Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average length of time between a Dexa scan being taken and treatment for osteoporosis starting.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 679,231 DEXA scans performed in 2025/26 in England. NHS England collects monthly diagnostics data, which includes the number of DEXA scans performed each month. This is published on the NHS.UK website.
Data is not held centrally by the Department or NHS England on the average length of time between a DEXA scan being taken and treatment for osteoporosis starting.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Dexa scans are performed each year in England and Wales.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 679,231 DEXA scans performed in 2025/26 in England. NHS England collects monthly diagnostics data, which includes the number of DEXA scans performed each month. This is published on the NHS.UK website.
Data is not held centrally by the Department or NHS England on the average length of time between a DEXA scan being taken and treatment for osteoporosis starting.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to maximise the uptake of Meningitis B vaccinations among university students living in rural areas ahead of the start of the academic year.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Getting two doses of the meningitis B vaccine before the autumn term is one of the most important things young people can do to protect themselves from meningitis B disease.
The UK Health Security Agency has produced a wide range of materials to inform young people of the offer and to support informed consent. We are working closely with cross-Government colleagues and partners, including those in the university and further education sectors, and with stakeholders to ensure that information on eligibility and access to vaccination in each of the four nations is available to all eligible young people, including those living in rural areas, ahead of the autumn term. Information will be shared via direct communications, social media platforms, and other routes.
NHS England will continually monitor community pharmacy sign up and will work with regional teams to consider supplementary offers where geographical gaps are identified.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they conducted a health impact equality assessment before awarding the Meningitis B vaccination programme to community pharmacies.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In developing vaccination policy, the Department has due regard to its duties under the Public Sector Equality Duty. Consideration of equality and health inequalities impacts are undertaken as part of the development, implementation, and review of vaccination programmes. In developing the policy on this urgent meningococcal B (MenB) vaccination programme, the Department had due regard to its duties under the Public Sector Equality Duty.
The operational delivery of vaccinations is led by NHS England, including the providers commissioned to deliver the vaccination programme. An Equality Health Impact Assessment is being developed by NHS England to support in the identification and mitigation of inequalities in access and outcomes as relates to the rollout of this MenB programme.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government who they intend to administer Meningitis B vaccines in rural areas where no community pharmacies exist.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Vaccinations will primarily be offered in community pharmacies, providing flexibility for the mobile student population who may move to a new area between doses.
To support access in all areas, NHS England regional teams will also be supported to commission appropriate supplementary providers in their area where needed to ensure that everyone who is eligible can get vaccinated.
The first dose will be available until 31 December 2026 and the second dose until 31 March 2027. The appointment window remains open beyond summer to allow for as many of those eligible as possible to get vaccinated, but the strong recommendation is to have the vaccine in July and August.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the pathway to treatment for a patient diagnosed with osteoporosis.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We would expect healthcare professionals to follow the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical knowledge summary on osteoporosis and the prevention of fragility fractures. The clinical knowledge summary outlines the steps that healthcare professionals should take in the assessment and management of osteoporosis.
A diagnosis of osteoporosis is made following clinical assessment and in some cases by use of blood tests and DEXA scans. The National Health Service does not provide universal osteoporosis screening, instead, a targeted approach is used to identify those most likely to benefit from assessment and treatment. Tools like FRAX are recommended to calculate 10-year fracture risk and guide clinical decisions. A DEXA scan can also be used to measure bone mineral density.
There are a number of NICE recommended treatments for osteoporosis. Since 2022, two new drugs have been recommended by NICE for the treatment of osteoporosis in post-menopausal women, abaloparatide and romosozumab. These medications help to strengthen the bones and prevent bone loss, reducing the risk of fractures.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the length of placements for resident doctors; and what assessment they have made of the benefits of continuity in training posts for doctors.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the importance of continuity in postgraduate medical training for both doctors and patients.
Following the 2024 Resident Doctors Agreement, the Department, working in partnership with NHS England and the British Medical Association, established a review of rotational training. This review drew on some 13,000 responses to surveys and found that rotations can provide valuable breadth of experience, but in some cases frequent moves can disrupt learning, wellbeing, team integration, and patient care.
NHS England is developing pilots under the Medical Training Review, and as set out in the 10-Point Plan, to test longer placements, smaller geographic footprints, and more flexible arrangements for less-than-full-time trainees.
These pilots will inform future policy decisions on placement length and continuity benefits.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (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 provision of mental health services for both adults and children in rural areas.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No national assessment has been made as it is for individual local integrated care boards to decide on the provision of mental health services to meet the needs of adults and children in their rural areas.
Nationally, the Government is committed to creating an environment that promotes good mental health, prevents adults and children from developing mental health problems, and improves the lives of people living with a mental health problem, including those living in rural areas.
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to transform mental health services to improve access and treatment, and to promote good mental health and wellbeing for the nation. This includes improving assertive outreach, investing in mental health emergency departments and neighbourhood mental health centres, and increasing access to talking therapies and evidence-based digital interventions.
The recently published Medium Term Planning Framework sets targets for integrated care boards to expand coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges, expand NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement Support schemes, and eliminate inappropriate out-of-area placements by 2029.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (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 (1) funding, and (2) staff resources, available to local authorities to undertake the necessary checks on food labelling; and whether they will ensure that those resources are ring-fenced for that purpose.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities (LAs) in the United Kingdom are competent authorities. It is for the cabinet of each authority to determine how their budget is spent based on statutory obligations, local priorities, and service demands.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) monitors the resources available to carry out food safety checks. Their report Our Food 2023 – An annual review of food standards in the UK notes that the number of Trading Standards Officers (TSOs) available in LAs to carry out food labelling checks has fallen considerably over the past decade. There were 182 fewer TSOs working in LAs across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 2023 compared to a decade ago, in 2012/13. Although the number of officers in LAs rose slightly during 2023, there was still a higher proportion of unfilled posts compared to pre-pandemic numbers. A copy of the report is attached.
The FSA has worked closely with the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and the Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers to endorse a level 6 Trading Standards Practitioner apprenticeship. This has led to over 100 new people training in the first year. The FSA will continue to work across the Government and with the food sector to monitor the situation and to take appropriate action to ensure that food is safe.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of health inequalities between (1) rural and coastal, and (2) urban, areas; and what steps they intend to take to address any imbalances.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We support the National Health Service’s CORE20PLUS5 approach, which targets action to reduce health inequalities in the most deprived 20% of the population, and which improves outcomes for the groups that experience the worst access, experience, and outcomes within the NHS.
The Chief Medical Officer’s 2023 annual report made clear that future health and care needs will vary significantly in different areas, with the populations of rural, semi-rural, and coastal areas ageing much faster than those in metropolitan areas. This means there will be considerable variation in health and care needs even within an integrated care system. We recognise that providing services in rural areas comes with significant additional costs, for example, in travel and staff time. That is why the funding formula used by NHS England to allocate funds to integrated care boards (ICBs) includes an element to better reflect needs in some rural, coastal, and remote areas.
NHS England is responsible for determining allocations for ICBs. In allocating budgets, they have two aims, those being equal opportunity of access for equal need, and reducing health inequalities that are amenable to NHS healthcare. There are a range of adjustments made in the core ICB allocations formula that account for the fact that the costs of providing health care may vary between rural and urban areas.
Tackling health inequalities is central to our Health Mission, which is why the Government has committed to halving the healthy life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest regions, by addressing the social determinants of health. Work is currently underway across the Department, and with NHS England and the regional directors of public health, to develop approaches to address regional health inequalities.
As part of the consultation phase of the 10-Year Health Plan, we invited people from across every NHS region in England, including people from coastal communities, to provide input on how care should be designed and delivered, providing us with rich insights into these areas.