Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they conducted a resource and cost analysis when setting guide prices for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessments for 2026–27; and if so, whether they will publish that data.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has engaged with providers and commissioners as part of the development of the currency models and guide prices for autism assessment services and certain attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services prior to their inclusion within the NHS Payment Scheme.
The statutory consultation for the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27, which closed on 16 December 2025, provided an opportunity for all service providers to review the consultation guidance and provide comments and feedback, with further information avaiable on the NHS.UK website. NHS England is currently reviewing this feedback to inform the final 2026/27 Payment Scheme. The NHS England Payment Team invited all known ADHD and autism service providers to a pre-consultation webinar which set out the overall changes to the payment scheme. NHS England will continue to engage service providers as part of the next phase of development following the publication of the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27.
As set out in the NHS Payment Scheme consultation, we have used a range of existing local prices agreed between commissioners and providers as the basis for the guide prices in the consultation. The payment scheme consultation provides the opportunity for providers to comment on the proposed guide prices, and we will consider all the responses received before finalising the payment scheme for 2026/27. These proposals for 2026/27 represent the first stage of planning pricing development for autism assessment services and certain ADHD services.
NHS England has set out what is included within assessments for ADHD and autism within a supporting document to the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27 statutory consultation. This guidance also links to clinical guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and other guidance which may support the commissioning and provision of these services. Guidance setting out the all age autism assessment pathway intended to help integrated care boards deliver improved outcomes in all age autism assessment pathways was written by NHS England in April 2024 and is available on the NHS.UK website.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the criteria for (1) autism, and (2) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, assessments in 2026–27; and what the differences are between those two assessments.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has engaged with providers and commissioners as part of the development of the currency models and guide prices for autism assessment services and certain attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services prior to their inclusion within the NHS Payment Scheme.
The statutory consultation for the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27, which closed on 16 December 2025, provided an opportunity for all service providers to review the consultation guidance and provide comments and feedback, with further information avaiable on the NHS.UK website. NHS England is currently reviewing this feedback to inform the final 2026/27 Payment Scheme. The NHS England Payment Team invited all known ADHD and autism service providers to a pre-consultation webinar which set out the overall changes to the payment scheme. NHS England will continue to engage service providers as part of the next phase of development following the publication of the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27.
As set out in the NHS Payment Scheme consultation, we have used a range of existing local prices agreed between commissioners and providers as the basis for the guide prices in the consultation. The payment scheme consultation provides the opportunity for providers to comment on the proposed guide prices, and we will consider all the responses received before finalising the payment scheme for 2026/27. These proposals for 2026/27 represent the first stage of planning pricing development for autism assessment services and certain ADHD services.
NHS England has set out what is included within assessments for ADHD and autism within a supporting document to the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27 statutory consultation. This guidance also links to clinical guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and other guidance which may support the commissioning and provision of these services. Guidance setting out the all age autism assessment pathway intended to help integrated care boards deliver improved outcomes in all age autism assessment pathways was written by NHS England in April 2024 and is available on the NHS.UK website.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consultations they had with service providers in establishing the NHS Payment Scheme guide prices for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessment in 2026–27.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has engaged with providers and commissioners as part of the development of the currency models and guide prices for autism assessment services and certain attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services prior to their inclusion within the NHS Payment Scheme.
The statutory consultation for the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27, which closed on 16 December 2025, provided an opportunity for all service providers to review the consultation guidance and provide comments and feedback, with further information avaiable on the NHS.UK website. NHS England is currently reviewing this feedback to inform the final 2026/27 Payment Scheme. The NHS England Payment Team invited all known ADHD and autism service providers to a pre-consultation webinar which set out the overall changes to the payment scheme. NHS England will continue to engage service providers as part of the next phase of development following the publication of the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27.
As set out in the NHS Payment Scheme consultation, we have used a range of existing local prices agreed between commissioners and providers as the basis for the guide prices in the consultation. The payment scheme consultation provides the opportunity for providers to comment on the proposed guide prices, and we will consider all the responses received before finalising the payment scheme for 2026/27. These proposals for 2026/27 represent the first stage of planning pricing development for autism assessment services and certain ADHD services.
NHS England has set out what is included within assessments for ADHD and autism within a supporting document to the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27 statutory consultation. This guidance also links to clinical guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and other guidance which may support the commissioning and provision of these services. Guidance setting out the all age autism assessment pathway intended to help integrated care boards deliver improved outcomes in all age autism assessment pathways was written by NHS England in April 2024 and is available on the NHS.UK website.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will begin the consultation for the new Autism Strategy.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In developing the next national autism strategy, we will consider evidence and outputs from all relevant work including the recently published House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee’s report Time to deliver: The Autism Act 2009 and the new strategy. We will be responding to the committee’s helpful recommendations, including regarding a new national autism strategy, in the new year.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria apply to NHS hospitals when requesting patients to sign a 'do not resuscitate' form.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
There are no set criteria applied to National Health Service hospitals when requesting patients sign do not resuscitate forms. Doctors are required to make do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions based on the individual circumstances of a patient, and with the involvement of the person concerned or, where the person lacks capacity, their family, or any other legally recognised advocate.
Patient facing guidance setting out how DNACPR decisions should be made, and how individuals or their families can get support about a DNACPR, is provided on the NHS website, in an online only format.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many 'do not resuscitate' forms have been signed in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department does not hold this data.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address barriers to discharge from mental health inpatient units for autistic people and people with learning disabilities related to the provision of (1) suitable housing, and (2) social care support.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
On 26 January 2024, we published statutory guidance on discharge from mental health inpatient settings. This guidance sets out key principles for how National Health Service bodies and local authorities across adult and children’s services should work together to support people to be discharged from mental health inpatient services, including mental health inpatient services for people with a learning disability and for autistic people. This guidance states that strong links should be made with relevant community services prior to, and during, the person’s stay in hospital, and that this should include links in relation to meeting the person’s needs related to health, social care, education, housing, and any other individual needs.
In 2023/24, we are investing an additional £121 million to improve community support, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. This includes funding for children and young people’s keyworkers. We continue to support the delivery of new supported housing by providing capital subsidies to providers, through the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund and the Affordable Homes Programme in England. We have also made available up to £8.6 billion over this and next financial year, to support adult social care and discharge.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the dynamic support register and Care (Education) and Treatment Review policy for autistic people without a learning difficulty in (1) preventing hospital admissions, and (2) speeding up hospital discharges.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
NHS England published updated policy and guidance on both Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TRs) and Dynamic Support Registers (DSRs) on 25 January 2023, for implementation from 1 May 2023, to help ensure people get the support they need to stay well in their communities. This includes guidance on the timescales for C(E)TRs and on ensuring that actions are taken forward.
NHS England produced the updated policy and guidance following a process of reviewing the learning since the inception of C(E)TRs and DSRs, including consultation and engagement with people with lived experience. This process included drawing on the findings of the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board’s review of the deaths of Joanna, Jon and Ben at Cawston Park in Norfolk, and the subsequent safe and wellbeing reviews for all people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health hospitals.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews are taking place within recommended timeframes, and that recommendations arising from those reviews are being acted on.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
NHS England published updated policy and guidance on both Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TRs) and Dynamic Support Registers (DSRs) on 25 January 2023, for implementation from 1 May 2023, to help ensure people get the support they need to stay well in their communities. This includes guidance on the timescales for C(E)TRs and on ensuring that actions are taken forward.
NHS England produced the updated policy and guidance following a process of reviewing the learning since the inception of C(E)TRs and DSRs, including consultation and engagement with people with lived experience. This process included drawing on the findings of the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board’s review of the deaths of Joanna, Jon and Ben at Cawston Park in Norfolk, and the subsequent safe and wellbeing reviews for all people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health hospitals.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why social service departments are discharging hospital patients to residential care for the first time when they are self-funding, while encouraging those patients (1) to contract with, (2) to be charged by, and (3) to be added to, social services’ admissions to private care, instead of contracting directly with the residential home; what impact this practice has on patients’ contractual rights; and what assessment they have made of the impact of this on the viability of the private care home sector.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
It is our priority to ensure that patients are discharged at the right time and to the right place, and to ensure that people receive appropriate care and support after they have been discharged. We believe it is crucial to ensure that the discharge process remains person-centred and driven by the patient’s fully informed decisions of the available options, including their own home or a residential care setting after they are discharged, with the support of their family or unpaid carers.
Whether or not a person qualifies for any financial support towards their care costs depends on their capital assets. Anyone who has assets above the upper capital limit, £23,250, is expected to meet the full cost of their own care. A person with more in capital than the upper capital limit can nonetheless ask their local authority to arrange their care and support for them.
Where the person’s needs are to be met by care in a care home, the local authority may choose to arrange the care, but is not required to do so. In supporting self-funders to arrange care, the local authority may choose to enter into a contract with the preferred provider or may broker the contract on behalf of the person.