Asked by: John Grady (Labour - Glasgow East)
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 help protect people with dog allergies.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving care for people with allergies, and ensuring they receive high-quality care and support, and access to the latest treatments.
The Expert Advisory Group on Allergy (EAGA), co-chaired by the Department and the National Allergy Strategy Group, meets regularly to bring together stakeholders across the Government, the National Health Service, voluntary organisations, professional bodies, and patient representative groups, to consider how allergy care and support could be improved. The purpose of the EAGA is to inform policy making, and to identify priorities in relation to the holistic care of people with allergies. The EAGA last met on 2 September 2026.
The National Allergy Strategy Group published its National Allergy Strategy earlier this year in March. The Government will thoroughly review all of the recommendations included in the National Allergy Strategy and will carefully consider the feasibility and viability of implementing each of the recommendations aimed at the Government.
Asked by: John Grady (Labour - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what treatment is available for people with Functional Neurological Disorder.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
Most services for people with neurological conditions, including functional neurological disorder (FND), are commissioned locally. Integrated care board commissioners are best placed to configure services for their populations and will be supported by clinical guidance where this is available.
In October 2025, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance, namely NG252, on rehabilitation for chronic neurological disorders, including acquired brain injury. This guidance includes FND within its scope.
NICE provides this guidance to support clinicians in recognising and managing FND, and promotes a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to care, including access to psychological therapies where clinically appropriate.
NHS England has strengthened national expectations for FND care through its revised service specification for specialised neurology services, published in August 2025, which came into effect in April 2026. NHS England’s specialised neurology service specification requires all specialised neurology centres to ensure access to appropriate treatment services for FND, delivered through integrated pathways involving neurological, mental health and community services.
There are also a number of other national-level initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with neurological conditions, including FND, such as the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the recently completed Neurology Transformation Programme, which aimed to improve care for people by reducing variation and delivering care more equitably across England.
Asked by: John Grady (Labour - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether discussions have taken place between his Department and (a) NHS England, (b) the British Association of Prosthetics and Orthotics and (c) universities on the sustainability of prosthetics and orthotics training programmes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care works closely with the Department for Education to support the availability of a diverse range of training routes into health and care careers including prosthetics and orthotics. While the Government is committed to ensuring sustainable training pathways for the future supply of prosthetics and orthotists, higher education institutions are independent providers and are responsible for making their own decisions about course delivery and viability.
The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England remain committed to working with stakeholders through NHS England’s small and vulnerable professions programme, to help maintain and strengthen training and education pathways for pre-registration learners. This work has been supported recently with a meeting between myself and the British Association of Prosthetics and Orthotics to discuss strengthening a sustainable training and workforce pipeline.
Asked by: John Grady (Labour - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department or NHS England has undertaken a risk assessment on the potential closure of prosthetics and orthotics pre-registration programmes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care works closely with the Department for Education to support the availability of a diverse range of training routes into health and care careers including prosthetics and orthotics. While the Government is committed to ensuring sustainable training pathways for the future supply of prosthetics and orthotists, higher education institutions are independent providers and are responsible for making their own decisions about course delivery and viability.
The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England remain committed to working with stakeholders through NHS England’s small and vulnerable professions programme, to help maintain and strengthen training and education pathways for pre-registration learners. This work has been supported recently with a meeting between myself and the British Association of Prosthetics and Orthotics to discuss strengthening a sustainable training and workforce pipeline.
Asked by: John Grady (Labour - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what has been the average length of time to decide an application under the Portfolio Pathway route for each of the last five years for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made by the Department of the effectiveness of the Portfolio Pathway route to professional registration for overseas qualified specialist medical practitioners and general practitioners or the availability of portfolio assessors. The Department does not hold application or qualification data about this route.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of medical practitioners, or doctors, in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for setting standards that must be met by both domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to their registers to ensure registrants are safe to practise.
As the independent regulator, it is for the GMC to monitor the operational effectiveness of its routes to registration, and to determine the qualifications and experience that it will accept. The GMC publishes data on applications to its Portfolio Pathway at the following link:
Asked by: John Grady (Labour - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many doctors have applied to qualify as consultants under the Portfolio Pathway route over the last five years for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made by the Department of the effectiveness of the Portfolio Pathway route to professional registration for overseas qualified specialist medical practitioners and general practitioners or the availability of portfolio assessors. The Department does not hold application or qualification data about this route.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of medical practitioners, or doctors, in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for setting standards that must be met by both domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to their registers to ensure registrants are safe to practise.
As the independent regulator, it is for the GMC to monitor the operational effectiveness of its routes to registration, and to determine the qualifications and experience that it will accept. The GMC publishes data on applications to its Portfolio Pathway at the following link:
Asked by: John Grady (Labour - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many doctors have qualified as consultants under the Portfolio Pathway route over the last five years for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made by the Department of the effectiveness of the Portfolio Pathway route to professional registration for overseas qualified specialist medical practitioners and general practitioners or the availability of portfolio assessors. The Department does not hold application or qualification data about this route.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of medical practitioners, or doctors, in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for setting standards that must be met by both domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to their registers to ensure registrants are safe to practise.
As the independent regulator, it is for the GMC to monitor the operational effectiveness of its routes to registration, and to determine the qualifications and experience that it will accept. The GMC publishes data on applications to its Portfolio Pathway at the following link:
Asked by: John Grady (Labour - Glasgow East)
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 availability of sufficiently qualified assessors to review portfolios under the Portfolio Pathway system.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made by the Department of the effectiveness of the Portfolio Pathway route to professional registration for overseas qualified specialist medical practitioners and general practitioners or the availability of portfolio assessors. The Department does not hold application or qualification data about this route.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of medical practitioners, or doctors, in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for setting standards that must be met by both domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to their registers to ensure registrants are safe to practise.
As the independent regulator, it is for the GMC to monitor the operational effectiveness of its routes to registration, and to determine the qualifications and experience that it will accept. The GMC publishes data on applications to its Portfolio Pathway at the following link:
Asked by: John Grady (Labour - Glasgow East)
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 effectiveness of the Portfolio Pathway system for qualification as consultants.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made by the Department of the effectiveness of the Portfolio Pathway route to professional registration for overseas qualified specialist medical practitioners and general practitioners or the availability of portfolio assessors. The Department does not hold application or qualification data about this route.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of medical practitioners, or doctors, in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for setting standards that must be met by both domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to their registers to ensure registrants are safe to practise.
As the independent regulator, it is for the GMC to monitor the operational effectiveness of its routes to registration, and to determine the qualifications and experience that it will accept. The GMC publishes data on applications to its Portfolio Pathway at the following link:
Asked by: John Grady (Labour - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will include workforce projections and training requirements for prosthetics and orthotics as a distinct profession within the update to the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.