Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Supreme Court's ruling in JR87 [2025] UKSC 40, what assessment they have made of the statutory requirements on collective worship in schools in England and Wales.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Education is a devolved matter and as such this reply relates to England only.

The legislative framework for providing collective worship is different in England than in Northern Ireland. The Supreme Court ruling has only recently been published and the department will consider it carefully.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the arrest of Ibrahim Sharif in Bahrain; whether they have made any representations to the government of Bahrain about his arrest; and what assessment they have made of the compatibility of his arrest with freedom of expression in Bahrain.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

The Government is aware of reports concerning the arrest of Ibrahim Sharif in Bahrain. We maintain a regular dialogue with the Government of Bahrain on human rights issues, both bilaterally and through multilateral channels. We continue to encourage Bahrain to uphold its international commitments, including respect for freedom of expression, while recognising that these matters are subject to Bahraini law. We will monitor developments and engage with Bahraini authorities as appropriate.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the government of Bahrain's revocation of the visa of the Associated Press to cover the Manama Dialogue; and whether they have made any representations to the government of Bahrain about that action and compliance with obligations to uphold freedom of the press.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

We are aware of reports that the visa of Associated Press journalists was revoked ahead of this year's Manama Dialogue. The UK remains committed to supporting media freedom and regularly underlines the importance of this principle in our engagement with international partners, including Bahrain.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Foreign Secretary made any representations to the government of Bahrain about high-profile imprisoned activists or human rights issues during the visit to that country.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

During her recent visit to Bahrain, the Foreign Secretary discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues. The UK maintains an open and frank dialogue with Bahrain on human rights.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the integrated care board (ICB) reorganisation process on ICB staff satisfaction.

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

No formal assessment has been made, although the Department recognises that the current process of transition to new integrated care board (ICB) structures and roles directly impacts staff. As the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care acknowledged in his speech at the NHS Providers conference on 12 November, there has been uncertainty for staff for too long but funding arrangements for voluntary redundancy arrangements have now been confirmed and that will help to provide certainty for people. NHS England is working to support ICBs as part of the change process.

The Government is committed to the modernisation of the National Health Service as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, including refocusing the role of ICBs to strategic commissioning. This will help to support the delivery of the three shifts, from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention, that are needed to build a health service fit for the future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking following the report by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body regarding electronic patient records (EPRs), which found that EPR systems have contributed to incidents of missed, delayed, or incorrect patient care, and that these risks have been "persistent despite national recommendations and guidance."

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

NHS England is actively considering the issues raised by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body regarding electronic patient records (EPRs).

EPRs are already improving safety and care to patients, helping to detect conditions such as sepsis more quickly and preventing medication errors. Analysis shows that highly digitised trusts have a 17.5% reduction in sepsis mortality.

The National Health Service has well-established systems in place for reporting, investigating, and learning from any patient safety incidents. We are working closely with NHS trusts to ensure EPRs are used to the highest quality and safety standards.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of patients on the Quality and Outcomes Framework learning disabilities register received an annual health check in general practice in England in each of the past three calendar years.

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

The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicator relating to the learning disability register was retired for the 2025/26 contract year. Only people aged 14 years old and over on a general practice (GP) learning disability register are eligible for a learning disability annual health check.

The following table shows the most recent data for those on a learning disability register who have received an annual health check in England for the last three calendar years, up until March 2025, as well as the percentage of patients on a learning disability register who are eligible for an annual health check:

The annual statistics publication of Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities sets out the key differences in healthcare between people with a learning disability and those without. This includes data on key health issues for people who are recorded on their GP learning disability register, such as uptake of annual health checks. The 2024 to 2025 statistics is scheduled for publication on 4 December 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the full-time equivalent vacancy rate for learning disabilities nurses across all NHS organisations in England in each of the past three years.

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

NHS England published data every quarter on vacancies in National Health Service trusts. However, the data is not granular enough to identify rates for learning disability nurses.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many full-time equivalent learning disabilities nurses were employed across all NHS organisations in England in each of the past three years.

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

NHS England publishes monthly NHS Hospital and Community Health Service Workforce Statistics for England. These include staff working for hospital trusts and core organisations but excludes staff working for other providers such as in primary care, general practice, or social care. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the human resources system for the National Health Service. The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent learning disability nurses in hospital trusts and core organisations across England as of 30 September for each of the years 2022 to 2025:

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the estimated percentage of the population with a learning disability who are recorded on the Quality and Outcomes Framework learning disability register in general practice in England.

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

The Quality and Outcomes Framework indicator relating to the learning disability register was retired for the 2025/26 contract year.

National published data is recorded on a financial year basis from April to March. This published data shows that, at the end of October 2025, there were 342,928 people aged 14 years old and over on a general practice learning disability register. This is approximately a quarter of the estimated number of adults with a learning disability in England.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 4 December (HL12450), what specific dataset was used to support the analysis that "highly digitised trusts" have a 17.5 per cent reduction in sepsis mortality; and how many NHS trusts were included in the calculation of that figure.

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

The modelling of sepsis mortality used the Hospital Episode Statistics Admitted Patient Care dataset, using the episode level version of this dataset to ensure maximum accuracy in identifying inpatient activity related to sepsis.

The research includes nine National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in England which implemented an enterprise level electronic patient record (EPR) system, where the EPR system was rolled out throughout the whole provider at the point of implementation. A further eight providers are included in the same model as controls, as these are providers without an EPR system at the time of the analysis.

A digitally mature trust was defined as an acute provider in the top decile of digitisation index based on the Digital Maturity Assessment 2016/17.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 4 December (HL12450), how they have defined a "highly digitised trust".

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

The modelling of sepsis mortality used the Hospital Episode Statistics Admitted Patient Care dataset, using the episode level version of this dataset to ensure maximum accuracy in identifying inpatient activity related to sepsis.

The research includes nine National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in England which implemented an enterprise level electronic patient record (EPR) system, where the EPR system was rolled out throughout the whole provider at the point of implementation. A further eight providers are included in the same model as controls, as these are providers without an EPR system at the time of the analysis.

A digitally mature trust was defined as an acute provider in the top decile of digitisation index based on the Digital Maturity Assessment 2016/17.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what specific mitigation measures and customisation requirements are in place to ensure that the core functionality, user interface and clinic workflows of the Epic and Oracle Cerner electronic patient record systems are aligned with (1) NHS clinical governance standards, (2) UK medical terminology, and (3) NHS patient safety requirements.

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

Safety, clinical risk assessments, and functionality or customisation requirements are the responsibility of National Health Service organisations adopting technologies to ensure local needs are taken into consideration. NHS England and the Department do not conduct central assessments.

NHS England has digital clinical safety standards DCB0129 and DCB0160 which are essential requirements for manufacturers of health IT systems and healthcare providers in assessing and managing clinical risks to ensure the safety of digital solutions used across the NHS and adult social care services in England. In addition, the NHS uses Snowmed Clinical Terms and the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases to ensure accurate clinical coding for United Kingdom medical terminology.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what safety and clinical risk assessments NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care have made of the (1) Epic, and (2) Oracle Cerner, electronic patient record systems.

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

Safety, clinical risk assessments, and functionality or customisation requirements are the responsibility of National Health Service organisations adopting technologies to ensure local needs are taken into consideration. NHS England and the Department do not conduct central assessments.

NHS England has digital clinical safety standards DCB0129 and DCB0160 which are essential requirements for manufacturers of health IT systems and healthcare providers in assessing and managing clinical risks to ensure the safety of digital solutions used across the NHS and adult social care services in England. In addition, the NHS uses Snowmed Clinical Terms and the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases to ensure accurate clinical coding for United Kingdom medical terminology.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the withdrawal of the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) report 2023 due to data quality issues; what were the specific data technicalities or defects that were not identified by NHS England or the Department of Health and Social Care; and what steps they plan to take to strengthen data collection and validation protocols during future LeDeR publications to ensure timely and reliable reporting.

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

We know that families and stakeholders will be frustrated by the withdrawal of the most recent 2023 Learning from Lives and Deaths of People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People (LeDeR) report, published in September 2025 by King’s College London. We apologise for the upset this has caused to families and loved ones, and we will make sure lessons are learned so that this cannot happen again. We remain committed to ensuring learning from LeDeR is shared and used to drive tangible service improvements.

The report was temporarily withdrawn after a technical issue was identified by NHS England after its publication. Some data used in the LeDeR report comes from Medical Certificate Cause of Death data. This was due to a technical issue related to a new automated process introduced in spring 2023, which meant that some of this data was not updated properly in the LeDeR dataset. This means that some data on cause of death was not included in the 2023 LeDeR report when it should have been, which has subsequently impacted some of the published analysis in the 2023 LeDeR report.

In line with ethical research and statistical practice, King’s College London has now withdrawn the report and has issued a notice setting out the reason why. An updated version is being prepared for publication in January 2026.

A correction has been applied to ensure that the specific automated processing error cannot happen again. NHS England is working with King’s College London to implement a more robust data checking protocol for the next LeDeR report, which will be an analysis of reviews of deaths for people who died in 2024 and whose deaths were notified to LeDeR in that year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 4 December (HL12450), what timetable has been set for the completion of the review by NHS England of the issues raised by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body regarding electronic patient records, and the implementation of the safety standards and best practices that arise from that review.

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

NHS England is not currently doing a review of the issues raised by Health Services Safety Investigations Body regarding electronic patient records. NHS England will not manage the timetable for implementation of safety standards and best practices, as this falls to trusts, each of whom have their own statutory duty to deliver safe care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the British Medical Association's allegations of bullying and harassment of Dr Tim Noble by Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust.

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

Whilst it would not be appropriate for ministers to comment on individual cases, the Government is clear that bullying is unacceptable in any workplace and has no place in the National Health Service. All employers across the NHS should have a robust policy on bullying outlining how it should be handled and the support available to staff.

NHS England has developed an NHS Civility and Respect programme which provides national guidance, training, and resources to help organisations build positive workplace cultures, tackle bullying and harassment, and ensure staff feel safe and supported in all work environments.

NHS staff should have the confidence to speak out and come forward if they have concerns. There is support in place for staff who wish to raise concerns, including a network of more than 1,200 local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians across healthcare in England, whose role is to help and support NHS workers.