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 establishing a stroke team within his Department.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to improving the outcomes for patients who suffer from a stroke. The teams responsible for the policy and delivery of services related to strokes within the Department and NHS England work closely together.

Subject to Parliament passing the primary legislation that will transfer most of NHS England’s functions to the Department, there will be further opportunities to consider how the future Department can best support patients suffering from a stroke.

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 ensure the Modern Service Framework for cardiovascular disease will (a) reduce disability caused by stroke and (b) improve the lives of stroke survivors living with poor health or a disability post-stroke.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

To accelerate the Government’s ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease modern service framework (CVD MSF) in 2026. The CVD MSF will consider approaches to reducing poor health and disability caused by heart disease and stroke.

The Department and NHS England are working together to deliver the CVD MSF and are engaging widely throughout its development to ensure that we prioritise ambitious, evidence-led and clinically informed approaches to prevention, treatment, and care. At the heart of this is engagement with people and communities, so that the modern service framework is shaped by and meets their needs. We will say more on these plans in due course.

Found: Aquarone (Liberal Democrat; North Norfolk) Dr Scott Arthur (Labour; Edinburgh South West) Mrs Elsie Blundell

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Ruth Cadbury (Chair); Steff Aquarone; Dr Scott Arthur; Mrs Elsie Blundell

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Ruth Cadbury (Chair); Steff Aquarone; Dr Scott Arthur; Mrs Elsie Blundell

Submit Evidence (by 26 Nov 2025)

The Government has introduced the Railways Bill to Parliament to legislate for its commitment to unify network operations with infrastructure management under a single organisation – Great British Railways.