Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the problems affecting transplants identified in the episode by BBC File on 4 Investigates, The battle for hearts and lungs: Transplants in trouble, released on 24 March.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the challenges faced by heart and lung transplant services, as highlighted in the BBC File on 4 Investigates programme. Clinical teams have continued to improve activity and patient outcomes, reflecting their expertise and commitment. However, challenges remain and further work is needed to address variation in access, workforce pressures, and the complexity of organ acceptance and allocation.
NHS England is working closely with the Department, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), and transplant centres to address these issues. The concerns raised in the programme are consistent with challenges previously identified by the Organ Utilisation Group and explored through the Implementation Steering Group for Organ Utilisation’s Cardiothoracic Information Collation Exercise. This has informed NHS England’s clinically led national improvement programme for heart and lung transplant services, which brings together clinicians, patients, and patient organisations to co-design solutions to improve services in these key areas.
In parallel, NHSBT is delivering a Department funded programme of Assessment and Recovery Centres (ARC), including lung ARC pilot schemes launched in February 2026, to improve the preservation and utilisation of donor organs for transplantation.
While it is encouraging that activity has increased and waiting lists have reduced, the Government recognises that continued work is needed to ensure services are consistently accessible and resilient. Work will continue with patients, partners, and local centres to ensure care is personalised, equitable, and sustainable, and to address challenges facing the transplant workforce.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence technology appraisals that have been terminated in the last five years; and what proportion of those terminations were rare disease medicines.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence shows that between 2021/22 and 2025/26, the total number of appraisals that were terminated was 100. Over the past five years, 41% of terminated appraisals related to rare disease medicines.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings by The Health Foundation in its analysis, Electronic patient record systems in England: what do NHS staff think?, published on 24 March, that less than 50 per cent of NHS staff who participated in the survey had received training on how to use the electronic patient record system for their role, and less than 28 per cent had received training on how to fix or troubleshoot problems.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To help ensure every National Health Service hospital in England can benefit from digital transformation, the Government has invested £1.9 billion in either new or existing electronic patient record (EPR) systems. This has resulted in almost all trusts now having an EPR in place, or in delivery. Evidence from secondary care shows that EPRs are contributing to a 4.5% reduction in length of stay and a 13% lower cost in admitted patient spells.
Whilst this represents significant progress, we are continuing to fully realise the benefits of EPRs by building skills and changing management capacity. This includes sharing best practice, improving usability, training users more effectively, and ensuring systems are tailored to local context rather than adopting a one size fits all approach.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the analysis from The Health Foundation, Electronic patient record systems in England: what do NHS staff think?, published on 24 March, particularly the finding that 37 per cent of staff felt that electronic patient records were not currently working well in their organisation.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To help ensure every National Health Service hospital in England can benefit from digital transformation, the Government has invested £1.9 billion in either new or existing electronic patient record (EPR) systems. This has resulted in almost all trusts now having an EPR in place, or in delivery. Evidence from secondary care shows that EPRs are contributing to a 4.5% reduction in length of stay and a 13% lower cost in admitted patient spells.
Whilst this represents significant progress, we are continuing to fully realise the benefits of EPRs by building skills and changing management capacity. This includes sharing best practice, improving usability, training users more effectively, and ensuring systems are tailored to local context rather than adopting a one size fits all approach.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding from the report by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, Patients W.A.I.T. Indicator 2024 Survey, published in May 2025, that only 50 per cent of European Medicines Agency approved non-oncology orphan medicines were reimbursed and made available to patients in England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises how important it is that patients with rare diseases can benefit from access to effective new medicines.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is able to recommend the vast majority of medicines it evaluates for use in the National Health Service, including medicines for the treatment of rare diseases. The recently announced increase to the cost-effectiveness threshold will, alongside measures announced in the Life Sciences Sector Plan, increase both the speed and breadth of patient access to innovative medicines.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they intend to take to ensure that payments to pharmacists for issuing prescribed medicines and medical devices are increased in line with the rising wholesale cost of medicines caused by the war in the Middle East.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2025/26, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework was increased to £3.1 billion. This represented the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service at the time, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.
The Department is currently consulting with Community Pharmacy England on any proposed changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors for 2026/27.
When the market price of a medicine suddenly increases, pharmacy contractors can request an increase to the reimbursement price, known as a concessionary price, from the Department via Community Pharmacy England. ‘Real-time’ data from suppliers, both wholesalers and manufacturers, obtained under Regulation 27 of The Health Service Products (Provision and Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2018 is used to set the concessionary price. This ensures that prices set are reflective of current market prices and availability, with the aim of mitigating pharmacy contractors dispensing at a loss when market prices suddenly rise.
Pharmacy contractors are reimbursed for medical devices in line with the listed prices on Part IX of the NHS Drug Tariff. Suppliers should adhere to these prices as per the terms of their listing.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, given that NHS England’s 2023 guidance Liothyronine – advice for prescribers sets out a complete national prescribing pathway without including any requirement for local prior approval processes, if local prior approval was not included because it is not required.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s policy guidance and prescribing advice on liothyronine reflects the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s recommendations and the evidence on liothyronine. That guidance recommends that liothyronine should not be routinely prescribed, because it is not clinically or cost-effective, but sets out the exceptions where it may be an appropriate consideration for prescribers.
NHS England expects commissioners and prescribers to have due regard to its guidance. While integrated care boards may determine their own implementation arrangements, as part of the new operating model, regions will oversee commissioner and provider performance, including access to high quality care and the reduction of health inequalities.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what payments have been made to the National Institute for Health and Care Research Brain Tumour Research Consortium; on what dates those payments were made; and what was the purpose of those payments.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.7 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
In December 2025, the NIHR announced an initial £13.7 million investment in the Brain Tumour Research Consortium. In January 2026, the NIHR announced further investment of a minimum of £11.7 million in the consortium through funding of work packages. This brings the total investment to over £25 million.
The exact amount paid as of March 2026 is £50,000, which was paid to the contractor on 31 December 2025. This payment was made to support start up activities for the consortium. The NIHR does not currently hold up-to-date expenditure, or a detailed breakdown of how this funding has been spent. This information is currently held by the research team of the NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium and will be provided to the NIHR in the future as part of the project’s annual financial returns.
For all awards, contracting and further payments are contingent upon teams submitting and reviewing detailed costs and, if applicable, agreeing to the suggested amendments and requests for clarification which are currently in progress.
Future payments will be issued over the period of the award contracts which range from five to 10 years, as per the schedule of payments agreed between the NIHR and the consortium.
Information on all awards will be made publicly available in due course. The NIHR is working to ensure that new investments can get up and running as soon as possible. Oversight of the Brain Tumour Research Consortium is the responsibility of the NIHR.
In addition, the NIHR continues to strongly encourages brain cancer research applications through its regular funding opportunities.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether oversight of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Brain Tumour Research Consortium is in the responsible of an executive director of the NIHR.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.7 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
In December 2025, the NIHR announced an initial £13.7 million investment in the Brain Tumour Research Consortium. In January 2026, the NIHR announced further investment of a minimum of £11.7 million in the consortium through funding of work packages. This brings the total investment to over £25 million.
The exact amount paid as of March 2026 is £50,000, which was paid to the contractor on 31 December 2025. This payment was made to support start up activities for the consortium. The NIHR does not currently hold up-to-date expenditure, or a detailed breakdown of how this funding has been spent. This information is currently held by the research team of the NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium and will be provided to the NIHR in the future as part of the project’s annual financial returns.
For all awards, contracting and further payments are contingent upon teams submitting and reviewing detailed costs and, if applicable, agreeing to the suggested amendments and requests for clarification which are currently in progress.
Future payments will be issued over the period of the award contracts which range from five to 10 years, as per the schedule of payments agreed between the NIHR and the consortium.
Information on all awards will be made publicly available in due course. The NIHR is working to ensure that new investments can get up and running as soon as possible. Oversight of the Brain Tumour Research Consortium is the responsibility of the NIHR.
In addition, the NIHR continues to strongly encourages brain cancer research applications through its regular funding opportunities.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what future payments they expect to make to the National Institute for Health and Care Research Brain Tumour Research Consortium.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.7 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
In December 2025, the NIHR announced an initial £13.7 million investment in the Brain Tumour Research Consortium. In January 2026, the NIHR announced further investment of a minimum of £11.7 million in the consortium through funding of work packages. This brings the total investment to over £25 million.
The exact amount paid as of March 2026 is £50,000, which was paid to the contractor on 31 December 2025. This payment was made to support start up activities for the consortium. The NIHR does not currently hold up-to-date expenditure, or a detailed breakdown of how this funding has been spent. This information is currently held by the research team of the NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium and will be provided to the NIHR in the future as part of the project’s annual financial returns.
For all awards, contracting and further payments are contingent upon teams submitting and reviewing detailed costs and, if applicable, agreeing to the suggested amendments and requests for clarification which are currently in progress.
Future payments will be issued over the period of the award contracts which range from five to 10 years, as per the schedule of payments agreed between the NIHR and the consortium.
Information on all awards will be made publicly available in due course. The NIHR is working to ensure that new investments can get up and running as soon as possible. Oversight of the Brain Tumour Research Consortium is the responsibility of the NIHR.
In addition, the NIHR continues to strongly encourages brain cancer research applications through its regular funding opportunities.