Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the use of urine tests to detect chronic kidney disease among patients with cardiovascular risk markers.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is trialling home testing for kidney disease through urine tests. Kits have been sent to individuals considered to be most at risk including people with diabetes, hypertension, and other cardiovascular diseases.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what pilot programmes and trials of the use of drone technology in healthcare are either planned or have already been initiated.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to innovation in drones and other growth sectors, and work is ongoing across the Government, including between the Department and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), to support the safe and effective introduction of drones into medical logistics. Further information on the work ongoing across the Government is available on the GOV.UK website, in an online only format.
The Department continuously reviews the available evidence surrounding the use of drones in medical logistics and is supportive of new trials to further build this evidence base, in particular regarding the benefits of the use of drones to deliver urgent medical supplies in remote and urban areas.
The Future of Flight Programme, led by the Department for Transport and taking place across the Government, will deliver routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone use in the United Kingdom by 2027. As part of this programme the Department for Transport, the Department for Health and Social Care, and the CAA continue to work closely together to unlock BVLOS drone use cases for the National Health Service. Enabling drones to safely operate to trial NHS services currently requires airspace segregation to ensure the safety of other crewed aircraft. This is a complex process, and the CAA and the Department for Transport are working to simplify it as part of the Future of Flight Programme and the Airspace Modernisation Strategy while we work towards full airspace integration. Progress on this work is monitored through the Future of Flight Industry Group which is co-chaired by the Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Security.
The Department of Health and Social Care has not conducted a formal cost-effectiveness assessment of drone versus traditional delivery methods. Outside of trials, drones are not currently integrated into NHS logistics or emergency response frameworks.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (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 cost savings that the use of drone technology could deliver to the healthcare sector.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to innovation in drones and other growth sectors, and work is ongoing across the Government, including between the Department and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), to support the safe and effective introduction of drones into medical logistics. Further information on the work ongoing across the Government is available on the GOV.UK website, in an online only format.
The Department continuously reviews the available evidence surrounding the use of drones in medical logistics and is supportive of new trials to further build this evidence base, in particular regarding the benefits of the use of drones to deliver urgent medical supplies in remote and urban areas.
The Future of Flight Programme, led by the Department for Transport and taking place across the Government, will deliver routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone use in the United Kingdom by 2027. As part of this programme the Department for Transport, the Department for Health and Social Care, and the CAA continue to work closely together to unlock BVLOS drone use cases for the National Health Service. Enabling drones to safely operate to trial NHS services currently requires airspace segregation to ensure the safety of other crewed aircraft. This is a complex process, and the CAA and the Department for Transport are working to simplify it as part of the Future of Flight Programme and the Airspace Modernisation Strategy while we work towards full airspace integration. Progress on this work is monitored through the Future of Flight Industry Group which is co-chaired by the Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Security.
The Department of Health and Social Care has not conducted a formal cost-effectiveness assessment of drone versus traditional delivery methods. Outside of trials, drones are not currently integrated into NHS logistics or emergency response frameworks.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to extend beyond visual line of sight drone trials in the healthcare sector.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to innovation in drones and other growth sectors, and work is ongoing across the Government, including between the Department and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), to support the safe and effective introduction of drones into medical logistics. Further information on the work ongoing across the Government is available on the GOV.UK website, in an online only format.
The Department continuously reviews the available evidence surrounding the use of drones in medical logistics and is supportive of new trials to further build this evidence base, in particular regarding the benefits of the use of drones to deliver urgent medical supplies in remote and urban areas.
The Future of Flight Programme, led by the Department for Transport and taking place across the Government, will deliver routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone use in the United Kingdom by 2027. As part of this programme the Department for Transport, the Department for Health and Social Care, and the CAA continue to work closely together to unlock BVLOS drone use cases for the National Health Service. Enabling drones to safely operate to trial NHS services currently requires airspace segregation to ensure the safety of other crewed aircraft. This is a complex process, and the CAA and the Department for Transport are working to simplify it as part of the Future of Flight Programme and the Airspace Modernisation Strategy while we work towards full airspace integration. Progress on this work is monitored through the Future of Flight Industry Group which is co-chaired by the Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Security.
The Department of Health and Social Care has not conducted a formal cost-effectiveness assessment of drone versus traditional delivery methods. Outside of trials, drones are not currently integrated into NHS logistics or emergency response frameworks.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (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 risks of using the NHS number as the consistent child identifier in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill; and whether they will publish their assessment of the ability of the NHS to issue new NHS numbers in bulk, following reports of NHS numbers being stolen following a cyber attack in June 2024.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The potential for the National Health Service number to be used as a single unique identifier (SUI) for children is being explored in a series of pilots, which will include consideration of risk. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill does not specify the use of the NHS number as an SUI, but allows regulations to do so, if it is appropriate.
There is no expectation that the NHS will need to issue new NHS numbers in bulk. Misuse of personally identifiable information is guarded against via governance processes that are the responsibility of data controllers and processors.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (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 the treatment and care of patients with cardio-renal-metabolic diseases is looked at holistically rather than in isolation; and what assessment they have made of whether multi-disciplinary teams are an effective way of joining up care.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Multi-disciplinary teams are essential to the delivery of holistic care, including for complex conditions such as cardio-renal-metabolic diseases. Multi-disciplinary teams, which enable care to be centred around patients and increasingly delivered in the community rather than in hospital settings, are a key part of delivering the radical shifts set out in the 10-Year Health Plan for England
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Health and Social Care on 4 September (HC70174), what is the meaning of "in due course" for confirming the funding arrangements for children and young people's hospices in 2026–27.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Minister of State for Care is currently having discussions with NHS England and Department officials about the funding arrangements for children and young people’s hospices in 2026/27. We hope to be able to provide further communication on this later in the year.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (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 benefits of the increased deployment of drone technology to deliver urgent medical supplies to (1) remote, and (2) urban, areas.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to innovation in drones and other growth sectors, with further information available on the GOV.UK website in an online only format, and work is ongoing across Government, including between the Department and the Civil Aviation Authority, to support the safe and effective introduction of drones into medical logistics.
The Department continuously reviews the available evidence surrounding the use of drones in medical logistics and is supportive of new trials to further build this evidence base, in particular regarding the benefits of the use of drones to deliver urgent medical supplies in remote and urban areas. Last year, the Department of Health and Social Care, working in collaboration with the Department for Transport, Innovate UK, and UK Research and Innovation, supported five pilot projects, allocating them a total of £500,000, to explore the use of drones in the National Health Service. Given the potential of drones to improve how the NHS delivers patient care, the Department of Health and Social Care is supportive of trials that explore the use of drones in medical logistics.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to increase the adoption of drone technology across the health service.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to innovation in drones and other growth sectors, with further information available on the GOV.UK website in an online only format, and work is ongoing across Government, including between the Department and the Civil Aviation Authority, to support the safe and effective introduction of drones into medical logistics.
The Department continuously reviews the available evidence surrounding the use of drones in medical logistics and is supportive of new trials to further build this evidence base, in particular regarding the benefits of the use of drones to deliver urgent medical supplies in remote and urban areas. Last year, the Department of Health and Social Care, working in collaboration with the Department for Transport, Innovate UK, and UK Research and Innovation, supported five pilot projects, allocating them a total of £500,000, to explore the use of drones in the National Health Service. Given the potential of drones to improve how the NHS delivers patient care, the Department of Health and Social Care is supportive of trials that explore the use of drones in medical logistics.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many 'yellow card' reports of increased sexual arousal and sexual arousal disorders the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency received each year since 2014, and which medications those reports were tied to.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses the available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and seeks advice from their independent advisory committee, the Commission on Human Medicines, where appropriate, to inform regulatory decisions.
It is important to note that a reaction reported to the Yellow Card scheme does not necessarily mean that it has been caused by the medicine, only that the reporter had a suspicion it may have. Underlying or concurrent illnesses may be responsible, or the events could be coincidental. The number of reports received cannot be used as a basis for determining the incidence of a reaction, as neither the total number of reactions occurring, nor the number of patients using the drug, is known.
The MHRA can confirm that it has received 124 spontaneous suspected United Kingdom Adverse Drug Reaction reports from 1 January 2014 to, and including, 18 September 2025, where a reaction term within the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities’ (MedDRA) High-Level Term "Sexual Arousal Disorders” was reported. MedDRA is a clinically validated international medical terminology dictionary. It’s organised by System Organ Class, divided into High-Level Group Terms, High-Level Terms, Preferred Terms, and finally into Lowest Level Terms.
The following table shows the number of UK spontaneous suspected Adverse Drug Reaction reports where a reaction within the High-Level Term “Sexual Arousal Disorders” was reported, from 1 January 2014 to, and including, 18 September 2025, by year:
Year received | Number of reports received |
2014 | 6 |
2015 | 8 |
2016 | 15 |
2017 | 11 |
2018 | 5 |
2019 | 8 |
2020 | 8 |
2021 | 26 |
2022 | 10 |
2023 | 11 |
2024 | 8 |
2025 | 8 |
In addition, the following table shows a breakdown of these reports by suspect medicine, for all suspect substances for which we received two or more reports:
Substance | Number of reports received |
SERTRALINE | 22 |
CITALOPRAM | 15 |
CHADOX1 NCOV-19 | 7 |
ARIPIPRAZOLE | 6 |
FLUOXETINE | 6 |
TOZINAMERAN | 5 |
FINASTERIDE | 5 |
ETHINYLESTRADIOL | 4 |
ESCITALOPRAM | 3 |
LISDEXAMFETAMINE | 3 |
OXYCODONE | 2 |
DESOGESTREL | 2 |
DULOXETINE | 2 |
ISOTRETINOIN | 2 |
LISINOPRIL | 2 |
MEMANTINE | 2 |
OESTRIOL | 2 |
PAROXETINE | 2 |
TRAZODONE | 2 |
VENLAFAXINE | 2 |
VORTIOXETINE | 2 |
Note: please be aware that reports received via the Yellow Card scheme can contain more than one suspect medicine and as such the numbers in the table cannot be summed up to the total number of reports.
Suspect substances for which a single report was received were amitriptyline, amoxycillin, atomoxetine, canagliflozin, candesartan, ciprofloxacin, clavulanic acid, clobetasol, clonazepam, diazepam, donepezil, doxycycline, drospirenone, dutasteride, elasomeran, estradiol, etonogestrel, flucloxacillin, flupenthixol, ibutamoren, levonorgestrel, linagliptin, mefloquine, methylphenidate, metronidazole, minoxidil, norelgestromin, pramipexole, propranolol, quetiapine, reboxetine, risperidone, ropinirole, sildenafil, solifenacin, teriparatide, tirzepatide, tramadol, ulipristal, and varenicline.