Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand the hours and remit of the National Clinical Director for Dementia.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The national clinical directors and national specialty advisers are practising clinicians from across England who work part-time at NHS England, providing clinical leadership, advice, input, and support across distinct areas of National Health Service conditions and services.
There are currently no plans within the Department to expand the hours and remit of the National Clinical Director for Dementia and Older People’s Mental Health.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they removed the dementia diagnosis rate target from the NHS operational planning guidance for 2025-26.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Darzi investigation found that there were too many targets set for the National Health Service which made it hard for local systems to prioritise their actions or to be held properly to account. 2025/26 planning guidance reduced the number of national targets from 32 the year before down to 18. This was an important step in moving decision making closer to local leaders, letting them decide how to use local funding to best meet the needs of their local population.
NHS planning guidance is not an exhaustive list of everything the NHS does, and the absence of a target does not necessarily mean it isn’t an area of focus. We remain committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7%. The estimated Dementia Diagnosis Rate for patients aged 65 years old and over at the end of October 2025 was 66.5%. The rate is an increase of 0.2% compared to 66.3% in September 2025. This is an overall increase from March 2020 due to sustained recovery efforts.
We will deliver the first ever Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework to bring about rapid and significant improvements in the quality of care. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, which is expected in 2026.
The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia, set national standards for dementia care, and will redirect NHS priorities to provide the best possible care and support.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce additional new targets for prevention and treatment of dementia.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will deliver the first ever modern service framework for frailty and dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.
In developing the modern service framework for frailty and dementia, we are engaging with a wide group of partners to understand what should be included to ensure the best outcomes for people living with dementia. As part of this exercise, we will consider what interventions should be supported to improve diagnosis waiting times, which we know are too long in many areas. We are considering all options to help with the prevention and treatment of dementia, including reviewing metrics and targets.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review or reform the basis on which National Institute for Health and Care Excellence assesses whether to authorise new drugs for NHS use.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department regularly has discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) about a range of issues. NICE is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in the development of its guidance and recommendations and has processes in place to keep its methods and processes under review.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to issue guidance to the NHS on single sex changing rooms and hospital wards.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is currently reviewing its Delivering same-sex accommodation guidance and will ensure that it reflects the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland Ltd v. The Scottish Ministers ruling, and is aligned with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s statutory Code of Practice (the Code) when that becomes available.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has submitted its draft updated Code to the Minister for Women and Equalities. The Government will consider the draft updated Code and, if the decision is taken to approve it, the Minister will lay it before Parliament. Parliament will then have a 40-day period to consider the Code.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to reform the NHS Health Check to identify individuals at increased risk for dementia.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Health Check programme, a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme, already aims to prevent some cases of dementia in eligible people by making them aware that many of the risk factors for CVD are the same as those for vascular dementia.
All attendees aged 65 to 74 years old should be made aware of the signs and symptoms of dementia and be signposted to memory services where appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to include a hearing check as part of the NHS Health Check to help identify mid-life hearing loss.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Health Check’s Expert Scientific and Clinical Advisory Panel considered proposals to include a hearing check as part of the programme in 2019 and 2021. The proposals were not supported by the panel, in line with the UK National Screening Committee which has recommended against screening for adult hearing loss. For these reasons, there are no current plans to include a hearing check as part of the NHS Health Check.
The Department is carefully considering options to improve the impact of the NHS Health Check programme, and this work is ongoing.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - 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 people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia are diagnosed early enough to benefit from novel treatments if approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the future.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended in a NICE appraisal, usually within three months of final guidance.
A timely diagnosis is vital to ensuring that a person with dementia can access the advice, information, care, and support that can help them to live well and remain independent for as long as possible. We remain committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7%. The latest dementia diagnosis rate reported by NHS England for the end of September 2025 was 66.3%.
To support commissioners and providers with appropriate data and to enable targeted support where needed, we have developed a memory service dashboard for management information purposes.
Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Year Health Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.
We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to roll out a national screening programme for prostate cancer.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) reviewed the evidence for prostate cancer screening in 2020 and recommended against it due to the insufficient reliability of the best available test, the prostate specific antigen test, and harms from treatment.
The UK NSC is currently undertaking a new evidence review of prostate cancer screening at both a population level and for targeted high-risk groups such as black men and men with a family history of prostate cancer. We anticipate a public consultation on the findings of this review later this year and a recommendation by the UK NSC in the first quarter of next year.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the devolved administrations about the roll-out of NHS Online throughout the UK.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In September 2025, we announced an “online hospital”, NHS Online, which will give people on certain pathways the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. The first patients will be able to use the service from 2027. NHS England is developing the online hospital for England but ministers proactively welcome discussions on expanding the capabilities further with the devolved administrations.