Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 improve miscarriage care.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Steps taken to improve miscarriage care include working closely with NHS England to improve the availability of Early Pregnancy Assessment Units, improved mental health support through Maternal Mental Health Services, and standardised bereavement care through the National Bereavement Care Pathway. As part of the renewed Women’s Health Strategy, we have committed to closely reviewing the findings presented in the Tommy’s graded model of care study, including the suggestions of improved access to care.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled The Tommy’s Graded Model of Miscarriage Care, published by Tommy’s on 29 April 2026, whether his Department plans to roll out the Graded Model of Miscarriage Care nationally.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Miscarriage can have a devastating impact on women and their families, and we are determined that they receive the support they need. As part of the renewed Women’s Health Strategy, we have committed to closely reviewing the findings presented in the Tommy’s Graded Model of Care study, as part of a broader range of measures under consideration to improve miscarriage care for women and families.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce will be considering miscarriage care as part of its remit.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce will translate the recommendations of Baroness Amos’ independent investigation into National Health Service maternity and neonatal care into a national action plan. The Taskforce’s terms of reference sets out that all stages of the maternity and neonatal care pathway will be considered when developing its new national action plan, including miscarriage care. This may include issues not covered in Baroness Amos’ report.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made trends in the level of waiting times for diagnostic tests across the NHS; and whether delays in receiving routine blood test results reflect a wider trend in diagnostic backlogs.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ensuring patients receive their diagnostic test results quickly is a priority for the Government. 70% of histopathology cases are expected to be completed within 10 days. For cases relating to cancer or suspected cancer, the expectation is 80% within 10 days.
The Government does not hold the data requested on integrated care systems’ turnaround times for blood tests. However, the Government is committed to improving access to pathology diagnostic services through the National Health Service’s 27 pathology networks. NHS laboratories deliver over 1.4 billion tests annually, including approximately 1.2 billion blood tests that require phlebotomy. While the Government does not currently hold national data on waiting times for access to blood sampling, capacity is being expanded. Phlebotomy services are now available through 119 community diagnostic centres, with 1.8 million tests delivered between April 2025 and the end of February 2026. More broadly, programmes are underway to improve access, resilience, and performance across pathology services, including targeted investment in digital technology and robotics, particularly within histopathology.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of trends in the level of waiting times for blood tests; and if he will publish data on current turnaround times by Integrated Care systems.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ensuring patients receive their diagnostic test results quickly is a priority for the Government. 70% of histopathology cases are expected to be completed within 10 days. For cases relating to cancer or suspected cancer, the expectation is 80% within 10 days.
The Government does not hold the data requested on integrated care systems’ turnaround times for blood tests. However, the Government is committed to improving access to pathology diagnostic services through the National Health Service’s 27 pathology networks. NHS laboratories deliver over 1.4 billion tests annually, including approximately 1.2 billion blood tests that require phlebotomy. While the Government does not currently hold national data on waiting times for access to blood sampling, capacity is being expanded. Phlebotomy services are now available through 119 community diagnostic centres, with 1.8 million tests delivered between April 2025 and the end of February 2026. More broadly, programmes are underway to improve access, resilience, and performance across pathology services, including targeted investment in digital technology and robotics, particularly within histopathology.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 (a) average and (b) longest wait times for patients to receive blood test results; and what steps he is taking to reduce delays.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ensuring patients receive their diagnostic test results quickly is a priority for the Government. 70% of histopathology cases are expected to be completed within 10 days. For cases relating to cancer or suspected cancer, the expectation is 80% within 10 days.
The Government does not hold the data requested on integrated care systems’ turnaround times for blood tests. However, the Government is committed to improving access to pathology diagnostic services through the National Health Service’s 27 pathology networks. NHS laboratories deliver over 1.4 billion tests annually, including approximately 1.2 billion blood tests that require phlebotomy. While the Government does not currently hold national data on waiting times for access to blood sampling, capacity is being expanded. Phlebotomy services are now available through 119 community diagnostic centres, with 1.8 million tests delivered between April 2025 and the end of February 2026. More broadly, programmes are underway to improve access, resilience, and performance across pathology services, including targeted investment in digital technology and robotics, particularly within histopathology.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether staff transferring from NHS England to his Department will have their existing terms and conditions, including pay protections, preserved; and whether the transfer will be conducted in line with TUPE principles.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We can confirm that we will follow Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) like principles, whether TUPE or another statutory transfer mechanism, in line with the Cabinet Office Statement of Practice. This means that recognised trade unions will be formally consulted and engaged on measures related to the transfer with no changes to contractual terms and conditions made without proper consultation and engagement.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 reducing the workforce of integrated care boards by 50 per cent on the level of patient care and NHS system performance.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health and care services and reduce duplication of responsibilities within their structure with the expectation of achieving a reduction in their running cost allowance.
As such, NHS England has asked ICBs to reduce their running cost allowance to a cap of £19 per head of weighted population and enable savings to be reinvested in frontline services. ICBs have been supported in developing local plans for their future structures and remain accountable for delivering their statutory functions.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, ICBs’ role as strategic commissioners will be to improve their population’s health, reduce health inequalities, and improve access to consistently high-quality services.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when funding for Start for Life services will be confirmed for Sutton Council; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the absence of such funding on support for babies and new parents in Carshalton and Wallington constituency in 2025–26.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out an ambitious agenda on how we will improve the nation’s health by creating a new model of care that is fit for the future.
We recognise that local authorities such as Sutton Council are ambitious, seeking to deliver universal support to babies, children, and their families, and prevent escalating need. We are committed to delivering the 10-Year Health Plan’s ambition to match Healthy Babies, formerly Start for Life, to Best Start Family Hubs over the next decade.
Healthy Babies funding is helping families during the critical 1,001 days, and parents have said they are more confident in feeding their babies and have better perinatal mental health because of this support. We continue to assess how we can best support early-years service integration across the country and remain committed to working with delivery partners locally to achieve this.
Healthy Babies is one element of our broader commitment to supporting babies, children and families. From April 2026, Best Start Family Hubs will expand to every single local authority, including Sutton Council, backed by over £500 million to reach up to half a million more children and families. This funding will help all local authorities to integrate a range of statutory and non-statutory health and family services.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to increase funding for research on low‑grade gliomas and other rare brain tumours.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
The Department invests over £1.6 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
The NIHR is continuing to invest in brain tumour research. For example, in December 2025, the NIHR announced the pioneering Brain Tumour Research Consortium to accelerate research into new brain tumour treatments. NIHR is investing an initial £13.7 million in the consortium with significant further funding due to be awarded early in 2026. The world-leading consortium aims to transform outcomes for adults and children and their families who are living with brain tumours, ultimately reducing lives lost to cancer.
Brain tumours are one of the toughest cancers to treat. This new NIHR investment will help researchers and clinicians understand the disease better, test new treatments earlier and make trials available to more adults and children closer to home.
The consortium brings together 48 organisations from across leading universities, National Health Service trusts, and charities, along with patients, to help deliver better research, faster. It is a coordinated national effort to improve the development and evaluation of treatments for brain tumours across adult and paediatric populations.
The NIHR continues to welcome high quality funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including low-grade glioma and other rare brain tumours.