Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2025 to Question 68387 on Epilepsy and Pregnancy: Sodium Valproate, what his Departments planned timeline is for establishing a centralised register caputring Pregnancy Prevention Programme interventions and acknowledgements, linked to prescribing data.

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

NHS England has worked collaboratively with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on the safer use of valproate containing medicines. The best way to a centralised register is through the single patient record and the use of this to populate the federated data platfor, which would allow for the functionality of a centralised register. This is enabled by the Transformation Directorate to ensure that clinical care can be effectively and accurately coded.

The Medicines and Pregnancy Register monitors prescribing of valproate and highlights the number of pregnancies potentially exposed to valproate. This data demonstrates a reduction in prescribing valproate to women and girls as well as a reduction in the number of possible exposed pregnancies since the Pregnancy Prevention Programme (PPP) was introduced in 2018. Analysis shows the implementation of the PPP by ICBs is consistent across the country. The register is available at the following link:

https://tabanalytics.data.england.nhs.uk/t/Public/views/MedsPreg/TitlePage?%3Aembed=y&%3Aiid=1&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2025 to Question 68387 on Epilepsy and Pregnancy: Sodium Valproate, what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) consistent and (b) effective implementation of the Pregnancy Prevention Programme by Integrated Care Boards.

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

NHS England has worked collaboratively with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on the safer use of valproate containing medicines and there have been several steps to ensure that integrated care boards (ICBs) lead the implementation of the regulations set out by the MHRA. The agency issued a National Patient Safety Alert on valproate in November 2023, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/national-patient-safety-alert-valproate-organisations-to-prepare-for-new-regulatory-measures-for-oversight-of-prescribing-to-new-patients-and-existing-female-patients-natpsa-slash-2023-slash-013-slash-mhra

The Medicines and Pregnancy Register monitors prescribing of valproate and highlights the number of pregnancies potentially exposed to valproate. This data demonstrates a reduction in prescribing valproate to women and girls as well as a reduction in the number of possible exposed pregnancies since the Pregnancy Prevention Programme (PPP) was introduced in 2018. Analysis shows the implementation of the PPP by ICBs is consistent across the country. The register is available at the following link:

https://tabanalytics.data.england.nhs.uk/t/Public/views/MedsPreg/TitlePage?%3Aembed=y&%3Aiid=1&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y

Other information available to patients, clinical practitioners and prescribers includes: information from the MHRA; Decision Support Tools and Patient Information leaflets issued by NHS England; and the Valproate Integrated Quality Improvement Programme offered by NHS England. These are available at the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/valproate-reproductive-risks

https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/shared-decision-making/decision-support-tools/

https://www.southeastclinicalnetworks.nhs.uk/our-networks/valproate/

https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/sodium-valproate/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS employees with a declared terminal diagnosis die when in (a) employment and (b) retirement.

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

Whilst the Department does not hold the information requested, it does hold information on the number of National Health Service staff applications for NHS pension benefits on the grounds of serious ill-health. These pensions may be paid where members of the NHS Pension Scheme are terminally ill and have a life expectancy of less than 12 months.

The following table shows the number of applications for serious ill-health pensions accepted by the scheme administrator, the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), for the last five complete scheme years, and is correct as of 2 September 2025:

Source: NHSBSA

Notes: These figures do not include NHS staff who are terminally ill but do not meet the criteria for a serious ill-health pension, those who choose to not apply, and those who are not members of the NHS Pension Scheme. Therefore, the numbers of NHS employees with terminal diagnoses who die in employment and retirement may be greater than those set out in the table.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2025 to Question 68387 on Epilepsy and Pregnancy: Sodium Valproate, whether his Department is taking steps to guarantee that every female valproate patient aged 13-54 received documented counselling and signs the annual risk form before continuing treatment.

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

NHS England has worked collaboratively with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on the safer use of valproate containing medicines.

The Medicines and Pregnancy Registry monitors prescribing of valproate and highlights the number of pregnancies potentially exposed to valproate. The Registry is available at the following link: https://tabanalytics.data.england.nhs.uk/t/Public/views/MedsPreg/TitlePage?%3Aembed=y&%3Aiid=1&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y.

This data demonstrates a reduction in prescribing valproate to women and girls as well as a reduction in the number of possible exposed pregnancies since the Pregnancy Prevention Programme (PPP) was introduced in 2018. Analysis shows the implementation of the PPP by ICBs is consistent across the country.

No such guarantee is being pursued. The existing measures described above including the regulatory position is a strong statement of the expected quality of care which is monitored through the Medicines and Pregnancy Registry.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2025 to Question 68387 on Epilepsy and Pregnancy: Sodium Valproate, whether his Department plans to (a) mandate central tracking and annual reporting on how many women (i) received the Pregnancy Protection Porgramme and (ii) signed the risk acknowledgement form.

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

NHS England has worked collaboratively with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on the safer use of valproate containing medicines.

There are no plans to mandate central tracking and annual reporting on how many women (i) received the Pregnancy Protection Programme and (ii) signed the risk acknowledgement form.

This is because such a measure would not be helpful, at an aggregated and anonymised level without a holistic review of each patient’s clinical and social circumstances. This could only be achieved with a national clinical audit. Such audits are expensive and can only be justified when there is significant room for improvement in outcomes, which is not the case in this instance.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to the authorities in Myanmar on the reported increase in attacks on the Rohingya community; and what steps he is taking with international partners to help ensure humanitarian aid reaches displaced minority communities.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK continues to condemn the Myanmar military regime's use of violence against civilians, including the systematic persecution and discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities, such as the Rohingya. In April, we co-sponsored a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Myanmar calling for the Myanmar military to fully respect and protect the human rights of all persons in Myanmar, including Rohingya and other persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities.

Since 2017, the UK has provided over £108 million in support to communities in Rakhine, with an estimated £52 million in aid for the Rohingya and other Muslim minority groups. We are deeply concerned by the food security situation in Rakhine State and are working with international partners to improve humanitarian access to communities across the state.

Through our humanitarian programme, we have reached 1.3 million people since 2022 in conflict affected areas across Myanmar with essential humanitarian support.

Found: on communities, 13 May 202544 - Marsha de Cordova, Second Church Estates Commissioner and Rt Hon John Glen

Found: (Liberal Democrat; Dorking and Horley) Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat; Carshalton and Wallington) John Glen

Found: John Glen: Yes, at the end of the day.

No description available

Found: With very best regards, THE RT HON JOHN GLEN MP Scottish Ministers, special advisers and