Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the contribution of Maternity and Neonatal Independent Senior Advocates (MNISAs).
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
An independent evaluation of the Maternity and Neonatal Independent Senior Advocates pilot delivered across 16 integrated care boards was conducted from October 2024 to June 2025 by the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Rapid Service Evaluation Team. It found clear value, including ensuring that families’ concerns contribute to service improvement. It also identified uncertainty regarding scale, delivery model, and cost-effectiveness of the service, alongside the need for better integration in existing maternity and neonatal systems.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is chairing the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce to develop a national action plan to reform maternity and neonatal services. It will consider improvements to investigations and reviews, ensuring families get the support they need during these difficult times.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the need for short-term revenue to support hospices, while long-term solutions are developed and put in place.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 13 July in response to Question 16185, which sets out the steps the Government is taking to support hospices throughout England.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to set out a sustainable long-term commissioning model for the hospice sector.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 13 July in response to Question 16185, which sets out the steps the Government is taking to support hospices throughout England.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the level of need for additional hospice funding.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 13 July in response to Question 16185, which sets out the steps the Government is taking to support hospices throughout England.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to help ensure that imported eggs and egg products are safe for consumption in the context of the recent salmonella outbreak.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 10 September in response to Question 26962.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of timely housing adaptations on unpaid carers.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
By supporting people to live more independently, home adaptations can reduce the extent of informal care that people require. This can have a positive impact on unpaid carers through improving their health and wellbeing, and reducing the amount of time they spend caring.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in relation to the Government's review of the School Food Standards, what assessment the Department has made of the importance of eggs as a source of healthy protein in school meals.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Eggs are named in the protein food group of both the existing School Food Standards and the updated version proposed in the Department for Education’s recent consultation.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will take steps to establish a national policy to protect 24/7 access to on-site hospital helipads.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Members to the answers provided on 16 July in response to Question 16317, and on 1 June in response to Question 2208.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the extent of the contribution of air ambulance charities to the delivery of specialist pre-hospital emergency care across the UK.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst no specific assessment has made, we recognise that air ambulance charities are a lifeline to communities across the country, and I want to celebrate the extraordinary volunteers who keep these services flying. We are working closely with them across a range of areas to support their work, including taking steps to strengthen safety measures for helipads through the Onshore Landing Sites Group, and I was glad my Hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation, could lend his personal support when attending the Air Ambulance drop-in session in Parliament on 8 September.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to pause the expansion of NHS England's advice and guidance policy.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Advice and Guidance (A&G) is a longstanding policy which helps primary care clinicians and patients receive quicker access to specialist advice. Since the Government came to office, the A&G model has supported over three million patients to receive care in the right place without having to join elective waiting lists.
Alongside an extra 2,000 general practitioners (GPs) since the Government entered office, A&G is helping more patients to receive timely and appropriate care in primary and community settings. Together, this is one of the reasons that more than three quarters of patients are now reporting a ‘good’ overall experience with their GP.
Nevertheless, under A&G, the clinical threshold for a referral remains unchanged, and GPs should continue to make a clinical decision to refer for specialist care where that is in the patient’s best interest. We will continue to assess the safety of A&G and support providers to implement it effectively. We have commissioned an evaluation to understand the impact of A&G and producing templates for providers to use.