Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to improve accountability and resolution complaints processes within NHS organisations.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations must handle complaints in accordance with the standards and processes set out in the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009.
To support good complaint handling, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s NHS Complaint Standards set out how organisations providing services in the NHS should approach complaint handling. The standards place a strong focus on several key aspects of complaint handling, including early resolution and giving fair and accountable responses. They set out practical advice and good practice to help NHS organisations improve.
Through implementation of Fit for the Future: The 10-Year Health Plan for England, we will improve transparency, deliver high-quality care for all, and strengthen patient and staff voice. This includes reform of the NHS complaints process, setting clear standards for both the timeliness and the quality of responses to complaints, as well as ensuring the NHS listens carefully and compassionately, taking forward learnings to ensure high quality care. We will also increase the use of artificial intelligence tools to ensure complaints data is collected, and responded to, far more quickly.
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is being done to support disabled people working in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local employers across the National Health Service have arrangements in place for supporting disabled staff including occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and a focus on healthy working environments.
Employers have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to consider and make reasonable adjustments for employees who have a disability, taking advice from their local occupational health and human resources department. This includes removing or reducing any substantial disadvantages that employees with a disability may face compared to someone who does not have a disability.
The NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard sets out metrics to enable organisations to understand the experiences of disabled staff and to develop and publish an action plan. Year on year comparison enables trusts to demonstrate progress against the indicators of disability equality.
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
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 adequacy of waiting times for specialist gender services for under-18s.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government and NHS England are committed to implementing the recommendations of the Cass Review in full. NHS England developed an ambitious two-year action plan which sets out how they will continue to transform and improve gender services, helping to tackle waiting lists, whilst ensuring safe and holistic care.
The Government recognises that waiting times for Children and Young People’s gender services are too long, and we are determined to change that. NHS England has opened three children and young people’s gender services in the North-West, London, and Bristol.
A fourth service is anticipated to open in the East of England later this year. NHS England is aiming to deliver a gender clinic in each region of England by 2026. This will bring services closer to the homes of those who need them, and will help tackle waiting times.
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
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 increase the availability of hearing tests.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the National Health Service to increase diagnostic capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services, including for audiology services such as hearing tests. Our Elective Reform Plan commits to transforming and expanding diagnostic services and speeding up waiting times for tests.
NHS England is supporting provider organisations and integrated care boards, who are the commissioners of audiology services, to improve performance and reduce waiting lists. This includes capital investment to upgrade audiology facilities in NHS trusts, expanding audiology testing capacity via community diagnostic centres, and direct support through a national audiology improvement collaborative.
The 2025 Spending Review confirmed over £6 billion of additional capital investment over five years across new diagnostic, elective, and urgent care capacity. Further details and allocations will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
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 trends in the level of HPV vaccine uptake in different local authorities.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage is presented for England at national, National Health Service commissioning region, and local authority levels. HPV vaccine uptake is known to vary by local authority, and assessments of trends by locality are ongoing.
Vaccine coverage data for the routine school-aged HPV immunisation programme in England, including for the 2023 to 2024 academic year, is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#hpv-vaccine-uptake
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a national register of defibrillators.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Circuit is the independently operated national automated external defibrillator databased, developed by a partnership of the British Heart Foundation, the National Health Service, the Resuscitation Council UK, and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives. The Circuit provides a national database of where defibrillators can be found so that ambulance services can quickly identify the nearest defibrillator.
There are now over 100,000 defibrillators in the United Kingdom registered on The Circuit. There are no plans to establish a separate national register.
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to increase funding for Parkinson's nurses.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are 25 specialised neurological treatment centres across the National Health Service in England, which provide access to neurological multidisciplinary teams to ensure that patients with Parkinson’s can receive specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.
We do, however, acknowledge significant neurology workforce challenges, including a need for more neurologists and specialist nurses, and we are taking significant steps to address NHS workforce challenges.
This summer, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver a transformed health service over the next decade and treat patients, including those with Parkinson’s disease, on time again. We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.
We have also launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and improve care for people with long-term conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. A central and core part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to make it more accessible, proactive and tailored for patients.
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
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 improve (a) access to training and (b) the integration of Ukrainian doctors into the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are various local schemes to support refugee health and care staff into National Health Service employment. The training and integration of refugee doctors into the NHS, including those from Ukraine, is managed at a local level by NHS employers according to local requirements.
It is our ambition that all Ukrainian refugees who are healthcare professionals in their home country and who meet the standards required in the United Kingdom are able to achieve registration efficiently and use their skills within our NHS.
A page has been published on the GOV.UK website specifically for Ukrainian refugees which aims to provide an overview of the processes required by specific healthcare professional regulators, and which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-in-healthcare-in-the-uk-homes-for-ukraine
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of all medical doctors in the UK. The GMC has introduced a number of measures to support applications from refugees. Information about these measures is available at the following link:
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to require standardised information about the inclusion of genetically engineered food ingredients to be clearly marked on food packaging for consumers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Existing labelling rules for genetically modified organisms (GMO) stipulate that foods sold in Britain that contain GMO ingredients must be labelled with this information. This labelling gives consumers the choice on whether to consume such foods containing, or consisting of, GMO ingredients, and the choice to avoid such foods, should they wish to do so. In the case of food sold loose, or where food has been cooked in a GMO product, for instance cooking oil, this information must appear on a notice, menu, ticket, or label which can be easily read by customers.
Information about any characteristic or property which renders a food consisting of or containing genetic modifications different from its conventional counterpart, such as its composition, nutritional value, the intended use of the food or feed, or any health implications for certain sections of the population, must also be included.
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to prioritise (a) lung and (b) respiratory health in the NHS Long Term Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts the National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving respiratory health in all parts of the county.
More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their long-term conditions, including respiratory conditions, closer to home. Earlier diagnosis of conditions will help people manage their conditions, prevent deterioration and improve survival rates.