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 his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the (a) training and (b) support provided to volunteers who help maintain public use defibrillators.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Charities which provide automated external defibrillators (AED) have clear guidance in place on the use and ongoing maintenance of the devices they provide.
The Circuit, the national defibrillator registry independently operated by the British Heart Foundation, notifies the guardian of the defibrillator when it has been used and action to replace the pads is required.
In addition, the Department for Education has published guidance on AEDs for schools, including on maintenance and registration with The Circuit. A copy of this guidance is attached.
NHS England provides training sessions on first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and the use of AEDs both in the community and in schools, under the Restart a Heart initiative. NHS England has trained over 35,800 adults and children in CPR and defibrillation.
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 his Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of (a) guidance and (b) other protocols provided to properties with public use defibrillators.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Charities which provide automated external defibrillators (AED) have clear guidance in place on the use and ongoing maintenance of the devices they provide.
The Circuit, the national defibrillator registry independently operated by the British Heart Foundation, notifies the guardian of the defibrillator when it has been used and action to replace the pads is required.
In addition, the Department for Education has published guidance on AEDs for schools, including on maintenance and registration with The Circuit. A copy of this guidance is attached.
NHS England provides training sessions on first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and the use of AEDs both in the community and in schools, under the Restart a Heart initiative. NHS England has trained over 35,800 adults and children in CPR and defibrillation.
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 he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring organisations with public use defibrillators to be provided with a log of use.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Charities which provide automated external defibrillators (AED) have clear guidance in place on the use and ongoing maintenance of the devices they provide.
The Circuit, the national defibrillator registry independently operated by the British Heart Foundation, notifies the guardian of the defibrillator when it has been used and action to replace the pads is required.
In addition, the Department for Education has published guidance on AEDs for schools, including on maintenance and registration with The Circuit. A copy of this guidance is attached.
NHS England provides training sessions on first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and the use of AEDs both in the community and in schools, under the Restart a Heart initiative. NHS England has trained over 35,800 adults and children in CPR and defibrillation.
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 his Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the maintenance process of public use defibrillators.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Charities which provide automated external defibrillators (AED) have clear guidance in place on the use and ongoing maintenance of the devices they provide.
The Circuit, the national defibrillator registry independently operated by the British Heart Foundation, notifies the guardian of the defibrillator when it has been used and action to replace the pads is required.
In addition, the Department for Education has published guidance on AEDs for schools, including on maintenance and registration with The Circuit. A copy of this guidance is attached.
NHS England provides training sessions on first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and the use of AEDs both in the community and in schools, under the Restart a Heart initiative. NHS England has trained over 35,800 adults and children in CPR and defibrillation.
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 consideration he has given to introducing an innovation incentive payment to facilitate the adoption of innovative treatments by NHS trusts.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No consideration has been given to introducing an innovation incentive payment to National Health Service trusts to facilitate the adoption of innovative treatments. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the NHS on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. The NHS in England is legally required to fund NICE-recommended medicines, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance. The 2025/26 NHS Standard Contract, which applies to all contracts between NHS commissioners and providers, stipulates that, where any service involves or may involve the prescribing of medicines, the provider must ensure that its formulary reflects all relevant positive NICE technology appraisals.
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 he is taking to encourage NHS trusts to take part in clinical trials for innovative treatments.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to turbocharging clinical research and encouraging National Health Service trusts to take part through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and a four-nation UK Clinical Research Delivery Programme (UKCRD).
The Department-funded NIHR funds research and research infrastructure, which supports patients, the public, and NHS settings to participate in high-quality research, including clinical trials for innovative treatments. NIHR infrastructure provides world-class research expertise, specialist facilities, a research delivery workforce, and support services. Through the NIHR’s Research Delivery Network (RDN), the NIHR supports all NHS trusts in England to deliver research, operating across 12 regions throughout the country.
In April 2025, the Department began publishing monthly key performance indicators on commercial clinical trial set up performance for NHS trusts in England, as part of the UKCRD programme, Study Set Up Plan. This report provides a monthly snapshot of site-level commercial study set-up performance, with the expectation that this will encourage NHS trusts to improve study set-up performance and therefore increase their participation in clinical trials for innovative treatments.
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, how many covid-19 vaccinations were available for use in England in winter (a) 2025-6, (b) 2024-5 and (c) 2023-4.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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 he is taking to protect household contacts of the immunosuppressed from covid-19 infection.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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, how much capital funding her Department has allocated for the rollout of neighbourhood health centres (a) in England and (b) for each eligible integrated care board.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and we recognise that delivering high quality NHS healthcare requires the right infrastructure in the right places.
That is why over the course of our 10-Year Health Plan, we aim to establish a neighbourhood health centre in every community, transforming healthcare access by bringing historically hospital-based services into communities and addressing wider determinants of health through services like debt advice, employment support, and obesity management programmes.
Nationwide coverage will take time, and we will start by using public capital to update and refurbish existing, under-used buildings, targeting places where healthy life expectancy is lowest and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most.
Capital funding for neighbourhood health centres will become available from 2026/27, with detailed planning guidance for local systems to be communicated before the end of the year.
As outlined in the Government’s 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy, a decision on whether to proceed with the use of Public Private Partnerships for neighbourhood health centres will be made by HM Treasury and relevant ministers by the 2025 Autumn Budget.
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 recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of commissioning arrangements for (a) Molecular Radiotherapy, (b) Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy and (c) Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapies.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service delivers a range of treatments for cancer, with expert clinicians working with patients to determine the most appropriate option. The Government is working with NHS England to ensure that the most effective treatments are available to patients across the country when they need them.
Stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) is routinely available to treat several types of cancer, including some types of lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and liver cancer. Every NHS trust that is commissioned to provide radiotherapy services in England can offer SABR. However, not all cancer types can be treated with SABR in every radiotherapy service, because some trusts may not host the relevant specialist multi-disciplinary team.
No assessment has been made of the potential for systemic anti-cancer therapies to be delivered via primary care in the community or at home. However, in line with the Government’s Health Mission shift from hospital to community, the 10-Year Health Plan committed to deliver more urgent care in the community, in people’s homes, or through neighbourhood health centres by 2035.