Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 financial impact on NHS Trusts of unpaid overseas visitor charges.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the data requested on the number of overseas visitors who receive free National Health Service treatment.
The Department and NHS England annually publish data on the income identified, recovered and written off from chargeable overseas visitors in England in the Departments Annual Report and Accounts annually and in NHS England’s consolidated NHS provider accounts. The information for the last five years is available at the following links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/consolidated-provider-accounts-21-22-final.pdf (page 66)
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Consolidated-NHS-provider-accounts-2020-21.pdf (page 74)
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts-19-20.pdf (page 74)
NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Ockenden report, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the progress in delivering the Immediate and Essential Actions; and if he will publish an update on the implementation status of each action within every NHS trust providing maternity care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The final report of the Ockenden review contained 96 immediate and essential actions (IEAs), some national and some for local implementation. The IEAs contained in the Ockenden review were brought together, alongside other reports and guidance, into NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services. A review of progress against the national actions in April 2025 demonstrated that work has been completed for many actions, but that there have been some challenges, for example in pre-conception care for women with pre-existing medical conditions.
NHS England wrote to all trusts and systems following publication of the review in April 2022, asking them to deliver the recommendations and report to their public boards. The expectation is that local board oversight of progress with implementation should be ongoing. Following discussion, it was agreed that some of the actions should not be universally implemented, for example newly qualified midwives remaining hospital based for one year post-qualifying.
More widely, Baroness Amos is leading a rapid, national, independent investigation into National Health Service maternity and neonatal services to help us to understand the systemic issues behind why so many women, babies, and families experience unacceptable care. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has agreed with Baroness Amos that the investigation will publish its final report and recommendations in the spring of 2026, bringing together the findings of past reviews into one clear national set of recommendations.
The Government is also setting up a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. The taskforce will take forward the recommendations of the investigation to develop a new national action plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 total amount of income written off by NHS Trusts as unrecoverable charges owed by overseas visitors in each of the past three years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the data requested on the number of overseas visitors who receive free National Health Service treatment.
The Department and NHS England annually publish data on the income identified, recovered and written off from chargeable overseas visitors in England in the Departments Annual Report and Accounts annually and in NHS England’s consolidated NHS provider accounts. The information for the last five years is available at the following links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/consolidated-provider-accounts-21-22-final.pdf (page 66)
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Consolidated-NHS-provider-accounts-2020-21.pdf (page 74)
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts-19-20.pdf (page 74)
NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 annual cost to the NHS of treatment provided free of charge to overseas visitors who are not residents of the UK.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the data requested on the number of overseas visitors who receive free National Health Service treatment.
The Department and NHS England annually publish data on the income identified, recovered and written off from chargeable overseas visitors in England in the Departments Annual Report and Accounts annually and in NHS England’s consolidated NHS provider accounts. The information for the last five years is available at the following links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/consolidated-provider-accounts-21-22-final.pdf (page 66)
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Consolidated-NHS-provider-accounts-2020-21.pdf (page 74)
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts-19-20.pdf (page 74)
NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data he holds on the number of overseas visitors who received NHS treatment free of charge in the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the data requested on the number of overseas visitors who receive free National Health Service treatment.
The Department and NHS England annually publish data on the income identified, recovered and written off from chargeable overseas visitors in England in the Departments Annual Report and Accounts annually and in NHS England’s consolidated NHS provider accounts. The information for the last five years is available at the following links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/consolidated-provider-accounts-21-22-final.pdf (page 66)
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Consolidated-NHS-provider-accounts-2020-21.pdf (page 74)
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts-19-20.pdf (page 74)
NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 ensure that smaller systems, such as Gloucestershire, do not lose visibility or influence within larger merged ICBs which include urban centres.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Across larger integrated care board (ICB) footprints there will be a renewed focus on the local level as part of our commitment to deliver care closer to home. As outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan, neighbourhood health plans will be created, including for Gloucestershire, and will be brought together as part of the ICBs’ plans to improve population health locally.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
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 condition of maternity wards and equipment across NHS trusts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s maternity and neonatal infrastructure review was completed in spring 2024 by all trusts in England that provide maternity and neonatal services. It found various issues with maternity and neonatal service infrastructure, including limited physical space, inadequate capacity for efficient services, and poor building conditions.
However, all trust boards are asked to review their estates data and to seek assurance that all healthcare premises, from which they are delivering maternity and neonatal services, are of appropriate standard. In instances where the estate is not of appropriate standard, trust boards should ensure mitigating action is being taken accordingly.
NHS England is developing a data dashboard to present maternity and neonatal estate survey data. This will enable trusts to capture the latest information on their estates and take action at the local level when required.
The independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, chaired by Baroness Amos, is considering the adequacy of maternity and neonatal infrastructure within its scope.
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 his Department has made of the potential impact of withdrawing local early-intervention health services on demand for secondary care in Surrey.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The commissioning of local National Health Services is a matter for local integrated care boards (ICBs) working together with providers and other stakeholders. Neither the NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB nor the NHS Frimley ICB are aware of the withdrawal of early intervention services in Surrey.
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 cross government support is provided to local authorities to identify the location of, and those buried in, historic unmarked mass child graves in England such as those discovered in Royton, Oldham.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the distress caused to bereaved parents by these historic practices and we commend the work that families and charities have been doing to highlight this issue and support other bereaved parents. We are working across Government to better support parents searching for the final resting place of their child’s remains and will ensure they are given as much help as possible. Ministers from across Government will be meeting shortly to discuss this issue, to ensure effective cross-Government coordination and support for affected families.
Tracing a baby’s grave or a record of cremation can be a very difficult time for people both mentally and emotionally. It is important, therefore, that parents searching for the final resting place of their child’s remains are given as much help as possible. The Government expects all hospitals and burial and cremation authorities to assist by providing all information and records available to them, to any parents that enquire about what happened to their stillborn babies and their final resting place, in a timely manner.
The 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement makes available over £69 billion for local government. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced, recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.
Standards from the mid-1980s onwards brought an end to the historic practice of placing the remains of stillborn babies’ bodies in unmarked graves. The current death certification process means that this historic practice is no longer possible.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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) awareness, (b) diagnosis and (c) treatment for, pulmonary hypertension.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England commissions specialist services for both adults and children to diagnose and treat pulmonary arterial hypertension. Care is provided through a small number of specialised centres and shared care arrangements with other centres.
High-cost drug treatments are delivering improvements in outcomes for this group of patients, as evidenced by the National Pulmonary Hypertension Audit. This audit is funded by NHS England, with further information available at the following link:
Clinical guidelines and pathways exist for the investigation of breathlessness, to support the recognition and diagnosis of this rare condition.