Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 impact of blood donation rules on iron levels on the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic women unable to donate blood.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) tests for haemoglobin levels rather than iron levels ahead of blood donation. If the test shows that the haemoglobin is low, the donor is deferred and information is provided on how they can increase haemoglobin levels through altering their diet, and book an appointment with their general practitioner if levels are particularly low. On average, 7% to 11% of donors are deferred because of low haemoglobin levels, but this rises to 12% of black heritage donors and to 25% of female black heritage donors. These deferrals impact on donor retention, as donors deferred for low haemoglobin are less likely to return.
Currently there are no plans to review minimum haemoglobin levels to donate blood. Donors whose haemoglobin levels are below safe levels to donate are deferred in accordance with the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 and the guidance issued by the Joint UK Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC) which states ‘taking a donation from a person with a haemoglobin concentration below the recommended value may make them anaemic’.
Increasing diversity in the donor base is a priority for NHSBT, so they can provide matched blood for more patients, including those with rare blood types commonly found in black, Asian, and minority ethnic women. NHSBT provides grants to community and faith groups to encourage donation, including in black, Asian, and minority ethnic communicates. The Department provided seed funding for NHSBT to increase its collection capacity, particularly in diverse areas where higher proportions of the population have rare blood types, including Brixton and Brighton.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 impact of blood donation rules on (a) iron levels in and (b) the adequacy of the supply of rare blood types commonly found in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic women.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) tests for haemoglobin levels rather than iron levels ahead of blood donation. If the test shows that the haemoglobin is low, the donor is deferred and information is provided on how they can increase haemoglobin levels through altering their diet, and book an appointment with their general practitioner if levels are particularly low. On average, 7% to 11% of donors are deferred because of low haemoglobin levels, but this rises to 12% of black heritage donors and to 25% of female black heritage donors. These deferrals impact on donor retention, as donors deferred for low haemoglobin are less likely to return.
Currently there are no plans to review minimum haemoglobin levels to donate blood. Donors whose haemoglobin levels are below safe levels to donate are deferred in accordance with the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 and the guidance issued by the Joint UK Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC) which states ‘taking a donation from a person with a haemoglobin concentration below the recommended value may make them anaemic’.
Increasing diversity in the donor base is a priority for NHSBT, so they can provide matched blood for more patients, including those with rare blood types commonly found in black, Asian, and minority ethnic women. NHSBT provides grants to community and faith groups to encourage donation, including in black, Asian, and minority ethnic communicates. The Department provided seed funding for NHSBT to increase its collection capacity, particularly in diverse areas where higher proportions of the population have rare blood types, including Brixton and Brighton.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the minimum iron level required to donate blood.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) tests for haemoglobin levels rather than iron levels ahead of blood donation. If the test shows that the haemoglobin is low, the donor is deferred and information is provided on how they can increase haemoglobin levels through altering their diet, and book an appointment with their general practitioner if levels are particularly low. On average, 7% to 11% of donors are deferred because of low haemoglobin levels, but this rises to 12% of black heritage donors and to 25% of female black heritage donors. These deferrals impact on donor retention, as donors deferred for low haemoglobin are less likely to return.
Currently there are no plans to review minimum haemoglobin levels to donate blood. Donors whose haemoglobin levels are below safe levels to donate are deferred in accordance with the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 and the guidance issued by the Joint UK Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC) which states ‘taking a donation from a person with a haemoglobin concentration below the recommended value may make them anaemic’.
Increasing diversity in the donor base is a priority for NHSBT, so they can provide matched blood for more patients, including those with rare blood types commonly found in black, Asian, and minority ethnic women. NHSBT provides grants to community and faith groups to encourage donation, including in black, Asian, and minority ethnic communicates. The Department provided seed funding for NHSBT to increase its collection capacity, particularly in diverse areas where higher proportions of the population have rare blood types, including Brixton and Brighton.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of patients unable to secure appointments with their GP due to (a) digital exclusion and (b) lack of telephone access.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
General practices (GPs) and other National Health Service organisations are encouraged to support patients to use online routes where this would be convenient for them, and there is work to improve the usability of digital tools so that they are accessible to larger numbers of patients. However, a choice of access routes should remain available.
As outlined in the GP Contract, digital services should be provided in addition to other channels for accessing GPs, such as in person visits, rather than as a replacement. Practice receptions should also remain open to ensure that those without access to a telephone or online services are not disadvantaged.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Maternity Disparities Taskforce is still active; how many meetings of that taskforce have taken place since it was established; and if he will publish the (a) dates and (b) durations of those meetings.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Maternity Disparities Taskforce is not currently active, having met six times on: 8 March 2022, 16 May 2022, 18 July 2022, 18 April 2023, 5 September 2023 and 31 January 2024. The duration of these meetings were approximately an hour and a half.
It is a priority for the Government to make sure all women and babies receive the high-quality care they deserve, regardless of their background or ethnicity. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health, Baroness Merron, is considering the immediate action needed to tackle inequalities for women and babies and racism in maternity services; including what targets are needed.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 support Start for Life services in Lambeth; and if he will extend the funding of such services beyond 1 April 2025.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme is central to delivering the Government’s commitments to give every baby the best start in life, and to deliver the healthiest generation of children ever. Lambeth is one of 75 local authorities the Government is funding to ensure parents and carers can access Start for Life services, from conception to the age of two years old.
We work closely with Lambeth to support programme implementation across all funded strands, and they have opened six Family Hub sites with Start for Life services at their heart since 2023. We also signpost policy toolkits, provide guidance, and facilitate the sharing of good practice between local authorities.
The Autumn Budget announcement included £69 million to continue delivery of a network of Family Hubs in 2025/26. The Department will confirm Start for Life funding in due course.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for (a) his policies and (b) the forthcoming UK National Screening Committee review on prostate cancer guidelines of the findings of the report by Prostate Cancer UK entitled Lifetime risk of being diagnosed with, or dying from, prostate cancer by major ethnic group in England 2008–2010, published in July 2015, on the risk of prostate cancer for Black men.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is carrying out an evidence review for prostate cancer screening, and this includes different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years of age onwards, and targeted screening programmes aimed at groups of men identified as being at higher than average risk, such as those with a family history, carriers of the BRCA2 gene mutation, and based on ethnicity.
The UK NSC is aware of Prostate Cancer UK’s report, and this will be considered as part of its evidence review process, with further information available at the following link:
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Prostate Cancer UK's study entitled Using real world data to bridge the evidence gap left by prostate cancer screening trials, published in October 2024, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the finding relating to the reduction in potential harm following prostate-specific antigen testing.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) does not currently recommend screening for prostate cancer. This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test for the condition, the prostate specific antigen test.
A UK NSC evidence review for prostate cancer screening is already underway. We welcome the study by Prostate Cancer UK, and will make sure it is fed into the UK NSC’s review of prostate screening.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have entered the NHS midwifery workforce through (a) pre-registration undergraduate courses, (b) apprenticeships, (c) postgraduate conversion from nursing, (d) return to midwifery programmes, (e) international recruitment and (f) other routes according to the most recent data available to his Department; and what assessment his Department has made of the contribution of each route to growing that workforce over the (i) last and (ii) next five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In order to bring together questions on the education and training of midwives and the flow of staff into the National Health Service midwifery workforce, a number of strands of the available data are presented below.
Data published by the Office for Students, in the Higher Education Students Early Statistics Survey (HESES), collates figures submitted by individual higher education providers to give an indication of the number of students starting in each academic year. The HESES’ data includes figures on undergraduate and postgraduate midwifery courses in England. The latest published data is for those starting courses in 2023. The following table shows the number of undergraduate and postgraduate starters on midwifery courses in England for 2019 to 2023:
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
Undergraduate starters | 2,930 | 3,460 | 3,565 | 3,305 | 3,255 |
Postgraduate starters | 55 | 100 | 135 | 190 | 195 |
Source: The Office for Students’ HESES data for 2023.
The following table shows the number of qualifiers from undergraduate midwifery courses in England, with a qualifier being defined by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as a student who gained a qualification during the academic year in question, for the academic years 2020/21 to 2022/23:
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
Undergraduate midwifery qualifiers | 1,895 | 2,380 | 2,705 |
Source: HESA’s qualifier data 2023
Note: Data is currently only available up to the academic year 2022/23.
Additionally, there are midwives training through an apprenticeship route. The following table shows the number of starts on midwifery apprenticeships, including apprenticeships within NHS and non-NHS organisations, in each of the last five years:
Year | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Starts | 26 | 39 | 22 | 42 | 72 |
Source: Department for Education Apprenticeships and traineeships statistics, October 2024.
Note: Data on the provisional starts for the year 2023/24 is only available between August 2023 to July 2024.
The Department does not hold data which would allow the identification of the route which joiners to the NHS registered midwifery workforce have taken to become active in the service, or what these flows will be in future years. Data published by NHS England does show the total annual number of staff who join active service across NHS trusts and other core organisations. Joiners are not the same as those recruited to the NHS, as they will include staff returning after breaks in activity. Joiners will also include experienced midwives joining from non-NHS providers. Within this data we can see the number who are joiners at Agenda for Change pay band five, which is where newly qualified or less experience staff would be placed. Data also contains the nationality of staff joining active service, and whilst self-reported nationality is not the same as place of training or previous residence, it does provide a guide to scale. The following table shows the annual number of midwives joining active service in the NHS in England, as well as those joining at band five, and those joining who reported non-United Kingdom nationalities, for each of the last five years up until June:
Year ending | June 2020 | June 2021 | June 2022 | June 2023 | June 2024 |
Annual midwives joining active service | 3,242 | 1,845 | 3,320 | 3,883 | 4,278 |
Joining at band five | 1,685 | 421 | 1,766 | 2,172 | 2,479 |
Joining any grade with a non-UK nationality | 243 | 155 | 247 | 593 | 616 |
Source: NHS England, NHS Workforce Statistics.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people who joined the NHS as a midwife were newly-qualified as midwives in each of last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In order to bring together questions on the education and training of midwives and the flow of staff into the National Health Service midwifery workforce, a number of strands of the available data are presented below.
Data published by the Office for Students, in the Higher Education Students Early Statistics Survey (HESES), collates figures submitted by individual higher education providers to give an indication of the number of students starting in each academic year. The HESES’ data includes figures on undergraduate and postgraduate midwifery courses in England. The latest published data is for those starting courses in 2023. The following table shows the number of undergraduate and postgraduate starters on midwifery courses in England for 2019 to 2023:
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
Undergraduate starters | 2,930 | 3,460 | 3,565 | 3,305 | 3,255 |
Postgraduate starters | 55 | 100 | 135 | 190 | 195 |
Source: The Office for Students’ HESES data for 2023.
The following table shows the number of qualifiers from undergraduate midwifery courses in England, with a qualifier being defined by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as a student who gained a qualification during the academic year in question, for the academic years 2020/21 to 2022/23:
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
Undergraduate midwifery qualifiers | 1,895 | 2,380 | 2,705 |
Source: HESA’s qualifier data 2023
Note: Data is currently only available up to the academic year 2022/23.
Additionally, there are midwives training through an apprenticeship route. The following table shows the number of starts on midwifery apprenticeships, including apprenticeships within NHS and non-NHS organisations, in each of the last five years:
Year | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Starts | 26 | 39 | 22 | 42 | 72 |
Source: Department for Education Apprenticeships and traineeships statistics, October 2024.
Note: Data on the provisional starts for the year 2023/24 is only available between August 2023 to July 2024.
The Department does not hold data which would allow the identification of the route which joiners to the NHS registered midwifery workforce have taken to become active in the service, or what these flows will be in future years. Data published by NHS England does show the total annual number of staff who join active service across NHS trusts and other core organisations. Joiners are not the same as those recruited to the NHS, as they will include staff returning after breaks in activity. Joiners will also include experienced midwives joining from non-NHS providers. Within this data we can see the number who are joiners at Agenda for Change pay band five, which is where newly qualified or less experience staff would be placed. Data also contains the nationality of staff joining active service, and whilst self-reported nationality is not the same as place of training or previous residence, it does provide a guide to scale. The following table shows the annual number of midwives joining active service in the NHS in England, as well as those joining at band five, and those joining who reported non-United Kingdom nationalities, for each of the last five years up until June:
Year ending | June 2020 | June 2021 | June 2022 | June 2023 | June 2024 |
Annual midwives joining active service | 3,242 | 1,845 | 3,320 | 3,883 | 4,278 |
Joining at band five | 1,685 | 421 | 1,766 | 2,172 | 2,479 |
Joining any grade with a non-UK nationality | 243 | 155 | 247 | 593 | 616 |
Source: NHS England, NHS Workforce Statistics.