Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 health visiting on the Government’s target of raising the healthiest generation of children ever.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. The child health workforce, including health visiting teams, are central to how we support families to give their children the best start in life.
Health visitors lead the Healthy Child Programme, England’s universal, community-based public health programme for children and families. The work of health visitors enables early intervention and prevents the need for high-cost NHS treatments down the line. Their impact is vital to realising both our ambition to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and the shifts from hospital to community, and treatment to prevention.
As set out in the Best Start in Life strategy, the Government has committed to strengthening health visiting services so that all families have access to high-quality, support they need.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 NHS Pensions' ability to meet the revised deadlines for issuing Remediable Service Statements set by the Government on 31 March 2025 on NHS members' i) financial resilience ii) ability to make informed choices regarding pension benefits.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of providing NHS Pension Scheme members certainty about when they will receive their McCloud Remediable Service Statements.
An independent review of the NHS Business Service Authority’s (NHSBSA) revised plans for the delivery of the McCloud remedy for NHS Pension Scheme members is underway. This will provide an additional level of scrutiny and assurance of the NHSBSA’s delivery plan and the timetable for the remaining statements.
I expect to be able to update the House on the review’s progress and the remedy delivery timetable before Christmas recess.
In the meantime, the NHSBSA continues to provide Remediable Service Statements to affected members, prioritising those who may be experiencing immediate financial hardship due to the discrimination highlighted by the McCloud judgment. Additionally, members who meet specific criteria can request to receive a prioritised Remediable Service Statement. Further information is available at the following link:
https://faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/knowledgebase/article/KA-29429/en-us.
The Government is committed to ensuring that affected members are not subject to financial disadvantage due to these delays. Pension arrears arising from the McCloud remedy are paid with 8% interest, and a compensation scheme is available for members who have experienced other direct financial losses.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 ability of NHS Pensions to provide members with Remediable Service Statements.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of providing NHS Pension Scheme members certainty about when they will receive their McCloud Remediable Service Statements.
An independent review of the NHS Business Service Authority’s (NHSBSA) revised plans for the delivery of the McCloud remedy for NHS Pension Scheme members is underway. This will provide an additional level of scrutiny and assurance of the NHSBSA’s delivery plan and the timetable for the remaining statements.
I expect to be able to update the House on the review’s progress and the remedy delivery timetable before Christmas recess.
In the meantime, the NHSBSA continues to provide Remediable Service Statements to affected members, prioritising those who may be experiencing immediate financial hardship due to the discrimination highlighted by the McCloud judgment. Additionally, members who meet specific criteria can request to receive a prioritised Remediable Service Statement. Further information is available at the following link:
https://faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/knowledgebase/article/KA-29429/en-us.
The Government is committed to ensuring that affected members are not subject to financial disadvantage due to these delays. Pension arrears arising from the McCloud remedy are paid with 8% interest, and a compensation scheme is available for members who have experienced other direct financial losses.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 ensure Members of NHS Pensions receive timely Remediable Service Statements.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of providing NHS Pension Scheme members certainty about when they will receive their McCloud Remediable Service Statements.
An independent review of the NHS Business Service Authority’s (NHSBSA) revised plans for the delivery of the McCloud remedy for NHS Pension Scheme members is underway. This will provide an additional level of scrutiny and assurance of the NHSBSA’s delivery plan and the timetable for the remaining statements.
I expect to be able to update the House on the review’s progress and the remedy delivery timetable before Christmas recess.
In the meantime, the NHSBSA continues to provide Remediable Service Statements to affected members, prioritising those who may be experiencing immediate financial hardship due to the discrimination highlighted by the McCloud judgment. Additionally, members who meet specific criteria can request to receive a prioritised Remediable Service Statement. Further information is available at the following link:
https://faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/knowledgebase/article/KA-29429/en-us.
The Government is committed to ensuring that affected members are not subject to financial disadvantage due to these delays. Pension arrears arising from the McCloud remedy are paid with 8% interest, and a compensation scheme is available for members who have experienced other direct financial losses.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will complete the review into NHS Pensions' ability to meet the revised deadlines for issuing Remediable Service Statements set by the government on 31 March 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of providing NHS Pension Scheme members certainty about when they will receive their McCloud Remediable Service Statements.
An independent review of the NHS Business Service Authority’s (NHSBSA) revised plans for the delivery of the McCloud remedy for NHS Pension Scheme members is underway. This will provide an additional level of scrutiny and assurance of the NHSBSA’s delivery plan and the timetable for the remaining statements.
I expect to be able to update the House on the review’s progress and the remedy delivery timetable before Christmas recess.
In the meantime, the NHSBSA continues to provide Remediable Service Statements to affected members, prioritising those who may be experiencing immediate financial hardship due to the discrimination highlighted by the McCloud judgment. Additionally, members who meet specific criteria can request to receive a prioritised Remediable Service Statement. Further information is available at the following link:
https://faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/knowledgebase/article/KA-29429/en-us.
The Government is committed to ensuring that affected members are not subject to financial disadvantage due to these delays. Pension arrears arising from the McCloud remedy are paid with 8% interest, and a compensation scheme is available for members who have experienced other direct financial losses.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Workforce plan will include an expansion in the allocation of dental student places at the University of Portsmouth.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.
The independent Office for Students has statutory responsibility for allocating funding for medical and dental school places. The University of Portsmouth would be considered for any possible future allocated dental training places, as would other dental schools in the same position.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cancer patients have access to radiotherapy in (a) Gosport, (b) the South East and (c) England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All cancer patients have access to radiotherapy treatment. Decisions about cancer treatment are typically made by clinicians and multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 ensure that every cancer patient who needs it has access to modern and timely radiotherapy cancer treatment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is taking decisive action to get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster.
We have invested £70 million in replacing outdated radiotherapy machines across the NHS with cutting-edge technology that will speed up treatment for thousands of patients. These new machines are being rolled out across the country.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to introduce a universal transferrable record for people with learning disabilities under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our 10-Year Health Plan will transform the National Health Service, shifting care from analogue to digital. We know that patients, including those with a learning disability, often have to tell their story at every appointment. The single patient record means that they will only need to tell it once. The record will improve secure access for patients and clinicians and ensure seamless treatment across the NHS. This will connect a patient’s health history in one secure place, accessible through the NHS App. Patients will get a legal right to access their single patient record by default and will be able to check their own information and alert clinicians where there are errors.
In addition, the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag was developed to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments, across the NHS and social care, wherever the person is seen or treated.
On 30 June 2025, a revised Accessible Information Standard was published. It describes how NHS and adult social care services should identify, record, flag, share, meet, and review people’s information and communication support needs. The revised Accessible Information Standard is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/accessible-information-standard/
In 2024, NHS England also published guidance on health and care passports, which are designed to be a quick and easy way to give health and social care professionals more information about people with a learning disability and other disabled people so that they can provide the right care and treatment. The guidance on health and care passports is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/health-and-care-passports/