To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Community Health Services
Wednesday 23rd July 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the proposed population base for each Neighbourhood Health Service in the 10 Year Health Plan.

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

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service that moves care closer to home. The Neighbourhood Health Service will embody our new preventative principle, that care should happen as locally as it can, digitally by default, in a patient’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, and only in a hospital if necessary.

Neighbourhood Health Services will bring together teams of professionals closer to people’s home, including nurses, doctors, social care workers, pharmacists, health visitors and more, to work together to provide comprehensive care in the community.

We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that meets the needs of local populations. Rather than applying a rigid, one-size fits all model, the population base for Neighbourhood Health Services is intentionally flexible and locally determined. The geography of a ‘neighbourhood’ will be determined locally by integrated care boards in partnership with their strategic partners, particularly local authorities.

The plan introduces two new contracts, including one to create multi-neighbourhood providers covering populations of approximately 250,000 people, that will unlock the advantages and efficiencies possible from greater scale working across all general practices and small neighbourhood providers in their footprint.

In the future, there will also be neighbourhood health plans drawn up by local government, the National Health Service, and its partners. The integrated care board will bring together these plans into a population health improvement plan for their footprint and use it to inform commissioning decisions.

To support the delivery and spread of neighbourhood health, we have launched the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP). The NNHIP will support systems across the country to test new ways of working, share learning, and scale what works.


Written Question
Palliative Care
Wednesday 23rd July 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many palliative care beds are currently provided by (1) the NHS, (2) charities and (3) the private sector, in each region of England.

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

Palliative care and end of life care are broad, holistic approaches provided through a range of professionals and providers, both generalist and specialist, across the National Health Service, social care, and voluntary sector organisations. Therefore, the number of beds specifically used for palliative care is difficult to measure as relevant consultations and tasks are not always coded as such.

We do not hold central data on the number of palliative care beds provided by the NHS, charities, or the private sector in any region of England. Charitable and private sector palliative care and end of life care providers, including most hospices in England, are independent and autonomous organisations, and as such, they are not legally required to share such information with the Department.


Written Question
Palliative Care
Wednesday 23rd July 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many palliative care beds are provided in (1) hospices, and (2) NHS Hospital Trusts, in each integrated care board area in England.

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

We do not hold data centrally on the number of palliative care beds provided by hospices and National Health Service hospital trusts in each integrated care board area in England.

Charitable and private sector palliative care and end of life care providers, including most hospices in England, are independent and autonomous organisations, and as such, they are not legally required to share such information with the Department.

Palliative care and end of life care are broad, holistic approaches provided through a range of professionals and providers, both generalist and specialist, across the NHS, social care, and voluntary sector organisations. Therefore, the number of beds specifically used for palliative care within NHS hospital trusts is difficult to measure as the relevant consultations and tasks are not always coded as such.


Written Question
Integrated Care Boards: Directors
Tuesday 22nd July 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many integrated care boards currently have a lead non-executive director with specialist mental health experiences, as required in guidance published under the Health and Care Act 2022.

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

The Health and Care Act 2022 requires that one “ordinary” integrated care board (ICB) board member, excluding the Chair or Chief Executive, must have “knowledge and experience in connection with services relating to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness”. All ICBs must comply with this legal requirement, but neither the Department nor NHS England collects this information.

Guidance for ICBs is available on the NHS.UK website in an online only format, and states that “the chair must exercise their approval function of the ordinary members with a view to ensuring that at least one of the ordinary members has knowledge and experience in connection with services relating to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness”. For the ICB to achieve ongoing compliance with this requirement, the constitution should include a board position that can only be filled by candidates who meet these criteria:

  • a partner member, jointly nominated by all trusts/foundation trusts, and this must be an additional partner member to the one required as a minimum by the act;
  • an ‘other’ board member, that is, not jointly nominated but likewise normally a mental health trust/foundation trust chief executive; and
  • an ICB executive director for mental health.

Written Question
NHS Trusts: Governing Bodies
Friday 30th May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the English Devolution White Paper published on 16 December 2024 (CP1218), what guidance they have issued to NHS Trusts about the election of governors to hospital trusts.

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

The Government has not published any guidance following the English Devolution White Paper on the election of governors to National Health Service foundation trusts.

The Model Election Rules set out the process by which governors are elected and are included in every NHS foundation trust's constitution. The NHS Foundation Trust Model Core Constitution, a copy of which is attached, published in 2013 by Monitor, now NHS England, requires NHS foundation trusts to comply with these rules.


Written Question
Prescriptions: Fees and Charges
Friday 23rd May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the annual cost of providing free prescriptions for the population of England.

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

The most recent estimate of the cost of free prescriptions for the population of England is £10 billion for 2023/24. This is based on the difference between there being no prescription charge for all and requiring all patients to pay the then single charge of £9.65 per item.

These figures do not correspond to the revenue that would be raised if any exemptions were removed, because some people would buy a pre-payment certificate, and some might not follow up to get the medication.


Written Question
Speech and Language Therapy
Tuesday 13th May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many speech and language therapists are employed in each integrated care board area in England, and how many of these work in criminal justice settings.

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

The Department does not hold information on the total number of speech and language therapists employed in each integrated care board area in England. Therapists will be employed by National Health Service trusts, where data is held, but will also be directly employed by other providers, including schools, local authorities, and third sector or charitable organisations, for which data is not held centrally. The following table shows the number of full time equivalent (FTE) speech and language therapists employed by NHS trusts and integrated care boards in England, as of January 2025, by integrated care board area:

Integrated care board area

FTE speech and language therapists

Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire

44

Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes

11

Birmingham and Solihull

288

Black Country

126

Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire

70

Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West

155

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

225

Cheshire and Merseyside

436

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

79

Coventry and Warwickshire

157

Derby and Derbyshire

134

Devon

135

Dorset

113

Frimley

93

Gloucestershire

62

Greater Manchester

548

Hampshire and Isle of Wight

160

Herefordshire and Worcestershire

100

Hertfordshire and West Essex

134

Humber and North Yorkshire

174

Kent and Medway

220

Lancashire and South Cumbria

201

Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland

123

Lincolnshire

57

Mid and South Essex

65

Norfolk and Waveney

69

North Central London

548

North East and North Cumbria

516

North East London

438

North West London

304

Northamptonshire

47

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire

164

Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin

46

Somerset

70

South East London

394

South West London

194

South Yorkshire

224

Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent

104

Suffolk and North East Essex

126

Surrey Heartlands

53

Sussex

205

West Yorkshire

328

England total

7,739

These staff will provide services in a range of settings, but the Department does not hold information on how many may work in criminal justice settings.


Written Question
Prisons: Speech and Language Therapy
Tuesday 13th May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 6 May (HL6997), which organisation holds the information requested regarding speech and language services in prisons in England.

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

This information would be held at a local level by the prison healthcare providers.


Written Question
Prisons: Speech and Language Therapy
Tuesday 6th May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government (1) which prisons in England and Wales have commissioned speech and language therapy services, and (2) how many speech and language therapists are employed in each prison.

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

The information requested is not held centrally by NHS England, regarding prisons in England. Prison healthcare in Wales is devolved to the Welsh administration.


Written Question
NHS: Offenders
Friday 21st March 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what restrictions are placed on people convicted of a criminal offence who seek employment in the National Health Service.

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

Having a criminal record does not necessarily mean that a person cannot work in the National Health Service. Local employers should have robust and effective recruitment and background check requirements aligned with the NHS Employment Check Standards issued by NHS Employers, to ensure individuals they employ are suitable, skilled, competent and safe to carry out the role they are being appointed to do. This includes a criminal record check for all eligible positions.

Employers must consider the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) Order 1975 when asking for criminal record information. Any recruitment decision needs to be made on a case-by-case basis balancing the risks associated with any given role. The exception to this rule is where recruiting to a regulated activity under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act, as amended by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, and where individuals are prohibited from working with adults and/or children who are in receipt of health care or services.