Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase access to healthcare services in rural areas.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan has set out a long-term vision to reform the National Health Service and make it fit for the future. Addressing healthcare inequity is a core focus of the 10-Year Health Plan, to ensure the NHS is there for anyone who needs it whenever they need it.
This includes ending the postcode lottery for cancer patients through introducing new training places targeted at trusts with the biggest workforce gaps, prioritising rural and coastal areas.
There are also a range of adjustments made to integrated care board funding allocations that account for the fact that the costs of providing health care may vary between rural and urban areas. These adjustments specifically support remote or sparsely populated areas.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 address regional variation in access to continuous glucose monitoring, including in Dorset.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning health services to meet the needs of their populations. In doing so they must have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, including for diabetes. The National Diabetes Audit (NDA), and the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit (NPDA) along with NHS Digital’s NDA and NPDA dashboards provide comprehensive data on care processes and outcomes and highlight variation. The dashboards help commissioners, providers, and paediatric diabetes units benchmark themselves and target improvements.
NHS Dorset has a policy in place for the provision of prescribable continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
In order to ensure that Dorset patients are being treated appropriately, use of CGM is tracked against patient eligibility criteria as set out in NICE guidance and the NHS Dorset CGM policy.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support earlier diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes in babies, toddlers and children presenting with symptoms in primary care in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local health commissioners and providers in Surrey are responsible for assessing how existing clinical guidance is being applied across primary care settings.
NHS England is undertaking a review of options for supporting primary care services in the identification of acute onset Type 1 diabetes in babies and children and in doing so will engage with relevant national organisations and partners.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, we will continue to support people living with diabetes, including through the rollout of new wearable technologies such as hybrid closed loop (HCL) systems. The rollout of HCL systems is backed by £107 million in 2026/27 and has been made available to over 23,000 additional people since 2023/24.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the consistency with which existing clinical guidance on Type 1 Diabetes is applied across primary care settings in Surrey.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local health commissioners and providers in Surrey are responsible for assessing how existing clinical guidance is being applied across primary care settings.
NHS England is undertaking a review of options for supporting primary care services in the identification of acute onset Type 1 diabetes in babies and children and in doing so will engage with relevant national organisations and partners.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, we will continue to support people living with diabetes, including through the rollout of new wearable technologies such as hybrid closed loop (HCL) systems. The rollout of HCL systems is backed by £107 million in 2026/27 and has been made available to over 23,000 additional people since 2023/24.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
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 vaping devices that (a) contain and (b) can be configured to contain more than the standard 2ml tank capacity through (i) interchangeable and (ii) modular components on public health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will stop vapes and nicotine products from being deliberately branded, promoted, and advertised to children and provides the Government with new powers to restrict the packaging, device appearance, and display of vapes and other nicotine products to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine.
On 8 October 2025, we launched a Call for Evidence which sought evidence on the size and shape of vapes, vape tanks, and the components of vaping products, including pods, puff-count capacity, and nicotine delivery.
We are now reviewing the responses, and these will help inform decisions around our future regulatory approach once the Tobacco and Vapes Bill has been enacted.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as part of their upcoming Circular Economy Growth Plan, will consider evidence across a range of interventions, including but not limited to the regulation of product features to support increased recyclability.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 15 January to Question 101203, on Latex: Allergies, if he will place a copy of the Expert Advisory Group on Allergy's December 2025 minutes in the House of Commons Library.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Terms of Reference for the Expert Advisory Group on Allergy, which is overseen and supported by external stakeholders, states that the meetings are confidential. Therefore, the meeting minutes are not shared publicly.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 General Practitioners are sufficiently trained on Functional Neurological Disorder.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the need to improve awareness and understanding of functional neurological disorder (FND) across the health system.
The Royal College of General Practitioners provides a learning course that includes a dedicated module on recognising and explaining FND, helping general practitioners (GPs) to improve early identification and understanding of the condition. Further support is provided through guidance published by the National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) on suspected neurological conditions: recognition and referral, reference code NG127, which includes detailed recommendations on recognising symptoms commonly present in FND and appropriate referral pathways.
NICE also provides a Clinical Knowledge Summary (CKS) on FND, offering practical, evidence‑based advice on diagnosis and management, supporting clinicians in distinguishing FND from structural or degenerative neurological disease.
FND is also included in a NICE guideline on rehabilitation for chronic neurological disorders and acquired brain injury, reference code NG252, published in October 2025. This further strengthens the evidence base and ensure clinicians have clear, up‑to‑date guidance on assessment and management within a broader neurological context.
Together, these resources ensure that health professionals, across primary, secondary, and specialist services, have access to robust, evidence‑based tools to support accurate differentiation between FND and other neurological conditions.
GPs are required to undertake continuing professional development to maintain and update their clinical knowledge, and they can access a range of training resources through professional bodies, royal colleges, and National Health Service‑funded education platforms. Decisions about mandatory training requirements are made only where there is a clear and evidence‑based need, and the current approach remains to ensure that GPs have the flexibility to tailor their learning to the needs of their patient populations.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make training on Functional Neurological Disorder mandatory for General Practitioners.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the need to improve awareness and understanding of functional neurological disorder (FND) across the health system.
The Royal College of General Practitioners provides a learning course that includes a dedicated module on recognising and explaining FND, helping general practitioners (GPs) to improve early identification and understanding of the condition. Further support is provided through guidance published by the National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) on suspected neurological conditions: recognition and referral, reference code NG127, which includes detailed recommendations on recognising symptoms commonly present in FND and appropriate referral pathways.
NICE also provides a Clinical Knowledge Summary (CKS) on FND, offering practical, evidence‑based advice on diagnosis and management, supporting clinicians in distinguishing FND from structural or degenerative neurological disease.
FND is also included in a NICE guideline on rehabilitation for chronic neurological disorders and acquired brain injury, reference code NG252, published in October 2025. This further strengthens the evidence base and ensure clinicians have clear, up‑to‑date guidance on assessment and management within a broader neurological context.
Together, these resources ensure that health professionals, across primary, secondary, and specialist services, have access to robust, evidence‑based tools to support accurate differentiation between FND and other neurological conditions.
GPs are required to undertake continuing professional development to maintain and update their clinical knowledge, and they can access a range of training resources through professional bodies, royal colleges, and National Health Service‑funded education platforms. Decisions about mandatory training requirements are made only where there is a clear and evidence‑based need, and the current approach remains to ensure that GPs have the flexibility to tailor their learning to the needs of their patient populations.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
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 2 February 2026 to Question 108291 on IVF: Greater Manchester, if he will have discussions with the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board on the potential impact of the decision to reduce NHS-funded IVF provision across Greater Manchester to one cycle on (i) patient outcomes and (ii) health inequalities; and if will hold discussions with that ICB on current NICE guidance on IVF provision.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to discuss with the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB) any changes to its provision of National Health Service funded in vitro fertilisation treatment or the current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on fertility services.
Funding decisions for health services in England are made by ICBs and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. They are expected to commission fertility services in line with NICE guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.
Updated NICE fertility guidelines are expected in spring. The Department will continue to support NHS England as they work closely with ICBs to ensure the guidance is fully considered in local commissioning decisions.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 on the potential merits of producing a National Maternity Strategy.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is establishing a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
The taskforce will address the recommendations that are expected this Spring from the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation through the development of a new national action plan that will drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care. The taskforce will also hold the system to account for the delivery of this plan, as well as improving outcomes and experiences for women and babies.