Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 ensure that the needs of patients with severe and very severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis are fully addressed within future NHS service provision.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Most of the actions included in the final delivery plan on myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), which we published in July, will benefit all patients with ME/CFS, irrespective of condition severity. However, we are taking specific steps to ensure that patients with severe and very severe ME/CFS are not overlooked. For instance, the ME/CFS final delivery plan includes an action for the Department and NHS England to explore whether a specialised service should be prescribed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for very severe ME/CFS. Officials from the Department have commenced discussions with NHS England on how best to take forward this action.
To support healthcare professionals in the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS, the Department has worked with NHS England to develop an e-learning programme on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes. All three sessions of the e-learning programme are now available at the following link:
https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/mecfselearning?nodeId=7288
The 10-Year Health Plan for the National Health Service also sets out a plan to shift healthcare from hospitals to the community, enabling people to feel supported managing their long-term conditions, including ME/CFS, closer to home. The Neighbourhood Health Service, delivered by new multidisciplinary teams of professionals, will support more services being delivered in the community, helping to create capacity within secondary services for those patients that need it. This will aim to help ensure that those who suffer from ME/CFS are able to live as independently as possible.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 implications for his Department’s policies of the reports by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government welcomes the inquiry’s investigations, including the recent Module 2 report. The Government thanks Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough work on these serious issues. We will consider the findings and recommendations in detail and respond in due course. The Government remains committed to learning the lessons needed from the COVID-19 Inquiry to protect and prepare us for the future.
The Government will also provide regular progress updates on commitments made following reports. The first progress update, on the Inquiry’s Module 1 report on resilience and preparedness, was published 8 July 2025, and is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-government-response-to-the-covid-19-inquiry-module-1-report/uk-government-uk-covid-19-inquiry-response-module-1-implementation-update
It included an update on the Department’s commitments, such as the intention to publish a health and care pandemic preparedness strategy. The next update is scheduled for January 2026.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 ensure that the findings and recommendations of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry are incorporated into future pandemic planning and preparedness exercises.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ensuring the United Kingdom is prepared for a future pandemic is a top priority for the Government, and we are embedding lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic within our pandemic preparedness. We aim to have flexible, adaptable, and scalable capabilities that can respond to any infectious disease or other threat, along all routes of transmission, rather than relying on plans for specific threats.
The Government is committed to learning the lessons from the United Kingdom COVID-19 Inquiry to protect and prepare us for the future. On 16 January 2025, the Government published its response to the inquiry’s module one report on resilience and preparedness. The Department has committed, as part of this response, to publishing a new pandemic preparedness strategy that will show how we are embedding our new approach to pandemic preparedness. The response is published online and is available at the following link:
In Autumn 2025, the Department and the UK Health Security Agency conducted Exercise PEGASUS, a national exercise on the UK’s preparedness for a pandemic, which concluded live participation on 5 November. It aimed to test our ability to respond to a pandemic, involving all regions and nations of the UK, as well as thousands of participants. The exercise has provided valuable experience which is being used to inform our strategy and planning.
Exercises like this are an essential and valuable tool to test our preparedness, capabilities, and response arrangements in the context of a pandemic. Future domestic and international exercises to test our preparedness and defences to biological threats, including pandemics, should factor in findings and lessons from a variety of sources to inform their design. This was an important part of the design of Exercise PEGASUS, the tier one pandemic preparedness exercise, where a variety of lessons, including from previous pandemic exercises such as Exercise CYGNUS, as well as recommendations from the COVID-19 Inquiry, were factored into the exercise’s design and planning.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 clear the backlog for the Overseas Registration Exam.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The General Dental Council (GDC), as the independent regulator of dentists and dental care professionals in the United Kingdom, is responsible for overseeing provision of the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE).
The GDC shortly expects to be able to announce the outcome of its procurement for a new provider to deliver the ORE from April 2026.
Once the new exam provider has been announced, the GDC will meet with me to present its action plan to reduce the waiting list for the ORE. This meeting will take place in the coming weeks. I will continue to meet regularly with the GDC to monitor and review progress as its plan is implemented.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 support Integrated Care Boards to use flexible commissioning to improve (a) dental provision and (b) efficiency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Flexible commissioning is available to commissioners where they have identified a need that cannot be easily met through the provision of mandatory services.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to commission primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local populations, and to determine the priorities for investment. Commissioners are encouraged to work with local dental network chairs, managed clinical network chairs, dental public health experts, professional representatives, and with the public as appropriate and necessary to discharge statutory duties. NHS England published guidance on flexible commissioning in 2023, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 help increase the number of part 2 overseas registration exam places to help increase the number of dentists delivering NHS care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The General Dental Council (GDC), as the independent regulator of dentists and dental care professionals in the UK, is responsible for overseeing provision of the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE).
The GDC shortly expects to be able to announce the outcome of its procurement for a new provider to deliver the ORE from April 2026.
Once the new exam provider has been announced, the GDC will meet with me to present its action plan to reduce the waiting list for the ORE, including for those waiting to sit part 2 of the exam. This meeting will take place in the coming weeks. I will continue to meet regularly with the GDC to monitor and review progress as its plan is implemented.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 Integrated Care Boards maintain timely ADHD (a) assessment and (b) diagnosis services.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has recognised that, nationally in England, demand for assessments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown significantly in recent years and that people are experiencing severe delays accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan for England will make the National Health Service fit for the future, recognising the need for early intervention and support.
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including providing access to ADHD assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
NHS England established an ADHD taskforce which brought together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report was published on 20 June, with the final report expected in the coming weeks. We will carefully consider its recommendations.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 delivery of the 10 Year Plan effectively tackles domestic abuse.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will transform the healthcare model in England to create a National Health Service that is fit for the future, delivering more integrated health and care, closer to home, with a renewed focus on prevention and neighbourhoods that will address the injustices faced by victims of domestic abuse.
We know that those who experience domestic abuse can have worse NHS access, poorer health outcomes, and die younger. The health sector has a vital role to play in preventing, identifying, and responding to violence and abuse, and in providing healthcare to victims.
All health care staff are required to complete mandatory safeguarding training, which includes a focus on domestic abuse. This training is being revised and is due to be re-launched in early 2026.
In addition, the Government is working to deliver an ambitious strategy to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG), including domestic abuse. The new VAWG Strategy is being finalised and will be published as soon as possible.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 (a) encourage research on and (b) support the development of (i) strategic partnerships and (ii) research infrastructure for ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research 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, including post-acute infection condition such as myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), for which research funding is available. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality, rather than designating an amount of funding for a particular condition. Welcoming applications on ME/CFS and other post-acute infection conditions to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
The NIHR Academy offers extensive support for early-career researchers through various fellowships, training awards, and mentoring structures. For instance, through the INSIGHT Programme, they work with universities to fund research masters studentships and to attract students into research. Through Academic Clinical Fellowships, for doctors and dentists, and Predoctoral Academic Fellowships, for other health professionals, the NIHR Academy supports healthcare practitioners in integrating research with clinical practice.
Together with the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation, we are actively exploring next steps in ME/CFS research, as outlined in the ME/CFS final delivery plan. This includes a new funding opportunity for a development award focussed on evaluating repurposed pharmaceutical inventions for post-acute infection syndromes and associated conditions, including ME/CFS. This funding opportunity is one component of our approach to improve evidence around the diagnosis, management, and treatment of post-acute infection conditions, including ME/CFS. We are also planning an NIHR and MRC hosted showcase event for post-acute infection conditions research, including for ME/CFS and long COVID, later this year to stimulate further research in this field.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department plans to allocate for research on ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the next (a) year and (b) five years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research 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, including post-acute infection condition such as myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), for which research funding is available. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality, rather than designating an amount of funding for a particular condition. Welcoming applications on ME/CFS and other post-acute infection conditions to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
The NIHR Academy offers extensive support for early-career researchers through various fellowships, training awards, and mentoring structures. For instance, through the INSIGHT Programme, they work with universities to fund research masters studentships and to attract students into research. Through Academic Clinical Fellowships, for doctors and dentists, and Predoctoral Academic Fellowships, for other health professionals, the NIHR Academy supports healthcare practitioners in integrating research with clinical practice.
Together with the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation, we are actively exploring next steps in ME/CFS research, as outlined in the ME/CFS final delivery plan. This includes a new funding opportunity for a development award focussed on evaluating repurposed pharmaceutical inventions for post-acute infection syndromes and associated conditions, including ME/CFS. This funding opportunity is one component of our approach to improve evidence around the diagnosis, management, and treatment of post-acute infection conditions, including ME/CFS. We are also planning an NIHR and MRC hosted showcase event for post-acute infection conditions research, including for ME/CFS and long COVID, later this year to stimulate further research in this field.