Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on ensuring that NHS speech and language therapy services use evidence-based intervention dosages for children with moderate to severe speech sound disorders.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

All National Health Services, including speech and language therapy, should operate in accordance with the best available evidence-based practices. Where sufficient evidence exists, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes formal guidance. Frontline services, including those delivering speech and language therapy, are expected to adhere to NICE guidance wherever it is available and applicable. A relevant NICE quality statement can be found at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs128/chapter/quality-statement-2-speech-and-language#quality-statement-2-speech-and-language

In 2020, Public Health England published the Best Start in Speech, Language and Communication guidance to support local commissioners and service leads in meeting the needs of children in the early years, which can be found in the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/best-start-in-speech-language-and-communication

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help increase the availability of hydrocortisone for people with adrenal insufficiency.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is aware of supply issues affecting hydrocortisone sodium phosphate 100 milligram /1 millilitre solution for injection and has been in contact with the supplier of the alternative, hydrocortisone sodium succinate 100 milligram powder which remains available for patients.

We have issued comprehensive management guidance to healthcare professionals on how to manage patients while supply is disrupted. The guidance highlighted the differences between the two hydrocortisone injections. It also included resources for patients and healthcare professionals on how to administer the alternative hydrocortisone injection. Any patient who is worried about their condition should speak to their clinician in the first instance.