Found: Letter from Baroness Drake, Chair of the Constitution Committee to Baroness Merron, Parliamentary Under-Secretary

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Maternity Disparities Taskforce is still active; how many meetings of that taskforce have taken place since it was established; and if he will publish the (a) dates and (b) durations of those meetings.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Maternity Disparities Taskforce is not currently active, having met six times on: 8 March 2022, 16 May 2022, 18 July 2022, 18 April 2023, 5 September 2023 and 31 January 2024. The duration of these meetings were approximately an hour and a half.

It is a priority for the Government to make sure all women and babies receive the high-quality care they deserve, regardless of their background or ethnicity.  The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health, Baroness Merron, is considering the immediate action needed to tackle inequalities for women and babies and racism in maternity services; including what targets are needed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 12 November (HL2220), what is the timescale for delivery of the proposed reforms to the patient care pathways; what conditions and pathways are in scope for these changes; in what settings this care will be delivered; who will be responsible for ensuring that these changes will be at lower cost; and how will progress be monitored and reported.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As part of the Government's commitment to returning to the 18-week constitutional standard from Referral to Treatment, work is underway and planned throughout 2025/26 to reform patient care pathways to ensure patients are seen in the settings which deliver better patient experience for lower cost.

This pathway reform will look at end-to-end pathways across primary, community and secondary care, and include diagnostics. NHS England is initially prioritising pathways in cardiology, respiratory, ear-nose-throat, gastroenterology and urology due to challenging demand, and is looking at opportunities to improve efficiency across other pathways, including through the use of diagnostic first pathways, integration across settings workforce development. There are ongoing reform efforts underway to address challenges identified in other specialities too. For example, in gynaecology, women’s health hubs are bringing together healthcare professionals and existing services to provide integrated women’s health services in the community to improve health outcomes for women, whilst reducing healthcare inequalities.

NHS England is leading national efforts to support pathway re-design, to take the best of clinically led innovation and practice across the country. Progress will be monitored and reported via the Oversight and Assessment Framework through which trusts report to integrated care boards; these are in turn shared with NHS England regional teams and filter into national reporting.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 24 October (HL1589), what costs will fall on food premises in England if a requirement to display food hygiene rating certificates is introduced.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Mandatory display of ratings at premises in England would not impose additional burdens on businesses other than requiring them to display the rating stickers which are provided to them free of charge following food hygiene inspections. In its most recent assessment in 2022, the Food Standards Agency estimated a one-off cost of £3.5 million for the approximately 490,000 food businesses within scope of the scheme for familiarisation with the new requirements. This would equate to a one-off cost of £7 per business. There are no expected recurring costs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 8 November (HL2000), from which budget lines and areas NHS England provided the additional funding outlined; how much, if any, of the additional funding came from allocated capital budgets and what the slippage this has caused; and how much, if any, funding came from non-capital budget lines and what are the opportunity costs this has incurred.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There have been no cuts to operational services to make the £2.3 billion of funding available. The majority came from central NHS England funding, held as part of the start year financial plans for this purpose. The remainder came from savings identified during the subsequent planning round, including taking a higher risk appetite on the extent to which underspends or savings would be identified during the course of the year. No funding came from savings on allocated capital budgets.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 4 November (HL1572), what assessment they have received, if any, from NHS England regarding the impact of working from home on efficiency and outcomes in that organisation.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not set NHS England’s working from home policies, and it has not received any assessment from NHS England regarding the impact of working from home on efficiency and outcomes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 18 November (HL2386), what lessons have been learned from the 2024 distribution of respiratory syncytial virus vaccines to primary care settings; and how these lessons will be applied to ensure early availability to all eligible patients from 1 September 2025.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The RSV vaccination programmes for pregnant women (to protect newborn babies) and older adults began in England on 1st September 2024. The national campaign is running year-round. It is not a seasonal programme.

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) procure vaccines and manage UK buffer stocks for the RSV programmes. RSV vaccines are and will continue to remain available for primary care providers to order at any time throughout the year from UKHSA’s NHS facing vaccine ordering website.

While a small number of primary care providers experienced delays with rolling out the programmes from 1st September, there have been no major issues with distributing RSV vaccines from central supply stocks. UKHSA will continue to monitor vaccine distribution, to ensure supplies remain readily available to providers so they can deliver the programmes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 10 September (HL616), when they will publish the outcome of their consultation which included a section on sex and gender and made commitments relating to same-sex accommodation, intimate care, and gendered language.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Analysis of the responses to the consultation is currently still in progress, and a decision on the outcome of this process will be made at the earliest opportunity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 11 November (HL2250), when they anticipate that they will set out their principles for professional regulation in relation to doctors and dentists.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is no confirmed timeframe for the Government to set out its approach to any future professional regulation reforms.

Found: Answering member: Baroness Merron | Department of Health and Social Care This Government's mission

Found: joined the biggest ever national conversation to get the NHS back on its feet  Health Minister, Baroness Merron

Found: joined the biggest ever national conversation to get the NHS back on its feet  Health Minister, Baroness Merron