Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 the absence of universal access to fracture liason services on the number of preventable deaths from hip fractures each year.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made an assessment of the impact of Fracture Liaison Services on preventable deaths from hip fractures.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of people with a Parkinson’s diagnosis were diagnosed by a specialist; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of that proportion.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Guidance on Parkinson’s disease in adults published by the National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that people with suspected Parkinson's disease are referred for an expert clinical diagnosis by a specialist without delay, and that the diagnosis should be reviewed regularly by a specialist.
While a formal diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease should always be undertaken by a specialist, NHS England does not hold information centrally to audit this.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) the long list of NHS trusts considered by the Chair for inclusion in the Independent Maternity and Neonatal Investigation and (b) the selection criteria used by the Investigation team to assess those trusts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 14 National Health Service trusts to be looked at in the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation were announced on 15 September 2025. There are no plans to publish the long list of NHS trusts considered by the Chair for inclusion in the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.
The 14 NHS trusts were selected by the independent investigation based on a variety of factors, including results from the Care Quality Commission’s Maternity Patient Survey and Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK’s Perinatal Mortality Rates, in addition to variation in case mix, trust type, geographic coverage, provision of care to individuals from diverse backgrounds, and family feedback.
Three of the trusts have been included due to their inclusion in previous investigations or reviews, these three trusts being the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of NHS hospital beds are in private rooms.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not available.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 the planned (a) budgetary reductions and (b) structural reorganisation in NHS Devon on (i) waiting times for surgery and (ii) emergency care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No formal assessment has been made on the potential impact of the planned budgetary reductions and structural reorganisation in NHS Devon on waiting times for surgery and emergency care.
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear on the need for a smaller centre, as well as scaling back integrated care board (ICB) running costs and NHS provider corporate cost reductions in order to reduce waste and bureaucracy.
We have recently announced the Spending Review settlement which provides an additional £29 billion of annual day-to-day spending in real terms by 2028/29, compared to 2023/24. Ahead of asking the National Health Service to commence a multi-year planning round, we are now carefully reviewing how the settlement is prioritised, including making provision for redundancy costs.
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out that ICBs must focus on their role as strategic commissioners, ensuring the best possible value in securing local services that improve population health and reduce inequalities.
Each ICB is therefore responsible for considering local needs to meet the expectations set out in planning guidance.
As of August 2025, 62.1% of pathways in NHS Devon ICB were completed within 18 weeks. This has improved by 3.4 percentage points since August 2024.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will take steps to make Integrated Care Boards coterminous with strategic authorities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The English devolution white paper made clear the Government’s long-term ambition to align public service boundaries, including health and strategic authority boundaries. We reaffirmed this commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan, published on 3 July 2025. Our aim is that integrated care boards should be coterminous with strategic authorities wherever feasibly possible.
I also refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS915 I made to the House on 9 September 2025, which provided an update on further progress.
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 his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing regulations requiring private healthcare providers to publish standardised pricing for diagnostic services in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not carried out an assessment of the potential merits of introducing regulations requiring private healthcare providers to publish standardised pricing for diagnostic services.
In 2014, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded an investigation into the private healthcare market and published a report which concluded that the lack of sufficient publicly available performance and fee information on consultants was a feature in the provision of privately funded healthcare services by consultants, giving rise to adverse effect on competition. The report is available at the following link:
The Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014 was made in response, and the CMA continues to monitor compliance to improve competition. The order is available at the following link:
The Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) was set up following the report to publish information about the safety, quality and costs of private healthcare.
On 10 October 2025, the CMA recognised the PHIN meeting the silver milestone on its journey toward being fully compliant with the CMA’s Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014. This recognised the PHIN engaging with the sector to facilitate compliance with the order so that 96% of consultants publish their consultation fees for self-pay patients, exceeding PHIN’s 90% target. Currently, 96% of all private procedures are carried out by consultants whose fees are on the PHIN website. The CMA’s letter recognising this milestone is available at the following link:
Where private healthcare providers are delivering services for NHS patients, this is delivered at NHS tariff prices.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will allocate funding to ensure that every patient at the Royal Preston Hospital who requires radiotherapy treatment is able to access it.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about funding for radiotherapy treatment are taken at a local National Health Service level, rather than by the Department, and there are no plans to change this.
All cancer patients have access to radiotherapy treatment. Decisions about cancer treatment are typically made by clinicians and multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals.
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 his Department has made of the (a) current and (b) projected workforce needs for specialist Parkinson’s (i) consultants and (ii) nurses in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no specific assessment of the adequacy of the current or projected workforce needs for specialist Parkinson’s consultants or nurses in Surrey Heath constituency.
Integrated care boards will plan, commission, and oversee the provision of local National Health Service services to meet their population’s needs.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to allocate additional funding to radiotherapy treatment in the North West of England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about funding for radiotherapy treatment are taken at a local National Health Service level, rather than by the Department, and there are no plans to change this.
All cancer patients have access to radiotherapy treatment. Decisions about cancer treatment are typically made by clinicians and multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals.