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 students a) started and b) successfully completed a midwifery degree in i) 2025, ii) 2024, iii) 2023, iv) 2022, v) 2021, vi) 2020 and vii) 2019.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of starters on midwifery courses in England is collected and published by the Office for Students in its Higher Education Students Early Statistics survey. The data is available at the following link:
For the 2025/26 academic year, summary table 4 gives a breakdown by the profession of the course, with prior years the equivalent data being on table 6. Tables can be filtered to included or exclude those on post graduate courses.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) publishes data on the number of qualifiers from undergraduate midwifery courses in England. This data is available at the following link in the table “HE qualifiers by subject of study and permanent address”:
https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/outcomes#qualifiers
The Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) filter can be used to find Midwifery qualifiers and the data can be filtered to include or exclude those on post graduate courses. Data is currently available up to the 2024/25 academic year.
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, on which dates the maternity and neonatal task force (a) has met and (b) is due to meet.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The first taskforce meeting took place on the 24 March 2026. A record of this meeting is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/national-maternity-and-neonatal-taskforce#record-of-meetings
Future records of meetings will be uploaded to GOV.UK on a rolling basis.
The second taskforce meeting took place on the 19 May 2026.
As per the Terms of Reference, the taskforce will meet every six to eight weeks. Future meeting dates will be confirmed in due course and communicated to taskforce members.
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, when he plans to respond to the Hughes report.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government extends its deepest sympathies to all those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh, and recognises the profound, life‑changing impact these harms have had on individuals and their families. We know that for many, the consequences are ongoing and deeply felt.
We are still in the process of considering the work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out recommendations for redress for those that have been affected. We will respond once this work is complete. However, we have introduced several initiatives, in conjunction with NHS England, to address the immediate needs of the affected cohort.
In relation to pelvic mesh, a national pause was introduced in 2018 on the use of vaginally inserted mesh to treat pelvic organ prolapse, and of mesh slings to treat stress urinary incontinence, which remains in place. In 2021, we established several mesh centres as regional, multidisciplinary specialist services to treat complications from pelvic mesh surgeries. NHS England completed an internal audit of the mesh centres across England in 2026. The audit showed the value and impact of the service delivered by the mesh centres, with almost 3000 patients now seen in the services since their introduction, equating to 700 per year.
With regard to sodium valproate, since 2018, the number of females prescribed sodium valproate aged 0-54 has almost halved. However, NHS England continues to monitor and work to lower the number of patients exposed to sodium valproate in utero, and there remains a cohort of patients with distinct and varied care needs to whom the health system must provide the best possible care. The pilot has so far seen 80 patients, representing 560 appointments and 650 clinical hours. This translates to real human impact, with patients already feeding back on the value that being seen by clinical experts and wider multi-disciplinary team services has had on their quality of life.
The Government has been clear that there must be meaningful progress during this Parliament. We recognise how difficult this uncertainty is for those affected, and we will ensure that the public is kept informed on this important work. Ongoing health initiatives led by the Department and future plans are set out in recent letters to the Patient Safety Commissioner, which are published on her website.
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 estimate he has made of the potential savings to the public purse of abolishing Healthwatch England and Local Healthwatch.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is 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, how much funding his Department provided to (a) Healthwatch England and (b) Local Healthwatch in (i) 2023, (ii) 2024 and (iii) 2025.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is 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, which specialised neurology centres currently provide multidisciplinary team assessment and treatment for people with primary progressive aphasia.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally. The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
Specialised neurology services are tertiary services providing diagnostic and treatment support to patients with complex needs who cannot be optimally managed in a core neurology service alone. These services must be delivered in all integrated neurology systems. This may be at specialised neurology centres or appropriately resourced district general hospitals as part of an integrated neurology system. Subspecialty level multidisciplinary teams and appropriate networked governance are required wherever these services are delivered.
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 and what proportion of patients waited (a) 18 weeks or less, (b) 18 weeks and 1 day, (c) 18 weeks and 2 days, (d) 18 weeks and 3 days, (e) 19 weeks, (f) 20 weeks and (g) 21 weeks from referral to treatment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data for the daily breakdown of waits. The table attached shows a breakdown in the proportion and number of waits for the weekly time periods requested, taken from the Referral to Treatment Waiting Times published statistics for March 2026. The full dataset is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/
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, with reference to the Answers of 1 April 2026 to Question 122780 and 25 March 2026 to Question 120988 on General Practitioners: Contracts and with reference to the oral statement of 16 April 2026 on the Women's Health Strategy, whether waiting times for patients who are offered secondary care following an Advice and Guidance (A&G) request in (a) March, (b) April, (c) May, (d) June, (e) July, (f) August, (g) September, (h) October and (i) November 2026.will be calculated from (i) the date the A&G request is received, (ii) the date the A&G request is accepted as a referral and (iii) other dates on the pathway.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is 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, when he plans to appoint the national specialty lead for rare cancers.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will implement the Rare Cancers Act 2026 by ensuring that a National Specialty Lead for Rare Cancers is appointed by summer 2026. The National Specialty Lead will be based in the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Research Delivery Network and will support research delivery for rare cancers research.
Implementing the Rare Cancers Act 2026 will make it easier for clinical trials on rare cancers to be delivered in England.
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 patients referred urgently with suspected cancer are (a) diagnosed and (b) reassured within (i) 28, (ii) 29, (iii) 30, (iv) 31, (v) 32 and (vi) 33 days of referral for which the latest data is available.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The table attached shows, in the period from October to December 2025, the number of patients referred urgently with suspected cancer who were either diagnosed with cancer or had cancer ruled out within the specified period between referral and the communication of their outcome.
NHS England first published information on outcomes for patients referred urgently with suspected cancer under the Faster Diagnosis Standard in September 2025. This data covers all patients, irrespective of the number of days between referral and the communication of the outcome.
The figures provided above represent a subset of this data, focusing on specific time bands requested, and are not routinely published. Each time band is cumulative and includes all patients who received their outcome within that period. Further information on Cancer Waiting Times statistics is available on the NHS England website, at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/