Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Research on research into the feasibility of pre-12-week pregnancy loss data collection.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
While miscarriage hospital stay data is collected, the majority of baby losses occur outside of healthcare settings, and it is rightly the choice of the individual who has experienced the loss to disclose this information to healthcare professionals. It is therefore not possible to gather accurate and comprehensive data on miscarriages.
The Department has not explicitly discussed the feasibility of pre-12-week pregnancy loss data collection with the NIHR, but further data is being collected to help fill the current gap. For example, the Digital Maternity Record Standard Release 2 was updated in 2024 and recommends that a code for birth outcome, including miscarriage, is recorded as well as information on previous miscarriage or pregnancy loss.
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of maternal health, including pregnancy loss.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on improving the recording of miscarriage data in cases where women have had contact with health services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Some data on hospital stays related to miscarriage is collected, but the majority of baby losses occur outside of healthcare settings, and it is rightly the choice of the individual who has experienced the loss to disclose this information to healthcare professionals.
Discussions between the Department and NHS England specifically about improving the recording of miscarriage data in cases where women have had contact with health services have not taken place.
In line with the priorities outlined in NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, the Digital Maternity Record Standard (DMRS) Release 2 was updated in 2024 to improve the recording of miscarriage data in cases where women have had contact with health services. The new models of care to be added to the DMRS include women suffering from bereavement or loss. The new standard also recommends that a code for birth outcome, including miscarriage, is recorded, as well as information on previous miscarriage or pregnancy loss.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of extending the funding for women's health hubs beyond March 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the Autumn Budget, the Government announced a £22.6 billion increase in day-to-day health spending and a £3.1 billion increase in the capital budget over this year and the next. Building a National Health Service fit for the future is one of the five missions of the Government.
Women’s health hubs aim to improve access to and experiences of care, improve health outcomes for women, and reduce health inequalities. Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health care needs of their local population, which includes women's health hubs.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of seeking fertility treatment on women in the workplace.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Data from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) states that around 52,500 patients had in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and 3,000 had donor insemination (DI) treatment, at HFEA licensed fertility centres in the UK in 2022. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not hold any additional data on how many of those individuals were working, either nationally or by region.
DBT has not specifically assessed the potential impacts on women in the workplace of seeking fertility treatment, however, the Government recognises how important that treatment is to individuals and couples undertaking it. We have set out our immediate priorities for reforming employment law in the Plan to Make Work Pay, and while the Plan does not include any specific measures on fertility treatment, our plan aims to deliver change so that people are more able to balance working life with their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of women being able to access paid leave for fertility treatment on the economy.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Data from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) states that around 52,500 patients had in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and 3,000 had donor insemination (DI) treatment, at HFEA licensed fertility centres in the UK in 2022. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not hold any additional data on how many of those individuals were working, either nationally or by region.
DBT has not specifically assessed the potential impacts on women in the workplace of seeking fertility treatment, however, the Government recognises how important that treatment is to individuals and couples undertaking it. We have set out our immediate priorities for reforming employment law in the Plan to Make Work Pay, and while the Plan does not include any specific measures on fertility treatment, our plan aims to deliver change so that people are more able to balance working life with their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what data his Department holds on the number of women seeking fertility treatment whilst at work (a) nationally and (b) by region.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Data from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) states that around 52,500 patients had in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and 3,000 had donor insemination (DI) treatment, at HFEA licensed fertility centres in the UK in 2022. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not hold any additional data on how many of those individuals were working, either nationally or by region.
DBT has not specifically assessed the potential impacts on women in the workplace of seeking fertility treatment, however, the Government recognises how important that treatment is to individuals and couples undertaking it. We have set out our immediate priorities for reforming employment law in the Plan to Make Work Pay, and while the Plan does not include any specific measures on fertility treatment, our plan aims to deliver change so that people are more able to balance working life with their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of women’s health hubs.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has commissioned research and undertaken analysis to assess the effectiveness of women’s health hubs.
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In 2023, a rapid mixed methods evaluation was undertaken by the NIHR’s Birmingham RAND and Cambridge Evaluation Rapid Evaluation Centre to explore the current state and experiences of delivering and using women’s health hubs. It identified 17 women’s health hubs in England which were established between 2001 and 2022. The final report was published in September 2024, and is available at the following link:
https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/hsdr/JYFT5036#/abstract
The Department has published a cost benefit analysis, which estimated that for every £1 spent on implementing a primary care network-sized hub, there are estimated to be £5 of benefits. The cost benefit analysis is available at the following link:
The Department and NHS England are also committed to learning from the ongoing two-year women’s health hubs pilot programme, in 2023/24 and 2024/25. For example, the NIHR has commissioned two projects through the Policy Research Unit in Reproductive Health and the Policy Innovation Unit, which will explore mechanisms for commissioning women’s reproductive health services in England and what influences choice of, access to, and satisfaction with these services, including women’s health hubs.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting lists for treatment for chronic migraines.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Government does recognise that patients, including those with migraines, have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients are seen on time, and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.
We have made a commitment that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment within our first term. This includes those waiting for treatment for migraines. As a first step to achieving this, we will deliver an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments across all specialities during our first year in Government, which is equivalent to 40,000 per week. The Government announced £1.5 billion of new capital investment in the Autumn Budget, including investment for new diagnostic scanners and surgical hubs. This investment in scanners will build capacity for over 30,000 additional procedures and 1.25 million diagnostic tests as they come online.
There are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with migraines in England, including the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology, the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit, and the Neurology Transformation Programme (NTP).
The GIRFT National Specialty Report made recommendations designed to improve services nationally and to support the National Health Service to deliver care more equitably across the country. It makes several recommendations in relation to improving recognition and diagnosis of migraines by general practitioners. Additionally, the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit sets out key priorities for improving care for patients with migraines, which includes correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders.
The NTP has developed a model of integrated care for neurology services to support integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time, for all neurology patients, including providing care closer to home. The NTP has developed an online, interactive adult neurology dashboard to support systems to understand their local neurology landscape and benchmark against other integrated care boards in England. It sets out key metrics and visualisations for neurology services locally, providing information about the scope and quality of local neurology services using existing whole population, whole pathway data.
The Royal College of General Practitioners has developed two e-learning modules about migraines and cluster headaches, which the aim to raise awareness amongst primary care clinicians about the different types of migraines and their associated symptoms, and how to differentiate.
Over the last four years, a new class of drugs, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors, have been made available on the NHS for the prevention and treatment of episodic and chronic migraines. On 15 May 2024, Atogepant became the latest CGRP inhibitor for which the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance. The NICE recommended Atogepant for use as a preventive medication for the treatment of migraines on the NHS in England.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to fund research into new treatments for chronic migraines to (a) increase quality of life and (b) reduce the number of patients experiencing side effects.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The National Institute for Health and Care Research has funded a number of research projects on the prevention and treatment of chronic and episodic migraines. The relevant awards are named the Co-production and testing of an online resource to support the diagnosis and self-management of migraine, with an award number of NIHR202614, and the What is the comparative clinical and cost- effectiveness of pharmacological treatments for adults with chronic migraine?, with an award number of NIHR132803. Further information is available at the following links:
https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR202614
https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR132803
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department last raised the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan in the (a) UN Human Rights Council and (b) General Assembly.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The government continues to call for the human rights of all Afghans to be protected. We condemned the Taliban's actions against women and girls in a statement at the UN Third Committee on 8 October and in a statement on Afghanistan at the 57th UN Human Rights Council on 9 October. The future of Afghanistan as a country at peace with itself, its neighbours and the international community, relies on there being human rights for all.