Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
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 occupational therapists receive adequate training opportunities and support.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England recognises the vital role occupational therapists play across the health and care system and is committed to supporting a skilled, sustainable workforce.
Post registration training and development for occupational therapists is the responsibility of employers and is aligned to identified service requirements and individual learning needs. This support spans the full career pathway, including preceptorship or foundation practice for newly registered staff, enhanced and advanced practice roles, and consultant level practice.
Employers are supported through a range of funded and accredited education and training routes. National Health Service trusts receive a dedicated Continued Professional Development funding allocation to enable registered allied health professionals, including occupational therapists, to access ongoing learning and skills development. In addition, a range of education and training grants are available, with funding routes and levels aligned to staff grade and stage of development. Training opportunities are designed to support priority service areas such as community and neighbourhood services, mental health, elective recovery, and population health, while also enabling occupational therapists to develop leadership, advanced clinical, education, and research capabilities.
These arrangements ensure occupational therapists are supported to maintain and enhance their skills throughout their careers, respond to service needs, and deliver safe, effective, and high-quality care.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commit to meeting with EDS UK before the end of the year.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and ministers regularly meet with a wide range of stakeholders, including patient groups and charities, to inform policy development and to understand lived experience. Officials from the Department have also engaged with organisations representing people affected by Ehlers–Danlos syndromes (EDS).
While it is not possible to commit to specific meetings within a set timeframe, the Department remains open to continued engagement with EDS UK and other stakeholders as part of its ongoing work to improve care and outcomes for people living with complex and long‑term conditions.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that AI-based mental health tools do not replace access to human-delivered psychological support where this is clinically appropriate.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is clear that artificial intelligence (AI) based tools must not replace access to human‑delivered psychological support where this is clinically appropriate.
Digital and AI tools can be used to support mental health services and those in need of those services, for example by helping with administrative tasks, triage, or appointment management, and these benefits can enable clinicians to spend more time delivering direct care. However, decisions about treatment and care must always be clinically led and based on individual patient need.
Publicly available AI applications that are not deployed by the National Health Service, such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini, are not regulated as medical technologies and may offer incorrect or harmful information. People experiencing mental health difficulties are strongly encouraged to seek support from qualified professionals through NHS services or trusted charities.
Spending across mental health services, both specialised commissioning and ICB combined, and including learning disability, autism, and dementia, is planned to increase to £20.616 billion in 2025/26, compared to £18.988 billion in 2024/25. Specific funding has also been allocated to expand mental health support in schools to 100% of institutions by 2029/30.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role AI-based mental health tools are expected to have within NHS mental health services.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is clear that artificial intelligence (AI) based mental health tools are intended to support and complement, not replace, National Health Service mental health services.
Within NHS mental health services, AI based tools are expected to play a supporting role, for example by helping with administrative tasks such as appointment management, triage support, and updating clinical records, enabling clinicians to spend more time delivering direct, person‑centred care. AI may also support evidence‑based digital interventions, such as digitally enabled therapies, where these are clinically appropriate and have been properly evaluated.
The Government is clear that AI based tools must not replace access to trained mental health professionals, particularly for people experiencing acute distress. Publicly available AI applications that are not deployed by the NHS, such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini, are not regulated as medical technologies and may offer incorrect or harmful information, and people experiencing mental health difficulties are strongly encouraged to seek support from qualified professionals through NHS services or trusted charities.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
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 accessibility to tofersen.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises how important it is that patients with motor neurone disease are able to benefit from access to new clinically and cost-effective treatments. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently evaluating tofersen, a new licensed treatment for SOD-1 motor neurone disease, and the company is expected to make an evidence submission to support the appraisal in early June 2026.
NHS England will explore whether an interim commercial agreement could be supported through the Innovative Medicines Fund should NICE issue a positive draft recommendation for tofersen. This would enable eligible patients to benefit from the treatment several months earlier than would otherwise be the case.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department calculated the cost of additional spending on medicines over the spending review period.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In relation to the recently announced plans to increase the standard cost-effectiveness threshold used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), costs will start smaller but will increase over time as NICE approves more life improving and life-saving medicines. Total costs over the Spending Review period are expected to be approximately £1 billion. The final costs will depend on which medicines NICE recommends and the actual uptake of these.
We have no plans to publish an impact assessment or details of the modelling which led to this estimated figure. This deal is a vital investment that builds on the strength of our National Health Service and world leading life sciences without taking essential funding from our frontline NHS services.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to develop a national infection strategy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The Government already has evidence-based policies in place to embed system-wide infection prevention and control measures to mitigate the impact of infection.
For example, the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM) for England provides guidance on infection control for National Health Service healthcare staff of all disciplines in all care settings. The NIPCM, last updated in July 2025, is a live document that is updated in line with new evidence and lessons learned.
More broadly, the UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) 2024 to 2029 contains targets and commitments to address rises in both infection and in antimicrobial prescribing that could arise as a consequence of infection. Further information on the UK 5-year action plan for AMR is available at the following link:
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
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 number of apps which offer mental health advice via (a) chatbots and (b) large language models.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made an assessment or estimated the number of mental health advice chatbots and large language models.
Publicly available artificial intelligence (AI) applications that are not deployed by the National Health Service, such as ChatGPT and Character AI, are not regulated as medical technologies and may offer incorrect or harmful information. Users are strongly advised to be careful when using these technologies.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
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 an independent national review into the use and oversight of ventricular assist devices in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Guidance on the use of medical devices is a matter for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which has existing guidance on the use of left ventricular assistance devices available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ipg516
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many deaths have been recorded in inpatient mental health settings in each of the last five years.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally. All deaths of children and young people under the care of Tier 4 inpatient children and young people’s mental health services are routinely reported to the Department via NHS England. Such deaths are also notified to the Care Quality Commission and the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health.
Since 2019, there have been a total of 23 deaths of young people aged under 18 years old in contact with Tier 4 services, including those on home leave, or who had absconded. We are unable to provide the information broken down by year, as the annual data held by NHS England includes a small patient count of fewer than five cases which could lead to the identification of individuals.
All providers are required to notify the Care Quality Commission of the deaths of patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. The following table shows the number of deaths of patients detained under the Mental Health Act notified to the Care Quality Commission in the last five years:
Year | Total |
2020 | 474 |
2021 | 405 |
2022 | 410 |
2023 | 335 |
2024 | 343 |
2025 | 311 |
Total | 2278 |
Source: the Care Quality Commission
Notes:
This data is counts of notifications to the Care Quality Commission under Regulation 17 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, Notification of death or unauthorised absence of a service user who is detained or liable to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.