Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) internal policy reviews, (b) independent reviews, (c) external reviews, (d) taskforces, (e) public consultations, (f) investigations and (g) other reviews his Department launched between 5 July 2024 and 14 May 2025; what the titles were of those reviews; and how many of those reviews have been (i) completed and (ii) published.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the election, the Government outlined its ambitions through the Plan for Change, which sets out an ambitious set of milestones, across the missions, for this Parliament.
As the House of Commons would expect, the Government continually reviews its work to ensure that it is delivering the best outcomes for the people of the United Kingdom, and that its policies continue to represent the best value for the taxpayer.
Public reviews will be available on the GOV.UK website as they are published.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2025 to Question 45763 on Women, when he expects his review of delivering same-sex accommodation guidance to be completed.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service is reviewing its Delivering same-sex accommodation guidance, and will ensure that it reflects the Supreme Court’s ruling and is aligned with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s statutory guidance, when this becomes available.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 merits of the provision of female-only health services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made an assessment of the merits of female-only health services. It is for integrated care boards and trusts to commission and deliver services suitable to their local population.
Services within the National Health Service are patient centred, and the NHS Constitution is clear that patients have the right to receive care and treatment that is appropriate to them, meets their needs and reflects their preferences.
Patients are able to request that intimate care is provided by someone of the same sex. This is recognised through accompanying Care Quality Commission statutory guidance to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. In line with this guidance, we expect that providers will make every reasonable effort to respect patient preferences.
The Government remains committed to prioritising women’s health as we build an NHS fit for the future.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with relevant stakeholders to discuss the potential risks to public health posed by uncollected rubbish in Birmingham.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and ministers from the Department have had no recent meetings on the potential risks to public health posed by uncollected rubbish in Birmingham.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is part of a multi-agency response Strategic Coordinating Group, led by Birmingham City Council, and has contributed to their risk assessment. The UKHSA will continue to provide advice and support to Birmingham City Council.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 extend opt out (a) HIV, (b) Hepatitis B and (c) Hepatitis C testing to all patients requiring a blood test in all NHS accident and emergency departments that do not currently offer it.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Emergency department opt out testing is currently being offered to all extremely high and high HIV prevalence areas in England until 2026/27. A detailed list of specific sites offering opt-out HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C testing is in the attached table. Emergency departments not listed in the attached table are not currently offering opt-out testing.
The Department, the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), and NHS England are working together in the development of a new HIV Action Plan which we aim to publish this year. The plan will include a focus on scaling up HIV testing, including an assessment of the future of opt out testing, based on the programme’s progress and the available data, in line with our 2030 ambition.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list the NHS accident and emergency departments currently not offering an opt out of (a) HIV, (b) Hepatitis B and (c) Hepatitis C testing to all patients requiring a blood test.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Emergency department opt out testing is currently being offered to all extremely high and high HIV prevalence areas in England until 2026/27. A detailed list of specific sites offering opt-out HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C testing is in the attached table. Emergency departments not listed in the attached table are not currently offering opt-out testing.
The Department, the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), and NHS England are working together in the development of a new HIV Action Plan which we aim to publish this year. The plan will include a focus on scaling up HIV testing, including an assessment of the future of opt out testing, based on the programme’s progress and the available data, in line with our 2030 ambition.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list the NHS accident and emergency departments currently offering an opt out of (a) HIV, (b) Hepatitis B and (c) Hepatitis C testing to all patients requiring a blood test.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Emergency department opt out testing is currently being offered to all extremely high and high HIV prevalence areas in England until 2026/27. A detailed list of specific sites offering opt-out HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C testing is in the attached table. Emergency departments not listed in the attached table are not currently offering opt-out testing.
The Department, the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), and NHS England are working together in the development of a new HIV Action Plan which we aim to publish this year. The plan will include a focus on scaling up HIV testing, including an assessment of the future of opt out testing, based on the programme’s progress and the available data, in line with our 2030 ambition.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the (a) vaccination status, (b) ethnicity, (c) travel history, (d) source of infection and (d) eligibility for NHS vaccine before infection diagnosed of children born in the UK that are aged between zero and five years old and have been diagnosed with tuberculosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Children are identified as a specific population group requiring actions in the joint UK Health Security Agency and NHS England plan, Tuberculosis (TB): action plan for England, 2021 to 2026, but there are no high-level indicators to report relating to TB in children as the number of infections and the rate of TB in children are low.
Enhanced surveillance involving rigorous data collection is carried out for all individuals with TB. For specific population groups where TB is more common, for example, those who have a social risk factor, detailed data analysis is presented in the Annual Reports for Tuberculosis in England, which are available at the following link:
Indicators to monitor actions are identified in the joint plan, which is available at the following link:
In 2023, 102 out of 259, or 39.4% of, children under 18 years old notified with TB with a known country of birth, were born in the United Kingdom. In the group of children aged between zero and four years old, the proportion born in the UK was 80.4%, or 41 out of 51 individuals.
Data on ethnicity are not reported separately for children due to small numbers. Information about travel history and source of infection is not available for this age group.
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination coverage for eligible children is captured as part of the Cover of Vaccination Evaluated Rapidly programme. The latest quarterly national data available is for infants at age three months for children, born between April and June 2024, and at age 12 months, born between July and September 2023. Measured at three months, coverage in England was 78.4% and measured at 12 months, it was 84.1%. The full data is available at the following link:
The eligibility criteria for BCG in the UK is a selective risk-based programme targeting children with a parent or grandparent born in a high incidence country or infants in areas of the UK with high TB incidence. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2025 to Question 44517 on Domestic Waste: Birmingham, when he expects the risk assessment on the potential public health impacts of uncollected waste in Birmingham to be published.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton on 25 April 2025 to Question 45661.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of salmonella infections have been reported in Birmingham in each of the last six months.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not held in the format requested. Weekly reports with figures for food poisoning by region are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notifiable-diseases-weekly-reports-for-2025.