Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the National Cancer Plan will include measures to widen access to cancer screening programmes in deprived areas.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan, which will build on the shifts in care set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, to diagnose cancers earlier. Through the 10-Year Health Plan, we will make it easier for people to access cancer screening, diagnostics, and treatment in patients’ local areas, backed by the latest technology, to drive up this country’s cancer survival rates. We will increase participation in screening programmes by taking innovative approaches like self-sampling for cervical screening and digital booking.
The National Cancer Plan, to be published later this year, will include further details on how we will speed up diagnosis, as well as how we will prioritise screening programmes and improve participation, including participation from people in deprived areas.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (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 integrated care boards (1) better assess the mental health needs of young people, and (2) provide more integrated community based mental health support for young people; and what plans they have to publish statutory guidance for integrated care boards in this area.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for determining and meeting the mental health needs of the young people in their local populations, and there are no plans to publish statutory guidance in this area. The Department expects integrated care boards to continue to improve access to community-based mental health support for children and young people under our plans to shift more care out of hospitals and into the community, under the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support online pharmacies and distance-selling pharmacies to provide for under-served populations.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to rebuilding the pharmacy sector and have increased the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.1 billion. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service in 2025/26, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This funding is available to be earned by both brick-and-mortar pharmacies and distance selling pharmacies.
There are more brick-and-mortar pharmacies in the most deprived areas of the country. Patients across the country can choose to access NHS pharmaceutical services from their local pharmacy or remotely through distance selling pharmacies. All pharmacy contractors must provide NHS essential services such as dispensing and can choose to provide NHS advanced services such as Pharmacy First. Most services can be provided face-to-face or remotely.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support cardiovascular disease prevention through online pharmacies.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to ensuring fewer lives are lost to the biggest killers, including cardiovascular disease. That is why we have set an ambition to reduce premature death from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade. Community pharmacies make an important contribution to achieving this ambition including by providing NHS blood pressure checks and the NHS New Medicine Service through which pharmacists provide extra support to patients newly prescribed medicines including for cardiovascular disease. Whilst blood pressure checks can only be provided face-to-face, the New Medicine Service can also be delivered remotely.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision to close the NHS volunteer and care service, whether they will extend the funding of NHS Practitioner Health beyond March 2026.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme was first established as part of the COVID-19 response and then adapted to respond to other organisational pressures. However, a model that worked well in a national crisis is no longer the most cost-effective way of facilitating the important contribution of our much-valued volunteers.
National Health Service staff are incredibly dedicated. However, if healthcare staff are to provide excellent care to patients, they need to receive excellent support themselves. Work is underway to modernise NHS working culture and to make the NHS the best place to work, and this includes a much stronger focus on staff health and wellbeing.
The Practitioner Health mental health treatment service is currently funded up until 31 March 2026. NHS England is reviewing the future provision of services to support staff health in the workplace.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (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 link between online misinformation about health, and poor media literacy; and how they are taking this into account in public health policy.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment of the impact of health misinformation on public health decision making, but recognises the importance of accurate health information being available to the public and of preventing misinformation.
The Department regularly rebuts factual inaccuracies when they appear in traditional media and undertakes extensive planning, engagement, and strategic work to ensure accurate public health information is available on social media channels, to mitigate misinformation. In addition, the Department strives to ensure that all of the information it publishes is accurate, clear, and accessible to a variety of audiences, including using easy read versions.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to extend funding for NHS Practitioner Health beyond March 2026.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has recently extended the NHS Practitioner Health service to the end of March 2026. Discussions around the mental health and wellbeing provision for future staff, including this service, are ongoing.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan for fixed recoverable costs for claimant legal costs in dental clinical negligence claims to come into effect.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Currently, the Government is considering the way forward on a wide range of matters, including clinical negligence costs reform, and we will announce our position in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the NHS capital estate, and according to what timeframe.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service fit through the future through our 10-Year Health Plan. The first step in the process was Lord Darzi’s independent review of the NHS in England, which highlighted the undercapitalisation across the NHS. We are committed to reversing this trend and are due to publish an updated Capital Strategy in Autumn 2025.
The updated strategy will include clear funding assumptions for the NHS estate, accounting for the Government’s 10-Year National Infrastructure Strategy and the outcome of the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve and update the regulation of fertility services.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 provides the legislative framework for regulating fertility treatments, and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is the United Kingdom’s independent regulator of fertility treatments.
The HFEA published Modernising Fertility Law in November 2023, which outlines 15 recommendations under four key themes to reform the current fertility legislative framework. Additional analysis has been requested from the HFEA and will inform the Government’s position on how we might move forwards to improve the regulatory regime. Any law reform will need to be considered within the context of the Government’s broader legislative programme.