Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of private healthcare providers using NHS hospital facilities on NHS waiting lists.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made as these decisions are taken locally. National Health Service trusts can utilise ‘insourcers’, private healthcare providers who operate using NHS facilities, but services must be arranged in a manner which offers value for money compared to the other options available.
NHS England published updated guidance on the use of insourcing in July 2024 to support NHS trusts in achieving value for money. This guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/guidance-for-trusts-on-the-use-of-insourcing/#
In this guidance, NHS England clearly prohibits the use of insourcing solutions where rates are not in line with, or are below, the prices in the NHS Payment Scheme, and where compliant approved frameworks are not used.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
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 review approaches to improve the integration of (a) nutritional science and (b) dietetic services into standard patient care pathways for (i) recovery, (ii) managing chronic ailments and (iii) in general.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department currently has no plans to review approaches for integrating nutritional and dietetic services into standard patient care pathways. However, NHS England’s Nursing Directorate is reviewing and refreshing the National Nutrition and Hydration guidance.
Clinical approaches are under the remit of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Dietitians are the primary qualified and regulated healthcare professionals who assess, diagnose, and treat dietary and nutritional problems within the National Health Service. They play a vital role across a wide range of care pathways and are integral members of multidisciplinary teams.
Dietitians contribute significantly to patient recovery, including in critical care, cancer, neurological, and mental health services. They also support the management of long-term conditions such as diabetes, renal disease, and cystic fibrosis, and provide general nutritional care to promote health and wellbeing.
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their local populations. This includes ensuring that dietetic and nutritional support is embedded across care pathways to improve outcomes and deliver best value from the health budget.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
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 catering policies in health services to ensure are they are (a) patient-centred and (b) nutritious.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Access to good quality, nutritious and attractively presented hospital food can improve patient morale and contribute to recovery.
All National Health Service trusts are expected to follow the NHS National Standards for Healthcare Food and Drink. There are eight mandatory standards all trusts are required to meet. This includes having a food and drink strategy and demonstrating that they have suitable food service provision 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which is appropriate for their demographic.
The guidance requires that NHS organisations must show they comply with the British Dietetic Association’s Nutrition and Hydration Digest which identifies actions to be taken in relation to the provision of nutritional food. Further, a key part of the specific standards for retail, staff and visitors in healthcare settings is the need to comply with the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services mandatory nutrition standards.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
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 ensure that hospital patients with specific (a) dietary and (b) nutritional needs receive appropriate meals during their recovery.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Access to good quality, nutritious and attractively presented hospital food can improve patient morale and contribute to their recovery.
All NHS Trusts are expected to follow the NHS National Standards for Healthcare Food and Drink. There are eight mandatory standards all Trusts are required to meet. This includes having a food and drink strategy and demonstrating that they have suitable 24/7 food service provision, which is appropriate for their demographic.
The guidance requires that NHS organisations must show they comply with the British Dietetic Association’s (BDA) Nutrition and Hydration Digest which identifies actions to be taken in relation to the provision of nutritional food. The Digest is available at the following link: https://www.bda.uk.com/specialist-groups-and-branches/food-services-specialist-group/nutrition-and-hydration-digest.html.
Furthermore, a key part of the specific standards for retail, staff and visitors in healthcare settings is the need to comply with the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF) mandatory nutrition standards.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
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 effectiveness of using Body Mass Index as a way of measuring childhood obesity through the National Child Measurement Programme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2025, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) reviewed evidence and assessed the most accurate methods for identifying childhood obesity and thresholds for predicting the risk associated with overweight and obesity. They recommend that Body Mass Index (BMI) centile (BMI adjusted for age and sex) is a useful practical measure for estimating and defining overweight and obesity in children and young people.
The Government accepts NICE’s evidence review, assessment and recommendations as national guidance for measuring childhood obesity through the National Child Measurement Programme, including that:
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
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 accelerate the registration process for overseas-trained dentists to help extend the provision of NHS dental care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I have asked the General Dental Council (GDC) to urgently develop an action plan of concrete measures to reduce the GDC’s Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) waiting list, and I will be regularly meeting with them to monitor progress.
I have welcomed the additional sittings of both parts of the ORE that the GDC has put in place, as well as their ongoing procurement of new ORE provider contracts. I will continue to discuss the new arrangements with the GDC, with a focus on understanding how they will further increase the availability of the ORE exam in the short and longer term.
The Department not be proceeding with providing the GDC with any additional legislative powers for international registration at this time. Having considered options for a provisional registration scheme, the Government’s view is that other, more cost-effective and efficient routes to registration should be the immediate priority.
Meanwhile, we expect the GDC to make full use of the flexibility afforded by the international registration reforms introduced in 2023 to ensure that those who have the right skills and experience are able to join its registers as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
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 ensure that people with diabetes are not impacted by the shortage of Ozempic.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has worked intensively with pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and others in the supply chain to largely resolve the supply issues with GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), including Ozempic (semaglutide). Currently all strengths and presentations of Ozempic are available. We continue to monitor the supply of GLP-1 RA’s closely to ensure these medicines remain available for patients. Any patient concerned about their condition, or access to these medications, should speak to their prescriber in the first instance.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures his Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) regulate care home fees.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people to access quality care.
Section 4.31 of the Care and Support Statutory (CASS) guidance states that when commissioning services, local authorities should assure themselves and have evidence that the contract terms, conditions, and fee levels for care and support services are appropriate to provide the delivery of the agreed care packages with the agreed quality of care. Further information on the CASS guidance can be found at the following link:
Fee rates are set by providers of adult social care, the majority of which are in the independent sector. The Department does not have powers to set or recommend the level of fees that care homes charge.
As part of our monitoring of the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund grant conditions, and to understand fee rates more generally, local authorities are required to provide an annual return to the Department which includes data on the fee rates they pay care providers. The Government publishes this data annually, with the latest being available at the following link:
Please note this does not include data on fee rates for those that pay for their own care, known as self-funders.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has any plans to introduce legislation requiring alcoholic beverages to display (a) full ingredient lists and (b) nutritional information in line with the labelling requirements for other food and drink products.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is mandatory for alcohol labels to state the product’s strength, namely alcohol by volume, and whether the product contains any of the 14 main allergens. There is also voluntary guidance on communicating the UK Chief Medical Officers' low risk drinking guidelines. There are no current plans to change mandatory labelling requirements on alcoholic products.
A National Institute for Health and Care Research-funded study on alcohol calorie labelling is underway to assess the impact of alcohol calorie labelling on product selection, purchasing, and consumption, which will report in 2026.