Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the final report of the Infected Blood Inquiry, published on 20 May 2024, whether any ongoing access to (a) patient notes, (b) tissue samples and (c) post‑mortem material is being carried out under (i) public health legislation and (ii) other regulatory powers.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Given the long-running nature of the infected blood scandal, not all medical records will still be available, and eligibility for compensation will be determined based on the balance of probabilities.
The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) will try to get as much information, including medical records and information about an applicant’s condition, from organisations who already have this information. This should mean those claiming will be asked for the least amount of information possible.
The IBCA will provide assistance to those who believe their medical records have been lost or destroyed. The role of the IBCA’s claim managers includes helping individuals who are claiming to gather information, including medical evidence where available, to support their claim.
In July 2025, the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office wrote to the chairs of the Public Accounts and Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committees to set out the measures being taken to prioritise faster payments to victims of the infected blood scandal. One of these measures is to use the powers in the Victims and Prisoners Act to get records from the Infected Blood Inquiry, and using testimony to contribute to the assessment of proof of infection.
Organisations that remove, store, and use human tissue for some types of health research, medical treatment, post-mortem examination, education and training, and for display in public, are independently regulated by the Human Tissue Authority.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the final report of the Infected Blood Inquiry, published on 20 May 2024, what information his Department holds on whether the use of haemophilia patients and their families for research has ceased.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medical research was an important area examined in the inquiry, with it concluding that ‘the value of such research to society is enhanced rather than undermined by undertaking research in an ethical and moral way’.
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care.
In January 2026, the NIHR published the attached report, From subject to participant and partner, on its website, summarising the concerns raised in the inquiry report, as well as a summary of the research governance changes since and a synthesis of an in-person workshop. The NIHR and partners who attended the workshop are committed to upholding the highest standards of research governance to drive better inclusivity in the evidence base for care, working with those who use, manage, or work in health and care services to share learning and drive improvement. The NIHR requires all applicants to demonstrate how their research will address existing inequalities in health and social care as a condition of funding.
The NIHR was created in 2006, many decades after individuals received infected blood in the United Kingdom. The NIHR did not therefore fund any clinical trials or research where individuals received infected blood. The NIHR has strong ethical, safety, and legal governance arrangements, including processes to ensure informed consent for those participating in research, and includes parental and guardian consent for children involved in research.
The NIHR funds a wide range of research relevant to the Infected Blood Inquiry. Work includes making blood donation and transfusion safer by improving transfusion practice, reducing variation in practice and ensuring greater resilience and efficiency throughout the blood supply chain.
This includes research on improving the safety of blood transfusions and blood products, and research to improve better detection and treatments for blood borne infections, including through opt out testing in accident and emergency departments for HIV, and Hepatitis B and C.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
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 adequacy of the fuel claim allowances for NHS patients travelling from rural areas to medical appointments in the context of rising fuel costs.
Answered by Edward Argar
No assessment has been made. In England, the level of fuel costs which can be claimed by patients under the Healthcare Travel Costs scheme is determined locally by National Health Service organisations.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the rollout of vaccinations for people aged over 80.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The National Health Service met its target of offering the COVID-19 vaccine to everyone in the top four priority cohorts, including those aged 70 years and over, on 14 February 2021.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people aged 70 years and over have received covid-19 vaccinations in the Caithness, Sutherland, and Easter Ross constituency.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The information is not held in the format requested as data for Scotland is published by local authority rather than constituency. Public Health Scotland’s data for the vaccine programme is available at the following link:
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
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 improve access to affordable (a) meditation, (b) mindfulness classes, (c) yoga, (d) pilates and (e) hitt workouts to improve people's mental health.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Government is absolutely committed to supporting everyone’s mental health and wellbeing throughout the winter period and beyond, and to ensuring that the right support is in place. The National Health Service has launched a major campaign as part of its ‘Help Us Help You’ campaign to encourage people who may be struggling with common mental health illnesses to come forward for help.
The NHS is also taking a holistic approach to supporting people’s health and wellbeing by expanding its social prescribing services. Social prescribing enables general practitioners to refer people to link workers who can work with them to access community groups and agencies for practical, emotional and social support. For example, the recently announced ukactive scheme will make free gym and leisure sessions available to the public via social prescribing services. National rollout will start from 1 April 2021.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
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 promote mental health services and counselling in increase the take-up of such services.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We continue to expand access to talking and psychological therapies through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. IAPT services are promoted through Every Mind Matters, an online platform which contains resources to help people look after their wellbeing and mental health and local services can be located through NHS.UK.
Data from 2019/20 shows that there were 1.69 million referrals to talking therapies in England and 1.17 million people started a course of treatment within this year. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to ensuring that a total of 1.9 million adults will be able to access IAPT services by 2023/24.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to make specialised counselling and therapy services freely available on the NHS.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme provides specialist counselling and therapy services that are widely available for free from the National Health Service. We are committed to expanding access to IAPT services. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to ensuring that an additional 380,000 adults will be able to access IAPT services by 2023/24.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
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 developing an online and anonymous resource to enable people experiencing mental illness to find information on accessing appropriate services and support.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
There are a number of existing resources that people can access online and anonymously for information on accessing appropriate mental health services and support. These include GOV.UK, the National Health Service website and Every Mind Matters.
In addition, many mental health charities offer online and anonymous advice on how to find support for mental health issues.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to fund nationwide roll-out of medical drone technologies.
Answered by Edward Argar
The NHS Long Term Plan is bringing new technologies into the National Health Service to improve patient care and save lives, and we continue to support testing of innovations such as convenient, faster technology to help frontline staff to give people world-leading treatment. This includes supporting NHS staff through the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, run by the Accelerated Access Collaborative, to develop their own innovative ideas, for example exploring the potential use of autonomous drone delivery systems within healthcare.