Lord Kamall

The government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Hughes Report and will respond in due course.

As of April 2024, 97% of general practices in England have cloud-based telephony systems in place. The Government has pledged to deliver a modern appointment booking system to end the 8:00am scramble, and ensure that there is an online booking option for all that wish to use it.

While this was an IT outage, not a cyber security incident, the National Health Service has robust cyber security measures in place, and is increasing cyber resilience across health and social care.

Health and care organisations are required to have business continuity plans in place, which we will continue to strengthen, to minimise disruption in the event of an IT outage or cyber incident. As outlined in The King’s Speech, the Government’s new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will strengthen our defences and ensure that essential digital services are protected by expanding the remit of the existing regulation, putting regulators on a stronger footing, and increasing reporting requirements, to build a better picture in Government of cyber threats.

The Government is considering the recommendations of The Hughes Report, and to prevent future harm, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, NHS England, and others have taken action to strengthen oversight of valproate prescribing and mesh procedures. For example, nine specialist mesh centres are in operation across England, ensuring that women with complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse get the right support in every region, and we have maintained the national pause on the use of pelvic mesh, which has been in place since July 2018.

Assisting refugees and asylum seekers is a central part of the UK government's efforts to tackle the global migration crisis. Cooperation with international partners is crucial to delivering this. Since taking office, government ministers have discussed migration in calls with other governments, at the NATO summit and the European Political Community meeting where we agreed new migration-related initiatives with other countries, and announced £84 million of funding to address migration at source in countries across Africa and the Middle East. That includes humanitarian and health support, skills training, help with job opportunities and access to education for refugees.