department’s Fingertips data to support this. It is for commissioners in integrated care boards to determine how best to use this information as part of local commissioning decisions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is assessing new treatments for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), the broader term for fat buildup of the liver, which metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) falls under. This includes resmetirom and semaglutide. Outputs and recommendations are expected to be published mid-2026.

As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, we are improving diets, reducing physical inactivity, and creating healthier environments so that fewer people reach the point of needing treatment for diseases such as MASH. This includes updating the standards behind the advertising and promotions restrictions on ‘less healthy’ food and drink, requiring all large food businesses to report against standardised metrics on the healthiness of food sales and getting millions moving more through our national movement campaign.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what targeted interventions he plans to introduce to reduce the effects of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) in areas with high levels of deprivation.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Liver disease is a broad term for several conditions affecting the liver and pancreas and the Government is taking decisive action to tackle ill health and shift the focus on diseases such as liver disease from treatment to prevention.

The most prevalent cause of liver-related ill health and death is alcohol-related liver disease. From 2026/27, all alcohol and drug treatment and recovery funding will be channelled through the Public Health Grant, with ringfenced funding in which Blackpool Council will receive £4,554,578 in 2026/27 and indicative totals of £4,647,350 and £4,737,845 for 2027/28 and 2028/29 respectively. The Department has also published the United Kingdom’s first clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment which include guidance on early identification of liver disease and treating alcohol dependence in people with liver disease. To help people make healthier choices about alcohol we are making it a legal requirement for alcohol labels to display health warnings and consistent nutritional information.

Locally, Blackpool Teaching Hospital’s Liver Service has recently achieved micro‑elimination of hepatitis C, with all drug and alcohol services across Lancashire now declared micro‑eliminated. The region’s Liver Health Check Team supports earlier detection of liver disease by referring at‑risk individuals, including those with high body mass index, diabetes, or high alcohol consumption for community fibroscans available in general practices (GPs), community venues, and via mobile units.

NHS England’s liver transformation programme focusses on awareness, prevention, diagnosis, detection, and treatment of all forms of liver disease and has developed a data pack for regional commissioners using the Department’s Fingertips data to support this. It is for commissioners in integrated care boards to determine how best to use this information as part of local commissioning decisions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is assessing new treatments for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), the broader term for fat buildup of the liver, which metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) falls under. This includes resmetirom and semaglutide. Outputs and recommendations are expected to be published mid-2026.

As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, we are improving diets, reducing physical inactivity, and creating healthier environments so that fewer people reach the point of needing treatment for diseases such as MASH. This includes updating the standards behind the advertising and promotions restrictions on ‘less healthy’ food and drink, requiring all large food businesses to report against standardised metrics on the healthiness of food sales and getting millions moving more through our national movement campaign.

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 improve awareness and understanding of the health impact of fibre among younger adults.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recommends that adults consume 30 grams of fibre every day and that this should come from a variety of food sources. This is reflected in the United Kingdom’s national food model, the Eatwell Guide, which is a visual representation of Government advice on a healthy, balanced diet, and applies to most people from the age of two years old. The Eatwell Guide shows that we should base our diets on foods which are sources of fibre, for instance vegetables, fruit, and wholegrain or higher fibre starchy carbohydrate foods, as well as beans and pulses. The Eatwell Guide is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-eatwell-guide

The Eatwell Guide principles are communicated through a variety of channels, including the NHS.UK website and the Department’s social marketing campaigns Better Health, Better Health Families, and Best Start in Life. For example, the NHS.UK website features a page with advice on the health benefits of dietary fibre and how to get more fibre into your diet, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/digestive-health/how-to-get-more-fibre-into-your-diet/

The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is funding research into the health effects of diet on children and adults, including the effects of fibre. This includes a study which seeks to understand how the diet of children in the UK influences their health in childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood.

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 support people with (a) Musculoskeletal conditions and (b) back pain conditions in Old Bexley and Sidcup constituency; and if he will make it his policy to utilise chiropractic capacity to support treatment within the NHS.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

To support people with musculoskeletal (MSK) and back pain 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 further reduce MSK community waiting times, which are the highest of all community waits, and to improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services.

In the Old Bexley and Sidcup constituency, those seeking support for MSK conditions and back pain conditions can access services such as the Bexley MSK Service, which provides specialist care for adults in the Bexley area experiencing a wide range of MSK conditions and which offers personalised treatment plans tailored to individual needs. Launched in Summer 2025, the getUBetter app, commissioned by the NHS South East London Integrated Care Board, is also accessible to Bexley residents aged 16 years old or over and those registered with a Bexley general practice. It offers information on local services, including self-referral options for leisure activities supporting health and wellbeing.

NHS England does not nationally commission chiropractic care as it is a complementary and alternative medicine. Integrated care boards can make independent decisions on which health professionals they employ and may commission a limited amount of such treatment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has considered introducing a national defibrillator strategy.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government’s position is that local communities are best placed to make decisions about procuring, locating, and maintaining automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Over 110,000 defibrillators are registered in the United Kingdom on The Circuit, the independent AED database. Over 30,000 of these have been added in the past two years, many as a result of local community-led action. For this reason, there are no plans to introduce a national defibrillator strategy.

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 increases in infant formula prices on families.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that infant formula prices have risen significantly in recent years, and stakeholder evidence highlighted risks such as unsafe feeding practices and food insecurity among families struggling to afford formula. It is vital that families who cannot or choose not to breastfeed have access to infant formula that is affordable and high quality.

Infant formula regulations set robust nutritional and compositional standards, which means that all infant formulas for sale in the United Kingdom are suitable for meeting the nutritional requirements of babies, regardless of price or brand. These regulations do not control or set the price of infant formula.

In December 2025, the four governments of the UK published their joint response to the CMA’s market study on the infant and follow-on formula market, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infant-formula-government-response-to-cma-market-study

This sets out a package of measures that will help give parents and carers the confidence to choose lower priced products, encourage manufacturers and retailers to compete more on price, and remove unnecessary barriers to affordability. Switching from the most expensive product to the cheapest could save up to £540 over the first year of an infant’s life.

Measures include providing greater clarity on when and how vouchers, gift cards, and loyalty or reward schemes can be used to buy infant formula, and updated guidance on this point will be published shortly.

Other measures to support families include the Government’s Healthy Start Scheme, which aims to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households.

In April 2026 we will increase the value of Healthy Start weekly payments by 10% to £4.65, from £4.25, for pregnant women and children over one and under four years old, and to £9.30, from £8.50, for children under one years old. This will boost support for those families who need it the most. Healthy Start funding can be used to buy, or be put towards, the cost of fruit, vegetables, milk, and infant formula.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consideration he has given to the use of existing delivery frameworks, such as the Major Conditions Strategy, to drive improvements in early detection and treatment of heart valve disease.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to reducing premature deaths from heart disease and stroke and we recognise that improving the detection and treatment of heart valve disease is an important step to achieving this ambition. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) later this year. The CVD MSF will prioritise ambitious, evidence-led, and clinically informed approaches to prevention, treatment, and care, and as part of its development we are engaging widely to identify and consider the role of emerging innovations across the cardiovascular pathway.

High blood pressure is a key risk factor for heart valve disease, and the Government has invested heavily in the Hypertension Case-finding Service for those aged over 40 years old in community pharmacies, which has seen nearly 4.2 million blood pressure and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring checks delivered since October 2021.

Alongside this, in 2025, NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme published new and revised cardiology pathways to support consistent care across primary and secondary settings, including advice regarding patients with severe symptomatic heart valve disease.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the effectiveness of licensing regulations to protect people from alcohol-related harms.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Licensing Act 2003, which is overseen by the Home Office, requires licensing authorities to promote objectives relating to the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the protection of children from harm, and the prevention of public nuisance, which together provide important safeguards against alcohol‑related harms.

The Government is considering how best to take forward recommendations to develop a modern, proportionate, and enabling licensing system. This work is being led by the Department for Business and Trade and the Home Office with support from other departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care, to ensure public health is fully considered.

We will continue to work across Government to consider what other measures might be needed to reduce the negative impact excessive alcohol consumption is having on health, crime, and the economy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential health impacts for consumers since fruit and nut bars were included in the location restrictions for high fat, sugar and salt products from October 2022.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will take decisive action on the obesity crisis to ease the strain on our National Health Service and create the healthiest generation of children ever.

Restrictions on the promotion by location of ‘less healthy’ food and drink products in stores and their equivalent places online have been in place since 2022. These restrictions apply to categories of products that impact most on childhood obesity, which were chosen following public consultation. Only fruit and nut bars that are high in saturated fat, salt, or sugar are in scope of the restrictions. The products that are in and out of scope of the restrictions are set out in the Schedule to the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 and we have published guidance to support industry on complying with the restrictions.

We published a detailed impact assessment on the costs to industry and the benefits of this policy on the GOV.UK website. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the restrictions and will publish a Post Implementation Review within five years of the restrictions taking legal effect.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of including fruit and nut bars under the restrictions for high fat, sugar and salt products on economic growth.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will take decisive action on the obesity crisis to ease the strain on our National Health Service and create the healthiest generation of children ever.

Restrictions on the promotion by location of ‘less healthy’ food and drink products in stores and their equivalent places online have been in place since 2022. These restrictions apply to categories of products that impact most on childhood obesity, which were chosen following public consultation. Only fruit and nut bars that are high in saturated fat, salt, or sugar are in scope of the restrictions. The products that are in and out of scope of the restrictions are set out in the Schedule to the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 and we have published guidance to support industry on complying with the restrictions.

We published a detailed impact assessment on the costs to industry and the benefits of this policy on the GOV.UK website. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the restrictions and will publish a Post Implementation Review within five years of the restrictions taking legal effect.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 88 of the UK Government Resilience Action Plan, how many meetings Ministers in their Department have attended related to the Home Defence Programme.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has regular discussions with officials, external experts, and ministerial colleagues on a range of issues, including national security, defence, and resilience.

The Home Defence Programme was established in August 2024 to build the United Kingdom’s resilience to any potential escalation to conflict. It is an evolving and enduring programme of work which provides defence, security, and resilience planning, focused on aligning military and civil effort in the event of a period of crisis and international hostilities affecting the UK, informed by and reflecting the recommendations from Government strategies, including the Strategic Defence Review, National Security Strategy, and Resilience Action Plan.

The Department, with NHS England and health partners, is actively supporting this work. This includes working with partners to ensure the health sector has flexible, adaptable, and scalable capabilities that can respond to a range of threats such as equipment, for example stockpiles and countermeasures, medicines, and medical equipment, skilled people, such as clinicians and public health staff, and infrastructure, including technology, diagnostics, testing.

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 improve (a) diagnosis of and (b) medical support for people with achalasia in Leeds Central and Headingley constituency.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to supporting those with achalasia. Achalasia can affect both adults and children. The paediatric aspect is commissioned through specialised commissioning but if it is missed in childhood, any adults who present with it are usually managed within locally commissioned, secondary care gastroenterology, endoscopy, upper gastrointestinal surgical services. Diagnosis usually requires oesophageal manometry, which most large secondary care gastro/endoscopy units can provide.

Management of the condition is usually endoscopic or surgical with a myotomy, splitting the muscle in the lower oesophageal sphincter valve. The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the handful of centres in the United Kingdom offering endoscopic myotomy. Leeds also has an established surgical service offering keyhole myotomy and anti-reflux surgery and these procedures can sometimes be done with robotic assistance. They also have specialist dietetic support for patients requiring nutritional support leading up to surgery.

In addition, the 10-Year Health Plan sets out the Government’s vision for the Neighbourhood Health Service. The Neighbourhood Health Framework has now been published, and will enable a more joined-up approach that delivers more preventative, local, personalised, and digitally enabled care for everyone, including people living with achalasia. Central to the plans are Neighbourhood Health Centres, which will bring more care closer to where people live. This is supported by the NHS App, which will become a health companion that makes it easier for patients to access the NHS. It will give patients a more seamless experience across their health journey.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to develop a national strategy for the early detection of heart valve disease.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to reducing premature deaths from heart disease and stroke and we recognise that improving the detection and treatment of heart valve disease is an important step to achieving this ambition. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) later this year. The CVD MSF will prioritise ambitious, evidence-led, and clinically informed approaches to prevention, treatment, and care, and as part of its development we are engaging widely to identify and consider the role of emerging innovations across the cardiovascular pathway.

High blood pressure is a key risk factor for heart valve disease, and the Government has invested heavily in the Hypertension Case-finding Service for those aged over 40 years old in community pharmacies, which has seen nearly 4.2 million blood pressure and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring checks delivered since October 2021.

Alongside this, in 2025, NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme published new and revised cardiology pathways to support consistent care across primary and secondary settings, including advice regarding patients with severe symptomatic heart valve disease.

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 support people with Motor Neurone Disease.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England commissions the specialised elements of motor neurone disease (MND) care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurology centres across England. Within these specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure patients can access a range of health professionals and specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with MND, including the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit.

Baroness Casey has set out that the Government must take immediate action on MND. Where someone has a severe, reasonably predictable, and life-limiting condition, it is essential that we provide rapid access to the support they need, and we will take forward immediate work to develop a fast-track process, or “passport”, that speeds up assessments and access to care for people diagnosed with MND. We will consider how best to safely implement a process that expedites assessments and gets people with MND the care and support they need more quickly.

The Government has provided £6 million in funding for the MND Translational Accelerator, which aims to speed up the development of treatments for MND, and £2 million in funding for the MND Data Catalyst, to accelerate the discovery of new diagnostics, treatments, and support better care for MND patients. Twelve projects have been funded through the accelerator, and all aimed at speeding up the development of treatments for MND.

The Government has also invested £8 million through the National Institute for Health and Care Research for the EXPERTS-ALS study, a pre-clinical study which is designed to accelerate the identification and testing of the most promising treatment candidates for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the most common form of MND.

Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of high-quality care and support services, including support for unpaid carers.

The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they have the support they need. Through measures in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are equipping and supporting carers by making them more visible, empowering their voices in care planning, joining up services, and streamlining their caring tasks by introducing a new ‘MyCarer’ section to the NHS App.

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 expand access to treatment for those with Motor Neurone Disease.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England commissions the specialised elements of motor neurone disease (MND) care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurology centres across England. Within these specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure patients can access a range of health professionals and specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with MND, including the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit.

Baroness Casey has set out that the Government must take immediate action on MND. Where someone has a severe, reasonably predictable, and life-limiting condition, it is essential that we provide rapid access to the support they need, and we will take forward immediate work to develop a fast-track process, or “passport”, that speeds up assessments and access to care for people diagnosed with MND. We will consider how best to safely implement a process that expedites assessments and gets people with MND the care and support they need more quickly.

The Government has provided £6 million in funding for the MND Translational Accelerator, which aims to speed up the development of treatments for MND, and £2 million in funding for the MND Data Catalyst, to accelerate the discovery of new diagnostics, treatments, and support better care for MND patients. Twelve projects have been funded through the accelerator, and all aimed at speeding up the development of treatments for MND.

The Government has also invested £8 million through the National Institute for Health and Care Research for the EXPERTS-ALS study, a pre-clinical study which is designed to accelerate the identification and testing of the most promising treatment candidates for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the most common form of MND.

Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of high-quality care and support services, including support for unpaid carers.

The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they have the support they need. Through measures in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are equipping and supporting carers by making them more visible, empowering their voices in care planning, joining up services, and streamlining their caring tasks by introducing a new ‘MyCarer’ section to the NHS App.

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 support families with someone suffering from Motor Neurone Disease.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England commissions the specialised elements of motor neurone disease (MND) care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurology centres across England. Within these specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure patients can access a range of health professionals and specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with MND, including the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit.

Baroness Casey has set out that the Government must take immediate action on MND. Where someone has a severe, reasonably predictable, and life-limiting condition, it is essential that we provide rapid access to the support they need, and we will take forward immediate work to develop a fast-track process, or “passport”, that speeds up assessments and access to care for people diagnosed with MND. We will consider how best to safely implement a process that expedites assessments and gets people with MND the care and support they need more quickly.

The Government has provided £6 million in funding for the MND Translational Accelerator, which aims to speed up the development of treatments for MND, and £2 million in funding for the MND Data Catalyst, to accelerate the discovery of new diagnostics, treatments, and support better care for MND patients. Twelve projects have been funded through the accelerator, and all aimed at speeding up the development of treatments for MND.

The Government has also invested £8 million through the National Institute for Health and Care Research for the EXPERTS-ALS study, a pre-clinical study which is designed to accelerate the identification and testing of the most promising treatment candidates for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the most common form of MND.

Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of high-quality care and support services, including support for unpaid carers.

The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they have the support they need. Through measures in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are equipping and supporting carers by making them more visible, empowering their voices in care planning, joining up services, and streamlining their caring tasks by introducing a new ‘MyCarer’ section to the NHS App.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of treatments for patients with rare diseases in a) Slough constituency and b) the South East.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, and we acknowledge unmet need remains, with just 5% of rare diseases having an approved and effective treatment. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community, such as improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs, including in Slough. We published the fifth annual England action plan in February 2026, where we report on the steps we have taken to advance these priorities. These include:

• the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) developing a framework to enable innovation in rare disease therapies;
• new clinical trial regulations being fully implemented from April 2026;
• the MHRA and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) aligning a pathway for parallel decision making to reduce the gap between marketing authorisation and NICE guidance decisions;
• continuing to review the effectiveness of the Early Access to Medicines Scheme, the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway and the Innovative Medicines Fund, access pathways for rare therapies; and
• NHS England progressing work to develop an operational framework for individualised therapies.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the extent to which obesity levels in England can be reduced, and (2) whether any such reduction can be driven by government action; and what steps they are taking to reduce levels of obesity in England.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to tackling the obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Health Service and raising the healthiest generation of children ever.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan and published impact assessments, obesity can be reduced over time through sustained improvements in diet at the population level.

The Government is taking bold action to address the obesity crisis. As part of the 10-Year Health Plan, we are consulting on applying the new Nutrient Profiling Model to the existing advertising and promotions restrictions for less healthy food and drink. Illustrative modelling published alongside the consultation suggests this could prevent almost 520,000 cases of adult obesity and over 110,000 cases of childhood obesity over time. We also announced a world first to introduce mandatory healthier food sales reporting for all large food businesses, which could reduce approximately 340,000 cases of childhood obesity, although these figures are provisional and subject to refinement through subsequent impact assessments. This is alongside existing action to restrict junk food advertising on television and online and to give councils stronger powers to block new fast-food outlets near schools.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the report by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body Insulin: supporting safe self-administration for patients in the community with a mental health problem, published on 26 February, what steps they plan to take to ensure that vulnerable patients are appropriately supported to administer insulin safely after discharge from hospital.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is considering the Health Services Safety Investigations Body’s report and will respond to the recommendation in the report in due course.

To reduce insulin related harm, the NHS Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme published guidance in April 2025 to support trusts to establish Diabetes Safety Boards. GIRFT is also undertaking a pilot across 20 integrated care systems as part of a Community and District Nurse Insulin Programme, which works to empower community diabetes nurses and district nursing teams to support patients at home requiring insulin administration.

To further support services to provide high quality personalised care for all patients needing secondary mental health services, including those with diabetes, NHS England has shared new draft guidance with systems, the Mental Health Personalised Care Framework, sets out how services must effectively assess, plan, and manage people's care in collaboration with all relevant teams, including how they assess safety and risks of harm.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how the neighbourhood health framework will support the early identification and prevention of chronic kidney disease.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Neighbourhood Health Framework is designed to provide clarity and consistency to integrated care boards (ICBs), local authorities, and their partners, in developing and scaling neighbourhood health.

It is important that reforms are locally led, as ICBs and local authorities are best placed to design services that make sense for their local populations. Local systems can choose to go further than the minimum aims set out in the framework, and this could include a focus on chronic kidney disease.

Early diagnosis of chronic kidney disease is supported through widespread access to blood and urine tests across the National Health Service, including in primary care and community diagnostic services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the report by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body Insulin: supporting safe self-administration for patients in the community with a mental health problem, published on 26 February, what assessment they have made of the risks to patient safety of inadequate assessment of a patient's ability to self-administer insulin prior to discharge from hospital

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is considering the Health Services Safety Investigations Body’s report and will respond to the recommendation in the report in due course.

To reduce insulin related harm, the NHS Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme published guidance in April 2025 to support trusts to establish Diabetes Safety Boards. GIRFT is also undertaking a pilot across 20 integrated care systems as part of a Community and District Nurse Insulin Programme, which works to empower community diabetes nurses and district nursing teams to support patients at home requiring insulin administration.

To further support services to provide high quality personalised care for all patients needing secondary mental health services, including those with diabetes, NHS England has shared new draft guidance with systems, the Mental Health Personalised Care Framework, sets out how services must effectively assess, plan, and manage people's care in collaboration with all relevant teams, including how they assess safety and risks of harm.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the NHS Health Check programme in identifying chronic kidney disease; and what steps they are taking to increase uptake of that programme.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Blood pressure is a risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Each year, the NHS Health Check, which is a core component of England’s CVD prevention programme, engages over 1.4 million people and identifies over 340,000 cases of high blood pressure.

Individuals who are identified with high blood pressure during their NHS Health Check are referred to their general practice for further clinical investigation who determine whether an individual should be tested for CKD. Data is currently not collected on the number of individuals who are subsequently tested for CKD.

To improve access and engagement with the NHS Health Check, we are developing the NHS Health Check Online service that people can use at home, at a time convenient to them, to understand and act on their CVD risk. The NHS Health Check Online is being piloted in multiple local authorities across England.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 19 January (HL13473), whether the department has considered allowing the term probiotic to be used in mandatory product labelling, notwithstanding its current treatment as a health claim.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The information that must be provided and can be provided on food labels is set out in legislation. The use of specific terms and statements that can be made on food labels is also subject to nutrition and health claims legislation. ‘Probiotic’ is a term commonly used to describe the effect of one or more strains of live bacteria used in food and food supplements. The Department considers the term ‘probiotic’ to constitute a health claim, as it implies that consuming a food or food supplement containing these bacteria may provide a health benefit. The term ‘probiotic’ could only be used on food labels if a specific authorised health claim existed for the particular strain of live bacteria used, which have been scientifically substantiated and authorised in accordance with nutrition and health claims legislation.

There are currently no authorised health claims for probiotics or specific bacterial strains.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to include sudden unexplained death in childhood on the NHS website to enable parents and professionals to find information.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises the devastating impact of sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) on affected families and communities. As the Minister for Public Health and Prevention (Sharon Hodgson MP) set out during a recent Westminster Hall Debate on this issue on 24 March 2026, the Government’s is committed to strengthening pathology services, ensuring high-quality bereavement support and growing the evidence base around SUDC.

Parents who have lost a child to SUDC should be able to access the advice and support that they need. Bereavement support is available on the NHS help page and GOV.UK website in an online-only format.

NHS Bereavement support is commissioned locally, allowing services to be shaped around the needs of local communities. For anyone seeking help after a bereavement, we encourage them to speak to their general practitioner, who can advise on and refer into local bereavement support services. My officials are exploring opportunities to include signposting on the NHS website to SUDC UK to ensure families have access to information when they need it most.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to develop a national plan for sudden unexplained death in childhood.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises the devastating impact of sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) on affected families and communities. As the Minister for Public Health and Prevention (Sharon Hodgson MP) set out during a recent Westminster Hall Debate on this issue on 24 March 2026, the Government’s is committed to strengthening pathology services, ensuring high-quality bereavement support and growing the evidence base around SUDC.

Parents who have lost a child to SUDC should be able to access the advice and support that they need. Bereavement support is available on the NHS help page and GOV.UK website in an online-only format.

NHS Bereavement support is commissioned locally, allowing services to be shaped around the needs of local communities. For anyone seeking help after a bereavement, we encourage them to speak to their general practitioner, who can advise on and refer into local bereavement support services. My officials are exploring opportunities to include signposting on the NHS website to SUDC UK to ensure families have access to information when they need it most.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proposal for a system for equitable distribution of general medical practitioners in England, submitted to the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care on 22 February by John G Gooderham.

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. This 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.

We are investing £485 million in general practices (GPs) in 2026/27, bringing the total spend on the GP Contract to over £13.8 billion. This builds on the £1.1 billion boost in investment in 2025/26. As part of the 26/27 GP Contract, we are increasing flexibility of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) by removing the restriction that ARRS funding can only be used for recently qualified GPs, increasing the maximum reimbursement amount for GP roles to reflect experience, and enabling primary care networks to recruit a broader range of ARRS roles, where agreed with the commissioner.

Following feedback from the 2026/27 GP Contract consultation, we are introducing a practice-level GP reimbursement scheme which ring-fences and repurposes £292 million of funding from the current Capacity and Access Payment. This funding will be available to practices to hire additional GPs or fund additional sessions with existing GPs to improve access in practices. This aims to strengthen capacity, access, and improve patient satisfaction, whilst also addressing GP unemployment and underemployment.

We know that the way core GP funding is allocated across England is considered outdated and we recognise the importance of ensuring funding for core services is distributed equitably between practices across the country. This is why we are currently reviewing the GP funding formula, the Carr-Hill formula, to ensure that resources are targeted where they are most needed.

The first phase of the review is expected to conclude in March 2026. Subject to ministerial decision, further work would be undertaken to technically develop and model any proposed changes to the formula. Findings from the review will be published in due course by the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

The proposal has been received and Government officials will assess it in the normal manner.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what further steps they plan to take to safeguard a reliable supply of radioisotopes for use in the NHS.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The resilience of United Kingdom supply chains is a key priority, and the Department and NHS England are committed to helping to build long term supply chain resilience for medicines. We recognise the importance of ensuring a resilient and reliable supply of medical isotopes and how important that is for patients and for the National Health Service. We regularly engage with industry partners to support continued supply of medical radioisotopes to the NHS, including responding to supply disruptions. The Department is working with the NHS and other parts of the Government to better understand future needs for medical radioisotopes.

In respect to isotope production and associated research in the UK, the Government has made up to £520 million available through the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund to support UK manufacture of medicine and medical technology products. This includes applications looking to establish, expand, or improve UK-based manufacture of medical radioisotopes for diagnostic or therapeutic applications. In addition, last year, the Government also announced a £54 million funding package for eight innovative research and development projects, including £9.9 million earmarked for Project Alpha to explore how to make medical treatments from legacy nuclear material, something that could unlock the UK’s potential to develop promising new cancer therapies.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure an equitable provision of radiotherapy treatment.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department remains committed to ensuring that all patients have timely access to cutting-edge cancer treatments, including radiotherapy. This commitment has been demonstrated by a £70 million investment into 28 new LINAC radiotherapy machines, which are currently being rolled out and replacing outdated, inefficient radiotherapy equipment. These new machines will reduce waiting times and increase treatment capacity by 15%, enabling an additional 27,500 patients to be treated each year.

We expect that local systems will continue to look for opportunities to streamline radiotherapy treatment services, improve treatment availability, and harness artificial intelligence technology to support oncologists to plan radiotherapy treatments faster and more accurately.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the referral to treatment clock start date is where a GP resubmits a referral following a Single Point of Access triage outcome with which they disagree; and what guidance NHS England has issued to Integrated Care Boards on the referral to treatment clock start date in these circumstances ahead of mandatory Single Point of Access triage processes taking effect from 1 April 2026.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We're setting the Advice and Guidance (A&G) clock start so it's the same as outpatient referrals, ensuring no patient will have to wait longer for an appointment as a result of A&G

As set out in the Medium Term Planning Framework, the National Health Service will move toward delivering care through a ‘Single Point of Access’ (SPoA) for all appropriate requests and referrals, excluding for urgent suspected cancer. Under the new SPoA model, if a patient needs treatment, their Referral to Treatment (RTT) clock start date will be calculated from the date the Advice and Guidance (A&G) request or referral was received by the SPoA. This is instead of the current process for A&G, where the clock start date is the date that the request or referral is converted to a treatment pathway. This will ensure that patients' waiting times are accurately reflected.

In February 2026, NHS England issued The Elective Single Point of Access: Technical Guidance for 2026/27 to integrated care boards. This provides guidance on RTT rules and quality assurance arrangements, and advice on establishing leadership and governance structures that ensure SPoA outcomes are assessed regularly. The SPoA will be supported by improvements to the NHS e-Referral Service, which will enable NHS England to collect data on triage outcomes.

SPoA is designed to promote clinical collaboration between primary care referrers and secondary care clinicians, including by facilitating two-way communication and shared decision making. General practitioners (GPs) can re-submit a referral following a SPoA triage outcome if they have concerns about the clinical decision. Escalation routes for concerns about triage decisions will continue to operate through locally agreed referral pathways and communication processes for GPs and patients, supported by improvements to the NHS e-Referral Service. Where patients have concerns regarding outcomes, local Patient Advice and Liaison Service teams can provide advice and support.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what quality assurance arrangements NHS England has put in place for mandatory Single Point of Access triage decisions from 1 April 2026; what monitoring will be conducted of triage outcomes by specialty and provider; and how GPs and patients will be able to escalate concerns about triage decisions that they consider clinically inappropriate.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We're setting the Advice and Guidance (A&G) clock start so it's the same as outpatient referrals, ensuring no patient will have to wait longer for an appointment as a result of A&G

As set out in the Medium Term Planning Framework, the National Health Service will move toward delivering care through a ‘Single Point of Access’ (SPoA) for all appropriate requests and referrals, excluding for urgent suspected cancer. Under the new SPoA model, if a patient needs treatment, their Referral to Treatment (RTT) clock start date will be calculated from the date the Advice and Guidance (A&G) request or referral was received by the SPoA. This is instead of the current process for A&G, where the clock start date is the date that the request or referral is converted to a treatment pathway. This will ensure that patients' waiting times are accurately reflected.

In February 2026, NHS England issued The Elective Single Point of Access: Technical Guidance for 2026/27 to integrated care boards. This provides guidance on RTT rules and quality assurance arrangements, and advice on establishing leadership and governance structures that ensure SPoA outcomes are assessed regularly. The SPoA will be supported by improvements to the NHS e-Referral Service, which will enable NHS England to collect data on triage outcomes.

SPoA is designed to promote clinical collaboration between primary care referrers and secondary care clinicians, including by facilitating two-way communication and shared decision making. General practitioners (GPs) can re-submit a referral following a SPoA triage outcome if they have concerns about the clinical decision. Escalation routes for concerns about triage decisions will continue to operate through locally agreed referral pathways and communication processes for GPs and patients, supported by improvements to the NHS e-Referral Service. Where patients have concerns regarding outcomes, local Patient Advice and Liaison Service teams can provide advice and support.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to assess the potential use of artificial intelligence benchmarking to reduce the side effects of radiotherapy when used to treat prostate cancer.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government remains committed to looking for opportunities to implement artificial intelligence (AI) in cancer services to speed up diagnosis, improve treatment efficacy, and reduce treatment side effects where possible. We have demonstrated this commitment through a £133 million investment in the AI in Health and Care Award, which has funded innovations relevant to prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment that align with the NHS Long Term Plan.

While AI is already being used to support diagnostic and treatment pathways, any future use of AI intended to further improve radiotherapy services, will be carefully evaluated to ensure safety, efficacy, and clinical benefit and benchmarked against existing standards and approaches.

The Government’s recently published National Cancer Plan sets out how we will modernise the National Health Service and utilise AI to support faster radiotherapy planning, provide more accurate contouring, improve productivity, and free up clinicians’ time to focus on patient care. Over the next decade, we will harness AI to help the NHS to deliver more personalised and responsive cancer care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of digital technologies in supporting treatment and recovery services for people experiencing drug and alcohol addiction.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is continuing to invest in improvements to local alcohol and drug treatment services to ensure those in need can access high quality help and support. From 2026, all drug and alcohol treatment and recovery funding will be channelled through the Public Health Grant, with over £13.45 billion allocated across three years, including £3.4 billion ringfenced for drug and alcohol treatment and recovery.

Local authorities are responsible for assessing local needs for alcohol and drug prevention and treatment in their area, and commissioning services to meet these needs. The Government works with local treatment systems to provide a number of digital products including guidance, subject-matter expertise and data tools to help them deliver their service.

Digital products are derived from The National Drug Treatment Monitoring System and other related health datasets and made available via a dedicated website to enable local treatment systems to monitor treatment access and better manage outcomes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has held discussions with the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust on potential factors that contributed to bed occupancy rates at the Trust between October and December 2025.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has not held discussions with the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust on potential factors that contributed to bed occupancy rates at the trust between October and December 2025. However, in line with normal practice, NHS England regional teams hold discussions with the trust on performance, including bed occupancy rates. We started planning earlier and have taken more action than in previous years to prepare for winter pressures. We closely monitored the impact of winter pressures on the National Health Service over winter months, providing additional support to services across the country as needed.

As set out in the Urgent and emergency care plan 2025/26, the NHS is focused on improvements that has seen the biggest impact on urgent and emergency care performance during winter including:

• expanding access to urgent care in primary, community, and mental health settings, which includes increasing the number of people supported by Urgent Community Response teams and treated in virtual wards;
• improving hospital flow through accident and emergency departments, with a focus on reducing the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours and making progress towards eliminating corridor care;
• reducing the average length of stay for patients requiring an overnight emergency admission by at least 0.4 days, returning closer to pre-pandemic levels; and
• agreeing local pathway profiles to support discharge capacity planning and eliminate internal discharge delays of more than 48 hours in all settings.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on supporting people with Long Covid.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is aware that post-acute infection conditions, such as Long Covid, can have a devastating effect on those who suffer from them. We are committed to taking a comprehensive and compassionate approach to supporting individuals with post-acute infection conditions such as Long Covid, recognising the unique challenges these conditions present.

NHS England has invested significantly in supporting people with Long Covid. This includes setting up specialist post-COVID, or Long Covid, services nationwide for adults, and children and young people, and investing in ensuring general practice teams are equipped to support people affected by the condition.

Since April 2024, in line with the National Health Service operating framework and the establishment of integrated care systems, commissioning of post-COVID services has been the responsibility of local integrated care boards to meet the needs of their population, subject to local prioritisation and funding.

Where referral into a Long Covid service is not possible, for example because a service has closed or is due to close, general practitioners can refer patients into other appropriate existing NHS pathways, depending on their clinical needs.

To support clinical leadership in this area, NHS England worked in partnership with the British Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine to establish the International Post Covid and Post Infection Conditions Society to facilitate the ongoing sharing of best practice to support people affected by Long Covid.

Officials routinely engage with other government departments on Long Covid-related issues which span departmental boundaries.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Lords Amendment 22 to the Tobacco and Vapes Bill permits an enforcement body to invest in smoking cessation services in connection with their purposes.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Lords Amendment 22 allows a relevant enforcement authority in England to retain all proceeds from the £2,500 fixed penalty notices for licensing offences in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. The bill provides that the proceeds must be used for the enforcement of tobacco and vape legislation, mirroring the approach to the use of proceeds from £200 fixed penalty notices in the bill. The bill does not allow proceeds from fixed penalty notices to be invested in smoking cessation services.

From April 2026, the Government is investing an additional £260 million over three years in Stop Smoking Services within the Public Health Grant. This will mean at least £153 million of ringfenced funding for Stop Smoking Services each year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when NHS England will be able to provide robust breast screening data on all protected characteristics.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is currently building and rolling out new services for breast screening. The future breast screening service is expected to improve the consistency and completeness of demographic and equality data capture, which should support more robust reporting over time.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how food safety inspections are enforced in small businesses.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Food safety legislation, and the Food Law Code of Practice (England) (the Code) places a statutory duty on competent authorities to undertake official food controls that verify whether food businesses, including small and microbusinesses, comply with relevant food law requirements.

Food safety official controls are carried out by appropriately authorised officers from local authorities and port health authorities. These are competent authorities and use a range of statutory powers set out in food legislation.

Officers assess compliance with legal requirements by observing and discussing food handling practices, hygiene conditions, and by examining food safety management systems. Where noncompliance is identified, officers determine the most appropriate and proportionate course of action, taking account of the seriousness of the issue and any potential public health risk. This may include providing advice, issuing written requirements, or taking more formal enforcement action where necessary.

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 06.01.2026 to question 103582 on Tourette’s Syndrome: Health Services, what steps he is taking to support Tourette’s Action to disseminate their e-learning module for GPs in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The commissioning of services for Tourette’s syndrome is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs), which have a legal duty to plan comprehensive health services for their populations, including for conditions like Tourette’s. While Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has not been directly approached to promote these e-learning modules, it would welcome reviewing the content and, if appropriate, would be happy to share more widely.

Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government, including for neurology services. Between September 2024 and September 2025, the number of incomplete neurology pathways was reduced by 15,500, from 234,720 to 219,221, and the average waiting time for neurology services fell from 16.2 to 15.2 weeks. Over the same period, the proportion of patients seen within 18 weeks increased to around 57%, up from around 54% the previous year. We remain committed to returning to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. As part of the Elective Reform Plan, we are investing in additional capacity and reforming outpatient services to help bring waiting times down, recognising that neurology is a particularly challenged specialty.

NHS England’s Neuroscience Transformation Programme is supporting ICBs to improve pathways, reduce unwarranted variation and provide care closer to home for neurology patients, including for patients with Tourette’s.

The Mental Health Act 2025 is a critical foundation to ensure that people with the most severe mental health conditions get better, more personalised care, and have greater choice and control over their treatment. NHS England’s mental health, learning disability and autism inpatient quality transformation programme will support cultural change and a new model of care for the future across all NHS-funded mental health inpatient settings. Local health systems have now published their three-year plans for localising and realigning inpatient care in line with this vision.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 6 March (HL15294), whether they plan for ministers to be responsible for approving the NHS Payment Scheme after NHS England is abolished; and if so, whether ministers will be consulted about approval of that scheme in the transition period before new legislation is passed by Parliament to transfer that responsibility to ministers.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Primary legislation is required to enable the transfer of NHS England’s functions, powers and responsibilities formally to the Department or out to the wider system. Primary legislation is subject to the will of Parliament, and the Government welcomes parliamentary scrutiny of these provisions. The bill will be introduced in Parliament when parliamentary time allows.

Currently, NHS England is responsible for publishing the NHS Payment Scheme, with the relevant legislation set out in schedule 10 of the 2022 Health and Care Act. Under NHS England’s Scheme of Delegation, responsibility for approving the NHS Payment Scheme rests with the Chief Executive Officer of NHS England, delegated to the Chief Financial Officer of NHS England.

During development of the NHS Payment Scheme, NHS England engages with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Department. The 2026/27 NHS Payment Scheme was published on 26 March 2026 and incorporates a number of changes following consultation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is a national standard or equivalent for defibrillator provision in emergency vehicles; and if so, whether they will publish that standard.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is no national standard for defibrillator provision in all emergency vehicles, and the Government has not considered centralised procurement arrangements. There are no current plans to make legislative changes to mandate the provision of defibrillators in all emergency vehicles. For National Health Service ambulance services, all NHS ambulances carry defibrillators.

The Home Office has advised that Fire Services and police forces are operationally independent from the Government, and therefore decisions on the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) would be an operational matter for them.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed there are already local models of joint working between emergency services, for example where firefighters are trained to respond alongside ambulance services, including basic life support and AED use. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government supports effective collaboration that strengthens public safety.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement the recommendations of the report by the Royal College of Pathologists, Paediatric and perinatal pathology workforce report 2025, published in November 2025.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The paediatric and perinatal pathology workforce report highlights the extent of the workforce crisis in paediatric and perinatal pathology and the impact this can have on turnaround times and families.

NHS England has launched a national programme to strengthen perinatal and paediatric pathology services and to improve service capacity and resilience.

A £20,000 recruitment incentive for new trainees has been introduced, a fully funded international recruitment campaign has launched, and a new National Training Programme Director has been appointed.

Further initiatives are underway to review the training pathway, develop advanced practitioner roles, and implement a retention strategy for existing staff.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) number, and (2) percentage, of NHS acute providers (a) have been in deficit in each of the past three years, and (b) are projected to be in deficit at the end of the current financial year.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In 2022/23, 60 National Health Service acute trusts reported a deficit, which is the equivalent to 49% of acute trusts. In 2023/24, 75 NHS acute trusts reported a deficit, which is the equivalent to 61% of acute trusts. In 2024/25, 74 NHS acute trusts reported a deficit, which is the equivalent to 62% of acute trusts. Looking ahead to 2025/26, at month 11, 61 NHS acute trusts are forecasting a year‑end deficit, which is the equivalent to 51% of acute trusts.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to develop a modern service framework for neurological conditions; and what steps he is taking to attract, train and retain specialist healthcare professionals for Parkinson’s.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The first wave of modern service frameworks will include cardiovascular disease, sepsis, mental health, palliative care and end-of-life care, and dementia and frailty. The Government will consider other conditions with significant health and economic impacts for future waves of modern service frameworks in due course.

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.

NHS staff told us through the 10-Year Health Plan engagement that they are crying out for change. This 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.

We have set up a United Kingdom-wide Neuro Forum, facilitating formal, twice-yearly meetings across the Department, NHS England, the devolved administrations, and health services and Neurological Alliances of all four nations. The new forum brings key stakeholders together to share learnings across the system and discuss challenges, best practice examples, and potential solutions for improving the care of people with neurological conditions. The forum has identified areas for initial focus, including workforce, which featured as a key item on the agenda at the third meeting of the forum on 18 March.

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 3rd March 2026 to question 115687, if he will ask Baroness Amos to consider the potential merits of appointing a Maternity Commissioner in the course of the Independent National Investigation into maternity and neonatal care.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation is independent, with the investigation’s terms of reference allowing Baroness Amos, in her role as Chair, to make recommendations as she sees fit.

The independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation is bringing together the findings from past reviews, from local investigations of maternity and neonatal services in selected trusts, and evidence from families and staff, and will develop and publish one clear national set of recommendations.

Baroness Amos and her team have met with hundreds of families as part of the local investigations, and a national call for evidence for women, families, and staff has recently concluded. Her final report will be published in June.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his department has made of the potential merits of listing hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy as a condition on the NHS website.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

A formal assessment has not been made on the potential merits of listing hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy as a condition on the National Health Service website.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment has he made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the length of the waiting list for post-mortem examinations for children.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is aware of the workforce challenges within perinatal pathology, which can impact on waiting times. A national programme was established in late 2022 to address this, and significant work has been undertaken in relation to workforce funding, training, and incentives. Actions taken include:

- the 2024 launch of a fully funded international recruitment campaign;

- a £20,000 golden handshake for doctors entering paediatric and perinatal pathology training;

- additional funding being made available to support training posts in areas where there have been interested candidates but no training post for them at a specific provider/location;

- the appointment of a new National Training Programme Director role which has revised the examination structure and aspects of the national training course, and supported an increase in the number of training posts across several recruitment rounds; and

- the perinatal and paediatric training pathway, which will be at a full complement of 16 training posts from February 2026, and with applications for the next specialty training level three having exceeded expectations.

NHS England is also pursuing medium-long-term options to increase service capacity alongside workforce initiatives.

A system of national mutual aid was established in late 2022 to maintain timely access to National Health Service post-mortems in areas with workforce shortages. This has been supported by over £1 million of additional funding in 2025/26.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to make compliance with the Model Emergency Department mandatory for NHS trusts.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Model Emergency Department, published in February 2026, sets out a consistent national framework describing the core principles and pathways of high-performing emergency departments, including a national model for extended emergency medicine ambulatory care. The approach is intended to support improved patient flow, lower waiting times, and reduced overcrowding. The guidance provides a shared national model to support greater consistency and faster decision-making across urgent and emergency care pathways, while maintaining local decision-making.

We do not plan to make the Model Emergency Department mandatory for National Health Service trusts. We have developed a Model Emergency Department in partnership with clinical experts to enable trusts to implement the urgent and emergency care pathways that we know improve the quality and timeliness of care. On this basis would expect those trusts who are able to implement, to do so without the requirement to mandate.

NHS England has asked providers to begin developing improvement plans aligned with the guidance, including demand and capacity modelling, with the aim of supporting consistent implementation from 2026/27.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available to overseas-qualified doctors who have the right to work in the UK but do not currently meet the requirements to practice in the NHS; and whether he plans to review pathways to enable such professionals to contribute to the healthcare workforce.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Overseas‑qualified doctors must meet General Medical Council (GMC) registration and licensing requirements before practising in the National Health Service. A range of information and guidance is available through the GMC website to support doctors through the registration process. Professional standards and entry requirements remain a matter for the independent regulator. NHS employers recruit locally and determine role requirements in line with service needs.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out how the Government will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Department has assessed the potential impact on the NHS in winter 2026-27 of providing the shingles vaccination programme to adults aged 80 in April 2027; and whether it has considered launching the programme in autumn 2026 alongside the seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In November 2024, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided advice on eligibility for the shingles vaccination programme for adults aged 80 years old and over. The Government continues to carefully consider the JCVI’s advice.

We are taking key steps to ensure the National Health Service is prepared for the colder months. This winter, approximately half a million more people were vaccinated against flu compared to the previous season, though we know there is further to go next winter. We are undertaking a comprehensive ‘lessons learned’ review to help us identify what worked well, where persistent pressures remain, and what actions we need to prioritise going into next winter.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will commission technical guidance for industry on consistent measurement of free sugars to ensure compliance and enforcement can be undertaken fairly.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

On 27 January, the Government published the new nutrient profiling model (NPM). This included associated NPM technical guidance to support businesses to understand the new NPM and apply it to their products and worked examples on how to calculate free sugars and NPM scores in a range of products.

Since publication of the new NPM in January, we have been engaging closely with industry to address technical points relating to the new NPM and calculating free sugars. On 25 February, we participated in the development of the Institute of Grocery Distribution free sugars calculation roundtable, ahead of launching the consultation on applying the new NPM to the advertising and promotions restrictions on 25 March 2026.

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 06.01.2026 to question 103582 on Tourette’s Syndrome: Health Services, what assessment he has made of the quality of management of Tourette’s in mental health hospitals.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The commissioning of services for Tourette’s syndrome is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs), which have a legal duty to plan comprehensive health services for their populations, including for conditions like Tourette’s. While Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has not been directly approached to promote these e-learning modules, it would welcome reviewing the content and, if appropriate, would be happy to share more widely.

Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government, including for neurology services. Between September 2024 and September 2025, the number of incomplete neurology pathways was reduced by 15,500, from 234,720 to 219,221, and the average waiting time for neurology services fell from 16.2 to 15.2 weeks. Over the same period, the proportion of patients seen within 18 weeks increased to around 57%, up from around 54% the previous year. We remain committed to returning to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. As part of the Elective Reform Plan, we are investing in additional capacity and reforming outpatient services to help bring waiting times down, recognising that neurology is a particularly challenged specialty.

NHS England’s Neuroscience Transformation Programme is supporting ICBs to improve pathways, reduce unwarranted variation and provide care closer to home for neurology patients, including for patients with Tourette’s.

The Mental Health Act 2025 is a critical foundation to ensure that people with the most severe mental health conditions get better, more personalised care, and have greater choice and control over their treatment. NHS England’s mental health, learning disability and autism inpatient quality transformation programme will support cultural change and a new model of care for the future across all NHS-funded mental health inpatient settings. Local health systems have now published their three-year plans for localising and realigning inpatient care in line with this vision.

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 06.01.2026 to question 103582 on Tourette’s Syndrome: Health Services, what steps he is taking to continue to minimise waiting times for Tourette’s diagnosis.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The commissioning of services for Tourette’s syndrome is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs), which have a legal duty to plan comprehensive health services for their populations, including for conditions like Tourette’s. While Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has not been directly approached to promote these e-learning modules, it would welcome reviewing the content and, if appropriate, would be happy to share more widely.

Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government, including for neurology services. Between September 2024 and September 2025, the number of incomplete neurology pathways was reduced by 15,500, from 234,720 to 219,221, and the average waiting time for neurology services fell from 16.2 to 15.2 weeks. Over the same period, the proportion of patients seen within 18 weeks increased to around 57%, up from around 54% the previous year. We remain committed to returning to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. As part of the Elective Reform Plan, we are investing in additional capacity and reforming outpatient services to help bring waiting times down, recognising that neurology is a particularly challenged specialty.

NHS England’s Neuroscience Transformation Programme is supporting ICBs to improve pathways, reduce unwarranted variation and provide care closer to home for neurology patients, including for patients with Tourette’s.

The Mental Health Act 2025 is a critical foundation to ensure that people with the most severe mental health conditions get better, more personalised care, and have greater choice and control over their treatment. NHS England’s mental health, learning disability and autism inpatient quality transformation programme will support cultural change and a new model of care for the future across all NHS-funded mental health inpatient settings. Local health systems have now published their three-year plans for localising and realigning inpatient care in line with this vision.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will implement meningitis monitoring on university campuses.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an expert scientific advisory committee that advises the Government on the eligibility for vaccination and immunisation programmes. The JCVI has been consulted on the immediate vaccine response to the outbreak and clinical effectiveness of potential future outbreak response vaccination strategies.

On the 17 March, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, also announced to the House of Commons that he would ask the JCVI to review eligibility for meningococcal B vaccination. The JCVI will conduct a full assessment of the cost-effectiveness of a routine adolescent meningococcal B vaccination programme and provide a complete and formal response to my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, as soon as practicable.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Defibrillators that all emergency service vehicles, including newly acquired emergency vehicles, be legally required to carry defibrillators.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is no national standard for defibrillator provision in all emergency vehicles, and the Government has not considered centralised procurement arrangements. There are no current plans to make legislative changes to mandate the provision of defibrillators in all emergency vehicles. For National Health Service ambulance services, all NHS ambulances carry defibrillators.

The Home Office has advised that Fire Services and police forces are operationally independent from the Government, and therefore decisions on the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) would be an operational matter for them.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed there are already local models of joint working between emergency services, for example where firefighters are trained to respond alongside ambulance services, including basic life support and AED use. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government supports effective collaboration that strengthens public safety.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given, if any, to centralised procurement arrangements to equip emergency vehicle fleets with defibrillators at scale.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is no national standard for defibrillator provision in all emergency vehicles, and the Government has not considered centralised procurement arrangements. There are no current plans to make legislative changes to mandate the provision of defibrillators in all emergency vehicles. For National Health Service ambulance services, all NHS ambulances carry defibrillators.

The Home Office has advised that Fire Services and police forces are operationally independent from the Government, and therefore decisions on the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) would be an operational matter for them.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed there are already local models of joint working between emergency services, for example where firefighters are trained to respond alongside ambulance services, including basic life support and AED use. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government supports effective collaboration that strengthens public safety.

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 24 February 2026 to Question 113596 on Mission Boards: Cabinet Committees, if he will publish the current terms of reference of the NHS Fit for the Future Mission Board; and whether any changes have been made since the Mission Board was originally established.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Mission Boards have been reformed to become delivery-focused forums. The 10-Year Health Plan, published in July 2025, is delivering our Health Mission. Ministers and external stakeholders are involved in a variety of fora to take forward the 10-Year Health Plan. Oversight is maintained by the Departmental Board, chaired by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, details of which can be found on the GOV.UK website.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether future breast screening service specifications will include details and standards outlining the on-site support, equipment, and reasonable adjustments screening units must be able to provide to women with disabilities and support needs.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS Breast Screening Programme takes equality of access and opportunity for breast screening seriously. There is guidance in place to support breast screening services to address specific needs that people may have in order to attend their breast screening. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breast-screening-identifying-and-reducing-inequalities

Breast screening services are already expected to meet these requirements as part of the current national specification.

A project is underway to assess how the Reasonable Adjustments Digital Flag can be best implemented across screening programmes and how provider services can be best enabled to respond to these requirements. The national screening service specification will be appropriately updated to reflect changes.

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 increase access to computed tomography coronary angiogram machines, including to increase the number of successful heart transplants.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to expanding access to diagnostic imaging, including computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA), through investment in new and expanded community diagnostic centres and wider imaging capacity.

Improved access to CTCA supports earlier and more accurate diagnosis of coronary artery disease and can contribute to pre-transplant assessment. In the context of heart donation, CTCA may be used selectively to assess donor heart suitability, particularly in higher-risk donors. NHS Blood and Transplant is currently progressing work to improve access to CTCA in selected donors to support safe decision-making and potentially improve organ utilisation.

The Government continues to prioritise and support access to computed tomography scanning services. Through ongoing capital investment in computed tomography assets, we have seen an 11% increase in the total number of computed tomography scanners recorded across the country, from March 2023 to March 2025. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostic-imaging-dataset/national-imaging-data-collection/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the planned timeline is for publishing a national implementation plan for the rollout of Fracture Liaison Services; and what milestones have been set for achieving nationwide coverage by 2030.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Fracture Liaison Services are commissioned by integrated care boards, which are well-placed to make decisions according to local need.

Our 10-Year Health Plan committed to rolling out Fracture Liaison Services across every part of the country by 2030.

Officials continue to work closely with NHS England to explore a range of options to provide better quality and access to these important preventative services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total number of full time permanent employees of the NHS in England; and how many of those employees are (1) UK nationals, and (2) overseas nationals with permission to work in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold information on the number of overseas nationals with permission to work in the United Kingdom who are employed in the National Health Service in England. The following table shows, for January 2026, the self-reported nationality of staff employed by NHS hospital trusts and integrated care boards in England:

Source: NHS Workforce Statistics, NHS England

Note: total staff number is not equal to the sum of components due to some staff working in more than one role.

Self-reported nationality may sometimes reflect an NHS employee’s heritage rather than their current citizenship.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent report by NHS Providers Beyond Councils of Governors: rethinking public accountability, published 20 March, for future governance arrangements for NHS Foundation Trusts.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The report will be considered as part of the wider work underway on future engagement models.

The removal of councils of governors from National Health Service foundation trusts forms part of the wider 10-Year Health Plan’s aim to ensure hospitals put patient experiences and outcomes at the heart of their decision-making.

While governors have provided helpful advice and oversight for some foundation trusts, we now need to move to a more dynamic model, drawing on patient, staff, and stakeholder insight.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how the NHS 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure growth and retention in the occupational therapy workforce across health, social care, community and specialist services.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

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. While the scope of the 10 Year Workforce Plan is the NHS workforce, we understand the importance of effective integration across social care and community care.

We are working through how the 10 Year Workforce Plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase defibrillator coverage in non-ambulance emergency vehicles.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Many non-emergency patient transport service (NEPTS) ambulances operated by National Health Service trusts already carry a defibrillator.

The contractual requirements for the provision of NEPTS services, including carrying defibrillators, are determined by each integrated care board, based on their assessment of the needs of the local population.

Found: 2022–23 Annual Report and Accounts – Session 2023-24 (HC 459) • PAC report: DHSC 2023 -24 Annual Report

Found: 2022–23 Annual Report and Accounts – Session 2023-24 (HC 459) • PAC report: DHSC 2023 -24 Annual Report

Found: 2022–23 Annual Report and Accounts – Session 2023-24 (HC 459) • PAC report: DHSC 2023 -24 Annual Report

Found: 2022–23 Annual Report and Accounts – Session 2023-24 (HC 459) • PAC report: DHSC 2023 -24 Annual Report

Found: 2022–23 Annual Report and Accounts – Session 2023-24 (HC 459) • PAC report: DHSC 2023 -24 Annual Report

Found: 2022–23 Annual Report and Accounts – Session 2023-24 (HC 459) • PAC report: DHSC 2023 -24 Annual Report

Found: While the DHSC Fingertips Indicators continues to include PM2.5, NO2 is not included at all.

Found: Previous efforts to coordinate air pollution activities across departments have included Defra, DESNZ, DHSC

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential merits of providing grants or financial support to vending operators to meet compliance costs arising from age verification requirements.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Chancellor has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) on a range of issues.

DHSC ran a 12-week consultation on proposals for the ban of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years from 3 September to 26 November 2025. This included seeking views on how the ban should apply in vending machines.

DHSC is now carefully considering the responses and will publish the government response in due course, setting out the consultation outcome and any next steps.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to update the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services to include a mandatory limit on the procurement of ultra-processed foods across the public estate, including prisons and government departments.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra continues to engage with actors across public sector supply chains and are carefully considering possible policy options, including the potential for updating the government buying standards for food and catering services (GBSF). We will continue to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), who own the nutritional elements of the GBSF, to ensure healthier options are widely accessible in all public sector settings including prisons and government departments.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which public procurement frameworks allow (1) the NHS and, (2) the Ministry of Defence, to support the development and adoption of AI technologies produced by UK-based companies.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has not made a formal assessment to date of the extent to which public procurement frameworks allow the NHS or the Ministry of Defence to support the development and adoption of UK produced AI.

However, the Government is actively looking at this through a cross government ministerial working group bringing together DSIT, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Defence, which is exploring how government works with innovative UK companies, including in the AI sector. Alongside this, the Government’s wider approach is to use public procurement to make the public sector a first customer for innovative technologies and a launchpad for scale ups, supported by Cabinet Office led social value reforms and work through the Commercial Innovation Hub.

Found: patients through A&E  Work in progress Scheduled: Autumn 2026 Departments: Department of Health and Social Care

Found: appointment is made by the Secretary of State for Justice in consultation with the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: We look forward to working closely with DHSC so that people can meaningfully access these innovative

Found: although the Government has admitted that wrongs have been done – the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: been used for providers: FCDO = “Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office”, HO = “Home Office”, DHSC

Found: urgent medical treatment in the UK following agreement about such treatment with the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: to date guidance from relevant governments departments (DBT, Home Office, Defra, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: 03) 19 March 2026 Page 1 of 5 Financial Reporting Advisory Board Paper Department of Health and Social Care

Found: DHSC GAM update Marcin Sanocki 10:20 FRAB 158 (03) 4.

Found: Combined update: • Devolved Administrations • Local Government • DHSC • NAO FRAB 157 (

Found: NHS bodies (NHS Trusts, Foundation Trusts, Integrated Care Boards, DHSC ALBs) ARAs plus NHS Green

Found: 2022–23 Annual Report and Accounts – Session 2023-24 (HC 459) • PAC report: DHSC 2023 -24 Annual Report

Found: 2022–23 Annual Report and Accounts – Session 2023-24 (HC 459) • PAC report: DHSC 2023 -24 Annual Report

Found: research at VDEC Our AMR research is supported by working closely with other UKHSA and Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Working with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England (NHSE), academia, UK devolved

Found: urgent medical treatment in the UK following agreement about such treatment with the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities in the Department of Health and Social Care is managing

Found: accessibility standards - Awareness level Introduction to accessibility Learn the why of accessibility with DHSC

Found: Yorkshire and Humber Other sub-committees There are separate sub-committees for: the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Following a successful second phase, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has allocated £1.2

Found: The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.  

Found: We look forward to working closely with DHSC so that people can meaningfully access these innovative

Found: also be shared with the Department for Education (DfE) and Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC

Found: The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.   

Found: to date guidance from relevant governments departments (DBT, Home Office, Defra, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: [3 6] Department of Health and Social Care, “Health and Social Care Act.,” 2012. [Online].

Found: [37] Department of Health and Social Care, “Health and Social Care Act.,” 2012. [Online].

Found: [3 7] Department of Health and Social Care, “Health and Social Care Act,” 2012. [Online].

Found: [ 3 7 ] Department of Health and Social Care, “Health and Social Care Act,” 2012. [Online].

Found: [3 9] Department of Health and Social Care, “Health and Social Care Act,” 2012. [Online].

Found: for Respiratory Technology and Physiology (ARTP) British Thoracic Society (BTS) Department of Health and Social Care

Found: for Respiratory Technology and Physiology (ARTP) British Thoracic Society (BTS) Department of Health and Social Care

Found: analysis CI Confidence interval COPD Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease DD Differential diagnosis DHSC

Found: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) prevalence data estimate that 3,886,879 people in England