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 diagnostic results shared via the NHS App for patients living with chronic conditions are accompanied by (a) tailored information for patients about their condition and (b) a clear route to contact with a health care professional where appropriate and desired by patients.

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

As part of the delivery of the 10-Year Health Plan, the NHS App will provide an improved and personalised experience for users, empowering them to access key elements of their health conditions like test results, and providing patients with 24 hour a day, seven day a week advice and guidance that will help them to understand their health and make informed choices about what to do next.

This will be building on the current test results feature in the NHS App that is successfully used by millions of people each month to access the results of tests they have conducted with their general practice.

In the future, the NHS App will go even further and provide patients with a range of new tools that will redefine how patients engage with the health service. The 10-Year Plan outlines that patients can expect:

- fast advice, so no patient faces uncertainty about what care they need, or a needlessly anxious wait;

- increased choice between different services and different providers;

- direct access, so patients can book appointments or self-refer to tests wherever clinically appropriate; and

- accessible knowledge, so patients can find the information they need to get the most out of their healthcare, or to manage their caring responsibilities for others.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the merits of outdoor education for (a) children and (b) adults.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department believes that outdoor education can be a valuable part of a broad and balanced curriculum, for example in physical education and geography, and a school’s enrichment offer. Both form an important part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity and to achieve high and rising standards for all children.

We are supporting research by the University of Oxford which will help us to better understand the specific benefits of spending time in nature and ascertain which nature-based activities are most impactful for which outcomes.