Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the volume, proportion and value of food waste in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National standards for healthcare food and drink include instructions on the measurement, reductions, and monitoring of food waste. Production, spoilage, unserved and plate waste are the areas of focus. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-standards-for-healthcare-food-and-drink/
Data on food waste at National Health Service organisations is collected through the Estates Return Information Collection and is published at the following link:
The latest available figures are for 2024/25 and were published on 16 October 2025. As per these figures, there was 11,262 tonnes of domestic waste (food) weight, which represents 3% of the total waste, 377,079 tonnes, disposed of. This domestic waste cost £1,728,839, which represents 0.9% of the total waste disposal costs of £187,804,007.
Over recent years, we have significantly improved how we measure food waste, so any apparent increases are more likely to be due to better measurement rather than an actual rise in waste produced.
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 he is taking to ensure timely access to treatment for children experiencing sudden medical emergencies in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for ensuring that appropriate specialist support is available for paediatric medical emergencies in their areas. In Surrey Heath, this responsibility sits with the Frimley Integrated Care System.
Children who require specialist support for medical emergencies in the Surrey Heath constituency are served by their local hospital at Frimley Park which has a dedicated Paediatric Emergency Department. The Paediatric Emergency Department is a separate facility within the main department and is open 24 hours a day.
Children who require treatment for sudden medical emergencies can also access the South East Coast Ambulance Service via 999. Following support from the ambulance service, children may be taken to the Paediatric Emergency Department at Frimley Park Hospital or another suitable facility.
In our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, we commit to increasing the number of children seen within four hours in accident and emergency. This means thousands of children every month receiving more timely care than before.
The Department continues to work with NHS England and local systems to monitor capacity so that children receive timely, specialist care in emergencies.
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 availability of specialist support for paediatric medical emergencies in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for ensuring that appropriate specialist support is available for paediatric medical emergencies in their areas. In Surrey Heath, this responsibility sits with the Frimley Integrated Care System.
Children who require specialist support for medical emergencies in the Surrey Heath constituency are served by their local hospital at Frimley Park which has a dedicated Paediatric Emergency Department. The Paediatric Emergency Department is a separate facility within the main department and is open 24 hours a day.
Children who require treatment for sudden medical emergencies can also access the South East Coast Ambulance Service via 999. Following support from the ambulance service, children may be taken to the Paediatric Emergency Department at Frimley Park Hospital or another suitable facility.
In our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, we commit to increasing the number of children seen within four hours in accident and emergency. This means thousands of children every month receiving more timely care than before.
The Department continues to work with NHS England and local systems to monitor capacity so that children receive timely, specialist care in emergencies.
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, whether his Department has plans to improve (a) recognition and (b) support for volunteer emergency responders in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises and is grateful for the valuable contribution volunteers make in supporting National Health Service staff, patients, and services.
Individual ambulance trusts are responsible for making decisions on recruiting, supporting, and developing volunteers to support their specific service needs. NHS England recently launched a single volunteer recruitment portal making it easier for trusts across the NHS to advertise volunteer vacancies, and for potential volunteer applicants to source and apply for available opportunities.
There are currently no plans for the Government to review the ways that emergency responders are recruited or supported by trusts.
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 he is taking to support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of volunteer emergency responders in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises and is grateful for the valuable contribution volunteers make in supporting National Health Service staff, patients, and services.
Individual ambulance trusts are responsible for making decisions on recruiting, supporting, and developing volunteers to support their specific service needs. NHS England recently launched a single volunteer recruitment portal making it easier for trusts across the NHS to advertise volunteer vacancies, and for potential volunteer applicants to source and apply for available opportunities.
There are currently no plans for the Government to review the ways that emergency responders are recruited or supported by trusts.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 expand access to women's health hubs.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is encouraging integrated care boards (ICBs) to further expand the coverage of women’s health hubs and to support ICBs to use the learning from the women’s health hub pilots to improve local delivery of services to women and girls.
The 10-Year Health Plan set out the ambition for high autonomy to be the norm across every part of the country. ICBs are responsible for commissioning services that meet the healthcare needs of their local population and have the freedom to do so, and this includes women's health hubs and delivering the direction of the Women's Health Strategy. The Government is backing ICBs to do this through record funding. The 2025 Spending Review prioritised health, with record investment in the health and social care system.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of neonatal nurses in University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.
We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
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 effectiveness of staff training programmes relating to patient (a) nutrition, (b) care planning and (c) recordkeeping within NHS services in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. Regulated healthcare professionals need to meet the standards of proficiency, conduct, and performance set by the relevant professional regulator, which are independent of the Government. It is the responsibility of individual employers to ensure their staff have appropriate access to ongoing training and professional development to provide safe and effective care.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many of the Trusts outlined in the national maternity review were made aware of (a) their inclusion before the review was publicly announced and (b) why they had been chosen to be included in the review.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All trusts were made aware that they had been selected for inclusion in the national maternity and neonatal investigation before it was publicly announced.
The Chair’s selection of the trusts for the local reviews has been made with a view to ensure a diverse mix of trusts, including variation in case mix, trust type, and geographic and demographic coverage. By taking this approach, the investigation can capture learning from a wide range of provision and experiences, ensuring the findings are relevant across the system.
The rationale of these selected sites has taken into consideration several criteria, including data indicating trusts with poor outcomes or experience, in particular from Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK, or MBRRACE-UK, perinatal mortality rates from 2021 to 2023, and the Care Quality Commission maternity patient survey from 2024.
The Chair also considered trusts proposed by bereaved and harmed families who have experienced failures in maternity care.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of standards of care for older patients in acute hospital settings in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Older patients who require acute care in the Surrey Health constituency are well served by their local hospital at Frimley Park, which is part of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital was recently inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which awarded its medical care, including older people’s care, an outstanding rating. Further details of the CQC’s inspection report can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/RDU01/inspection-summary#Medical-care-Including-older-people-s-care