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 maternity units had temporary closures in each year since 2020; where those units were located; and how long each closure lasted.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not hold this data centrally. National Health Service commissioning bodies, such as integrated care boards, are responsible for the delivery, implementation, and funding decisions for local services. This makes sure that decisions are made locally and tailored to local population needs.
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 hospital overheating incidents were recorded in each month since March 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on overheating incidents in the National Health Service is collected annually as part of the Estates Return Information Collection, and is available at the following link:
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 guidance is in place to manage withdrawal symptoms of patients coming off antidepressant prescriptions.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2022, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published guidelines entitled Medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: safe prescribing and withdrawal management for adults to assist clinicians in supporting patients prescribed medicines with the potential for withdrawal-related adverse effects, including information on how to safely reduce and withdraw the prescribing of these medicines. The guidelines are available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng215
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 his Department is taking to ensure that patients are informed of the side effects of antidepressant medication prescriptions.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
When antidepressants are prescribed, the clinician responsible for the patient’s care should explain the medicine clearly. This should include a discussion with the patient about the possible benefits, risks, and side effects of treatment. Patients are also given a patient information leaflet (PIL) with each medicine. This explains possible side effects. The National Health Service website also has information on antidepressants, including possible side effects.
Patients and families raised concerns with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) that the current warnings about some risks of antidepressants were not clear enough. In response, an Expert Working Group of the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) was set up to give independent advice to the MHRA on how risks could be explained more clearly to patients. This review has concluded and the MHRA is taking forward several recommendations with the marketing authorisation holders, including strengthened wording in the PIL, so that risks such as suicidal behaviour are clearer and easier for patients and their support network to understand. This work has been informed by a group of patients with a range of mental health conditions in line with CHM advice.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure the safety of people with (a) medical conditions and (b) disabilities during transportation to a police station following arrest.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is clear that all individuals in police custody must be treated safely, with dignity and in accordance with their individual needs, including those with medical conditions or disabilities.
The statutory framework governing detention and treatment is set out in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and its Codes of Practice. These require that detainees are treated fairly and that reasonable steps are taken to identify and address any vulnerabilities, including health and welfare needs, throughout the period of detention and transport.
Operational guidance for police forces is provided through the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP), including its guidance on turn1search7. This makes clear that officers and designated escort staff are responsible for ensuring detainees continue to be treated in accordance with PACE during transport, and that appropriate training, supervision and risk management arrangements are in place.
The APP also emphasises the importance of identifying and responding to individual needs and vulnerabilities, including those arising from medical conditions or disabilities, as part of ongoing risk assessment and care.
It is for chief constables, as operationally independent leaders, to ensure their officers and staff apply this guidance appropriately in practice.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for schools in North Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We are making a significant investment in the core schools budget, which we have already increased by £3.7 billion in 2025-26 compared to 2024-25.
The core schools budget is increasing by £1.7 billion in 2026-27. This includes funding that will enable us to reform the SEND system as announced within the Schools White Paper.
This investment is a critical step forward in our mission to support all children and young people to achieve and thrive and will support teachers and leaders to deliver high and rising standards across every school and for every pupil.
Shropshire local authority distributes funding for North Shropshire and is receiving £234.4 million for mainstream schools in financial year 2026-27 (including premises and excluding growth) through the Dedicated Schools Grant.
This equates to £6,556 per pupil on average, which represents an increase of 2.8% in per pupil funding since 2025-26.
The purpose of the NFF is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding. It is right that schools with lots of pupils with additional needs – such as those indicated by measures of deprivation, low prior attainment, or English as an additional language – receive extra funding to help them meet the needs of all their pupils. The funding Shropshire receives reflects the level of additional needs of pupils in the local authority.
We are keeping the operation of the NFF under review, and will take the time needed to consider changes to our funding formulae going forward to ensure that we get any changes right. As announced in the Schools White Paper, we will move to a direct national funding formula for schools – which means that every mainstream school’s funding will be determined by the same, national formula. This will ensure that schools are funded on a fair basis wherever they are in the country, and will support wider reforms to create a more inclusive mainstream education system. We will consult on changes to the NFF ahead of the implementation of the direct NFF.
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 major reviews into NHS maternity services have been undertaken since 2000.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - 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, with reference to DEBRA UK's press release entitled EB patients being failed by prescription changes, published on 22 May 2026, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies that four-fifths of epidermolysis bullosa patients have experienced unwarranted and potentially harmful changes by their GP surgeries to prescriptions for dressings and medication previously made by EB consultants.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Prescribers are responsible for ensuring treatments are clinically appropriate for their patients, taking specialist advice into account where relevant. Individual prescribing decisions, including for dressings and medicines, are a matter of clinical judgement based on patient need, national guidance on clinical effectiveness, and local integrated care board prescribing policies.
Subject to funding, clinicians may prescribe any National Health Service product they consider clinically necessary unless it is listed in Schedules 1 or 2 of the NHS (General Medical Services Contracts) (Prescription of Drugs etc.) Regulations 2004.
Clinicians should also have regard to the General Medical Council’s prescribing guidance, Good practice in proposing, prescribing, providing and managing medicines and devices. However, this does not override their responsibility to make decisions in the patient’s best interests. Prescribing decisions should always be clinically appropriate and in patients’ best interests, including for those with rare and complex conditions such as epidermolysis bullosa. Where concerns arise about changes to treatment, patients and clinicians can seek advice from relevant specialist services. Further information on the Good practice in proposing, prescribing, providing and managing medicines and devices guidance is available at the following link:
NHS England will continue to work with stakeholders to understand any emerging issues relating to access to appropriate treatments and to ensure that care remains safe and effective.
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 his Department is taking to improve hospital flow and reduce preventable mortality.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Long waits in accident and emergency (A&E) have been proven to be associated with worse patient outcomes and increased patient mortality, and the Government is committed to restoring urgent and emergency care waiting times to the standards set out in the NHS Constitution as laid out in our 10‑Year Health Plan. The medium-term planning framework for the National Health Service, published in October 2025, includes a commitment that 85% of patients wait no more than four hours in A&E by 2028/29, as well as committing to reduce year on year between 2026/7 and 2028/9 the proportion of patients who wait over 12 hours in A&E.
Improving flow through emergency departments is critical to delivering the four- and 12- hour A&E standards. To support this, the Government has provided £450 million of capital investment including in new and expanded Same Day Emergency Care and Urgent Treatment Centres; additional mental health crisis capacity; and connected care records for ambulance services. In February 2026, the NHS published new national clinical standards, including The Model Emergency Department and The Model Acute Pathway, to support more consistent, high-quality care and improve flow through hospitals.
In June 2026, for the first time, NHS England published data on instances of corridor care, to support trusts to identify and target action to reduce it.
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 NHS England is taking to ensure that Single Point of Access pathways do not prevent patients being referred to consultant-led services where GPs consider it clinically appropriate.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under Single Point of Access Pathways, general practitioners (GPs) should continue to make a clinical decision to refer for specialist care where that is in the patient’s best interests. GPs retain responsibility for referral decisions, and this model supports, and does not replace, clinical judgement. It is important to emphasise that the clinical threshold for a referral remains unchanged.