Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
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 effectiveness of different funding mechanisms that could be applied to new obesity treatments.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended in a NICE appraisal, usually within three months of final guidance.
NICE has recommended several weight loss medicines as a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources that are now being made available to NHS patients. The NHS is currently rolling out tirzepatide for obesity in primary care, using a phased approach based on clinical need to manage NHS resources. Around 220,000 individuals are expected to be eligible over the next three years. NHS England worked with clinical experts, integrated care boards, patient and public representatives, healthcare professionals, charities and royal colleges on its prioritisation approach, which it set out in its interim commissioning guidance, available at the following link:
Through the Obesity Healthcare Goals programme, launched in 2022, we are working with industry and research partners to develop and test new delivery and funding models. This includes the Obesity Pathway Innovation Programme (OPIP), which is piloting community-based and pharmacy-led provision of weight management services, alongside pharmaceutical and digital interventions. The programme is supported by up to £85 million in joint funding from Government and Eli Lilly, with a portion ring-fenced for devolved administrations. These pilots will generate evidence on clinical outcomes, patient experience, and economic sustainability to inform future commissioning decisions.
The Government remains firmly committed to tackling obesity as a major public health challenge, improving access to effective interventions, and reducing health inequalities across the country.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
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 delivering weight management services as part of the neighbourhood health model.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neighbourhood Health Services will bring together teams of professionals, including nurses, doctors, social care workers, pharmacists, health visitors, and more, closer to people’s homes, to work together to provide comprehensive care in the community.
We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations and so could include weight management services. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, this will mean services will look different, for example in rural communities, coastal towns, and deprived inner cities.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities are responsible for commissioning weight management services. We would expect them to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines and the move to a Neighbourhood Health Service.
We are intending to publish a National Framework for Neighbourhood Health Plans in the autumn. This will set out how areas should design neighbourhood health services around local needs and different population cohorts.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
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 recognise obesity as a disease.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not recognise obesity as a disease.
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which the Government accepts and works to, focus on obesity as a complex but preventable public health issue. NICE does not classify obesity as a disease but recognises that it increases the risks of a range of adverse health outcomes including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers. NICE provides robust, evidence-based guidance on the identification, prevention and treatment of obesity. NICE guidelines stress the importance of clinical judgement, including considering whether someone is living with another health condition alongside obesity that may be relevant.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the recommendations of the Thirty-Seventh Report of the Committee of Public Accounts of Session 2024-25 on Immigration: Skilled worker visas, HC 819 and pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2025 to Question 39615 on Care Workers: Migrant Workers, what steps he is taking to expedite publication of an evaluation of the effectiveness of regional partnerships to support (a) displaced and (b) exploited care workers into new employment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government welcomes the Committee of Public Accounts’ report on skilled worker visas and will respond fully in due course.
The Department is providing up to £12.5 million this financial year to 15 regional partnerships to help support international care workers affected by sponsor non-compliance into alternative, ethical employment.
We have commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce to undertake an independent evaluation of the 2024/25 international recruitment regional fund. We currently expect the final report of this evaluation to be published by King's College London in January 2026.
Regional partnerships provide the Department with monthly and quarterly monitoring data regarding progress, including on the number of displaced workers who have secured new sponsored employment.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
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 adequacy of the provision of health services for women.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Women’s health is a priority for this government. We are considering how to take forward the Women’s Health Strategy and aligning our work on women’s health with the forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan.Work continues to improve health outcomes for women, including the £25 million women’s health hubs pilot, new NICE guidance on endometriosis and menopause and extending the Baby Loss Certificate service.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
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 the women over the age of 50 that were referred to the Fracture Liaison Service with fragility fractures were (a) taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prior to their first fragility fracture and (b) prescribed HRT as part of their treatment after their first fragility fracture in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
While NHS England does not hold this information centrally, data in relation to the Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) can be found in the FLS-Database Annual reports. The 2024 report, which includes data in relation to gender, is available at the following link:
https://www.hqip.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Ref-419-FLS-DB-2024-annual-report-1.pdf
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients were referred to the Fracture Liaison Service with fragility fractures in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those patients were women over the age of 50.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
While NHS England does not hold this information centrally, data in relation to the Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) can be found in the FLS-Database Annual reports. The 2024 report, which includes data in relation to gender, is available at the following link:
https://www.hqip.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Ref-419-FLS-DB-2024-annual-report-1.pdf
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to assess the healthcare needs of disabled people with (a) neurodivergence, (b) learning disabilities and (c) other conditions during menopause.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
No assessment has been made. The Department and the National Health Service are implementing a programme of work to improve menopause care so all women can access the support they need.
Under the Equality Act 2010, public sector organisations are already required to make changes in their approach or provision to ensure that services are accessible to disabled people as well as to everybody else. To make it easier for people with a learning disability and autistic people to use health services, NHS England is working to improve the use and recording of reasonable adjustments to ensure care is tailored appropriately.
All organisations that provide NHS care are required to follow the Accessible Information Standard which aims to ensure that people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss are provided with information that they can easily read or understand and can communicate effectively with services. People over the age of 14 with a learning disability can receive an annual health check to maintain their health. This can identify undetected health conditions early and ensure the appropriateness of ongoing treatments.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to provide tailored information about menopause for (a) autistic people and (b) people with learning disabilities.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We have launched a women’s health area on the National Health Service website, alongside new and updated pages which includes a menopause page and a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medicines hub. The NHS England Menopause Improvement Programme has created ‘The Menopause’ factsheet which will help individuals understand and manage their perimenopause and menopause and direct them to further sources of information.
NHS organisations and publicly funded social care providers must comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss. NHS England has completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that everyone’s communication needs are met in health and care provision. The revised standard will be published in due course.
Following publication, NHS England will continue work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement and updated e-learning modules on the AIS to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she has taken to ensure that her policies on the menopause take into account the experiences of autistic people.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Menopause is a priority area within the Women’s Health Strategy, and the Department and the National Health Service are implementing a programme of work to improve menopause care so all women, including those who are autistic, can access the support they need. The NHS England National Menopause Care Improvement Programme is working to improve clinical menopause care in England and reduce disparities in access to treatment. The programme aims to ensure that individuals receiving menopause care are listened to and heard, including autistic people and women who are neurodiverse.