Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 December 2025 to Question 93696, what recent steps he has taken to implement the UK Rare Diseases Framework commitment to faster diagnosis; and how this is reflected in changes to the newborn screening programme.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases. Helping patients get a final diagnosis faster is one of the four priorities of the UK Rare Diseases Framework. We published the annual England action plan in February 2025, where we report on the steps we have taken to advance this priority. This year's plan updated on research we have commissioned to better understand what causes delays in diagnosis; the Generation Study to pilot whole genome sequencing of newborns in the National Health Service; and the work of the NHS Genomic Medicine Service.
The current NHS Newborn Blood Spot Screening Programme enables early identification, referral and treatment of babies with 10 rare but serious conditions. In the United Kingdom, new screening programmes and modifications to existing screening programmes are recommended by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). The UK NSC recommended newborn screening for hereditary tyrosinaemia type 1 in June 2022. The NHS began to offer it routinely in October 2025. An in-service evaluation (ISE) of screening for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency was launched in 2021 and closed on 27 October 2025. At the June 2023 UK NSC meeting, the Committee supported the need for a new independent model for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and agreed to plan for the SMA ISE. Evidence was published in August 2025, and is available at the following link:
https://nationalscreening.blog.gov.uk/2025/08/07/uk-nsc-publishes-sma-screening-evidence-documents/
Planning and development work to shape the ISE of newborn screening for SMA is ongoing.
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, how many neurologists have specialist training in Parkinson’s disease; and if he will estimate the espected number of neurologists with specialist training in Parkinson’s over the next five years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the number of neurologists or geriatricians with specialist training in Parkinson’s disease, nor does NHS England publish workforce projections at this level of granularity. Neurologists typically manage a wide range of conditions, including Parkinson’s, and geriatricians are trained to manage a broad range of complex health needs in older people. Workforce data is collected for the specialty as a whole rather than by sub-specialty.
As of August 2025, there were 2,010 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology and 6,284 in geriatric medicine in National Health Service trusts and other organisations in England. This includes 1,025 FTE consultant neurologists and 1,687 FTE consultant geriatricians.
The Department does not hold specific data on the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses currently working in the NHS in England. These roles are commissioned and managed locally by NHS trusts and integrated care boards (ICBs) as part of neurology and movement disorder services.
NHS England uses workforce modelling to establish potential future scenarios for both the supply of, and demand for, NHS workers across all specialties. In doing so, they analyse a range of factors, including population health trends, service utilisation patterns, and projected retirement and training rates. This modelling helps determine the number of training places required and informs long-term workforce planning, ensuring that specialties such as neurology and geriatric medicine have sufficient capacity to meet anticipated needs.
The Government will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. It will ensure that the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, including those with Parkinson’s disease, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.
The Department recognises the importance of maintaining high-quality services for people living with Parkinson’s disease. NHS England sets clear expectations of ICBs through national service specifications as well as guidance provided through initiatives like the Getting it Right First Time and RightCare Programmes to ensure equitable access to care for people with neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s. NHS England monitors ICB performance through planning guidance and assurance processes to ensure compliance with national standards and to prevent inappropriate service reductions.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 collaboration between his Department and Drinkaware.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
External engagement is a fundamental part of what United Kingdom ministerial Government departments do. We recognise the importance of promoting transparency through engagement and the need to take a balanced and proportionate approach.
In Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England, the Government has committed to some crucial steps to help people make healthier choices about alcohol, for instance making it a legal requirement for alcohol labels to display health warnings and consistent nutritional information. The plan can be accessed online at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future
In the development and progression of the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitments and other policies, Department officials have met a wide range of stakeholders and are making plans for further stakeholder engagement to take place shortly. Stakeholder insights will help shape the Department’s work to ensure that are policies are most effective.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
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 reduce transmission of influenza in Lancashire.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our flu vaccination campaign started in September, and is helping to keep people out of hospital.
The UK Health Security Agency is also working closely with colleagues in NHS North West and local integrated care boards (ICBs). There continues to be sustained multi-agency communications and marketing across the localised area and work is ongoing to promote and amplify prevention measures. Work continues to encourage prevention through targeted communications using local data to both the public and stakeholders whilst work is ongoing, as in every winter season, to show trends locally to allow the local health family to act accordingly via shared data and intelligence.
The ICB has stepped up public messaging around getting the flu vaccine for eligible groups and the importance of choosing the right service. This has included promoting a bespoke winter campaign in the local area as well as press releases, social media, and broadcast interviews at a local and regional level.
Some local hospitals have made it mandatory for staff to wear a surgical mask in any areas with suspected or confirmed influenza patients, and those patients who are suspected as having influenza on triage may also be asked to wear a mask. Masks are also available to patients and relatives in waiting areas.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to ensure Mental Health Support Teams in schools are trained in Speech and Language therapy.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We currently have no plans to train the education mental health practitioners, who are the primary workforce of mental health support teams (MHSTs), in speech and language therapy.
We are expanding MHSTs in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029, and 900,000 more children and young people will have access to support from MHSTs in 2025/26.
The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Education and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
In addition to the undergraduate degree route, speech and language therapists can now also train via a degree apprenticeship. This route is going into its fourth year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a speech and language therapist.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 potential implications for his policies of changes in the diagnosis rates of mental health conditions and neurodivergence in England in the last five years.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. The independent review into the prevalence and support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism will examine the similarities and differences between these conditions, focusing on prevalence, prevention, treatment, and current challenges in clinical services.
It will assess how diagnosis, medicalisation, and treatment impact individual outcomes, including the risks and benefits of medicalisation, and will identify approaches to provide varied support models and pathways, both within and beyond the National Health Service, that promote prevention and early intervention alongside clinical care.
The report will include recommendations for responding to rising need, both within the Government and across the health system and wider public services.
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 assessment he has made of the potential impact of the extension to the Healthy Start scheme to families with no recourse to public funds.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department ran a consultation, Eligibility for Healthy Start for groups that have no recourse to public funds or are subject to immigration controls, which provided examples of the potential impacts of extending Healthy Start to families with no recourse to public funds. The consultation has now closed, and the Department is currently considering options following the consultation. Further information will be available in due course.
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 steps he is taking to modernise whole system appointments to (a) improve patient access and (b) avoid missed appointments.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Digital transformation is revolutionising access to healthcare by putting patients at the centre of a modern, personalised, and data-driven service. The goal is to empower individuals with greater choice, transparency, and control over their care, while helping to reduce systemic health inequalities and drive digital modernisation across the National Health Service.
There are a range of changes that improve patient access to appointments and avoid missed appointments. Steps that we are taking to improve access include:
To avoid missed appointment we sent over 130 million appointment invitations and reminders via the NHS App in the last year, replacing paper letters and reducing delays. Digital reminders and the ability for patients to reschedule at the swipe of a button are helping to cut Did Not Attend rates, supporting elective recovery, and improving GP access. Analysis shows that these measures are contributing to reductions in hospital waiting lists and improving patient satisfaction.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to launch a public awareness campaign to help tackle suicide.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department currently has no specific plans to launch a public awareness campaign to help tackle suicide.
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in 2023, identifies eight priority groups for targeted and tailored support at a national level. The strategy also identifies key risk factors for suicide, providing an opportunity for effective early intervention.
The purpose of the Suicide Prevention Strategy is to set out our aims to prevent suicide through action by working across government and other organisations. One of the key visions of the strategy is to reduce stigma surrounding suicide and mental health, so people feel able to seek help – including through the routes that work best for them. This includes raising awareness that no suicide is inevitable.
NHS England published Staying safe from suicide: Best practice guidance for safety assessment, formulation and management to support the Government’s work to reduce suicide and improve mental health services. The guidance requires all mental health practitioners to align their practice to the latest evidence in suicide prevention, and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/staying-safe-from-suicide/
The NHS England Medium Term Planning Framework states that in 2026/27, all integrated care boards must ensure mental health practitioners across all providers undertake training and deliver care in line with the ‘Staying safe from suicide’ guidance.
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country. This includes transforming mental health services into neighbourhood mental health centres, improving assertive outreach, expanding talking therapies and giving patients better access to support directly through the NHS App, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 establishing a national memorial to commemorate the lives of people buried in former psychiatric hospital cemeteries, including Horton Cemetery.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessments have been made.