Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance has been issued to safeguarding leads in local authorities regarding parental disagreement with a child's or young adult's wish to undergo social or medical transition.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such guidance has been issued.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what regulatory action has been taken following the closure of the WellBN practice in Brighton; and what assessment they have made of whether other primary care providers are prescribing gender-related medication outside national clinical policy.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As an outcome of an Independent Patient Safety Investigation by the National Health Service, the WellBN Practice in Brighton has stopped prescribing hormone medications to children under 18 years old for gender dysphoria, outside of NHS clinical commissioning policy.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) suspended WellBN’s ‘Good’ rating while concerns with the practice were investigated further. Suspension of ratings does not mean closure of the practice or suspension of the service’s registration with the CQC.
As part of their ongoing inspection, the CQC is also reviewing historical information relating to prescribing practices at the service. This may involve the use of the CQC’s legal powers to investigate incidents where individuals may have experienced harm or been put at risk of harm within health and social care services in England.
Additionally, a number of former and current clinicians at WellBN have been referred for the purpose of further professional investigation, both through their independent professional regulator and/or through the NHS professional standards mechanism.
The NHS has analysed prescribing data relating to hormone treatments given to children under 18 years old among general practices across England and it found that the WellBN Practice was a clear outlier.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what safeguarding requirements apply to adult gender dysphoria clinics when patients present with a history of childhood trauma, abuse or serious mental illness.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Safeguarding is firmly embedded within the core duties and statutory responsibilities of all organisations that provide National Health Services. The organisations that manage adult gender dysphoria clinics will have reference to NHS England's Safeguarding Accountability and Assurance Framework, 5th edition, published 2026, that sets out the safeguarding roles and responsibilities for NHS-commissioned providers and sets out the legal framework for safeguarding adults.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the new maternity and neonatal commissioner will be appointed by; and whether they will have a set time in post.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has announced that it will appoint a statutory Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner. The full scope and role of the Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner is being considered urgently through the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce.
Asked by: Baroness Davies of Devonport (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of regional disparities in maternity safety outcomes.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is important that all women and babies receive safe, equitable, and compassionate care, regardless of where they live. All local areas have equity and equality action plans in place, which set out tailored interventions that tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic backgrounds and those living in the most deprived areas.
NHS England receives annual national surveillance reports from Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK), which provide comprehensive assessments of maternal safety outcomes, including regional variation, inequalities, and risk factors associated with poor outcomes. These reports identify areas where disparities exist and inform national and regional improvement priorities.
Findings and recommendations from the reports are shared with accountable National Health Service leadership teams, which are responsible for implementing targeted improvement actions to reduce unwarranted variation, address inequalities, and improve the safety and quality of maternity care across England.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to update the Saving Babies' Lives Care Bundle to include systematic testing for carbon monoxide in pregnant women who are being poisoned through sources of carbon monoxide other than smoking; and if so, when.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, the current version of the Saving Babies' Lives Care Bundle, published April 2025, recommends that carbon monoxide testing is offered for all women at antenatal booking and the 36-week antenatal appointment, and additionally at every antenatal appointment for the groups identified in NICE Guideline 209, which includes women who "tested with 4 parts per million or above at the first antenatal appointment".
As part of the routine review process for each update to the Care Bundle, relevant national guidance, including NICE and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists guidelines, alongside evidence and best practice are assessed to determine whether any changes are required. Scoping has not yet begun on a new version of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the 1,000 roles for newly qualified midwives announced in response to Baroness Amos’s investigation are temporary and not permanent.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that student midwives are a vital part of our future workforce, providing essential care and support to women, babies and families across maternity services.
Temporary posts give providers flexibility to recruit ahead of turnover, so newly qualified midwives can start work quickly rather than waiting for vacancies. This period will be used to stabilise services and support newly qualified midwives into practice, with the expectation they move into permanent roles as vacancies arise through normal turnover.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the (1) any interim reports, and (2) the final report, by Donna Ockenden regarding the ongoing maternity reviews of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust to be published.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The timeframe of the independent maternity reviews of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust will be determined by the Terms of Reference.
The full Terms of Reference will be developed and finalised with the Chair, Donna Ockenden, and families in the coming months. Families are helping shape the scope of these reviews, ensuring every person who experienced harm gets the answers they deserve, driving lasting improvements to maternity safety.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) high, (2) medium, and (3) low, secure beds in mental health units were available in every region of England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neither the Department nor NHS England holds centrally validated information on the number of secure beds in each region.
Asked by: Baroness Davies of Devonport (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce disparities in access to specialist care for endometriosis.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is unacceptable that women can wait a long time for an endometriosis diagnosis and we are committed to improving waiting times for diagnosis and treatment so patients can get the care they need sooner.
The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy commits to speeding up diagnosis and access to treatment for conditions including endometriosis.
Clinical pathways for heavy periods and pelvic pain, which can be a sign of endometriosis, will be redesigned to reduce repeat appointments, unnecessary referrals, and long waits.
This will create roadmaps for health systems to use and adapt for local needs that will enable women to move more quickly through the system and reach the level of care they need with fewer appointments. These redesigned pathways will also help systems to transform services, plan their workforce, and consider where capacity is most usefully deployed so that hospitals can provide the specialist care they are designed to, and move more care, where appropriate, into the community.
Women with endometriosis will benefit from single points of access for gynaecology referrals and a shift away from hospital-only care towards neighbourhood and community settings.
As part of the Renewed Women's Health Strategy, we also committed to publishing an equity good practice guide to enable integrated care boards (ICBs) to better understand and reduce inequalities in heavy periods. Heavy periods are a key symptom of endometriosis, and this will enable ICBs to take targeted action to improve care and reduce disparities for women experiencing heavy periods and related gynaecological conditions.
Menstrual problems, including those caused by endometriosis, are prioritised as one of the first pathways to be delivered through community-based services and the new virtual hospital, NHS Online.
NHS Online will give people on certain pathways the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. It will connect patients with clinicians across the country through secure, online appointments accessed through the NHS App.
NHS Online will help to reduce patient waiting times, delivering the equivalent of up to 8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years, four times more than an average trust, while enhancing patient choice and control over their care.